Jake wrapped a possessive arm around Tacoma and smiled down at him. “That was a wild night, wasn’t it?”
Tacoma stared up at Jake, giving his million-dollar smile, and leaned in a little closer. “It was. I never got that encore you promised me, you know?”
“I can rectify that,” Jake said, wagging his thick, caterpillar eyebrows.
Tacoma chuckled, looking so at ease that it bothered Kenji for some reason. Why couldn’t he be more like that when a hot guy looked his way?
“Tonight?” Tacoma asked.
“Oh yeah,”Jake growled. He leaned in and captured Tacoma’s lips, their tongues warring.
Kenji turned his attention away, feeling every bit the third wheel. He searched the unfamiliar crowd, looking for anything of interest except the two men making out beside him. After a few seconds, his gaze landed on a man seated alone near the rear of the bar.
Though it was hard to be sure in the dimly lit bar, he sensed the man was staring at him. Kenji’s body tensed, and he stood a bit taller, the hairs at the back of his neck standing on end. His breath caught, an electric pulse zipping through his body.
Hecouldn’tlook away. He was trapped, unable to break eye contact, even if he’d wanted to.
An unusual glow glimmered in the depths of the man’s eyes, likely reflected from the colored lights overhead, yet that didn’t take away the strange sensation washing through Kenji. Strange wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
He is looking at me, right? I mean, I’m not exactly in that guy’s league.
Kenji peeked around, fearful he was staring at someone nearby, but didn’t see who else it could be immediately around him. When he turned back, the corners of the stranger’s lips curled up with a hint of a smile.
He was a bit older. Maybe mid-to-late thirties. His hair and beard looked dark—it was hard to tell without more light—but there were threads of paler color here and there. Gray possibly? Kenji smiled to himself. Salt-and-pepper daddies were hot as fuck in his personal opinion.
He was wearing almost the same outfit Kenji wore, but the difference was he had the body to pull it off. His chest was all muscle, with a heavy dusting of dark hairs. If he could see farther down, he’d hazard a guess there was a six-pack, too. The harness looked good on him, not hanging oddly as Kenji’s borrowed one was.
“I’ll catch you later,” Tacoma said, pulling Kenji’s attention back.
“Wait…what?”
He stood there, jaw slack, and watched Jake pull Tacoma through the crowd of men. Tacoma gave him a wave and soon disappeared from view.
Seriously? We’ve been here less than ten minutes and he’s already ditching me?
Kenji had suspected Tacoma would vanish before the end of the night and he’d been fine with that. He understood who and what his roommate was, plus his departure would’ve given Kenji the perfect excuse to return home for his planned Netflix and self-chilling.
Only, he hadn’t expected that departure to happen so quickly.
Nor had he expected to lock eyes with a gorgeous daddy who possibly appeared interested.
Kenji’s escape plan had just appeared, but for once, he didn’t want to take it. He also didn’t want to stand there alone, lookingpathetic in the middle of a bunch of strangers, either. Lifting his drink to his lips, he took another sip, forgetting it was terrible. Kenji’s lips puckered. He gingerly slid the mostly full cup onto a nearby abandoned high top table filled with empty bottles and cups.
Before he made his way to the bar for something better, he gave another peek toward the back. The air was knocked from his lungs. His stranger was gone.
Shit.
Kenji searched the crowd but saw no signs of him. After a couple of minutes of awkwardly looking around—which was always a laugh riot with his short stature and inability to see over heads—he had two options. Go order another drink and stay for a little while, in case his sexy stranger was still lurking around, or call it a night. As the seconds ticked by, the latter sadly seemed the only choice left to make.
It’s not like a guy like that would’ve been interested in me anyway. He was model hot. I’m model not.
Before he could leave, a beer appeared inches from his face.
Kenji’s gaze traveled up the well-muscled arm it was attached to and found his dark-haired, salt-and-pepper daddy standing beside him, grinning.
Correction. His dark-haired, salt-and-peppergiant.
Kenji was only five-eight, so a lot of men were taller than him. Many towered over him. This guy was well past towering. At best guess, he had near a foot on Kenji.
