Gabriel shook his head, his eyes still following the lines of Reid’s body, his mouth getting dry as he took everything in. The tiniest spark of arousal flared inside him, making his belly feel warm.
He never felt like this just from looking at someone.
He’d never let himself look at a mostly-naked man this long before, though.
“You want me to put some pants on?” Reid asked.
Gabriel looked up, meeting his eyes. With all the courage he could gather, he shook his head again. “No,” he said, his dry throat making the word catch. He swallowed to try again. “No. I want you to take the towel off.”
Reid raised an eyebrow, but then smirked, moving his hands to where the towel was tucked at his hip. He unhitched it, moving his hands away and letting it fall to the ground, standing completely naked in front of Gabriel.
Gabriel swallowed, his throat dry all over again. His stomach bottomed out, arousal making him feel heavy and too warm, the urge to touch Reid surging back again. Not yet. They had plenty of time. They could take this slow.
Without much to compare to, all Gabriel knew was that looking at Reid’s cock was doing all kinds of things for him. His cheeks were flushed, his heart was pounding in his ears.
He was staring at another man, naked, and he was really,reallyenjoying it.
“I… you…” Gabriel said, unsure how to pay Reid all the compliments that were racing through his mind at once.
Reid smiled a much kinder smile this time, taking a step toward Gabriel, closing the gap between them. “You’re wearing too many clothes,” he said, reaching out and pushing his hands under the shoulders of Gabriel’s jacket.
Gabriel moved his arms away from his body so Reid could shove it off, letting it fall to the ground behind him. He closed his eyes as Reid squeezed his shoulders, drawing deep breaths as the touch of the other man’s hands woke up every nerve ending Gabriel had, Reid’s thumbs brushing against the sensitive skin of his neck.
“Can I keep going?” Reid asked, hesitating.
Gabriel nodded again, not trusting himself to speak. He wanted this so badly, no matter how nervous he was. He wanted whatever Reid would give him.
“I like your shirt,” Reid said as he lifted the hem, tugging it up, encouraging Gabriel to lift his arms so Reid could pull it over his head.
Some of the tension in Gabriel’s stomach melted away. Reid liked his shirt. Reid wasn’t about to call him a nerd—or at least, if he was, it’d be affectionate. Reidlikednerds.
He liked Gabriel. For whatever reason, he obviously liked Gabriel.
That was one more thing that felt impossible to process right now. No one liked him. Not like this.
Or maybe he’d just been trying with the wrong people.
“Thanks,” Gabriel said belatedly, looking down as Reid’s hands went to his belt, unfastening the buckle with confident fingers. The jeans that had been at least a size too big when he came back fit him comfortably now, better than they ever had before.
It was nice to feel good in his own skin for once. He hadn’t, before he’d left. Not ever. But now…
Reid made him feel good about his body. Reid made him feel good abouthimself.
There was nothing sexier than that.
“You look good,” Reid said, almost as though he’d been reading Gabriel’s mind. “You’ve got some nice definition going on here,” added, tracing the line of Gabriel’s hip.
He really didn’t hate that. Not enough to join a gym, but maybe enough to keep up the strength exercises Reid had given him.
Especially if he was going to be naked in front of people more often.
“You too,” Gabriel responded. “But I guess you know that.”
Reid grinned at him. “Still nice to hear. You sure you’re up for this?”
“I’m terrified,” Gabriel admitted. “But… I want… this. Whatever we’re doing.”
“We’ll take it slow,” Reid promised. “But you’ve seen me naked, so…”
