Page 51

They were so close, both crouched low in the dark, seemingly hidden away from the rest of the world.

All of the awkwardness that Atticus had felt between them when Kai had arrived seemed to melt away.

Atticus let out a shaky breath as Kai slipped a hand around one of his vest straps, tugging him closer.

Atticus’ heart tripped as Kai moved to whisper in his ear once more. “What was that about kicking my team’s ass?”

“Well,” Atticus whispered, breathing against Kai’s skin. “Maybe a kiss would help boost morale?”

Kai pinned him with those pretty eyes. He leaned close, a small smile playing across his lips. They were a hair’s breadth apart when Atticus’ vest lit up again with another hit. He looked down to see Kai’s gun pressed to his chest plate.

“Time’s up,” Kai said, something ravenous in his gaze as he pulled back. He patted Atticus’ cheek softly. “Not in front of the children.”

It took Atticus several moments to gather himself, to recover from the almost-kiss. He watched Kai’s retreating figure, felt laughter bubble up in his chest.

“They’re warriors!” The laugh he heard as Kai disappeared around a corner was worth losing the game for.

They ate ramen for dinner at a small place near the arcade, walking close enough that their arms brushed together every so often. Atticus wanted to reach out, to grab Kai’s hand. Would that be too much? They had almost kissed. Surely hand holding was on the table after that, right?

But Kai kept his hands nestled in the front pocket of his hoodie, and Atticus thought it might be weird if he just reached in there to grab one. So he settled for walking close enough to bump Kai with his shoulder whenever he said something amusing.

Kai was very amusing. Atticus had already known that, just from the short conversations they’d shared over the last few weeks.

He’d even known it from watching Kai’s streams. A sharp wit, scathing retorts.

But in person, it felt different. There was something soft beneath Kai’s dispassionate outer layer. Something endearing.

Atticus’ crush had tripled in size over the course of the night. He’d known he liked Kai, a lot , but getting to really interact with him made it all feel more real, more exciting and deep-seated.

The way Kai seemed amused by Atticus’ teasing, trying and failing to hide the smiles and laughter that Atticus was pulling from him.

The way he would light up, just a little, when they talked about a game they were both excited for.

The way he talked about Ori and their longtime friendship with a fondness that Atticus could relate to as they discussed his teammates.

The way he continually teased Atticus for his laser-tag loss, his eyes sparkling as he finally agreed to a future rematch.

Dinner slipped by faster than Atticus was ready for. It felt like no time at all had passed before they were bickering over who would take care of the bill. Atticus stood from their table and simply held it in the air.

“Why are all of you tall people like this?” Kai asked, trying and failing to reach Atticus’ hand.

They were standing close, and suddenly Atticus felt as though the air in the room had grown thin.

He looked down at Kai, frozen in place and acutely aware of the few other patrons seated close by.

Atticus lowered his arm, leaning in close.

Kai didn’t step back, holding his ground as he continued to watch Atticus with those wide, whiskey-bright eyes.

“How about this,” Atticus said. His words came out a little breathy. “I’ll let you pay if you agree to come back to my place.”

Kai was quiet for a long moment, and Atticus thought he could almost see the overworked gears turning in that pretty head.

“Okay,” he finally responded, voice laced with a heat that set Atticus’ blood scorching through his veins. “Deal.”

Hands pressed against Atticus’ shoulders, pinning him against the back of the couch. He breathed in sharply before lips met his own .

Kai was in his lap, kissing him like it was what he was meant for. The hands on Atticus’ shoulders slid downward, ghosting over his chest and pulling a low moan from deep in his throat. Kai grinned against his mouth.

Atticus could hardly think straight, every movement from the man above him capturing his attention wholly.

He pressed up into the kiss, tasting Kai, drinking him in.

Kai’s hands settled at his waist, fingers digging in hard.

Atticus broke away from their kiss, moving to press his lips along Kai’s jaw, down the side of his neck, teasing with his teeth in a way that had the other man sucking in a sharp breath.

When Atticus reached the crook of Kai’s neck, sucking hard on the skin, Kai’s hips rocked against him and Atticus saw stars.

He bit down hard around the skin he had just been abusing.

Kai dropped his head to Atticus’ shoulder, releasing a breathy moan.

He moved his hips again, and Atticus bit harder, unable to pull away.

