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The rest of that day, every time I’d sneak a glance at Soren, I’d catch him looking at me, cheeks pink, and he’d dart his gaze away, embarrassed to be caught. I couldn’t help looking at him, though. It felt like I’d finally been given permission and I didn’t want to stop. After the whirlwind weekend traveling, I wanted to crawl into my bed—or, I supposed, onto the couch—and take a nap. Instead though, as soon as we made it back to my place and the door closed behind us, I turned on Soren, capturing his mouth with mine.
He backed up until he was against the door and grunted, skimming his hands along my back and pulling me closer as I pressed into him, one hand on the door, the other cupping his face. My body was on fire as desire burned through me, desire for more warring with desire for the kiss to never end. I fought the urge to let my lips travel his jaw and neck, fought the urge to drop to my knees, fought the urge to grind my cock against his evident erection to achieve some blessed friction. When Soren’s hands settled on my middle back and pulled me closer, I moaned softly into his mouth. Despite the intensity of my longing, I didn’t want to rush him, so we stayed like that, kissing each other senseless until our lips were swollen and red.
When we parted, both panting and out of breath, Soren grinned up at me.
“What’s that look for?”
He chuckled softly. “I was just thinking, I’m glad we met.”
I stepped back and rubbed a hand over my face, letting out a slow exhale. “You have no idea how glad I am that your bathroom sprung a leak when it did.”
Soren groaned and stood straighter before picking up his backpack from where he’d discarded it on the floor. “Speaking of which, we should probably go by the theater today, don’t you think?”
All I wanted to do was kiss him again, but I reluctantly nodded instead. “Yeah. I did want to get in there before the workweek started, see what we can get going without the crew.”
An hour later, we were changed into work clothes and walking through the Radiance. Soren was pointing out things he wanted to change—updating the cosmetic things, like tile, carpet, and paint, modernizing the theater’s equipment and concessions, and ensuring things like plumbing and electrical were safely functional. He also wanted to replace the chairs in the theater’s three screening rooms and put up new screens. It was a lot to tackle, and he’d barely scratched the surface.
“Can I see the inspection report?” I asked, scratching my jaw as I stood in the middle of the lobby.
Soren nodded and dashed upstairs, returning a few minutes later with a thick folder of papers typed up by the inspector.
“I’m going to take this home to look at, if that’s okay. We’ll start with the bones like making sure the structure is solid, and checking on plumbing and electrical, then work our way up to the cosmetics.”
He let out a breath he’d been holding and nodded again. “I’ve just been sort of starting aimlessly. I’ve never done a project like this.”
I smiled at him, my gut twisting as my gaze fell to his lips. He let his tongue dart out and then trapped his bottom lip between his teeth, lighting up something hungry deep inside me. I didn’t realize I was susceptible to something so simple. I swallowed hard. “I have. Don’t worry, you’re in good hands now.” I winked and his cheeks grew pink again, making me wonder what exactly he’d been thinking about for me to get that sort of reaction. I cleared my throat and shook my head. “In the meantime, keep working on that historic building designation.”
“Whatever you say,” Soren murmured, and my mind raced to dirty places.
I spent time over the next few days looking at the inspection report and the schematics of the building. I was technically a plumber by trade, but I’d learned a lot about nearly every branch of the business, so the inspection report helped solidify a plan in my mind. I had Casey, who was not only an excellent fan delivery person but also an excellent electrician, take a look at the report with me. He took a look at the electrical work one evening that week and gave us an idea of what needed to be done.
All things considered, we were in good shape. The structure, plumbing, and electrical work were all solid. The building had been well maintained until a few years prior to Soren buying it, and if we could get a historic landmark designation, which I was confident would happen, we’d be able to focus on the functional and cosmetic aspects of the theater, with only minor updates for accessibility needed.
The days and nights passed quickly, between work and spending most of my evenings with my mouth fused to Soren’s. Thursday afternoon I showed up at the theater to see how I could best be of help. When I made my way into the screening room he was in, I found Soren singing along to a boy band on the radio and patching drywall. I leaned against the doorframe and watched him for a few long moments before clearing my throat to be heard over the music. He startled hard and spun to face me, but when he recognized me, he let out a huge breath.
“Good grief, you scared me.”
I shrugged. “I have been told I’m a big, scary guy before.”
His gaze flickered down to my groin and his cheeks heated. “So, uh, what are you doing here?”
“I just swung by City Hall to see if I could grease the wheels on your application for landmark status,” I said, waving an envelope in the air. “They gave me this.”
Soren put down his drywall spatula and tossed a rag aside. “You’re kidding. You can’t just go up to City Hall and steal people’s mail,” he protested.
I lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “Since I’m friends with the lady at the preservation office, it was easier than you might think. All I had to do was tell her I’m the contractor on the job and she handed over this thing like I’d said the magic words.”
He shook his head and took the envelope from me, tearing it open the second it was in his hands. His gaze flitted back and forth as he read what was on the paper inside before looking up at me and beaming. “I don’t know if your friend pulled some strings or what, but we got it. We got the landmark designation,” he said, his voice rising to a squeal.
A smile broke out on my face and I wrapped him in a hug, lifting him off the floor and spinning him in a quick circle. “That’s amazing news. Congratulations!”
When I put him down, his feet touching the floor once more, I continued to hold him. My chest tightened as my heart rate sped up. Kissing him hadn’t gotten old yet and I didn’t know if it ever would. I dipped down and the moment our lips touched, he sighed softly, melting into me. After a few moments, my phone vibrated several times in my pocket, startling both of us.
I stepped back reluctantly and slid my hand into my pocket to check the notification. It was a text to the group chat.
Jared: Hey, Levi, don’t forget our game on Saturday. Unless you’re too busy with your new husband…
Cam: Leave him alone. I think whirlwind relationships can be kind of romantic.
