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“So you don’t want me to date anyone in your fraternity?” Her gaze told him she’d tossed down the gauntlet.
“No, but like I said, he’s a nice guy. I know what’ll happen if you chase him. He’ll follow you like a little puppy, and when you’re done, he’ll be crushed. I’m not saying don’t get to know him, but do it because you like him or don’t do it at all. He’s not like Billy. He won’t be okay with a hookup for his first time.”
They glared at each other for a few seconds until she nodded and turned away. “Okay, fair enough. Now can we go eat?”
“Sure.” He wasn’t sure she meant it, but he knew she wasn’t cruel.
He’d get Marcus to help keep an eye on things.
* * *
Ed: Study group got cancelled. How’s messing with the boys?
Jack: Boys are busy studying.
Ed: Including you?
Jack: Is that your way of asking if I’m free?
Ed:…. Are you?
Jack: Well, I have an early start tomorrow, but….
* * *
Jack drove into the empty Barnes and Noble parking lot. Ed’s pickup was parked in a far corner next to an ivy-choked wall.
He double-flicked his headlamps as he drove over. Ed climbed out of his car and leaned against the passenger side, thumbs shoved into his pockets. He wore an open leather jacket against the night chill, and his lips curved as Jack parked in the space beside him.
Light spilled over the fence from the streetlamps.
Jack closed his door and leaned back against his Jeep, mirroring Ed. Nervous laughter threatened to make a fool of him. “Third meet up in two days, Ed.”
The underlying question did not go unnoticed.
Ed sifted a hand through his hair. “Yeah. I….”
“It’s okay,” Jack said quietly. “You can say it.”
One step forward and Ed closed the distance between them. His voice was cautious, low. “Can I say it like this?”
Jack frowned, brain scrambling to figure out where the space between them had gone and what he should focus on first. The light breath tickling his chin, Ed’s lashes as he glanced at his mouth, the soft sound of Ed swallowing.
Cool fingers gently touched Jack’s face.
Heart racing, Jack licked his lips, and Ed’s lips followed. His warm, minty mouth pressed softly against Jack’s bottom lip.
Jack had kissed guys before, but it was clear after only a second with Ed’s lips on his that he’d never felt one quite like this. At the bare brush of the skin, electricity shot through him. It buzzed at his neck, the base of his spine, even the backs of his knees.
Jack gasped into the kiss, and Ed pressed their lips more firmly together, the bow of his lip begging Jack to suck it.
Jack opened his mouth and greedily accepted Ed’s demands. Jack’s tongue danced over his top lip, and Ed joined in. The moment their tongues touched, Jack took over control. He slid his hands over Ed’s cotton shirt under his jacket. The soft material stretched over Ed’s tight stomach and back.
Jack pushed Ed back against the pickup, deepening their kiss. Ed hummed his approval into the kiss, one hand balling Jack’s shirt, the other kneading the back of his neck. Jack pressed himself against Ed’s warm, solid weight and drank in their kiss.
It was the best thing he’d ever tasted. He wanted their tongues to slide together like this all night. Wanted to explore how much of this shooting electricity he could take before he melted.
“Jack,” Ed said when they pulled back, panting for breath. “That was… was….”
Jack let out a soft laugh. “Yeah. Thank you for telling me like that.”
Ed rubbed his lips with his knuckle. “I’m sorry I didn’t say it the moment I saw your sticker.”
“But you’re deep in the closet.”
“Narnia deep. No one knows.”
“No one?”
“No one that matters. There was this guy… but he kept trying to push me to come out before I was ready.”
Jack eased back against his Jeep. Marcus and Brittany would probably be telling him to run right now. That this could only end in disappointment.
A fleeting thought of the bet had his stomach twisting too.
He sucked in his bottom lip and tasted Ed on him. A strange thing, this giddiness that filled his veins and made him want to get closer and closer.
He should tell Ed he didn’t want to hide.
Should be prepared to drive out of here as single as he drove in.
Jack surged forward, gripped Ed’s nape, and hauled him into another frenzied kiss.
“What was that for?” Ed’s smile tugged at Jack’s chest.
“My way of asking if you still want to get something to eat.”
Ed looked into his eyes. “It’s a date.”
Chapter Seven
“Here?” Brittany looked over her shoulder at the run-down café, then back at Marcus and Jack. “This is where you wanted to go for coffee?”
Marcus shrugged and beckoned them inside. “All proceeds go to charity or something. Just thought we’d try it for a change.”
