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“I answered.”
He held his breath and counted to ten.
“Food’s burning.”
“Shit!” Geoffrey swung back around, grabbed the wooden spoon, and poked at the stir-fry. “A couple of pieces are a little browner than I’d like, but the sauce will cover that well enough.” He poured the sauce in, turned the stove down, and faced Sven again. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
Silence met that question. Sven merely stared at him.
“You are gay.” He didn’t frame it as a question. He knew he was because every now and then, he caught a certain look and one time, Sven’s hand had lingered just a bit too long on the small of his back. That one touch had been so different from all the others in the class, Geoffrey’d had to hot foot it to the men’s room fast because the hard-on in his sweatpants had been like a dousing rod, pointing directly at Sven.
“Yes.”
He threw up his arms in frustration and spun around to stare at the bubbling meat and vegetables. “Okay, I give up. We won’t talk. Help yourself to something to drink out of the fridge.”
They didn’t speak at all as he finished cooking.
Geoffrey hated silence. Even when he worked, he had something playing. Music or some television series on Netflix—anything to break up the quiet of working home alone. It was also why he’d ended up going out so much once Finn had gone off to college. He loved his home but without his brother, the nights had been the worst. He’d end up wandering the place until he’d give up and check his computer to see who was out.
“I’m going to get some measurements for Rowe.”
Geoffrey just nodded as Sven left the kitchen. He’d never agreed to buying a security system and kind of found it amusing that Sven just assumed he’d let him install one. It was a good idea, though. If he’d had cameras already, he wouldn’t have this black pit in his stomach—he’d know what had happened the night before.
Every time he thought of what could have happened, he wanted to curl up somewhere safe—preferably near Sven—and close out the world.
Once most of the sauce had cooked down, he put together a covered plate for Sven and left it on the island with a note letting the man know he’d be working in his office. If they weren’t going out, he could at least get some work done. Plus, there was a new original show he’d been wanting to stream.
The curt bodyguard could find a way to amuse himself.###
Three hours later, Sven stood in the guest room, looking out the sliding glass doors that gave him a view of the pool and the pavilion off Geoffrey’s bedroom. The house was built like a lopsided U, so this room was parallel to the master suite—but across the damn pool with a long stretch of house between.
Sven held a pair of cut-off sweats and a T-shirt he planned to sleep in after his shower. He was too far from Geoffrey. He supposed he could try to sleep on the couch in the office next to Geoffrey’s bedroom, but he knew he wouldn’t fit on that thing. He was about to turn toward the bathroom when the light to Geoffrey’s room came on and the man himself walked past one of those big windows. In nothing more than a towel.
Sven could fucking see into the man’s bedroom.
But then, all he saw was red. He dropped the clothes and strode through the house to bang on Geoffrey’s door. He remembered he’d taken off everything but his pants just as he opened the door. Sven didn’t wait for an invitation, brushing past a gaping Geoffrey and walking to the first window. “Blinds closed, curtains shut. From now on, Geoffrey.” Once he had every one of them covered to his satisfaction, Sven faced him. “I mean it. And…” his voice got caught as he nearly swallowed his tongue.
Low. The black towel hung so low.
He could not stop his eyes from going wide. The slim body that drove him crazy while clothed was a thing of absolute beauty without. Sinewy and strong, with defined biceps, shoulders, and stomach—everything on Geoffrey was smaller, but perfectly proportioned for someone of his height and build. He was just so fucking fit. His hair, wet from the shower, had been slicked back, his sharp features clear, his plump, sexy lips still parted. Blue eyes raked over Sven, and the flush of arousal that colored Geoffrey’s chest and neck kicked his own lust into overdrive.
“And?” Geoffrey prompted, voice rough.
“Huh?”
The chuckle that followed his brainless sound didn’t do anything to dispel the fire streaking through his body. He was everything Sven had always found beautiful. And everything he could never let himself have.
What if he lost control again? Hurt Geoffrey like he hurt Charlie? And that had been back when he was a kid. If he wasn’t careful now, he could kill Geoffrey. He needed to always remember that, cling to that hard, ugly fact like a lifeline. One careless moment and he’d hurt Geoffrey.
