Page 42 of A Cold Hard Truth

“Is that what you want?”

“Yeah,” Remington answered. “Yes. I want to do better. Icando better.”

“How far back are we talking?” Sebastian asked.

“Callahan’s house. When you showed me your phone.”

“Do we have to go back?” he asked with a laugh. He would go back to Callahan’s if that was what Remington wanted, but he liked the way Remington looked in his living room and he wanted to see him there a little bit longer.

“No,” Remington said. “We can do it here.”

“Alright.” Sebastian stepped back to the counter and set his phone down, waiting for Remington to join him.

Sebastian could feel the nerves and heat radiating off Remington in waves. He wished he could soothe the other man, that he could somehow alleviate his worries, his fears. This do-over wasn’t practical, but neither was Remington, and if this gave him a chance with the handsome and awkward archivist… he would do it a thousand times over.

Remington’s arm pressed against his and Sebastian slid his phone toward him. “You look pretty real to me.”

Much as it had last time, Remington’s breath still hitched in his throat, a quiet and scared sound that did more for Sebastian’s dick than he would have been willing to admit.

“You’re George,” Remington whispered. His tongue darted out, wetting the corner of his lip, his stare focused on Sebastian’s phone between them.

“I’m George,” he said.

Remington turned, shifting slightly, and he slowly raised one of his hands, hesitating near Sebastian’s shoulder.

“I want… is it okay to touch you?”

“Please,” he exhaled.

Remington continued his movement, his hand dragging up to Sebastian’s face, briefly cradling his cheek before tucking around the back of his head. Remington’s fingers threaded into Sebastian’s hair, not tight, but not forgiving, and Sebastian’s knees trembled. Actually trembled.

“Remington,” he said, syllables rushed and harsh, even to his own ears.

“I’ve been thinking about kissing you for weeks.”

“Only weeks?” Sebastian chuckled, betraying his own lingering interest.

“Sebastian.”

“God,” he groaned, lashes fluttering. “Please say it again, I’ve waited so long to hear you say my name like this.”

“Like what?” Remington’s mouth twitched into a smile, a little more confident than the last one, and his hand tightened around the base of Sebastian’s skull.

“Like you want me.”

“I do,” Remington said, and then he closed the space between them and pressed their mouths together.

It was a chaste kiss, a silly and trivial touch of skin, but to Sebastian, it felt like the world began and ended all within the same moment. The air sucked out of the room, out of his lungs, and then Remington opened his mouth, using his tongue to slip between Sebastian’s parched lips, and…

Holy shit.

Remington’s kiss started gentle, exploratory, almost as if he’d never done it before. Sebastian felt like he had at fourteen when Rachel Roberts had planted her lips against his at freshman homecoming. Everything felt new and different, like a universe was opening up in front of him and he only had to reach out and take it.

He grabbed Remington around his sides, using the taller man to steady himself. His fingers dug into Remington’s slim waist, and he opened his mouth wider, making way for Remington’s tentative exploration.

The kiss ended before it really got started, and Sebastian chased after Remington, his eyes closed and mouth open, not ready for that to be the end of things.

“Remington,” he pleaded. “Remington, more than that.”