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“Snarky is not your color,” I said.
He grabbed a hand towel from the kitchen and patted down his pants to dry them off in a lame attempt.
“Do you need a hand?” I sat on the sofa, watching him, waiting for him to settle down. He kept blotting at his soaking wet crotch, his shirt damp but forgotten. That didn’t seem to bother him. “No one’s going to see. It’s just you and me up here.” I reminded him we were alone. “There’s probably a dryer around here. You can take off your clothes and shove them in the dryer. Turn it on for a few minutes.”
“You would like that, wouldn’t you? Was that your plan all along?” He removed his shirt first, balling it up and throwing it at me on the sofa. His hands went to the button on his jeans, unclasping it before sliding the zipper down. Time stood still as I held my breath, waiting for him to finish undressing.
“Yes, you caught me. I wanted to get you naked in Lincoln’s house,” I said and covered my enormous smile that seemed impossible to hide.
Jaxson slid his jeans down and tossed the denim at me.
“Are you expecting me to do your laundry? In case you haven’t realized, this isn’t the 1950s.” I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. Shirtless, he had an impressive body. He didn’t need a tan to show off his muscles. My eyes fell over his body, examining every inch that I could see, his boxers getting in the way of anything more exciting.
“Lucky for you,” Jaxson said. He stalked toward me, leaning forward, half-naked.
I exhaled a heavy breath. My body responded in kind, wanting to touch him, taste him, and explore everything he had to offer. I struggled to keep my eyes open, his body hovering, teasing me. I shifted closer as he leaned in, wanting a kiss, a taste of what he offered. One kiss hadn’t been enough earlier in the bar. I craved more. Being around him, half-naked, was stirring my insides and making me restless beneath him. He hovered above me, his eyes bored into mine.
Jaxson snatched his wet clothes from my grasp, leaving me breathless and panting.
“Such a tease,” I muttered under my breath.
A voice by the door cleared his throat, albeit rather loudly, to get our attention.
Jaxson took a step back, wet clothes in hand, as he spun around to see who had come inside the apartment.
“You two couldn’t make it back to Jaxson’s place?” Lincoln asked. He shut the door behind him and stalked into the kitchen, his footsteps heavy against the floor.
It wasn’t a rhetorical question.
“Please do me a favor and don’t do anything on that sofa. I like it and would hate to have to throw it out or burn it after Jaxson’s ass gets all over the leather.”
Lincoln had a sense of humor. I laughed and covered my lips. “We were just coming up here to rest.” It was a lame excuse, but I didn’t want to tell him the real reason and face his pity.
“Of course you were.” He glanced at Jaxson as he stood in nothing but his boxers and a smile.
“Believe it or not, she spilled water on me, and I was just about to put my clothes in your dryer,” Jaxson said.
“That’s a new excuse, and I don’t buy it,” Lincoln said.
Jaxson stared at me, waiting for my input. “Give me a hand here.”
I took another sip of the near-empty water bottle. “You’re doing just fine.” It was fun to see him flustered and being teased by his friend. Lincoln didn’t appear mad, and while he probably wasn’t thrilled to walk in on guests in his home, he wasn’t kicking us out yet either.
Lincoln pointed at Jaxson. “Is this guy trying to take advantage of you because if he is, I’ll kick his ass?” He approached Jaxson, holding out his hand for the wet clothes. Was he checking to see if I’d spilled water on him?
“He’s quite the gentleman,” I said.
Lincoln grunted under his breath, satisfied with the wet clothes. “I’ll throw this into the dryer. You can borrow something of mine from the dresser. I’d rather not have you half-naked in my living room.”
“Aw,” I whined in protest. “I was enjoying the show.”
Lincoln thudded with heavy footsteps down the hall, wet clothes in hand. “Well, I wasn’t, and I live here.”
“Fair enough.” I finished the last of my water, already feeling much better. Perhaps it was the banter, the fact both men had taken my mind off everything else that had been bothering me.
I hadn’t realized Jaxson had disappeared down the hall until he returned to the living room wearing a pair of gray sweats and a black t-shirt. “Now, where were we?” Jaxson asked, approaching the sofa. He stood in front of me, hovered above as I stared up at him. His legs straddled mine, teasing me without so much as touching me.
I whimpered in protest. Being in his proximity, having seen him half-undressed moments earlier, had made me crave him even more. As if the kiss hadn’t been my initial undoing.
“You were just about to tell me why you don’t have a girlfriend,” I said.