Page 41 of Numbers Boy (Working Boys #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Noah

“THANK YOU,” I mutter quietly into Steve’s curls.

Steve rolls over to face me, a sleepy, confused look falling over his features. It’s cuter than it has any right to be.

“What for?” he asks, voice rough from sleep.

And maybe a little bit from our activities last night.

Once we hastily cleaned up all of his stuff in the dressing room, Steve and I went to his place, where we proceeded to get each other off again in the shower.

And then once more in the middle of the night.

My inner caveman likes the thought of that.

Of having made this perfect man so delirious with pleasure that he couldn’t help but cry out.

But he asked a question, and I need to answer.

I think of all the times Steve told me bits and pieces of himself, slowly giving me more and more to know about him once he was sure I would handle him with care.

I know that last night meant something to him, both showing me who he is when he does drag and letting me take complete control of our pleasure afterward.

Both of those things mean something to me, too, and I want to make sure he knows that.

“For inviting me to see Eve. You’re special, Stevie, and so is she.” My heart flips as tears well up in Steve’s eyes, making the green even brighter. I bring a hand up to cradle his face and use my thumb to brush away the lone tear that escapes. “Hey, what’s this? What’s wrong?”

Steve just shakes his head and leans into my touch. His eyelids fall closed as he takes a deep, settling breath. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything is so fucking, perfectly right.”

I smudge a soft kiss to his nose, and Steve’s plush lips smile before he opens his eyes again.

The tears are gone, and in their place is a depth of emotion that makes my breath hitch.

The love I’ve been feeling for Steve the past however long builds to an unstoppable amount, filling me up and spilling free before I can think better of it.

“I love you,” we both say in unison.

Steve’s eyes widen, and my heart swells further in my chest as our words ring in the air, neither of us moving or saying anything else as silence stretches out around us. Like we’re scared if we make too much noise, the past few seconds will be erased.

He cracks first, voice whisper-soft and a touch tremulous.

“You do?”

“Of course I do,” I promise him, laying a brief kiss to his parted lips. “I love you so much, Stevie. I’ve known for a while now, but I didn’t want to rush you.”

Slim, strong arms wrap around my neck and clutch me tight as Steve buries his face in my neck. “I love you, too,” comes his muffled reply.

My eyes slip shut, and I wrap my arms around his back to return his hold. And for the longest moment, we just breathe each other in. My heart thuds so strong and loud that I wouldn’t be surprised if he could hear it. If he can, it would be fitting. Each beat is for him.

“So, what now?” Steve asks, lips brushing against my pulse point.

A massive grin curves my lips as I think about what comes next. Well, the next few things that come next, actually.

“Now,” I say, skimming my palms down Steve’s back until they’re cupping his perfect ass, “I see if I can wring one more orgasm out of you before we feed Stacy and take her for her morning walk. Then we meet our best friends for brunch and get started on being sickeningly in love for the rest of the foreseeable future.”

“Ooh, I like the sound of that.” Steve pulls back just enough to lock eyes with me. He opens his mouth to say something else, but his words turn into a garbled moan when I dip a finger into his crease to circle his hole.

My grin stays firmly in place as I use my hands to tell Steve where I want him to go, sliding my body down the mattress as his wiggles up.

When I’m where I want to be – lying prostrate between his legs – I nip at a nearby freckle cluster and then proceed to tilt his hips up and eat him out until he cries out once more.

Hopefully, he wasn’t planning on talking too much at brunch. His poor voice needs to rest.

BOTH STU AND Blake are already at the restaurant when Steve and I stroll in, hand in hand and matching smiles on our faces.

“So, when’s the wedding?” Stu asks playfully.

At first, Steve looks like he’s going to try and change the subject, but then he winks at me and faces his best friend before replying. “We’re eloping, actually. If we had a wedding, people would get too confused at the reception when immediately after I danced with my husband, I danced with you.”

Stu laughs and pulls Steve in for a hug, kissing his temple like he’s done it a million times before.

Steve just grins at him for a second before his emerald gaze returns to me.

My chest feels full to bursting at his teasing.

I love that he has Stu, and I love that marriage to me is definitely on his mind.

Someday, probably too soon for most people’s standards, I’m going to make that dream a reality.

But to my other side comes a scoff.

“Please, Noah would never do that to me,” Blake says confidently.

“I’ve already told him that I get to be his best man.

As his future husband, Steve, you should know that I will not be cut out of such an important day.

Plus, the girls would riot even more than I ever could.

And, a little friendly advice since you’re one of us now, you don’t want to be on Amy’s bad side. ”

Okay, that’s fair. There’s no way I could ever celebrate finding the romantic love of my life without all my other loves there to support me. I can’t resist flipping it back on Blake a little bit though.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, Blakey-poo. But if I remember correctly, we have another wedding to get through before we can worry about me and Steve.”

Blake blanches at that, and I wonder for a split second if it was the wrong move.

I was hoping that making a joke over it would help ease some of the tension he’s feeling about Kyle’s upcoming nuptials, but it might be a little too fresh for that.

Luckily, a beat later, he shakes his head and gets a stubborn look in his eye.

“Kyle is going to regret ever inviting me.”

“Who’s Kyle?” Stu asks, eyes pinging between me and Blake. “Do we hate him?”

“Kyle is my supposedly straight ex who’s getting married to another guy. So, yes,” Blake agrees, nodding at Stu, “we hate him.”

“Duuude.” Stu draws out the word, his dark brown eyes wide. “That has to fucking suck. And he invited you to the wedding? What a douche canoe.”

I catch Steve’s eye as our friends bond over asshole exes. He mouths, “I love you,” over his glass of water, and I swear I can feel my whole being settle.

“I love you, too.”

Just like that, I can see our future. And it looks better than I ever could have hoped for.