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As he reached the kitchen, one of the doors off the porch opened and Dane stepped inside. They both froze and stared awkwardly at each other. Clay’s brain screamed in panic. He hadn’t figured out yet what the hell he was going to say to Dane about last night.
“Hey,” Clay managed in a rough voice.
Lame. Lame. Lame.
“Hey,” Dane replied.
Well, at least they were being lame together. Was it wrong that he wanted to walk right over to him and claim that mouth like he had so many times the night before?
As if Dane could read his thoughts, he licked his lips and swallowed hard.
Yeah, it was wrong.
“Sorry things went to hell so badly last night,” Clay said when he could think of something that didn’t revolve around sex or Dane’s body.
“It wasn’t all bad,” Dane corrected with a tentative smile. Clay met his gaze for a second, and then Dane was looking at the floor, his cheeks turning red.
“No, it definitely ended good. Really fucking good.” Clay clenched his teeth for a second. This wasn’t what he was supposed to be saying. “But about last night—”
“Yeah, we can’t. Again. It was fun,” Dane said sharply. His wide eyes were on Clay’s face, but he actually took a step backward, bumping his elbow against the wall.
“Great, even.”
“Yeah, but we can’t.”
“No. But I mean, that’s okay. It was just sex,” Clay pushed on.
“Exactly!” Dane said with a laugh that was more than a little strained but also relieved. “I don’t want this to be awkward, because you’re living here, and this house still needs a lot of work.”
“Oh, God! This house needs so much work!”
“And there was some talk about finishing the attic when the main house is done.”
“Baer was also talking about turning the basement into a movie room with tiered seating.” Not that Clay was totally behind the idea, but if it kept Dane working on the house for a while longer, he wasn’t going to fight it.
Except wanting to stay near Dane probably wasn’t the best thing if this was just sex and he was planning to leave at the first opportunity.
They could be friends. The fact that they had fabulous sex wasn’t going to complicate things.
“Yeah…so everything’s good?” Dane was looking at the floor again.
“Totally good.”
Dane snorted. “Then why is this painfully awkward?” He grinned up at Clay.
“Because neither of us has had enough coffee to tackle this like adults yet,” Clay said with a laugh.
“Speaking of, is there any left here? I might have managed one sad little cup in my place, but I’m all out now.”
“I think there’s some hot in the carafe. Jo made breakfast and we just finished. She left a plate for you in the microwave.” It was on the tip of his tongue to offer to pick up some coffee at the store when he went out, but he swallowed back the offer. As much as he wanted to do it for Dane, it all felt too domestic and that was dangerous ground.
Dane stopped midstride over to the counter. “Jo was here?”
“Yeah, just popped in for a quick visit. She loved how the kitchen turned out.”
Dane smiled and nodded before he continued to the cabinet to grab a mug. “I’m glad.”
“I know today’s your day off, but I wanted to give you a heads up.” Clay had stepped over to the center island, resting his hands on one of the pub chairs placed around one side of it. His heart fluttered as it tried to anticipate Dane’s reaction. It wasn’t going to be good.
“What’s up?”
“You might need to prioritize another bedroom. Grey’s staying.”
Dane cursed softly when he splashed some of the coffee on his hand as he poured it into his mug. He set the carafe down and quickly grabbed a dish towel, wiping it clean. “He’s staying? You mean, he’s joining you and Baer. Like he’s a brother?”
Clay opened his mouth, but no words came out. He didn’t know what to say to him anymore. It didn’t matter because Dane took a deep, cleansing breath and held up a hand.
“You know what? It doesn’t matter. It’s none of my business.”
“Dane—”
“No, I’m serious. I’m not being a dick. It’s truly none of my business. You’re a client. What you guys do and who lives here is none of my business. It’s wrong of me to ask or even judge. I’m sorry.”
Except Clay wanted it to be his business. He wanted to tell Dane fucking everything. Lay it all out there. But he couldn’t. Dane would never believe him. And he’d probably leave, putting himself in danger.
No, Dane had to stay at the plantation house.
“Thanks, but it’s not necessary.”
“Do you know which bedroom Grey is taking?”
Clay shook his head. “Not yet. He’s resting right now. Apparently he and Baer stayed up last night and crushed a bottle of whiskey. And a coffee table.”
