Page 66 of Before It's Too Late

Cael took a swig and moved in behind Zach, barely pressing against his back. Resting his chin on Zach’s shoulder, Cael watched thoughtfully as he finished buttering the six slices of sourdough, wondering if he should get the issue off his chest and out of his mind now or wait until another time. He opted for the first.

“I need to talk to you about something,” Cael said.

“Okay.”

“We’ve been together as a couple now for a few weeks…”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want us to stay like this?”

Zach froze. He set the butter knife on the plastic cutting board and spun around, looking up at Cael. A crease marred the space between his wrinkled brows. “Yes.”

It was a hoarse whisper and almost a question.

“Pook, if you don’t, I’ll understand. We can always go back to just friends.”

Zach stared at him, his eyes focused, his expression impassive. “I don’t want to go back to just friends, but—”

“But what?”

“It sounds like maybe you do, like being in a fucking relationship isn’t what you want after all.”

“What? No!”

“Then what the fuck is it? Why were you so quick to offer that?”

“I just… I want you to know that just because we’re best friends too doesn’t mean you have an obligation to stay intimate with me if it’s not what you want.”

“What gave you any impression that being with you isn’t what I want? And for fuck’s sake, Manning, you had better not tell me it’s because I’m new to the whole gay sex thing or some shit like that.”

Zach’s concerned tone bordered on frustration and anger.

Cael tried to keep the emotion out of his voice and play it off as if it was no big deal. “You didn’t push that woman’s hand away when she touched you at the park. It made me—”

“Jealous?” Zach derided, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the counter. He set his hard gaze on Cael.

“No,” he retorted. “Just seeing you with her made me realize that I may not be enough or right for you is all.”

Zach pinned him with a scrutinizing glare. “You’re kidding, right?”

Cael took several steps backward until his back bumped into the fridge, putting a little distance between them. He shrugged his shoulders and wrinkled his forehead, giving Zach a scrunched, tilted frown.

“Fucking hell, Manning.” Zach’s expression softened. He huffed a small laugh and rolled his eyes, giving his head a slight shake. “And I thought you were adorable in protector mode, but I have to say, seeing you fucking jealous and worried over me takes it to a whole new level.”

“Shut up,” Cael snapped, but the smile teasing his lips gave him away.

“Get your ass back over here.”

“Why?” Cael asked, his feet already carrying him back to the man he’d never deny anything, no matter what he asked.

The moment he was within arm’s reach, Zach reached out, grabbed a fistful of Cael’s shirt, and tugged him closer. “So I can demonstrate why you have nothing to be fucking worried or jealous about.”

With his hand gripping the back of Cael’s neck, Zach pulled his head down until their lips met in a soft press. Zach’s warm lips gently caressing his eased Cael’s fears. Zach ran his tongue along the seam of Cael’s lips, urging him to open. Cael parted his lips, letting Zach in, melting the moment Zach’s tongue brushed his. Pulling their bodies together, Zach kissed him with such tender passion and reverence Cael couldn’t stop the content sigh that escaped him.

Zach eased back, panting softly, his lips a little redder and slightly swollen. He grabbed Cael’s hand and forced it against his hard erection, eliciting a quiet moan from Cael.

“Do you feel that?” Zach whispered hoarsely. “No one but you has ever done that to me before with a fucking kiss.”