Rodney looks at him. “Very aware,” he says before turning back to Gayle, ignoring Kei. “I’ll take that bet. They’ll get one cup while team athletic gets all ten.”
“I’m betting they’ll get three,” Gayle says, shaking Rodney’s hand.
“This almost makes me want to go easy on them,” I say before looking at Maki and grinning. “Almost.”
We continue to play, tossing smack talk back and forth. To no one’s surprise, Maki and I end up winning by a landslide. They manage to get two cups so neither Gayle nor Rodney win the bet, they don’t seem to mind though.
When all our credits are gone, we sit down in the dining area and share a pizza. Before long, it’s time to go, especially because Gayle needs to hurry back home. He’s got an hour long train ride and he’s cutting it pretty close.
We drop Gayle off at the train station first, then head over to my apartment. Kei parks the car, grabs a bag from the back and then leads me to the alleyway where my door is.
Once inside the little landing at the bottom of the stairs, I turn and look at Kei. I still can’t believe how well today went. When I think of dates, I think of stuffy clothes, awkward restaurants, stilted conversation. This couldn’t have been further from that.
“Here,” Kei says out of nowhere, shoving that plastic bag into my hands. His cheeks turn pink and he looks anywhere but at me. “These are yours.”
“Thanks?” I say, not even trying to disguise the confusion I’m feeling. I click my tongue ring against the back of my teeth.
“Thanks for letting me borrow them,” Kei says in a rush before adding. “I didn’t wash them.”
“Oh,” I say to myself. Kei looks away and that’s when it hits me. “Oh. You motherfucker,” I say, unable to keep the smile off my face.
“Consider it a courting gift.”
“I hate you,” I say, grabbing the front of his shirt and shoving him against the wall. I crowd against him, running my nose over his jaw, breathing him in. Gods, he smells so fucking good, that warm, buttery bread scent sinking into my skin.
“You don’t,” he says, his voice shaky.
“I kinda do. You sit here, acting all chivalrous and wanting to abstain from sex for a while so we can take things slow but then you give me the clothes you usedduring your rut. You know I’m gonna jerk off to this, right?”
Kei finally snaps out of his stupor. He shoves me untilmyback hits the opposite wall. His mouth touches my ear lobe. “Yeah,” he says, making a shiver run down my spine. “Think about me and my rut while you pop your knot with my scent in your nose. That’s exactly what I want.”
I toss my head back and whimper, my cock filling with blood at Kei’s words.
“Fuck you,” I say through gritted teeth. “You fucking tease.”
“Waiting will make our next time even better.”
“It better or my teeth are ending up in your throat.”
Kei chuckles. “Promises, promises.”
Instead of responding, I pull Kei into a kiss. One hand finds his hair, the other grips the bag so tightly I might actually rip a hole in it. Not that I care right now. Right now, all I can focus on is the taste of Kei against my tongue and the feel of our lips pressed together.
We fit. We fit so perfectly it makes my head spin.
When we pull back, we’re both breathing heavily, our eyes wide. I take a step towards the stairs, putting some distance between our bodies. I need my head to clear before I end up on my knees right here in the hallway.
“Thanks for today,” I manage to say. “I had a really fun time,” I tell him honestly. More fun than I thought possible.
“Me too,” Kei says, though his words come out stuttered. Adorable.
“Bye,” I force myself to say before turning around and running up the steps. I close the door behind me, my brain still floating in the clouds. I take a moment just to breathe before I pull out my phone and send a message to Aspen, telling him that he was right. I hate being wrong but in this one case, I think it’s okay.
I open the bag, sticking my nose inside and breathing in. I sink to my knees, whimpering in the most pathetic way.
“Fucking hell,” I whisper to myself. Kei’s scent is already perfect but threaded with his rut? Oh my fucking gods. My mouth waters, my head swims, my cock is suddenly rock hard and throbbing.
As much as I’m mad about his whole ‘let’s take things slow’ thing now that I’ve gotten a whiff of his rut scent, I don’t think I’m actually upset by it. I want things with Kei to be different. I want us to continue dating. I want to find it in myself to be comfortable calling him my boyfriend.
