“Well, hopefully not too straight,” he said with a glint in his eye.
“Hell no. I wanna rip off that tank top and feast on your body.”
“About time,” he said, reaching for the hem of his shirt. “Thought you were gonna leave me with blue balls tonight.”
“Never,” I said, drinking in his slim, toned torso with greedy eyes. “Sorry for freaking out on you. I’m working on feeling like I deserve all this, but Bailey, you gotta know… I didn’t think I’d get to have something like this with someone like you.”
“Well, you’ve got me. Now, what are you going to do with me?”
“Keep you,” I answered with more conviction than ever.
If the brothers didn’t take my truth well, it would hurt. But I couldn’t second-guess this. Couldn’t do Bailey the disservice of running away. Not when our connection was so strong.
Not when, against all odds, he still wanted me, damaged or not.
I wasn’t a strong enough man to walk away, so I’d just have to be strong enough to be the man he deserved.
There was no other way.
I loved him too damn much.
CHAPTER 28
Bailey
“How’s this?”
I looked at Sebastian, bent over the pool table, stiff as a board, and bit my inner cheek to hide my reaction.
“Good, yeah,” I said. “Loosen up a little.”
“I’m loose.”
Iris snickered from her spot at the high-top table where I’d first met Owen and Petie. “You look like you’re bracing for a prostate exam.”
Seb reddened and straightened to shoot her a glare. “Not helpful.”
She shrugged and tossed a handful of popcorn into her mouth. “Just calling it like it is.”
“Just relax a little,” I suggested. “Here, watch me.”
I took his pool cue, bent over the table, and visualized my next move. Once it was clear in my head, I shot the stick forward, sending the cue ball into the green three ball. It glided into the corner pocket as if it wanted to be there.
“Now, that’s a man who knows how to handle a stick,” Iris said with a wink.
Seb snorted. “In more ways than one.”
“Ohhh, look at Sebby going for the gay joke,” she cried. “How far our straight boy has come.”
“I didn’t give him much choice,” I said with a chuckle.
“Oh, are you talking about the night you kicked me out to hook up with your huge-ass boyfriend?” he asked. “Or the daily calls in which I have to pretend not to hear you talking about how much you miss his dick?”
I laughed. “I’m not that bad.”
Iris cleared her throat. “Remind us again, Bailey, why are you leaving for Thanksgiving break tonight, even though everyone else is heading out tomorrow? Oh, wait, I remember. You can’t go another night without your lover boy.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve got it bad for him. No denying that. I still don’t talk about his dick with Seb. He’d stroke out.”
