16
Liam
“And…pinochle!” Ty exclaimed, raising his hands over his head as he performed a little victory shake, which made me laugh. After dinner, we’d started up some card games, which was our usual routine, the easiest way to pass the time.
“See,” Ty added, “I should have known sooner that I just needed to get you to play something you weren’t as familiar with.”
“I can catch up just fine.”
“Then let me enjoy my wins where I can.”
“ThatI can do.”
Because it was adorable watching him looking all conceited, sure of himself.
Ty had been growing on me long before we ever went to the cabin, but it was like everything that had sparked between us had steadily simmered, the heat so intense that I found myself impossibly hard and having to sneak away and jerk off frequently to quell the impulses.
I enjoyed liking Ty. Since I’d told him about my experiences before I’d begun working with the IPB, I found myself feeling relaxed around him in a way I hadn’t allowed myself to feel before.
He didn’t know me, certainly, but he sure as fuck knew more than most people.
And goddamn if I didn’t find myself wanting to share more and more with every passing moment…with the blue-eyed angel who should have hated me for all I’d stripped from him, for what I’d dragged him into, but who just played games with me, smiling and laughing away.
I’d underestimated his charm…or overestimated my ability to fight against it…or that he would erode my desire to fight against it with every glance he offered, every chuckle that escaped his perfect lips.
As Ty shuffled the deck, he said, “I don’t want to sound like I’m pushing, because I’m not, but at what point do we get concerned about your team not responding?”
“We’re already concerned.”
It’d only been six days, but I was unnerved that I hadn’t heard from them yet. I was on edge, needing answers.
Would Ty and I be waiting in this cabin for two…three weeks? A month?
Since they hadn’t replied to my distress signal, it meant things at the IPB were as worrisome as I’d feared. Either my guys knew to keep low and quiet and wait for an opportunity…or they were dead. I was highly skeptical of the latter, but I had to consider all possibilities.
At my response, Ty bit his lip and began dealing for the next game. The way he looked, all tension and nervousness, I wanted to shove the cards aside and pounce on him, offer him every assurance that I would care for him, protect him, and that he wouldn’t have a damn thing to worry about.
But those were things I couldn’t assure him of. My mind was playing tricks on me, trying to deceive me into granting him what we both knew he so desperately wanted from me…what I was realizing I desperately needed from him. I quieted this desire throughout the course of the game, after which Ty said, “Okay, what do we want to play next? Do we want to go another round of pinochle, or do we want to play poker, or watch a movie?”
We had so many options for passing the time, minus the one thing I was sure we both knew could pass plenty of time and offer us so much more than any of these games.
“A movie might be good, considering how long we’ve been playing cards. I’m pretty sure my brain needs a break, and so does your ego.”
“Hey, not my fault I’ve been winning. You haven’t been letting me win, have you?”
“I would never let anybody win.” There wasn’t a trace of humor in my tone, because I couldn’t even pretend I wasn’t annoyed about losing.
“Just making sure, because I did stomp your ass in these last two games, and I figured, surely with all your skills, that you would be good at playing card games.”
“You’ve watched too muchCasino Royale.”
Ty laughed. “That’s kind of true.”
“And keep in mind, if I were playing in aCasino Royale-type setting, I would be cheating, and therefore, winning.”
Ty laughed again. “Of course, of course. Okay, let me see what movies we haven’t watched.”
He pushed to his feet, and I wondered if he’d turned his ass toward me the way he did just because he needed to get to the box behind him, or if he was trying to show off the way his cheeks pushed against the fabric of his jeans, creating that perfect outline, making me want to bury my face between them.
