“Does it matter?”
“To me, no,” I reply easily. “I’m attracted to you either way. Hell, I was attracted to you when I thought you were straight.”
He smiles slyly and that feeling in my groin, that tingling tightness I get when something really turns me on, starts to happen. I wish it didn’t because I’m still not going to do anything about it.
“I’m gay,” Chase says firmly. “In college my girlfriend wanted a threesome with me and a guy on my swim team. He was game. I obliged and he and I probably had way more fun than her.”
Ah. Swim team. That explains the broad shoulders, trim waist, and lean but well developed muscles.
“Anyway, I thought I could ease my highly religious, conservative parents into my truth with baby steps. So, I went home for the weekend and told them I thought I was bisexual. And well, let’s just say, unlike your parents, they blinked.”
“Sorry.”
“Me too, but to be honest I wasn’t the least bit surprised.” Chase scratches his head, ruffling that thick, glossy hair I want to touch so badly. “Anyway, I haven’t bothered to clarify things for them because we’ve all agreed to just not talk about it at all. Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
“Well, you said your dad is a politician and that’s a very political way to handle it.”
“The marketing guy in me actually has to give him credit for being so on brand,” Chase quips and reaches for the wine bottle. He tops off my glass and then his own. “The marketing guy in me is also very interested in your campaign strategy for your brother.”
“Ah well, strategy is a very lofty word.” I sink back into the lush velvet of the couch because it gives me an extra couple of inches of distance from him and I kind of need it. The wine is making me relaxed and the intimate conversation we just had is making me want to be close to him physically too. I’m glad he’s changed the subject. “At first we thought we could rely on word of mouth and some meet and greets, but that didn’t work so we gathered up some cash and bought advertising on the side of a barn.”
“Where?”
“Near the last exit on 91.” Chase doesn’t even try to hide his bewilderment at that. “I know, not the best location. Anyway, we hired this campaign manager. The same one that got our current mayor elected so we thought it was a sure bet but turns out all her ideas cost a ton of money. And we don’t have a ton. Also, Woody is an environmentalist. I mean our whole family recycles and has a compost and we actually sat down and tracked the carbon footprint of our farm and our lives. But Woody is by far the most intense about it. He’s vowed to never have kids because the planet is overpopulated, he only rides a bike or walks or takes city transit and only lets us own one car between us. And he’s against stuff like flyers and posters and things that all the other candidates are using.”
Chase is listening intently. His expression has changed from that vulnerable, sexy guy who I play in a band with to this focused businessman guy. “Okay. Well, being an environmentalist will get him votes for sure. But you have to tell people about it. Have you?”
“I’m sure Woody brings it up,” I reply but to be honest, I don’t think he’s gone into much detail about it in interviews. I’ve been working so much I’m not sure. “And it’s a whole section on his website. A lot of his plans for the city involve improving its carbon footprint.”
Chase nods and scrubs his hand over the stubble on his chin, lost in thought. “So you have a website. That’s good. Have you optimized it correctly? What about Facebook ads? Does he have a Twitter account? A Facebook page?”
“Autumn set up the website on one of those free places, so I’ll have to ask her what optimizing is and if it was included,” I explain and his face falls. “And I don’t think we’re running ads and he has a Twitter. He’s had it for years. But he doesn’t use it.”
“Oh man, you guys need to run some Facebook ads and get him on Twitter talking with locals,” Chase advises. He stands up, putting his wine glass on the coffee table, and climbs the stairs to his bedroom two at a time. I sit there, frozen, wondering what’s happening but before I can ask, he’s on his way back down the stairs holding some papers. He hands them to me. “Take this. It’s a booklet I give out when I do a free, one-day course on social media advertising. There’s a whole section on there about Facebook ads. It’s just the basics, but even one basic ad is better than none. Give it to whomever you think should run the ads. It’s key that he gets more visibility.”
“Thanks, Chase.” I look at the papers and then back up to him. He’s settled on the couch again, but not in the other corner. He’s kind of in the middle, closer to me. “I saw you talking with Lacey Baldwin the night of the show.”
He nods and refills his wine glass. “We’re friends through those pesky parents I told you about.”
“So why are you helping her competition. I mean, I’m not trying to look a giftcoursein the mouth here, but I’m curious.”
“Ha! Cute pun. Witty, hot, and talented. Triple threat,” he replies and winks. Fuck that is hot. “Because despite knowing her, I don’t have a dog in this fight. I think she’d probably make a decent mayor, but it sounds like your brother would too. And he’s got one clear advantage over Lacey in my opinion.”
“That is?”
“That I want to kiss his brother again.”
Well, shit. I think he just made me blush. Either that or this wine is warming my cheeks, but I doubt it. “I like that reason more than I should.”
Chase shifts on the sofa, draping an arm across the back, his fingertips brushing the back of my shirt by my shoulder. I feel another ripple of electricity. I can’t remember the last time I was this turned on by a guy. “Look, I can’t do the whole boyfriend thing, but I can give someone a really good time. And I can be a bandmate and friend after the fact. I don’t get weird.”
Now I’m the one shifting my position, turning to face him, with my back against the arm of the sofa. I reach out with one hand and put my almost empty wine glass on the coffee table next to his and then lay my arm across his on the back of the couch. I shouldn’t, but I can’t resist. I’ve had a couple of hook-ups with no strings attached and they were fine. They served their purpose, they got me off. Idowant more than that, but if I can’t have more with Chase, should I deny myself what I can have? Plus, if I fool around with him now, maybe that sexual tension that distracts me when we’re in the same room will disappear. That would be helpful. Playing drums while fighting a hard on and the urge to make-out with your lead singer will get old fast.
Chase’s mouth quirks up in a smirk. “Who’s winning the battle in that head of yours? The devil or the angel?”
I smile sheepishly and let my fingers curl around his forearm near his elbow. His skin is warm and supple. “Which one has me making out with you again? Because that’s the one currently winning.”
We both lean forward at the same time and before I can even close my eyes, our lips crash together. This is a different kiss than the first one. That one tested the waters. This one is a cannon ball into the deep end. This one is even more needy, somehow. Chase is still forceful and confident in the way his tongue sweeps into my mouth, but now he’s also greedy and impatient. And before I know it, I’m on my back and he’s on top of me. I slide my hands into that hair I’ve been fantasizing about and it’s even more silky than I imagined. I curl my fingers around the ends and tug, pulling his head back and his lips off mine. He doesn’t go without a fight, gently biting my bottom lip before allowing me access to his neck. I kiss and suck my way from his collarbone to his jaw. He smells delicious, woodsy and crisp at the same time. I drop my right leg off the couch to make better space for his body between my legs and he takes full advantage of the room, grinding his hips into mine, his hard-on pressing into my own.
