Page 113 of His Temptation

“Do I look excited?”

He smiled. “Actually, you look a bit pale. Is Jay reallythathot?”

I clicked on my Facebook and typed in Jay’s name—not the first time I’d looked him up. Not that I’d ever admit it to anyone, but I had stalked Jay’s page not long ago and it had only made me feel worse. He was easily the sexiest man I’d ever seen.

It made me insecure. I’d never understand why Emery could be around Jay and still wantme.

“See?” I showed Vincent a photo of him.

Vincent studied it before making an odd face. “I know I’m straight and everything, but evenIwould tap that.”

“Not helping,” I said, tossing my phone on the bed. Then, as a way to distract myself, I asked him about Faith. They had gone to the anime con earlier that month and had sort of been dating since then. They hadn’t made it official, but it was obvious to anyone who saw them.

“She wants me to go to a poetry reading tonight,” Vincent said. “It’s at a coffee shop. I’m not into poetry really, but it sounds like it could be fun.”

“Want to trade?” I asked, pulling a red button-up shirt off the hanger.

“Nah, I’m good.”

I chuckled and grabbed my nicest pair of jeans and clean boxers before going to the bathroom to change. Changing in front of other dudes didn’t bother me because of my locker room days in high school, but I doubted Vincent wanted to see my naked ass.

Around six forty, I drove to Emery’s house. He greeted me at the front door with a kiss and looked me up and down.

“You look nice,” he said, and then his forehead creased. “Did you put product in your hair?”

“Maybe,” I said, running a hand over my head. “Does it look okay?”

“It does.” He touched my cheek. “Stop worrying.”

“What makes you think I’m worrying?”

Emery gave methatlook—brows skewed and humor shining in his eyes.

“Okay, I’m worrying a little,” I admitted, smoothing a hand down my shirt. “I regret setting this whole thing up. Jay’s like a god, and I’m the little peasant boy who cleans out the stables.”

Emery gripped my chin and brought me closer. “But he’s not the one who warms my bed at night, is he?”

I gulped as I stared into his eyes. Okay, I took back my earlier thought. Emery was the sexiest man I’d ever seen. Jay came in at a close second, though.

“You ready to go?” he asked, trailing a finger down my jaw.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Be good at dinner and I’ll treat you to dessert later tonight,” Emery said in his raspy, alluring tone, practically eye-fucking me.

“Does this dessert involve more strawberries?” I asked, getting hard at the memory of our last fruit session in bed.

He leaned closer, his breath tickling the area right below my ear as he murmured, “I bought a bottle of whipped cream especially for you.” His hand slid to my ass and gave it a nice squeeze. “Now get your sexy ass in my car.”

Jay had called Emery on our way there and said he grabbed us a table near the bar. As we walked through the parking lot toward the entrance, my stomach was in knots.

And then Emery grabbed my hand.

“Relax,” he said. “Jay is a great guy. If you don’t want to do this, though, we can cancel. I’m sure he’d understand.”

I focused on our joined hands and smiled. One, because we were in public and I loved being able to make it known that he was mine and I was his. And two, because the feel of his hand in mine gave me the confidence I greatly lacked.

“No.” I tightened my hold on him. “He’s your closest friend, and I want to meet him.”