“No one at the library is going to judge me for walking through the park,” I said defensively. “You don’t look that tough.”
Gunner jumped in the air suddenly, grabbing a low-hanging tree branch and swinging his legs back and forth. “So you think I look tough?”
I almost laughed despite myself. Swinging through the air, I had a whole new view of the way his jeans clung to his body. With his package right at eye level, I had to avert my eyes to avoid staring at his substantial bulge.
“Something like that,” I muttered. He kept swinging and staring at me, and I worked up a little gumption to push back. “Anyway, aren’t you worried about some meatheads from your job catching you wandering through the park with a gay nerd?”
Gunner let go of the branch, launching forward and landing only a few inches in front of me in a squat. When he rose back to full height, I was reminded of how much taller he was than me, and I felt a whole new wave of desire.
“If any of the guys at work got a problem with me, they know enough to keep their damn mouths shut.”
I realized we had found our way to a small clearing in the park, tucked between some particularly large pine trees off the main path. We were hidden in the shadows, and as Gunner took a few casual steps further off the path, I knew that this was the spot he had been leading me to the whole time.
Damn it, but I wanted to take him up on every offer he was making with that arrogant grin and those teasing questions. I wanted to push through my anxiety and let him play me like a fiddle, right there in the middle of the park. It sounded so freeing, and so sexy, too. I didn’t even know what he would have planned; I just knew that it would send me reeling and spinning.
I wanted Gunner so bad I could taste him on my lips already, but then the risks started filling my mind. One sure way to end your career as a children’s librarian was to get caught having sex in a public park. I could only imagine the phone call I would have to make to my parents after that.Your only child is a pervert. Can you please post bail?
Gunner leaned up against a tree, and when he folded his arms over his chest, his leather jacket made a weird creaking noise. “Come on, Malcolm,” he teased. “Impress me.”
“Impress you?”
“Yeah, impress me. Do something unexpected. Do something that’s going to show me you’re not so scared after all.”
I swallowed. The wordsMalcolmandunexpecteddidn’t really go together, but Gunner wasn’t aware of that.
So then I did the only thing I could think to do. I took a few steps forward, joining Gunner by the tree. He bit down on his bottom lip as I approached, staring at me almost like he was admiring me, like he was surprised by my actions. Our bodies a few inches apart, I could feel the heat coming off of him. He smelled like dirt and metal, and my cock grew harder when the scent filled my nose.
“Malcolm, Malcolm, Malcolm,” he whispered.
I reached into my back pocket, pulling out my wallet. I nearly fumbled it but managed to pull out a business card instead.Malcolm Crane: Children’s Librarian. I leaned forward and shoved it into the breast pocket of Gunner’s jacket.
He blinked. “What’s this?”
“My card,” I answered. “So you can call me.”
He stared at me for a second, then erupted into laughter. It sounded happy instead of mean, but my cheeks still burned from embarrassment. Once he finally recovered, he wiped a tear away from the corner of his eye. “Fuck, Malcolm. You’re almost too much.”
“What?” I asked. “What’s so funny about that?”
He shook his head. “Nothing funny,” he answered, pushing off from the tree and placing his body right up close to mine again. “Just very, very tempting,” he whispered in my ear.
He started to walk away, and I almost choked on my words trying to stop him. “What? That’s it? You’re dragging me back here and then running away because I gave you a business card?” I felt deflated, all the nervous energy that had built up dispersing at once.
Gunner stopped, then pivoted back to me. “I got your number, don’t I?”
“Does that mean you’re going to call me?”
He shrugged, his palms pointed toward the sky. “Hard to say.”
I sighed. “God, Gunner, you’re really frustrating! You know that?”
He grinned again, totally unfazed. “Yeah, that’s what I hear.” For a second, we stood in the clearing, the shade of the trees casting intricate shadows over us. He gave me another look up and down, like he was inspecting me, and then stepped forward. All my muscles tensed, my anxiety pulsing, and then he did the last thing in the world I would have expected.
He kissed me.
He kissed me softly and tenderly. He brushed his lips against mine and stroked my cheek with the back of his hand, and, at the exact right moment, he bit down on my bottom lip, just hard enough.
I moaned, and for one glorious second, the entire world seemed to disappear.
Then he released my lip and turned to walk away.
“Better watch yourself, Malcolm,” he called over his shoulder. “Next thing you know, I might actually try to take you on a proper date.”
