Page 50 of Wrecked

“No.” He closes and locks the door. “I haven’t. Let’s see how this goes.”

“Okay. Fair enough.” For a moment, I just stare at his face, taking him in. Then impulse takes over and I pull him into my arms and kiss him.

When we come together, it’s electric, like we’re both dying for it. I cup his face as I devour his mouth. Our breaths are rough. His hands clutch my biceps hard, his fingers digging into my muscles.

I step close so he can feel how hard I am for him—how much I want him. And there’s no denying the impressive erection he’s got going on.

And the next thing I know, he’s pushing me away. “No.” He shakes his head adamantly. “I am not your fuck toy, and this isn’t a booty call. This is supposed to be adate, Cooper, not a Grindr hook-up. There will be no sex until I know you’re serious about this.”

My chest heaves as I try to catch my breath. “Okay.” Hell, I want him so badly I’ll agree to anything he says.

Sam’s face is flushed, and he’s breathing just as hard as I am. The outline of his erection is obvious. He’s not lacking in the arousal department. Obviously, he wants me to prove myself. I can do that.

In an effort to calm my body, I turn and survey his living room. The mostly empty tin of chocolate chip cookies I left on his welcome mat is sitting open on the coffee table next to an empty beer bottle. There’s a gaming console beside it, and what looks like a first-person shooter game is frozen in mid-play on the TV. “Playing a video game?”

Sam nods. “Yeah. Want to play?”

I chuckle. “I haven’t played video games since I was a kid.”

“What did you play back in the olden days?”

“Pong and Frogger on my thirteen-inch black-and-white TV.”

“Seriously? You had a black-and-white TV?”

God, he’s making me feel old. “Yeah. This was way before your time.”

He laughs. “Apparently.” He starts toward the kitchen. “Make yourself at home. I’ll grab us two cold ones.”

I take a seat on the sofa and look around. The place is neat and tidy. Everything still looks brand spanking new.

When Sam returns, he joins me on the sofa and hands me one of the beers. I take a swig and set the bottle down on the coffee table on aStar Trekcoaster. It’s an image from one of the newer shows, not the original I’m used to. I gesture to the TV. “Show me the game. I’m sure I can catch on.”

Sam resumes playing. His character, decked out in full military combat gear, is running through what looks like a destroyed urban war zone, shooting indiscriminately at everything that moves. His character runs and ducks,hiding behind derelict vehicles and piles of concrete rubbish. Characters pop out from behind every obstacle known to man and take pot shots at him. Sam fires and obliterates them all.

“Do you want to play?” he asks as he offers me the controller.

I stare at the screen. “That is so unrealistic, Sam. It’s not going to make anyone a better shot.”

He grins. “It’s not supposed to. It’s just for fun. How about something else? How about a racing game?”

“Sure. Let’s do that.”

Sam hands me a spare controller as he changes out the game. He demos the game, racing his muscle car through a ridiculous urban course.

“And before you say it,” Sam says, “I know this isn’t going to make anyone a better driver. That’s not the point.”

“Fine. We’ll play the game.”

Even though Sam’s beating me, I’m not doing a horrible job. He maintains his lead, but that’s not surprising given my focus isn’t on the game, but rather on the fact he’s sitting so close to me our legs brush. He’s wearing shorts, which means I’m seeing a lot of bare leg. His right forearm occasionally brushes my left, and if he hadn’t been so serious about theno sexrule, I’d think he was teasing me on purpose.

We play three games. Sam wins the first two, but I finally start paying attention during the third game—once my body finally accepts the fact there won’t be any sex tonight—and eke out a win, but barely.

“I’m hungry,” Sam says. “Wanna order a pizza?”

“Sure.” I could make him something, but I have no idea what’s currently in his kitchen, so ordering out is probably a wise idea.

We end up dimming the lights and watching a sci-fi movie, pausing when the pizza arrives at our door, carried up by a building staff member.