“What else is on your list?” Rory asked, somehow fully dressed and looking chill despite what had just happened between us. My whole body hummed with an awareness I couldn’t escape.
“Hmm?” I asked as I stuffed my dirty clothes in the gym bag.
“Your Get Wild list,” he teased.
“That what we’re calling it now?” I arched a brow, and his grin widened. “Well, piercing’s done. Going to a club is next on the list.”
“I’d offer to help, but you know the types I go to.” He grabbed his towel and mine and tossed them into the bin.
“I’d go.” The words leapt to my lips before I could help myself. Going to a gay bar was so out of my depth, but hell, none of the guys my age were still hitting up nightclubs. This impulsivity was so unlike me, but the divorce seemed to be bringing it out of me as I explored things I’d never gotten to all those years ago.
Apparently more things than I realized too.
Rory blinked at me and then chewed on his lower lip. “Deal—as long as I get to dance with you.”
Holy hell. Heat rushed through me in a fierce sweep, and my cock, which had been flagging, started to rise to attention again. I’d seen that lush ass mere moments ago, and the idea of Rory grinding on me? Damn.
“Fine,” I said, a slow grin rising to my lips. “You can fend off all these apparent guys who’d flock to me.”
His nostrils flared, and he shook his head. “Damn, Wyatt. You’re one surprise after another.”
My phone alarm blared, meaning I needed to get on the road to my next job. “Shit, time to roll.”
“I’ve got to go too,” Rory said.
I slung the gym bag over my shoulder and headed in the direction of the door. I quick-walked to the front, and after I stepped outside, I paused for a moment. Rory stood beside me and cast me a quick glance. His car was on the opposite side of the parking lot, so clearly, this was it.
Tension hummed through me. What did I even do? My brain blanked on how I treated the other contractors I grabbed a drink with on occasion. Usually we’d offer a nod before booking it. However, the usual guys I hung out with hadn’t just been holding my dick either.
“Uh, so, see you soon?” I asked, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
“You can bet on it. Though you may regret giving me permission to text you whenever.” Rory’s eyes sparkled.
“I doubt that,” I said, forcing myself to move my hand away and take a step toward my car. “In fact, I’m looking forward to it.”
Spending more time with Rory Brannon wasn’t agooddecision, for multiple reasons, but with the way my heart sped and my chest lightened for the first time in a long while, it wasn’t one I could regret.
Chapter five
Rory
Owen’s house was a familiar sight, a rustic powder-blue two-story on the edge of Kennett.
My pulse thumped a little harder as I shut off the engine to my car.
Maybe I was feeling a bit guilty after lusting so hard over Harper’s dad at the gym. But holy fuck. Having my hand on his cock earlier today, inviting him out to the gay club—all of it edged me too close to hopeful in a way I shouldn’t be pursuing.
So I’d channel this energy into annoying Owen.
I hopped out of the car, the walk to the door expelling some of my jitters, and the moment I stepped inside, the murmurs from the living room trickled my way.
“What movie is it tonight?” I called out, announcing myself in the usual fashion.
“I told you five times today,” Nyx shouted back. She was my favorite, another grumpy marshmallow like Daddy Owen.
“Mmm, did you?” I teased. She had mentioned it a dozen or so times, but I’d forgotten. Again. Forgetting was a frequent thing on my part, information traveling in and evacuating just as fast. If it wasn’t vital or immediate, it didn’t linger, except for reappearing at random times. I’d made my teachers crazy back in school and earned myself the title of difficult or problem child. “I couldn’t tell with all your grumbling.”
I stepped into the living room, where everyone was sprawled out over the cushy leather couches. Owen and August claimed one, and Harper, Becky, and Nyx piled onto the other. Caspian had plunked on the floor between the couches, clutching a pillow like he wanted to strangle it.
