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It had been this way for years, this constant desire hanging in the air. A magnetic pull, one both seemed to struggle to contain.
Yet contain it, they had.
But as the years progressed, it simply became too difficult to restrain himself.
“What was that?” Rohan asked from his side.
“Nothing,” Wilder answered, unable to take his eyes off Abe for another few seconds. When he finally did, he saw Rohan had followed the path of his gaze and wore an odd expression.“Nothing,”he repeated, hoping Rohan would let it go.
“It doesn’t look like nothing to me,” Rohan said, his jaw clenching.
“No worries. You have nothing to fear.”
“How do you know what I fear?”
Wilder searched his best friend’s face a moment. “Then why don’t you tell me?”
Rohan looked toward Abe and back at Wilder. “You’re interested?”
“Isthatwhat you fear?”
“Maybe I do,” Rohan replied.
“I wouldn’t put our friendship at risk to act on an attraction.”
“So youareattracted to him?” Rohan asked, his voice low.
“He’s a handsome young man. He’s also Gray’s nephew, and I wouldn’t do that to you. He’s a beta. There’s nowhere that relationship could go… so I won’t bother.”Who am I trying to convince?
Rohan silently appraised him. Wilder took a glass of champagne from a passing server’s tray and drained half of it.
“Is that why you didn’t want to hire him?”
“Perhaps,” Wilder admitted. He lifted the drink to his lips and took a brief sip. “But we will not be working together. I might bump into him here and there. Nothing more than that.”
“True,” Rohan replied.
“Last I checked, he hadn’t accepted the position. Maybe we won’t have anything to worry about.” He drained the rest of his glass and lowered it before clapping Rohan on the shoulder. “Let me go congratulate the graduate.”
“Wilder,”Rohan whispered hotly as he walked away.
He ignored the call, unable to stop his forward momentum. His stare landed on Abe. No one else in the room mattered. Abe seemed to sense his approach, turning in his direction. There was a glimmer of fear in Abe’s eyes—yet the ever-present hunger was there, too.
Wilder handed Abe the gift box. “Congratulations.”
Abe accepted the gift, his gaze never leaving Wilder’s. Their fingers touched, a spark of current shared between them. “Thank you.”
They stood staring at one another as his heart continued to thunder in his chest. No words shared. Only need… which more than made up for the silence.
“Uhhh… maybe you should open Wilder’s gift,” a voice said from Wilder’s right.
He turned, noting Brett still there.
In his way.
Wilder glared, yet smiled. He returned his focus to Abe. “No, you can do that later. It’s not important.”
“No, no,” Abe said. “You made a point to bring it over here, so I should open it.”
