I liked him flirting with me, but watching him get along with Yasu? That’d meant the world to me as well. Maybe it was strange to feel such a strong pull to both of them, but I didn’t care. The feel of Yasu holding onto me sent little ripples of pleasure through me that were impossible to ignore. Aided by the whiskey, I was feeling a little braver than normal.
“Yasu-sama.” The name rolled off my tongue, and I loved the feel of my friend vibrating under my touch.
“What’s gotten into you today?” he asked, casting a quick glance up at the other man in the room.
Instead of paying attention to Ryosuke like Yasu clearly wanted me to do, I ran my nose along Yasu’s jaw, enjoying theway little goosebumps exploded across his skin as my breath hit him.
“Nothing has gotten into me today. Just feeling a little more affectionate, maybe.”
It took everything in me not to pout when Yasu pushed back from me. Maybe it was a mistake to do this while someone else was in the room. While that someone else was the one person my best friend couldn’t stand.
Yet, I also wanted Ryosuke involved.
I was far from a blushing virgin. Sex was fun, and I’d had a lot of it. It didn’t matter who I got with either. There’d been men and women. The only thing I hadn’t been completely sure of was Yasu. He’d only dated girls from what I’d seen. But then there’d been the moments where he’d let me hang off of him, or be overly affectionate with him. He didn’t let the others do that. Just me.
But with Ryosuke, he didn’t hide his interest. I knew it was there in the way he touched and flirted with me.
What I could have done was wallowed on how disappointed I was that Yasu had basically rejected me, but why did I need to wallow when I had another fine specimen of a man to play with. I could work it in my favor as well. If I were correct about my best friend, if I did pursue something with Ryosuke, he’d get upset and jealous.
My heart slammed just a little harder against my rib cage as my face heated the closer I got to our new bass player. Sweat gathered on my palms, making them clammy, but it didn’t stop me from reaching out and touching the side of Ryosuke’s confused face.
“Itsu...” he breathed as I drew in even closer, feeling the burning glare of my best friend on the back of my head the entire time. Any second now, he’d come to his senses and tell me to stop.
But that stop never came.
A bolt of electricity, pure unadulterated lust, zapped through my system the moment my lips landed on Ryosuke’s. His mouth was soft and supple, and while I thought that maybe his lips would be chapped and rough, they weren’t.
He also didn’t waste any time kissing me back.
My mouth opened in a surprised gasp, allowing his clever tongue to slip inside and dance with mine.
The room fell away. All I could feel, smell, and sense was Ryosuke. He was sweet with the taste of the whiskey and the tea we’d shared in the kitchen. This was probably the biggest mistake I could ever make, but the second an arm wrapped around me and pulled me in closer—
“Stop!”
We broke apart, gasping for air as the world came crashing back to reality.
“What the hell, Itsuki?” Yasu demanded as he grabbed my hand, pulling me from Ryosuke’s embrace. My lips still tingled from his kisses. I couldn’t get my eyes to focus on my best friend.
“You clearly didn’t want him,” Ryosuke said, setting a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
A frown marred Yasu’s face as he looked between me and Ryosuke.
“Didn’t want him? You have no fucking idea what it’s like to want him. I just have enough sense not to mess up our friendship.”
My breath caught at the admission.
This wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but hearing him say it out loud confirmed what I’d always known. Yasu and I were more. Were meant to be so much more. But I still wanted Ryosuke. Now was the time to take a leap of faith.
So that no one felt left out, my fingers threaded through Ryosuke’s as I leaned in closer to Yasu. I needed him to staypresent for this. He was every bit a part of this. I needed him to know that. My free hand cupped Yasu’s warm cheek as my lips gently pressed to his once more.
His breath shuddered against me, but he slowly returned my kiss, though not as passionately as Ryosuke had. Yasu’s kiss was tentative, a sampling, a tasting. You could feel how timid and scared he was in the way he quivered against me.
When I pulled away, Yasu’s eyes were closed—the grip Ryosuke had around my fingers was almost enough to break them. Maybe on any other day I wouldn’t have been bold enough to try this, but there we were and I’d not only kissed my best friend but brought our new bassist along for the ride.
Instead of letting my thoughts get away from me, I turned, pulling Ryosuke closer, sealing my mouth over his again. I kept one hand on Yasu’s shoulder because I didn’t want him to go anywhere either. It would be so much easier to tell them out loud, to use my words to express that I want them both, but I was also scared.
It was a lot.
