Instead, though, I shove my hands in my pockets and smile back. “I’m glad you’re working again.”
Matty stirs the chopsticks in the carton. “Me, too. It feels good.” He looks up, a smile on his lips. “And I’m excited to get a tattoo from you this week.”
“They even put me back on flash today,” I say, pride rising up. It’s nice to have someone who understands this kind of thing and what my art means to me. “I’ll be warmed back up for you.”
He sets the carton on the desk and crosses to me. “Warmed up, huh?” he teases and presses his palms to my chest. “That sounds good.”
I laugh, and he wraps his hands around my neck and pulls me in for another kiss. Our tongues meet, and sparks go off in my gut. Touching him feels so right, but it hurts to know he’s not actually mine.
Aching heat scorches through me as I spin us and press Matty back to the desk. All the good and bad mix up together, confusing me.
I need him, but whenever I need another person, I’m on the fast track to being abandoned again.
It’s so much better to just be alone, to accept it.
But Matty’s fingers curl through my hair, and he takes my lip between his teeth, nibbling. My cock swells, and I hold him tight, like I can’t let go.
Fuck, everything feels impossible. Everything feels like it’s too much at once.
Everything feels good.
I finally rip my lips away, and Matty gulps air. “Fuck,” he groans, his palms back on my chest and the pressure of his touch on my heartbeat. “What a kiss.”
My own breath is ragged and raw. “Yeah.” I run my finger along Matty’s cheek, tracing the soft skin. “It’s nice.”
“We don’t have to stop,” Matty whispers, slowly drawing his hands down.
My cock is rock hard, and I want nothing more than the relief of his grip around my shaft. When I look around the shop, though, I remember that I’m interrupting his work night.
It’s one thing to fuck myself over and develop feelings for a guy I know I can’t have. It’s a whole other kind of problem if I mess his life up, too.
There’s no way I’ll be able to live with myself if I get in the way of Matty’s dreams.
I lean forward and press my forehead to his. “I could go all night… just so long as you get your work done first.”
A second passes while Matty processes my response. He pulls his hand back and swats my chest. “Tease,” he complains. “You give one exceptional rimjob, and you think you can go sassing me.”
“Exceptional, huh? I thought so, too.”
He rolls his eyes and reaches behind me to grab the takeout carton. “All I did was offer up my ass.”
I grab his hip. “Yeah, like you said, exceptional.”
That one earns a blush. I must be getting better at the whole flirting thing.
“Anything I can help with?” I ask. “If you give me a task, we can get to the all-night part quicker.”
“You sure? I mean, yes, definitely, but it’s super boring. Like untying knots and gluing beads. Practically tedious.”
“Point me toward the knots.”
“You’re a literal lifesaver,” Matty groans.
Hell, any excuse to keep having fun before reality comes crashing back down. But I don’t tell Matty that. Just like my history, thoughts like that are better kept buried. So instead, I take him for another quick kiss and sink my fingers into the give of his ass.
“Any time, babe,” I tell him, and we turn to the work.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
