Chloe: You’re such a wuss. Trust me. He wants you to.
The bathroom lock clicked, and the door opened. Zach stepped out and came back into the living room just as Cael’s phone dinged with another notification from Chloe.
“Who’s that?” Zach asked, his voice catching a little in his throat.
“Just Chloe.”
Zach tensed. “Is everything okay?”
“What? Oh, yeah. Taylor’s fine.”
“Oh. Okay.” Zach bent to grab his beer from the table. He drank down the rest on his way to the kitchen.
“You okay, Pook?” Cael asked, pushing to his feet and heading in to join him.
Zach furrowed his brow as if confused by Cael’s question. He leaned back against the counter, setting the cold, fresh beer he pulled out on the counter next to him. “Yeah. I’m good.”
“Good.” Cael ignored Zach’s unconvincing response. “Because there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about, but I sort of have to show you something first.”
“Okay,” Zach said, drawing the word out. “What?”
Cael couldn’t afford to overthink this. He just needed to do it and hope to God that Chloe was right. A kiss couldn’t’ be any more awkward than a hand job, right?
He crossed the small space, closing the distance between them, and without any further hesitation, Cael took Zach’s face between his hands and kissed him.
Cael had kissed a lot of guys in his life, but this was the first time he actually worried about what he’d see when he stopped. But, God help him, he didn’t want to stop. He’d never imagined that he would ever kiss his best friend, yet here he was, and it was terrifying and incredible all at once.
Their lips barely touched as Cael slowly rubbed his lips across Zach’s. He nipped tenderly before pulling away ever so slightly. Cael’s fingers skimmed across the light stubble of Zach’s jaw before coming to rest loosely around his neck. Lingering close, his nose alongside Zach’s, their foreheads touching, Cael could barely breathe. Zach hadn’t kissed him back, and now, Zach just stood there, not pushing Cael away, not saying anything. Just stood there, so quiet and painfully close that Cael wondered if Zach could hear the hammering of his heart against his ribcage, or if he could feel Cael’s hands trembling.
“Cael?” he whispered, his warm breath ghosting over Cael’s lips, the smell of honey beer and mint teasing his senses.
Cael gulped. Zach used his first name. This could be good or bad. “Yeah?”
“I don’t do one-night stands.”
“I know.”
“Or friends with benefits.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you kiss me?”
“Because I’ve always wanted to… because I thought…” Deep breath. Just do it. Just tell him. “Because I love you.”
Zach tilted his head back and peered up at Cael. “You do?”
Cael nodded. “Yeah. I do.”Christ, I can’t believe I told him.
“You know I haven’t been with a guy before.”
A low ache burned in Cael’s gut. “I know.”
Cael closed his eyes, waiting for the words he didn’t ever want to hear. That Zach didn’t want him the way he wanted Zach. That he couldn’t be anything more than friends. His chest tightened as he waited for Zach to deal the crushing blow and throw the harsh reality back in his face. Dammit. Chloe was wrong. He shouldn’t have kissed him.
The brush of Zach’s lips against his startled Cael, and his breath caught as his heart crammed itself into his throat.
“But I really fucking want to with you,” Zach whispered against his lips.
