“You drink half, and Leo can drink the other half,” Kai said smugly.
I swallowed down a few healthy gulps before I slid the bottle across the coffee table to Leo, who threw back it like it was nothing. “This is what I missed in college?” I teased as Leo wiped the back of his arm across his mouth. “Maybe I should have stuck around just to get you two out of the apartment.”
“I dragged him to the club a few times,” Leo offered. “It just never really took.”
“He thinks too hard. It screws up his rhythm when he tries to dance.”
“Hey!” Kai shook the tiles in the banana-shaped bag. “Don’t team up on me just because I’m winning the game.”
Leo and I shared a look, then both burst out laughing. I figured it was the beer rushing to my head, but I turned my head shyly to the side, a little scared what would happen if I kept looking into his slate eyes.
“Another round?” Kai asked, and we were back in the game.
Bloom. Mine. Lion.
I frowned at my tiles, then shook my head.
I really wanted to spell outbologna, but it just wasn’t working with my other letters.
When I glanced up, both Kai and Leo were scowling at their boards as they quickly rearranged tiles. Every time they hollered out, I had to grab another one, and my pile kept growing bigger. Then, with a stroke of luck, I got thegI was looking for, and all the pieces came together.
“Bologna! I mean I got bologna, and swoon, and lion and tamer! I mean I won!”
Leo frowned at his very incomplete game. “Damn it.”
“Well done,” Kai said with a nod as he glanced at my tiles.
The game went on for a while longer, although I lost so often it all started to blend together. I was tipsy enough to feel loopy and silly, but not so drunk I was messy, and so when Kai called it a night and Leo asked if I wanted to play his Switch with him, I actually said yes.
“I have no idea how to do this,” I explained as I took a seat next to him on the couch. The fabric was soft beneath my hand, and I stroked the cushion. Leo played with a controller as he flicked through a menu that was open on the large TV, which was flat against the wall across from us.
“Did you play video games when you were young?”
“Sometimes. Usually to make Kai happy.”
“What kind of games did you like?”
I tried to remember. “I was good at smashing buttons, but I didn’t like fighting.”
Leo nodded. “How about a racing game? Mario Kart? You can just hold a button down and steer.”
I grinned. “Perfect.”
I watched Leo as he got the game set up. He sat with his legs spread, and he leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. Back at the office, he was always poised, with his hair carefully combed in place and perfect posture as he greeted clients and projected confidence. But like Kai said, here at home, he relaxed a lot more, and the puppy dog side of him came out.
He did kind of have a puppy dog look, I realized. I mean, he was handsome in that traditional way, and his eyes really were his most striking feature. But behind that confidence, he was eager to please, and a part of me wanted to stroke the beard that grew across his chiseled jaw.
I blinked, then tore my eyes away, surprised with the turn my tipsy thoughts had taken. Leo hadn’t caught me staring at him, thank god, and when he handed me a controller, I acted like everything was normal.
Checking out Leo was not on the list of activities for the night.
Anyway, I already knew the guy was hot. That was obvious when I first laid eyes on his pretty lips and sharp brow. There was no need to start staring just because I’d had a few beers.
With a startle, I realized I had inched a little closer to him and him a little closer to me. An electric charge shot up my leg when he leaned in and his knee pressed to mine.
“Accelerate is A, brake is B,” he said, gesturing to the controller that I now clenched.
I kept my knee pressed to his. Even if I tried, I thought it would be impossible to pull away and deny myself that little pleasure. I was used to being touched, and I missed it. “Great,” I said. “Let’s go.”
