Chapter 12
Seth woke up with a mouthful of hair, and after adjusting so it wasn’t tickling under his nose quite so terribly, he thought, this is pretty fucking great.
Because he knew, from the moment he’d been conscious, that he was still in Lorenzo’s bed.
It wasn’t the only place he ever wanted to be, but it was still high up there.
After they’d watched Overboard, and cuddled on the couch, Ren had been just about dead on his feet, and he’d hesitated, glancing over at the doorway that Seth knew led to his bedroom.
The look on his face had been thoughtful, almost contemplative, peeking through the clear exhaustion. Then he’d tilted his head, and Seth had known he’d come to a decision.
“It’s late,” he’d said, “you should just stay.” He’d hesitated. “If that’s okay with you. I know we said . . .”
“Casual is whatever we make it,” Seth said. Of course that was not necessarily true. Nobody would assume that sleeping over was casual in any way, shape or form, but why should they let culture and society dictate what they did or how they did it?
It was between just the two of them. Nobody else mattered.
“Right, yeah,” Ren said. He’d looked nervous. Unsure. Despite the certainty of his words. “I want you to stay.”
And that was all Seth had needed to hear, and he’d trailed Ren to the bedroom, borrowing a spare toothbrush and then they’d fallen into bed together.
Just to sleep.
Before he’d fallen asleep, Ren had turned to Seth, his eyes dark and serious in his handsome face.
“I’ve never done this before,” he said, and Seth had known it, had believed it was true before Ren had spoken the words, but he realized as he heard them then that Ren wasn’t talking about some guy sleeping over.
He was talking about all of this.
And it occurred to Seth that he should give his own confession back.
“Me either,” he’d said. “Sometimes we bunked together, when we were out in the field, but that was . . .”
“Different?” There was a soft glow in Ren’s eyes now, and Seth had known he’d made the right choice.
“Yeah,” Seth said. It was more than that, but different also sufficed.
“I’m glad it’s you,” Ren said, as his eyes fluttered shut, and he fell asleep.
Seth had slept the whole night—which surprised him because it was a strange bed, and while he’d admittedly gotten used to that when he’d been on active duty, he was retired now and he’d gotten a little bit soft, sleeping in the same comfortable bed night after night—and he’d just woken up now as the sunlight had begun to filter in through the shades covering the windows.
Ren was still sleeping, curled on his side, facing Seth, a hand he’d had tucked underneath him when he’d fallen asleep now lying halfway between them. Like sometime during the night, he’d wanted to reach out for Seth, but he hadn’t felt quite comfortable reaching all the way.
Seth understood; the situation they were currently in was unprecedented for both of them.
He’d known—he’d hoped—that someday he might end up here. But then he’d always assumed that he would fall for someone who was a little bit like him. Someone Lennox-like, maybe.
But Ren was completely and utterly different. He was younger, for one, almost ten years younger, though that wasn’t so much an issue as the very differing viewpoints they both shared on love and relationships.
As in—Seth had always imagined that he’d have the latter, and that the former would come.
He’d never imagined that the first would already be firmly entrenched in his heart, by the time they got to the latter.
But he’d begun falling for Lorenzo Moretti from the first moment their eyes had met, and every little scrap and tidbit of information he’d learned from and about the man since then had solidified that he was it.
If it wasn’t going to be Ren for him, it wasn’t going to be anybody.
Trust Seth to pick the most impossible man to woo.
But he must not be doing too poor of a job, because he was in his bed now, wasn’t he? And not just for the convenience or fleeting pleasure of sex.
He was there because Ren wanted him there.
Ren’s eyes fluttered open. “You,” he said, his voice groggy with sleep. “You’re still here.”
He’d be here, as long as Ren wanted him to be.
“Yes,” Seth said. “Good morning.”
“Is it?” Ren yawned, rolling onto his back to stretch.
It was a glorious sight, seeing Ren like this, clad only in a pair of tight navy-blue briefs, all that smooth, lithe muscle on display, and all that fucking skin. Seth let his eyes drift upwards, and tried not to laugh.
His hair, normally tamed into a dark, curly style, was everywhere. It explained why Seth had woken up with hair in his mouth, because it had defied even the boundary set by Ren’s pillow and crept over, to invade Seth’s.
“What?” Ren asked, self-consciously running a hand through his hair.
Seth knew the moment Ren realized just why he was so amused.
Ren’s lips compressed shut. He did not look happy.
“I must look ridiculous,” Ren mumbled. Probably something that didn’t happen often for him.
