Go figure that I had some sort of sixth sense for the man.
As soon as I walked into the coffee shop, my entire body froze when I spotted Itsuki at a table happily sipping at his favorite iced coffee, sitting across from the very man that I’d told to stay away from him.
It would be stupid to get upset in public, so I did what any rational person would do. I walked over to the counter, ordered my drink, before making my way over to the table and joined them.
“Love the hair, Itsuki.” I said as I reached over to him and ran my fingers through the dyed strands. In all the years I’d known him, he’d never done something like this, and he hadn’t been kidding when he said I probably wouldn’t recognize him. There was something about it that still screamed Itsuki. It was so him, and my fingers itched to continue to comb through the soft strands.
“Can I help you with something?” Ryosuke asked as I continued to sit there, making no move to get up and leave.
My gaze swung to him, my eyes narrowed. He had to know that I’d be upset about stumbling across this.
I took a long sip of my hot coffee, letting the bittersweet liquid wash over my tastebuds before setting the paper cup on the table in front of me. “Nothing you can help me with, Ryosuke. I got a phone call from Itsu-chan, here, and I happened to find him in this shop. Thought I’d say hi.”
The air was frosty between us. You could see the icicles forming in the air as Ryosuke continued to stare daggers at me. He knew why I wouldn’t get up and walk away from this table. Not while my best friend was still in his presence.
“Well—” he started, but didn’t get to finish before Itsuki cut him off.
“I’m so glad that you’re both here! Yasu-san, did you know Ryosuke knows my coffee order? He’s only been with us a couple of weeks, but he’s paid that much attention. Wasn’t that nice?”
It was nice, but I also knew the intention behind it. Ryosuke wasn’t just getting Itsuki coffee to be his friend. He was getting him coffee because he wanted into his pants, much like he’d tried to get into mine the other day when he’d come to my place. The only thing I couldn’t figure out was the motivation behind it all.
Instead of being goaded on by Ryosuke, I grinned at Itsuki. “That was very nice of him.” It was easier to placate than to cause a problem.
Itsuki took another long sip of his iced coffee, nearly emptying the entire cup before he started to chatter on about whatever it was he wanted to chatter about. All I could focus on was the way Ryosuke was staring at me. His eyes hadn’t left me since I’d walked through the door, and for someone who was interested in the other man at the table, he sure was paying me a lot of attention.
The tension didn’t ease when we left the coffee shop.
The only difference was that Itsuki had his arm looped through mine. Ryosuke was still glaring holes into the side of my head, and I was more than aware that I was being the biggest cockblock in the entire world. I’d do anything to protect my friend’s innocence.
I’d gotten a peek at what Ryosuke was capable of at my place. While nothing happened, he’d still played with fire. I knew what it felt like when he was aroused. Was that maybe a little fucked up? Probably.
That was when something hit me—my steps faltering.
It wasn’t that I wanted to keep that feeling to myself. I’d known Itsuki since forever, and while he was capable of making his own decisions, there was still that part of me that wanted to protect him. To be all of his firsts, even if our friendship got in the way of that happening.
“Is everything okay?” Itsuki asked as I continued standing there.
It took everything in me not to laugh, to let loose all the emotions I was feeling because of the stupid asshole that had plowed his way into our lives thanks to needing a new bassist.
“I’m fine,” I lied before starting down the road again. It was a futile effort because the second we started walking again, there was hot breath at my ear as Ryosuke leaned in close. I should have known that he wouldn’t let things go after the other day.
“Are you thinking about it?” he whispered?
My eyes snapped to his, but I didn’t answer him before I looked back at the pavement in front of us.
A soft chuckle filled the air. Itsuki missed it—that was good because the last thing I needed was for him to ask why Ryosuke was laughing at me. I didn’t answer Ryosuke, only continued to walk while Itsuki talked about a kitten that he’d seen while he was walking over one of the little river crossings near his apartment. The animal was by itself, and he wanted to bring it home, but didn’t know if it could handle him being gone for a long time when we went on tour. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t afford someone to come over to help feed it and change the litter, but he felt wrong getting attached to an animal that needed him when he wouldn’t always be around.
That was when I felt it again.
Those warm puffs of air against my ear had my dick stirring in my pants. Ryosuke needed to knock it off because we were in public—the last thing I needed was for someone to say I was being indecent.
“Yasu-chan—” The endearment sent a thrill rushing through my veins. It was so stupid because Ryosuke hadn’t gotten to me like this before; he’d been in my space the other day. “Don’t you want to know?”
My breath quickened because I knew what he was talking about. He’d brought it up at my place as well. I’d denied it because the last thing I needed was to give him leverage to use against me. Go figure that by not saying anything, I’d done that, anyway.
“Yasu...”
I closed my eyes because there was no way to stop Ryosuke from talking without drawing attention to what he was about to say. “Don’t you want to know what he wears beneath those skirts?”
