“Like I said. It was a long time ago. Things were different. I was different. Don’t get sentimental on me now, Daley,” he teased, wondering why he hadn’t pulled his left hand away. Dex tenderly took his wrist and put it to his lips, delivering a soft kiss and leaving Sloane with his heart in his throat.
Sloane leaned in and hesitantly put his lips to Dex’s. His mouth was warm, his lips parting, inviting Sloane in. Despite knowing he shouldn’t, Sloane slipped his tongue inside Dex’s mouth, their tongues exploring and tasting. It wasn’t hurried or intense like the first time they’d kissed in the garage. Sloane’s hand slipped behind Dex’s head, gingerly pulling him closer, his fingers in Dex’s hair. He couldn’t say how long the kiss went on, only that it had felt good.
He pulled back enough to rest his head against Dex’s. Why did he keep doing this? He had to stop. It wasn’t fair to either of them, especially Dex. He stood and went to the kitchen for a bottle of water, aware of Dex watching him. To Sloane’s surprise and relief, Dex didn’t say anything. He didn’t bring it up later either. In fact, he carried on as if nothing had happened. Any other guy would have demanded to know what was going on or would have told Sloane to go to hell ages ago. Not Dex. Why?
The rest of the day went far better than Sloane expected. He’d anticipated things to be awkward between them, but Dex wouldn’t allow it. His meds still had him feeling groggy, but he seemed determined to be upbeat about everything, though there was plenty of bitching and moaning in between. They watched TV and DVDs together. Dex had Sloane in tears of laughter during certain scenes where Dex provided colorful commentary. During the good parts, Dex was engrossed. Sloane alternated between cooking and ordering in food. He’d called Ash while Dex was asleep and had him bring over extra clothes and supplies.
By the end of the week, Dex was feeling better, and he’d stopped bitching. He was finding it easier to move around, though he was still sore as hell. Cael had come by as often as he could to check up on his big brother, bringing him the junk food Dex would request through text, junk food Sloane would refuse to buy. Like gummy bears and those damn Cheesy Doodles.
Cael would stick around for a while, and Sloane admitted he enjoyed hanging around the brothers, listening to all the funny stories from their childhood. He loved hearing their stories. He didn’t miss his childhood. It was hard to miss something he’d never had.
Sloane crashed on the couch every day that week. Although the temperature was steadily dropping as they got into November, the heating in Dex’s apartment kept him comfortably warm. Dex had argued it was stupid when there was a king-size bed upstairs, but Sloane remained unmoved on the matter. There was no damn way he was going to share a bed with Dex. He didn’t trust either of them not to do something they’d regret, especially since Sloane was finding it difficult resisting temptation, and it was getting worse by the day.
It had started with little things. A hand to the shoulder or upper arm, sitting next to Dex on the couch when Dex was well enough to sit up, letting Dex lean against him, his head on Sloane’s shoulder. He’d pat Dex’s knee then leave his hand there while they watched TV. Over the weekend, he’d placed a hand to Dex’s lower back as Dex washed their dishes after dinner. At the beginning of the second week, Dex had shivered after coming downstairs from his shower, and when he sat on the couch next to Sloane, he’d put his arm around Dex and rubbed his arm to get him warm. Dex never initiated any contact between them. He waited for Sloane to make a move then followed up on it, as if he knew Sloane would balk otherwise. It was scary how well Dex was coming to know him. More frightening was how much comfort he felt being around Dex.
Today they’d ordered an extra nice dinner to celebrate Maddock giving Dex the all clear that morning. Dex would be back at work the next day. He was still sore, and Maddock made Dex promise he would take things slow, though Sloane was sure Dex would have agreed to almost anything to get back to work. They were moving around the kitchen, clearing up the counter and placing the dishes in the sink when Dex turned to say something and ran into Sloane.
“Oh, damn. I’m sorry.”
“No, it was my fault,” Sloane replied, reaching around Dex to drop the last of the cutlery in the sink. “Wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“Too busy staring at my ass, huh?”
Sloane gave a snort. “Yeah, it’s kind of hard to miss.”
“Please. You know you want it,” Dex teased.
Sloane should have followed up the comment with a smart-ass remark, instead, his face went beet red, and he let out a nervous laugh. Dex tilted his head to one side, smiling at him.
“Are you blushing?”
“No.” Sloane wiped down the counter, trying to keep out the invading images of Dex’s bare ass. Shit. “I need to go.”
“Oh, okay.”
Sloane faced Dex, feeling like an asshole for putting that disappointed look on his face. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be rude. The food was great and spending time with you… I really liked it. I just….”
“Don’t want to do something you’ll regret? I understand.”
Sloane blinked at him, surprised by Dex’s intuitiveness.
“Despite the way I act sometimes, I’m not really an ass. I don’t want to do anything that would make things uncomfortable between us. I kind of like having you around.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Dex absently ran a hand through his hair. The gesture coupled with the bashful smile on his face pulled at Sloane’s heartstrings. It was the first time he was seeing this side of Dex, and he found it absolutely endearing. Then Dex bit down on his bottom lip, and it stirred something else in Sloane. He grabbed the back of Dex’s neck and pulled him against him, bringing their mouths and bodies together. After Dex’s surprise wore off, he threw his arms around Sloane’s neck, pressing his body up against Sloane’s, his evident erection digging into Sloane’s leg as a deep rumble rose through his chest and came out as a long groan. He kissed Dex hungrily, one hand sliding down between them to cup Dex’s erection and rub him through his jeans, his other hand slipping into the back of Dex’s waistband to grip one plump, round ass cheek.
“Oh God,” Dex moaned, moving his hips and thrusting into Sloane’s hand. “Fuck, I want you so bad.”
With the last of his resolve snapping, Sloane pulled his hands free to take Dex’s shirt and pull it up over his head, dropping it to the kitchen floor before unbuttoning Dex’s fly, his lips kissing, licking, and nipping along Dex’s neck down to his shoulder where he bit down gently, causing Dex to shiver in the sweetest way. With a low growl, Sloane grabbed Dex and lifted him, chuckling at the surprised yelp Dex let out. His arms locked around Sloane’s neck as he carried Dex to the counter and set him down.
“Dude, we eat on here.”
“Shut up.” Sloane returned his mouth to Dex’s, kissing him as he tugged Dex’s jeans down his legs, followed by his boxer-briefs. He stopped long enough to look down at Dex’s gorgeous cock.
“I can get you a framed painting if you like. Or you could suck it.”
Sloane’s gaze traveled up that beautifully flushed body sporting a rainbow of healing bruises, to Dex’s cheeky smile, his pale blue eyes filled with mischief. The bruising on his face had mostly subsided, and once again, Sloane could feel the full effect of Dex’s charm. How had Sloane not noticed the l