“Sure, please.”
I could feel Shane’s eyes on my back as I made him a cup of coffee. Even though the business he owned with my son and their two other friends was centered around coffee, Shane always had one whenever he came to my restaurant.
“I’m not sure why you drink this,” I told him, placing the steaming cup in front of him. “Your coffee is way better.”
“I like the company here,” he blurted. “I mean...” He coughed.
“Well, thank you. I like the company too.” I winked and headed to the other end of the bar to serve a customer who had just sat down. I had a rush of customers, so it took a half an hour before I could talk to Shane again. I noticed that he watched me the whole time. I also noticed that I liked having his eyes on me. I had known him for years. I had known all of my son’s friends for years.But I didn’t know enough about Shane. I knew thathis parents had retired somewhere in Mexico and owned a beach bar that did really well for them. I also knew that Shane was an only child. He was a surprise for them much like Brady was a surprise for his mom and me.
Speaking of, I really needed to call her. Suzie and I had remained good friends, even though it never worked out for us. She had been nothing but supportive over the years and I, the same for her. She was now remarried but never had any more kids. I often wondered why but never asked.
When there was a lull between customers, I went back to where Shane sat at the bar. He was playing on his phone, doing who knew what. I stopped a foot away, watching him. He chewed his bottom lip every so often. That single action made the blood rush through my body.
“Everything okay?” The sudden urge to protect him, made my stomach clench.
“What?” Shane lifted his head. “Oh, yes. Just figuring out some...” He sighed. “Shit.”
“So, I guess we should talk about this collaboration, seeing as it could help both of us.”
“Yes. I guess we should.” He looked over his shoulder. “But not here. Maybe somewhere quieter?”
My heartbeat thundered in my ears that I would get him alone.
“Where are you thinking?” I asked, hoping that it would be somewhere private. We could go to my place, but if that happened, I wouldn’t be able to control the things I said or did to him.
“I’m not sure.” Shane turned back around to face me. “We can’t go to my place since the guys have a key and are fuck heads. They would show up randomly just to be nosy.”
I chuckled. “Oh, to be that age again.”
Shane laughed, a wide grin spreading on his handsome face. “If you were that young again, I’d be even younger and that would be…”
“What?”
He glanced down at my mouth. “Weird.”
“That’s true.” I cleared my throat and went back to wiping down the counter. Not that it needed to be cleaned any more but I needed to distract myself from my son’s best friend. Shane was no longer a kid, and I had known him for years. I shouldn’t want him like I did.
Yet I couldn’t control these feelings. I couldn’t control the way I wanted to devour him completely and never come up for air.
“We can go to your place since it’s quiet there,” Shane suggested.
“Sure. That’s fine.” But it wasn’t. It couldn’t be fine. None of this could ever be just fine.
THREE
Shane
I wasn’t sure whereI got this sudden bravery from. Maybe it was because I had enough and wanted to see how far I could push Rhett before he exploded and took that control away from me. I wanted him to break. To completely snap and give me everything I wanted. I wanted to feel him inside of me. To hear him grunting, our slick bodies moving as one as we both gave each other what we so desperately craved.
I had a feeling it would happen. Maybe not tonight. But with the small glances he kept giving me and with the stiffness of his body, something was going on. Maybe he was fighting a battle within himself. Yes, I was his son’s best friend but that shouldn’t be the issue. Did he know that Brady and I used to sleep together? I prayed that wasn’t the problem. Brady and I were never good for each other anyway. We were bored, I got attached and didn’t know how to move on until he started dating his boyfriend, Cam.
“I just have to finish up here and then we can head to my place,” Rhett said, pulling me from my thoughts. “Did you drive? You can come with me if you didn’t, or you can meet me there. Whatever works for you. I’m down for either.” Rhett didn’t take a breath as he attempted to make plans for us to meet up at his house.
I couldn’t help but smile. It was adorable, the way he was acting like a teenager who was dealing with his first date. Unless I was reading into it wrong. Maybe he wasn’t attracted to me like I hoped, and he was just nervous because his son and I used tofuck. Not that he could know that. It wasn’t new information, but it wasn’t public knowledge either.
“If it’s an issue, we don’t have to do it tonight,” I told him, not wanting him to go out of his way for me.
“No, it’s fine.” Rhett stopped cleaning the counter and gave me one of his wide smiles that could bring me to my knees at any time of the day. But that smile was forced. It never reached his eyes as much as I wished it would. Instead, the way he was looking at me made me wonder if there wasn’t something else he was thinking about or hoping for.
