Jay stared at him, his cheeks getting hot. “No way.”
“Try me.”
“Name one outfit, and nothing I wore in the last two weeks.”
“Button down white shirt with colorful butterflies, red pants, white socks, and red shoes.”
Jay’s jaw all but hit the floor. That had to be a fluke. “Something I wore last month.”
Ryden pursed his lips. “White button down, pink pants and matching jacket, pink socks and brown shoes.”
“I remember that outfit, and you’re off,” Jay said, feeling smug. “I wore a blue button-down with the pink suit, not white.”
“Ry’s right,” Saint offered from the back seat. “The reason I remember is because you changed to the blue shirt after Ace stopped in front of your desk with his sandwich, and when he took a bite, a piece of tomato flew out, smacked you in the face, and then fell onto your very white shirt. If looks could kill? Yikes. You changed into the blue, and Ace practically fell over himself running to take your shirt to the dry cleaners.”
“Well, shit. I forgot about that.” Jay’s stomach flipped. He turned his attention back to Ryden. “You paid that much attention to me?”
“From the moment I met you.” His grip tightened and loosened on the steering wheel. “Sweetheart, you stole my breath away. I thought you were the most beautiful human being I’d ever laid eyes on.”
All this time… “Why didn’t you say anything?”
Ryden stopped at a red light and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. He shrugged. “I wasn’t in a good place. When you smiled at me, all I thought about was how fucked up I was. Then there was this.” He pointed to his eye. “I didn’t know you, so I figured you were probably gonna be put off by it.” He waved a hand. “Anyway, the point is, I thought you were too pretty to want a guy in as rough shape as I was. You deserved better. Besides, I had nothing to offer. Literally.” He wrinkled his nose.
Jay held out his hand, and when Ryden took it, Jay laced their fingers together. “I might not have noticed your bracelet or what you wore, but I do know you’ve come a long way from when we first met, and I’m so proud of you.”
Ryden’s eyes got glassy, and he smiled. “You don’t know how much that means to me.” He turned his face to look at Jay, and Jay leaned over the center console to kiss him.
“I can’t wait for you to make me yours,” Jay murmured before sitting back, Ryden’s fingers still laced with his.
“Why’s this damn light gotta last so damned long?”
Jay laughed. The more he thought about it, the more he agreed with Ryden. Stupid traffic lights. Didn’t they know he had a sexy man to get into bed with?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Why weren’twe doing this years ago?” Ryden asked, breathless as he and Jay mauled each other’s mouths while simultaneously attempting to make their way to Ryden’s bedroom without injuring themselves. Good thing Ryden was a multitasker.
Thankfully, it hadn’t taken Jay long to pack back at his condo because he kept several bags ready since part of his job included traveling at a moment’s notice should the Kings need him. The entire ride over, the heat and need growing between them had threatened to drive Ryden over the edge. All he could think about was getting Jay naked.
“Because we were too busy avoiding our feelings,” Jay replied against Ryden’s mouth. “So all that pent-up sexual tension turned into frustration, and instead of having hot sex, we threw books at each other.”
“Youthrew books at me,” Ryden reminded him. “I just kept them.”
Jay hummed, his lips wet and swollen from Ryden’s kisses. “We can discuss it later.” He tossed Ryden’s shirt off to one side and ran his hands down his chest with a low moan that wentstraight to Ryden’s dick. “Do you know how often I tried not to stare at this body when you were downstairs working out?”
“Is that so?” Ryden loved how desperate Jay was for him. He was still trying to wrap his head around it. But now was not the time. If Jay wanted to be fucked into the mattress, Ryden would happily oblige. His best friend had settled into the guest bedroom with the door closed, where he wouldn’t hear Ryden making a mess out of Jay. He had no doubt Saint was going to burst into gloating mode at some point, but that was tomorrow’s problem. By the time they reached the bedroom, they were both naked and painfully hard. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous.”
Before Jay could say another word, Ryden shut the bedroom door, spun Jay around, bent him over the end of the mattress, and dropped to his knees behind Jay.
“What are you?—?”
Ryden parted Jay’s cheeks and speared his hole with his tongue, moaning when Jay jumped and let out a string of what sounded like curses. Hard to tell since all his words came out jumbled together. Ryden dug his fingers into the round globes of Jay’s ass as he took his fill, loving the way Jay pleaded for Ryden to fuck him. He slid his hands over all that soft, smooth skin, up his back, and with his chest pressed to Jay’s back, he whispered in Jay’s ear.
“Tell me what you want, darlin’, and it’s yours.”
“That depends,” Jay said, breathless.
“On what?”
