Chapter 92
Alfie returned to Mel’s with a set of clean clothes for Rhys and found something simmering on the stove. He picked up the wooden spoon and gave it a quick stir, lifting the spoon to his mouth for a taste.
“Is it up to your standards?” Mel asked from the hallway.
Alfie could still hear the water running in the bathroom.
He focused his attention on Mel as they leaned one hip against the counter in front of him.
He wasn’t sure exactly when it started, but his feelings for them had developed into something.
It threw him a little. He’d only ever found himself attracted to men before.
He thought that had meant something. That it was the only way it would ever happen.
He couldn’t deny he was attracted to them. Right now he wanted to kiss them, but that wasn’t the boundary they created at the beginning, so he wasn’t sure if that would be all right.
“I could use more spice. If you have some, I’ll add it to my own dish. I can handle hotter than Rhys.”
“Probably hotter than me, then, too. I already thought it had a bit of a kick.”
“I would say you are plenty hot enough,” he said as he put the spoon down.
“Alfredo, are you flirting with me?”
His cheeks heated, but he didn’t drop his gaze. It was a risk, to change the way things had been working. What was the point of doing this, if he wasn’t willing to be honest? With himself, and everyone else involved.
“I just might be. Would that be a problem?”
“Not for me.” Mel stepped closer to him. “But, I’m not the one who requires an emotional connection to be attracted to someone.”
He nearly rolled his eyes. “What do you think we’ve been forming in the last weeks? Even when Rhys shut himself off from both of us.”
They set a hand on his forearm. “I didn’t want to make any assumptions. Or step over a boundary you’d laid out.”
“Boundaries can be changed, though, can’t they?”
“They absolutely can.”
He bent down and pressed his lips softly to theirs. Their hand moved up his arm, clutching onto his tricep. Until a whistle sounded behind them. Mel pulled back, but they didn’t step away. When he looked over their shoulder at Rhys, there was a glint in his eyes.
“Maybe I was wrong about how long of a shower I take. Or did this happen while I was…” He gestured as if to encompass the last couple days.
“It does not happen without you.” Alfie grabbed Rhys’s clothes and pushed them against his bare chest. At least he had a towel around his waist, otherwise Alfie might have jumped him right there. They really should talk first. Make sure they were on the same page.
“Are you sure?” Rhys waggled his eyebrows at both of them.
“Yes,” both Alfie and Mel answered at the same time. “We are going to talk first,” Mel reminded him.
“Well, then.” Rhys spun and started away, already unwrapping the towel before he was out of sight.
Mel blew out a breath. “That body. How do you not just fall on him in the middle of a game?”
Alfie threw his arm around their shoulders, pressing his lips to the side of their forehead. “Sometimes even I wonder.”.