“I dunno — one of those duckboat buses? A stretchlimo with a jacuzzi inside? A llama?”
Seth laughs and shakes his head. “You’re crazy.”
He pulls out of the garage into Midtown traffic, and I’m just glad I’m not driving — not that I ever learned how, because it never seemed like a good idea. We’re on our way to make an appearance at Sabrina’s bridal shower at a ritzy Gramercy Park condo owned by one of her dad’s producer friends. Cole is already there, waiting on Sabrina’s every need, but it was decided that Seth should make an entrance, so to speak, and somehow they all roped me into coming along with him. It hasn’t been a bad afternoon — burgers for lunch, and then a couple hours of video games back at the apartment. But I feel like I’m about to be thrown into a den of lions, and I’m not exactly excited about it.
Miraculously, Seth finds a parking spot just a few doors down from the building we’re visiting. The party is in a stately townhouse with a façade of brick and terracotta that looks like it dates from the late nineteenth century. Rodney Slade’s friend occupies the top three floors, and when we knock on the door, we’re greeted by a statuesque woman in red who ushers us into an opulent living room. Then —
“Seth!”
Sabrina detaches herself from the group and rushes towards us, throwing her arms around my brother’s neck and giving him a kiss. She’s wearing a frothy white minidress that looks like something Tinkerbell wouldwear, and she looks sufficiently bridal, I guess. When they break apart, she turns and beams at the assembled guests.
“Everyone, this is my soon-to-be hubby, Seth. Oh, and his brother Ezra, who is his best man.”
Seth is immediately mobbed, but nobody seems to give a shit whether I’m also present, which suits me fine, so I figure my job is done. I make my way over to the buffet table.
“Hey there, handsome.” Cole materializes at my elbow, his voice pitched for my hearing only. “Can I steal you for a minute?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
He turns and marches down a corridor, and I follow, glancing over my shoulder as we go. There are a few twists and turns, and we pass other lavishly-appointed spaces filled with Victorian bric-a-brac, rich colors and fabrics that hold onto their historic charm. Finally, he pulls me through a doorway, and I barely have time to register that it’s a spacious, dimly-lit bathroom before he’s shutting the door and locking it, and launching himself towards me.
“Oh fuck,kiss me—”
I’m not about to fuckthatup. I catch Cole by the waist, crushing our mouths together as he whines, his hands running all over my chest and back. The sink behind us is set into a wide marble counter, and it’s easy work to crowd him towards it, to curl my hands aroundthe backs of his thighs and set him on top of it, his skinny ass firmly planted on the smooth surface and his knees bracketing my hips. He wriggles forward, making sure our bodies are flush together, and I oblige him, snaking my hand down his back and grasping his ass to pull him close.
“Was it really that bad?” I groan into his ear as I mouth kisses down his neck.
“You haveno idea—” Cole is unbuttoning the first few buttons of my shirt, running his fingers through the hair on my chest as he locks his ankles around the backs of my thighs. “They made me model a gown made out oftoilet paper!”
“I bet you still looked hot —”
“I mean, of course I did, but that’s not the point —” He must have been building up a head of steam all afternoon, because he keeps talking even as he’s holding my face against his throat with one hand while reaching down the back of my chinos with the other. “Opening gifts went onforever. Do you need a new blender? If you do, you should just ask Bree, because I’m pretty sure she got three of them —”
I laugh as I reach for his belt buckle. “I’ll take that under advisement —”
“And the worst part?” He’s nuzzling the shell of my ear, and I’m about ready to lose my mind. “Bree’s aunt is completely wasted, and I think she’s taken a shine to me, because she wouldn’t stop sidling up next to me andpinching my ass. I think she thinks I’m some kind of rent boy —”
“I mean —” I look down at the pale pink shirt that barely buttons across his thin chest, the painted-on white jeans that are doing nothing to conceal just how hot he is for me, and I cock an eyebrow.
“Hey!No slutshaming —” He shoves my shoulder playfully. “Besides, I’ve never heard you complaining before.”
“No, you’re right, that was shitty of me.” I pull back enough so that I can look at him. He’s leaning back on his hands, his face and neck already a little pink from rubbing against my scruff, and he looks delicious. “Do you want to talk about it? Or go and say something to her?”
Cole chuckles, reaching out to finger the hem of my shirt. “Nah, it’s not really a big deal, it just made me feel a little crawly and — honestly, what I really need is to get off.”
“I can do that —”
I fold my glasses and put them down next to the sink. And then I go in more deliberately than I had at first, sliding my hand along Cole’s cheek and into the hair at the base of his skull as I draw him in for a slow, syrupy kiss. With my other hand, I ease open the buttons of his shirt one by one, exposing his smooth chest. It’s a landscape I know well, and as I sink to my knees, I drag my mouth down the midline of his torso,stopping to lavish attention on his sensitive nipples, to tease them to pebbly peaks with my tongue. His hands are splayed out on the marble counter, his head thrown back as he arches towards my touch, and it tugs something inside me to know that he feels this safe with me, that he lets me care for him in this way.
When my knees hit the floor, I pause, nuzzling him through his jeans, and I hear a huff of air above me.
“What?” I rest my cheek on Cole’s thigh, lifting my eyes to his face.
“You’re so fucking sexy like that. I feel like I’m eighteen again, trying not to shoot off immediately while I’m sitting on the edge of your bed holding onto the blanket for dear life. Remember that?”
“Mmm, but I’d like to think my technique has improved since then.” I reach for the button on his jeans and draw him out into the open. And then, with my eyes locked on his face, I lean in and swallow him down.
“Fucking hell—”
