Page 52 of Worth the Risk

Landon shot him a quick glare across the center console. Gregory held his hand out between them, palm up, and Landon took it, lacing their fingers together.

“The past two days have been excruciating. As you can imagine,” Landon answered. “Honestly, the whole week has been pretty shitty. I’ve just been waiting to see you like some high-schooler or something.”

“You weren’t that needy when we were in high school.”

Landon snorted a derisive noise and tightened his fingers around Gregory’s.

“If I would have known the fucked up shit you could have come up with back then, I probably would have been worse.” Landon laughed.

After they arrived at the restaurant, Landon trailed behind him as he followed the hostess to their table. She gave them both a menu, and Gregory promptly took Landon’s out of his hands as soon as her back was turned. Landon opened his mouth to protest, then closed it and looked down at the table.

Gregory would have paid any amount of money in the world to have been able to crawl inside Landon’s head at that moment.

“Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“At first I thought that I hoped you order me some wine.” Landon looked up at him through his swooping eyelashes. “Then I thought about how even if you didn’t, I wouldn’t care. I don’t need to worry about it.”

“Did you want wine?”

“If you want me to have wine.” Landon smiled.

“I want you to have everything you’ve ever wanted.”

“Well, this is a start then, isn’t it?” Landon shifted his eyes down to the tablecloth.

Even in the dim light of the restaurant, Gregory could see the heat rise up in Landon’s cheeks. He reached across the table and flicked one of Landon’s nipples.

Landon yelped and curled his shoulders inward, covering his mouth with his hands, but he didn’t move away from Gregory’s reach.

“You hoped I’d forgotten about those, didn’t you?” Gregory rubbed his fingers along the dangling bit of the tweezer clamp that hung from Landon’s nipple.

“I had a feeling you hadn’t.”

Gregory flicked it again, and Landon grimaced. He leaned across the table, and Landon met him halfway.

“Do you have any idea how perfect you are?” Gregory whispered against Landon’s mouth. “I can’t get over how naturally you submit.”

Landon tipped his chin up, putting his neck on display. Gregory ran his eyes over the slender column of Landon’s throat, down to the unbuttoned collar of his shirt to his hard nipples that pressed against the material stretched across his chest.

“It’s you,” Landon whispered.

Gregory leaned back in his seat, and Landon did the same, his eyes hooded with desire.

“It’s me?”

Landon nodded.

The waitress came to take their orders. Gregory ordered for Landon, steak and a glass of wine, and chicken and iced tea for himself.

“Thank you, Sir.” Landon breathed.

“What did you mean, it’s me?” Gregory prompted.

“Well.” Landon wrung his hands together under the table. “You know I’ve been with other people, obviously. I think we’re mature enough to not need to pretend like we’ve been celibate since high school.”

Gregory raised an eyebrow at Landon and smirked at him. The waitress brought their drinks and Landon stared at his wine.

“Take a drink and finish your sentence.”