Right, Jesse still hadn’t said anything. He cleared his throat. “Sorry.”
“Been covered in worse,” the man said.
Shit. Jesse had gotten coffee all over them. He was running late for work, and now he needed a full change instead of grabbing a few things from his apartment. The man would need a change, too. The world stopped running in slow motion and sped to catch up.
“Damn it, I’m sorry,” Jesse said.
“Get stuck on repeat often?” the man asked.
“Only when I’m distracted. I got caught up in—” Announcing that he was distracted by the man’s beauty was a little too forward, and trying to explain that he thought something strange was going on with the man in the hoodie wouldn’t lead to more flirting.
Jesse had no good answer. Instead, he waved at the man’s shirt. “You have to let me do something about that.”
The man grinned, and a few inappropriate thoughts about getting the shirt off him flickered through Jesse’s imagination. The man’s smile was downright infectious and Jesse’s libido ramped up instead of down.
“Oh myfucking god,” a blond young man snarled as he stepped around the dark-haired stranger. He stormed past Jesse and wrenched open the door to the coffee shop.
“Someone needs his caffeine,” Jesse said.
The young man—practically a teenager, really—flipped him off as he went inside the coffee shop.
“Forgive him,” the man said with a sigh.
That sounded like he was familiar with the kid’s attitude. Jesse raised an eyebrow. “You know him?”
“Coworker.”
A surly teenager and a gorgeous mid-thirties man made for odd coworkers. Before Jesse could ask, his phone vibrated in a distinct five beat rhythm. His alarm. Crap. He was definitely going to be late.
“I have to go.” Jesse waved at the coffee stain on the man’s shirt. “At least let me pay for the dry cleaning.”
“It was an accident.”
“Because I wasn’t looking.” Snagging the man’s phone number was Jesse’s real reason for wanting to pay, other than wanting to do the right thing. Judging from the way the man wasn’t pissed off, he might have a chance at a date. And if the guy wasn’t into men, then Jesse could use distance between them when disappointment struck. “Please, I insist. This was my fault. If you give me your number, then I can send you mine.”
“All right. My name is Bryce.” The man recited his number and Jesse double-checked it before adding him to his contacts.
Bryce was such a good name. A perfect name, really. Jesse nodded, more to himself, and then shot off a quick text. “And now you’ve got my name and number. Send me a pic of the receipt and I can PayPal you or something.”
The blond kid tapped on the window of the coffee shop, startling Jesse. The kid glared at him, which intensified when Jesse met his glare with one of his own. Was the kid jealous? He was way too young for Bryce.
Bryce rolled his eyes and held up a finger, motioning for the kid to be patient. “Don’t mind him.” He held his hand out to Jesse. “It was nice running into you.”
With the way Bryce said it, hecouldbe flirting. Jesse chuckled, shook his hand, and tried not to overthink the strength and warmth he felt in Bryce’s grip. “Hopefully the next time I see you, it won’t be a try-out for the Patriots.”
Bryce laughed as he headed into the coffee shop.
Okay, maybe Jesse had a shot at a date, and maybe he didn’t. But at least he had Bryce’s number. Whatever other turns his day took, he had that tiny joy to get him through.