His hands ran along the thighs bracketing his waist. Kai’s joggers were like a second skin, and Atticus could feel every shift of muscle as Kai continued to move against him, grinding down on Atticus’ cock.

His hands tugged at Kai’s waist, pulled him closer as their mouths crashed back together.

The kiss was sloppy, hurried and wet and fierce.

Atticus moved a hand to cradle the back of Kai’s neck, tangling his fingers in the soft hair that was coming loose from his bun. A small sound escaped Kai at the motion, giving Atticus an idea that he ran with. He tangled his fingers in deeper before giving Kai’s hair a good pull .

A cry escaped Kai, his fingers tightening on Atticus’ hips hard enough to bruise. Atticus pressed a light kiss to the hollow of his throat, grinding himself up against Kai’s ass. His free hand snuck under Kai’s hoodie, trailing along burning skin, brushing along his ribs, teasing a hard nipple.

He released his grip on Kai’s hair. Kai looked down at him with a gaze so molten Atticus thought he might catch fire.

“Want to move to the bedroom?” He ground his hips up again, pressing hard against Kai’s ass, a cheeky grin tugging at his lips. “I can’t stop thinking about how you might feel around me.”

Kai didn’t answer right away, only continued to stare down at him. Atticus could feel Kai’s hard dick pressed against his stomach, knew that he was just as affected in that moment. Kai finally looked away, brow furrowing slightly, those turning gears of his mind on full display once again.

“Everything okay?” Atticus asked, freezing. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“It’s not that,” Kai said. He sounded distracted, but not upset, and Atticus’ nerves settled a bit.

“Or…,” Atticus continued. An image had popped into his head. Kai’s confident hands pressing him down into the mattress as he moved behind Atticus. Inside of him . “We could do it the other way ‘round. I’m not picky.”

Kai’s face tilted to the side, his expression shifting into something considering. “I just… I haven’t bottomed since…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter. Are you sure?”

Atticus nodded. Vigorously. It suddenly didn’t matter that this was something he himself had never actually done before. He’d always taken the same role in the bedroom, and his partners had been more than happy to oblige.

“Just go easy on me, yeah?” Atticus said, silly grin still plastered on his face.

Kai leaned forward, pressing their lips together once again.

His tongue slipped into Atticus’ mouth, tasting him until Atticus thought he might just die from the fire building between them.

Kai pulled away, nipping sharply at Atticus’ bottom lip before he sat back.

“Yeah,” he said, amber eyes gleaming in the low light of the room, cheeks flushed and chest heaving. He was smiling, soft and teasing, his expression more open than it had been all evening.“Let’s go to the bedroom.”

Atticus stood up in one quick movement, lifting Kai with him. Legs wrapped around his waist, arms loose around his shoulders. Kai leaned in, kissing along Atticus’ jaw as they made their way toward the bedroom.

The moment Atticus sat Kai down on the bed he felt hands begin to pull gently at his clothes. Atticus helped by shucking away his shirt, tossing it across the room mindlessly. Kai’s fingers played at the waistband of Atticus’ pants, tugging his underwear down with them.

Atticus didn’t really care that he was mostly naked and Kai was still fully clothed. He crawled onto the bed in nothing but his socks, pushing Kai back until he caged him in. Atticus looked down in the low light of the bedroom.

Kai was raking his eyes over every part of Atticus, lighting a trail of sparks along his body. Slender fingers brushed along his tattoos, up his arm, across his shoulder. Kai ran a hand down Atticus’ stomach, causing him to flinch a little.

“That tickles,” he said with a frown, grabbing one of Kai’s wrists and pinning it to the bed.

Kai only let out a short hum before moving his free hand lower, wrapping it around Atticus’ cock, knocking the breath out of him.

Atticus curved his body, trembling as Kai began to work him steadily.

He leaned down, capturing Kai’s lips, breathless sounds escaping between them.

Atticus released his grip on Kai’s wrist as heat began to coil low inside his gut, as he began to lose all sense of reality.

He’d intended to get his hand back into Kai’s hair, to tangle his fingers in the soft strands.

Kai, though, had other plans. He released his grip on Atticus, using both hands to push him, heaving them over until Atticus was on his back and Kai was seated on his thighs.

Atticus leaned up, pulling Kai into another fiery kiss as he worked to divest him off that damn hoodie.