He needed to stay centered. Be rational. These were all normal things to chat about. It didn’t necessarily mean anything. There was no reason to freak out, but not knowing Dante’s intentions twisted Ollie up inside.
It was okay for Dante to want to get to know him, as long as Dante didn’t have some hidden agenda or think it was going to get him more than friendship.
Ollie could see that Dante was probably just being friendly. In which case, this was good. Ollie didn’t have to be on edge. All he had to do was chill the fuck out. Act like he had when Dante first walked in the door.
Maybe a little less flirty, to be on the safe side. He hadn’t meant to get so carried away, touching and looking at Dante so obviously.
Ollie’s phone chimed again, and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Sorry, let me get this.”
Dante sipped his drink. “Sure thing.”
Ollie unlocked his phone.
There were two messages from the guy he’d been talking to that day. And…one was a dick pic. Ollie’s cheeks heated. At least the phone was angled so Dante couldn’t see.
The guy wanted a picture in return. Ollie paused. He hadan album of ready-to-send shots but closed the app without replying.
He silenced his phone and put it away, not sure why. He wouldn’t hook up with Dante, so why not stick to his plan of lining something up for later tonight?
Swearing off relationships after his last one blew up was the right thing to do, but Ollie hadn’t sworn off sex, and getting laid whenever he wanted, with whomever he wanted, had seemed like the dream. Until it hadn’t.
The hookup scene kind of sucked and had left a sour taste in Ollie’s mouth for a while, forcing him to realize he liked being emotionally connected to his sexual partners. But what Ollie liked wasn’t good for him.
He was drawn to men who didn’t want to let him go, and not in a good way. Two toxic relationships in a row and a situationship with someone who used him were enough to make him glad to be single. Even if he ended up having less sex than he wanted, it was better than the alternative.
Relationships were a breeding ground for manipulative behavior. Ollie needed to be his own person, have his own life, and not disappear into someone else’s world. His stomach still cramped whenever his mind strayed to his college boyfriend.
At least he’d gotten out. He’d even started putting his life back together. But he’d still wanted a relationship and had fallen into something just as bad before he could blink.
So he wasn’t falling into anything again.
Ollie set his drink on the coffee table. “I’ll be right back.” He jumped up and disappeared into the bathroom.
Taking out his phone, Ollie selected a picture and sent it to the guy. The shot showed the tops of his thighs, his hand fisted around his hard cock, and his tidy manscaping, with the top of the frame cutting off above his bellybutton.
The message went to read almost instantly. Then, a notification popped up saying the user had blocked him.
Fuck.
Ollie closed the app and gritted his teeth. He hated this.
He deleted the app from his phone and opened his favorite social media, scrolling through his feed until a post made him smile.
Screw that guy. Ollie liked how he looked. He wasn’t ripped, but so what? He didn’t hate his soft stomach or wish he had a different body. Fuck any guy who didn’t agree. They didn’t deserve to touch him.
Ollie liked a post and scrolled on.
The evening had started off so promising. Now, all he wanted to do was hide in his room.
Ollie left the bathroom and grabbed his drink from the coffee table. Harper was busy chatting with Dante, and for a second, Ollie felt like he was being pulled back to the couch by a magnet. Like heneededto be near Dante.
His pulse picked up.
That was a dangerous fucking reaction, and Ollie didn’t trust it.
He pretended not to notice how Dante’s attention found him as soon as he entered the room and slipped into the kitchen without interrupting Harper.
Ollie leaned against the counter. “What are you making?” he asked Ash.
