“I’m saying that right now you seem more like marriage material than a disaster zone,” Nate said. He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you wanted to date me.”
That might have slipped into flirting.
Flynn snorted. “God forbid. I have enough problems keeping up the payments on this place without having to take on the upkeep of the Granshire’s golden boy.” He bent his arm and leaned in until his mouth was almost touching Nate’s. “I’d rather just fuck you.”
The roughness of his voice and the soap and fresh, clean sweat of his skin made Nate’s balls ache.
“You had your chance.”
A smirk flicked at the corner of Flynn’s mouth. “Like you’d turn me down if I put on rubber?”
“You make it sound weird.”
“It is weird.”
Nate opened his mouth to retort, but Flynn kissed him to shut him up. His mouth was rough and impatient against Nate’s—all stubble and eager tongue—and he moved one hand to grip the back of Nate’s neck. He dug his fingers into the tight tendons and pried them loose, and the liquid release of tension was nearly as good as the clutch of want in the pit of Nate’s stomach.
He tightened his grip on Flynn’s bicep and pulled him closer. The heavy sprawl of Flynn’s body pinned him against the wall, and the edges of the bricks were sharp against his shoulder blades.
Lust might not make Nate forget all his worries, but it did shove them to the back of the line for later.
A startled gasp put a stop to that.
“Shit,” Flynn muttered. The word bumped against Nate’s lips, and he raised his head.
Dani stood at the back of her shop with her arms full of broken plastic hangers and bags. Her eyes were huge, and her mouth hung. Old habits made Nate flush and try to shove Flynn off him. Flynn stayed where he was.
“You’re gonna catch flies, Dani,” Flynn said.
She snapped her jaw shut. It was probably Nate’s imagination that filled in the click of teeth meeting.
“Sorry,” she said after a second. “I just… well, I’d heard the gossip about you two, but I didn’t believe it. I mean, after what happened between him and Teddy—”
“Nothing happened between him and Max….” Nate’s brain caught up with his mouth. “Hold on. What?”
“You don’t know?” Dani gasped. One hand patted at her throat as if she’d forgotten she had no pearls to clutch. Then her eyes flicked to Flynn, and her expression of wicked glee faded into something more wary. She pursed her lips. “Not that there’s anything to know. Not really.”
“No one said there was, Dani,” Flynn said flatly.
Dani shrugged a silk-covered shoulder. “If you say so. You’d know.” She dumped her armful of rubbish in the bin and turned to go back inside. But she paused on the threshold. “Oh, I do hope your mother is okay.”
Her sniff represented all the judgment that would be coming Nate’s way. Then she was gone, and the door slammed behind her.
Nate dropped his head back to bounce against the wall, and he groaned. “Fuck.” Then he opened his eyes and squinted at Flynn. “You didn’t, right?”
