Protectiveness surged through me in a powerful wave. “No way are you taking public back. I’m driving you to your car.”
Rory’s eyes widened. “I’m not going to say no to the offer. You realize that, right? Last chance to back out.”
I shook my head, my heart thumping wildly from…well, everything. From the night, the kiss, the discovery, and the disruption. “I want more time with you.”
The honesty slipped from my lips before I could stop it.
But it was a truth I’d felt in my bones from the moment we met. I’d been trying to carve out more and more moments with him however I could.
“Well, damn,” he said, sliding his hand into mine. This time he led the way, and I followed as we cut through the bar. The thump of the music and the flash of the lights whirled around me, but my focus remained solely on Rory Brannon. On the fluid way he moved forward through the crowd of people, on how mussed his hair was from where I’d speared my fingers into it.
We emerged outside, and I gave his hand a tug to direct him to where I’d parked. It wasn’t until we reached my car that I realized I’d been holding his hand in public, for anyone to see.
Shit, was I bisexual now? Had I been bisexual this whole time and was just never aware? I climbed into my truck, and Rory got into the passenger side. When the engine rumbled to life beneath me and I setoff down the road, reality began to settle in. Traffic rushed all around us, cars moving at the quick pace of the city, and I drove on automatic.
I’d kissed Rory. I’d kissed him, and we’d made out in the bathroom of The Truck Stop. So much for keeping my distance because he was my daughter’s coworker. Harper wanted me out there and dating, but I had the feeling she hadn’t meant her friend who was over a decade younger than me.
I got onto 76, the thrum of traffic familiar as I focused on the merge, my thoughts racing a mile a minute.
“Has the gay panic set in yet?” Rory asked. His voice remained light as if he was unaffected, but an edge there betrayed him.
“And what, pray tell, is the gay panic?” I asked, my gaze on the road even though all I wanted to do was look over at him.
“You know, the whole ‘oh god, I kissed a guy’ panic.”
“And I liked it?” I filled in the blanks.
“Oh god, did you just Katy Perry me?” he groaned. “But how are you so chill about this?”
“Mmm, that’s my default mode. I’ve got a lot to think about, sure. But I’m more of an internal processor, so the chaos, it’s up here.” I tapped the side of my head with a finger. The motion of driving soothed some of the questions multiplying by the moment in my brain. I wasn’t a go-with-the-flow guy. I was a form a plan and stick to the plan sort of person, evidenced by the fact I’d knocked up Susie all those years ago and we were just divorcing now.
However, Rory was the exact opposite. He was impulsive in the best way, blurting out the thoughts that otherwise might stay locked up and rotting inside. And honestly, he inspired me. The more time I spent around him, the more I found myself loosening up in small aspects that I really fucking liked.
“Well, what can I do to help distract from the chaos?” Rory asked. “I’d offer to blow you, but a. we’re on the Schuylkill Expressway and I don’t want to die, and b. your piercing still needs to heal.”
“God, don’t remind me.” My cock was hard, the pulse of it driving me insane. And the thought of Rory’s lips wrapped around my length? Fuuuuuck. It’d been so long since I’d had sex that I was surprised I hadn’t blown from the makeout session alone.
“So, I’m going to ask Owen about the local tattoo convention.” Rory’s conversation switch landed like whiplash, and I glanced his way really fast, out of surprise.
“That sounds like a good idea,” I said. “Establish yourself more in the broader area as a piercer?”
“I just don’t know if he’ll take me seriously,” Rory muttered.
“Why the fuck not?” I asked. “It’s a win-win situation. You get his shop’s name out there in the process.”
Rory hissed out a sigh. “Yeah, but it’s me. No one takes me seriously.”
“I do,” I said, meaning every damn word. Sure, Rory was spontaneous and overshared with ease, but hell, I’d let him pierce my cock. He’d done a damn good job too, and I could see what a professional he was when he slipped into that space. Just because he had fun outside of work didn’t mean he should be treated like anything but the adult he was.
If anything, that soothed some of the panic that had been swirling through my veins.
Rory was a lot more mature than he gave himself credit for, and even though he might be younger than me, already I was learning from him.
“Dammit, Wyatt. You need to stop saying all that shit when you’re not able to find a remote spot to bend me over and fuck me.”
Heat rushed through me in a fierce torrent, and I groaned. God, he was so ridiculously hot, and the fact I found a guy this attractive charged my libido like a lightning strike. I’d been looking for something new after getting out of my marriage, but I hadn’t realized how new.
“So, how was your first club experience?” Rory asked with his trademark whiplash speed I was adjusting to. “Everything you imagined?”