Seth realized he was seeing the real Ren right now, the one who wasn’t trying to present the most attractive front he could. And Ren stole a little bit more of his heart.
He’d give it to him with both hands, if he could. But Ren wouldn’t take it. Not yet.
“I think you look gorgeous,” Seth said, and it wasn’t exactly a hardship to roll Ren underneath him, and hover above him. After all he was still gorgeous. Wild hair and all.
“It’s this damn curly hair,” Ren said. He reached up, brushing his fingertips against Seth’s skull, at his close-cropped haircut. “Maybe I should do what you did, cut it all off.”
Seth didn’t believe he’d actually do it. After all, Ren was a little vain. Understandably so, but there it was. “If you want to,” he said. And meant it. He’d take this man however he could have him.
Ren shot him a look. “What, like you’d still want me if I was ugly?”
“Absolutely I would,” Seth said, meaning that too. “And it’s not like you shaving your head would actually make you ugly.”
“Okay, fair point,” Ren said with a chuckle. “I’ll give you that one.”
“Oh, you will?” Seth questioned, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the side of Ren’s head, right where his curls were wildest. “How generous of you.”
Ren’s expression turned serious again. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”
“I don’t know, what am I doing tomorrow night?” Seth teased.
He didn’t know what made him so nervous about Ren being serious, but something about it made him edgy and worried. Like if Ren thought too hard about any of this, then he’d come to the kind of conclusion that Seth dreaded.
It wasn’t giving Ren any credit—or him, either, for that matter—so Seth shoved the thoughts away. He was with Ren now, he didn’t need to be second-guessing himself, when there wasn’t any reason to worry.
“It’s trivia night at my favorite bar,” Ren said, “and I think you should come with me.”
“What, the Funky Cup has trivia?” Seth was surprised, he thought he’d known the Funky Cup schedule like the back of his hand.
“No,” Ren said. His grin was mischievous and a little daring.
It made him want to do all kinds of dirty, pleasurable things to Ren.
Even though they didn’t really have the time.
He needed to get home, and Ren needed to go to work.
“Don’t tell Shaw, and definitely do not tell Jackson—or Alexis, for that matter—but no, the Funky Cup is not my favorite bar. ”
“Because they don’t have a trivia night?”
Ren nodded. “I’m picky about them, too,” he added.
“I’m astonished, Lorenzo. You? Particular about something?”
Ren smacked him on the shoulder lightly. Then, like he was caught by the feel of Seth’s bare skin, his fingers lingered. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who was thinking with his dick this morning.
Tomorrow night wasn’t that far away, but it felt like a fucking eternity.
“I like things just so, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Ren said.
“Well, I’ll take it as a compliment.”
Ren’s eyes were dark—so dark, it felt like Seth could get even more lost in them. “You should,” he said.
“So trivia night tomorrow?” he said, and though it nearly killed him, he rolled off Ren. Before his cock decided he should start something that he didn’t have the time to finish.
He had a big meeting this morning with the Star Shadow guys, and he couldn’t be late. No matter how tempting Ren was.
“Trivia night tomorrow,” Ren said. “I usually take an Uber. Leave from the food truck lot.”
“I’ll meet you there. What time?”
“Eight?” Ren suggested. “Trivia doesn’t start til nine, but it’s good to get there early, so we can find a decent seat, and also size up the competition.”
Seth grinned, already looking forward to learning another facet of Lorenzo Moretti. “So you’re competitive, then?”
Ren shot him a look. “We play to win,” he said, and oh yeah, that was almost more than his self-control, quickly being eroded by Ren’s very being, could take.
He rolled over, and swung his feet down, letting them touch the hardwood floor. “I won’t let you down,” he said, even though he had no idea if he was actually any good at trivia. But he would be, for Ren.
“I didn’t think you would,” Ren teased. And then he followed Seth, shifting his body until he was pressed against Seth’s back, as he groped on the nightstand for his phone. “You left,” he said.
“I gotta get up, get home, get ready. I’ve got a meeting.”
Seth didn’t need to look at Ren to know he was currently wearing a pouty expression. It shouldn’t have, because he was clear-eyed when it came to Ren and his tendency to be a bit bratty, but it sent a thrill running through him.
Ren wants you.
Ren wants you right here.
“If you get up, I bet you we could share some coffee and a nice long goodbye kiss before I go,” Seth said.
“Fine,” Ren grumbled, but then after the aforementioned coffee was brewing, it was him pressing Seth against the counter to give him a goodbye kiss.