“Nah, it’s for the other man in my life,” Gabe says with a smirk.
My mind immediately goes to the worst scenario possible: of Gabe actually asking another guy to meet up with us tonight. But then Gabe rises from the couch with the second beer in hand and walks toward our newly arrived friends.
“Hey brother, glad you finally made it. You’re buying the next round for being late,” Gabe tells Luke—‘the other man in his life’—and I feel embarrassed having doubted him.
“Hey guys. Sorry we’re late. What did we miss?” Kaden asks as they take seats next to Connor and Faith on the bigger couch.
“Well, Faith and Dakota have been arguing about which series was better—The WireorThe Sopranos.” Connor cups his mouth and leans into Kaden to whisper something that only Kaden and Luke can hear, judging by the smiles on their faces. Connor continues, directing his ramble at the rest of us. “You know where Faith and I stand on that—The Wireall the way.” Connor’s theatrics are typically amusing to us, but he must’ve had a few extra shots of espresso today with how animated he currently is. “Dakota swears byThe Sopranos, insisting thepsychological aspect is more interesting. Then, of course, you know Lanie has to throw in her two cents, sayingBreaking Badis better than both of them. Jackson obviously agrees with her because he doesn’t want to be in the doghouse. Lastly, Ender and Gabe are pretending to not be making heart eyes at each other, like the rest of us have no idea what’s going on with them.”
I’m not the only one stunned by his assessment of the group’s interactions, particularly of mine and Gabe’s status—or whatever you would call what’s happening between us.
Is there a status to speak of?
“What?” Typical Connor, acting like he doesn’t know exactly what he was doing just now.
When he hugs and kisses Kaden, Luke acts like a caveman grabbing his boyfriend’s hip and pulling him closer. He doesn’t realize that it only adds fuel to the fire of Connor’s antics.
“My, my, hasn’t someone gotten a little possessive of his man? Nothing turns me on more than a little ‘he’s mine’ behavior. If Kaden wasn’t my best friend, I’d be dragging you out the door already.” Connor wiggles his brows at Luke making Kaden give him a stern look.
“Connor is being Connor times one hundred today, if anyone hasn’t noticed.” I state the obvious and then change the topic once the laughter dies down.
I enjoy chatting with the group after that, still giddy with the relief of knowing Gabe's comment referred to Luke and not some random other guy.
Two beers and an hour later, we have a set of newcomers who notice Kaden. The girl looks familiar, and then it clicks when she calls Kaden ‘Dr. Parker’ when Luke invites them to join us—it’s Kelsey, his assistant, and what I assume is her boyfriend.
Connor nudges Faith to move next to Dakota who’s been sitting by himself and now looks both nervous and excited by his new couch companion. Faith has kept him in the friend zonefor weeks now, but every now and then, you can see this glint in her eyes giving away just how much she’s enjoying the push and pull with him. She doesn’t have the best taste in men, but Dakota doesn’t seem like that type of asshole, given the way he looks at her.
Luke pulls Kaden onto his lap to make extra room for the couple to join us, but their attention diverts to my prying roommate all up in their business, asking everything about themselves aside from their social security numbers.
“Are you having a good time?” Gabe’s question startles me.
“Depends.”
“On what exactly?”
Our eyes connect, “Are you going to take me home with you tonight and finally fuck me like you mean it?" The air in our bubble changes, and the reaction is visceral. The smoldering look aimed at me is so heated that the hair on my arms is standing up.
“Is that what you want, Ender?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t.”
Our brief connection ends with Gabe taking out his phone, typing something, then quickly inserting himself back into the conversation with Jackson and Lanie.
In the last hour or so since our talk about going home, I’ve spent half of the time listening to the chatter around me and the other half lost in thought, eager for Gabe to fulfill his promise. After multiple beers and a couple of shots Faith and Lanie made us all take, I’m ready to get out of here. Kaden and Luke went to get food and drinks a few minutes ago, both of which are the last things on my mind.
The vibration near my thigh prompts Gabe to reach into his pocket to silence his phone, even as he stays completely engaged in his discussion with Jackson. Instead of resting his elbow on a knee with his other one, though, his free hand makes itselfat home on my inner thigh, producing a wave of electricity that shoots straight to my cock—just like every other time he touches me.
A server arrives a minute later with the food Kaden and Luke were supposed to bring back from the bar.
Jackson asks the server how she wound up bringing it to us, and it turns out Luke and Kaden apparently left without saying goodbye—I hope everything is okay.
“You ready to get out of here?” Gabe’s question heightens the excitement already coursing through my veins.
“Thought you’d never ask.”
We say our goodbyes, and I quietly let Connor know I won’t be home tonight. I feel the text message from him come in before we even get out to the parking lot.
Gabe leads the way to his car, but a noise causes us to pause before he opens the passenger door for me. I see movement a few cars down on our left and realize the noise is coming from behind Luke’s Jeep. Stepping to the back of Gabe’s car to see who’s there, I find my best friend in a compromising position.
