“Isn’t she amazing?” Devon yelled.
Hunter smiled and tossed his empty cup to the ground, Dev’s exuberance contagious. “Yep. She’s totally hot.”
Devon shoved him in the shoulder. “Watch it, big man. That’s my baby sister. I’ll kick your ass.”
Hunter caught Devon’s wrist before he moved away, the heat of Dev’s skin against his palm sending a jolt through him, and without thinking, he pulled him closer. “I’d like to see you try, Crowe.”
Devon’s gaze flicked to Hunter’s grip on his wrist then to the scant space between them, confusion flaring there. “What are you doing?”
Hunter knew he should let go, but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Holding on to Dev in the mass of chaos felt like finding safe harbor in the eye of a storm. He put his mouth close to Devon’s ear. “I’m using you as a shield. I need you to protect my virtue from the jailbait over there. Maybe she’ll think we’re together.”
Devon glanced over at the girl, who peered back again, focus zeroing in on Hunter. Dev gave him a wicked look, his smirk loose from his buzz. “We’ve got this. Just follow my lead.” Devon hooked his finger in Hunter’s belt loop and dragged him over to the spot he’d been dancing in. The music pumped through the arena, and the colored lights sparked over Devon in a haphazard, colorful pattern, revealing only pieces, snapshots. Hunter couldn’t look away. Dev rocked to the beat. “Come on, big man. Dance. Let’s shatter her little schoolgirl fantasy about landing a college guy for the night. Let her think I’m taking you home.”
Hunter laughed, nervous all of a sudden. “I suck at dancing.”
“Nobody sucks at dancing at a concert. Just close your eyes and move.”
Hunter wasn’t sure that was the truth, but he did have a little buzz going, and Dev’s grip on his waist was keeping him in time with the music. He closed his eyes and hooked an arm around Devon’s neck, focusing on letting go and moving with the beat.
“There you go,” Dev declared. “Just move.”
Hunter rarely danced and definitely had never tried with a guy, but before long, he could feel himself getting swept up in it—the beer, the music, the skill of his
dance partner. All if it was pulsing through him with an electric edge, waking up everything and dragging him into the oblivion. He opened his eyes, finding Dev with flushed cheeks and laughing eyes. Devon spun around and then grabbed Hunter again without missing a beat. God, the kid was something. Devon was in his element tonight. Not that he ever held back. He was open about who he was, but seeing him in this environment proved that Devon still held some things in check around the frat house. Here Devon was free . . . and fucking magnetic.
The draw was something Hunter was learning to get used to. From the beginning, Devon had had this undeniable pull on him, but it’d been purely a friendship vibe. They connected and just got each other’s humor. Their differences had been a nonissue.
But after the night they’d shared his bed, the pull had gotten decidedly less clear cut. Hunter hadn’t lied when Devon had asked if he looked at guys in a sexual way. He didn’t. He was just starting to look at Devon that way. And it was completely fucking with his head.
The whole reason he’d been able to be so relaxed around Devon from the start was because Hunter had never considered that he was anything but straight. There’d been no question. Hell, if anything, he’d wanted to show some of the idiots in the frat that being gay wasn’t fucking contagious. And, of course, it wasn’t. But spending the last year with Devon had shaken the foundation of what Hunter thought he knew about himself. And he had no idea what to do about it.
Devon turned and put his back to Hunter, keeping close but moving with the music and leaving enough space between them that it didn’t cross into bump-and-grind territory. That’s when stalker girl decided she had an opening. She shimmied over and tried to work her way in between him and Devon. Her body brushed against Hunter’s arm in seductive invitation. But before she could slide into Devon’s spot, Hunter took a wide step, grabbed Devon’s hand, and pulled Dev against him hard. Their chests collided, and Devon’s eyes widened.
Hunter hadn’t planned for that to happen, but now that they were pressed together, he just decided to go for it. He gripped a hand in Devon’s hair and touched his forehead to his as they moved to the pumping music as one, hips grinding, bodies swaying.
“Hunt,” Dev said, warning in his voice.
“Just go with it.” He closed his eyes and let his body and the buzz take over.
Devon was a solid wall of heat against him, his movements still on beat, but tension clear in his muscles. Hunter knew this was crossing a line. Wherever the girl was, she’d surely gotten the message. But he was afraid if he let Devon go, a thousand things would come crashing down around him. He liked this moment, clung to it. The lights. The music. The scent of exertion and Devon’s soap. He didn’t want the spell wrapping around them to end.
He let his other hand slide to Devon’s hip and he held him close as they moved, zipper rubbing zipper. Hunter’s body began to respond, and he knew he should back off, but when he shifted, the hard length of Devon’s erection bumped his thigh. A hot tremor moved through Hunter.
A hand balled in the side of his shirt. “Hunter.”
Hunter lifted his head, saw the panic in Devon’s eyes. He needed to back away. Leave this be. Leave Devon alone. He leaned forward and kissed him.
Devon froze, his whole body going rigid as Hunter’s mouth touched his. Hunter started to pull away, not wanting to force anything. But then Devon groaned, parting his lips and letting Hunter in. The invitation was like the gates of heaven opening up. Keys to the kingdom thrown at his feet.
His tongue slipped inside Devon’s mouth without hesitation now—hungry, seeking. He tasted the salt of the popcorn they’d shared, the liquor, the man. The need. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He shouldn’t be doing this. But stopping wasn’t an option. He just wanted to drink and drink and drink from the well of fire their connection was creating.
Devon’s fingers curled into the sides of Hunter’s T-shirt, like he was simultaneously about to draw him close and push him away. But they didn’t move forward or back. They just stood there in the middle of the frenzied crowd, clinging to each other as one song ended and the next started, kissing like they were the only damn people in the room. Hunter’s cock pressed painfully against his fly, Devon’s thigh rubbing ever so slightly against it. Slow, slow, slow.
Hunter broke away, gasping for air and barely staving off some disastrous spontaneous orgasm. “Shit.”
Devon backed up a step, too, eyes a little wild, chest heaving. He raked a hand through his hair and looked toward the exits like he was going to bolt. But instead, he jerked a thumb at the doors. “Come on.”
Hunter’s head was spinning, but he followed Devon through the crowd, the crush of people making it impossible to catch his breath. They reached the edge of the arena after a few hard-fought minutes and escaped out to the breezeway.