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Lake pulled his T-shirt up and over his head, making sure to hold it away from himself as he picked up the clean one Grady had put on the bed for him. Lake caught the tail end of Grady’s stare, his gaze jerking up from Lake’s chest.
“What?” Grady blurted.
“It’s okay; I don’t mind if you look.”
“I wasn’t looking,” Grady protested.
“Lying is a sin.” He had definitely been looking. As long as Grady knew that looking was the only option available to him, Lake was okay with it. He kind of liked it. More than kind of if he was totally honest. Having a guy that looked like Grady look at him like a meal? Yeah, it was a nice ego stroke.
Grady looked skyward and then said, “Bathroom’s this way. Face washers are under the sink.”
“Do you want to watch me clean myself?” Lake asked cheekily.
His response was the bathroom door closing and Grady’s receding footsteps. Lake chuckled as he glanced around the small room. No bath, just a shower with a glass wall and no door. The sink was clean, with nothing but a holder for a toothbrush and toothpaste on it. The mirror protruded from the wall, so it must have a cupboard behind it. Lake was tempted to look, but he didn’t, because he wasn’ttotallyrude.
He grabbed out a navy face washer—he was beginning to suspect it was Grady’s favourite colour—and made quick work of cleaning his chest and then drying it. He rinsed his shirt under the tap and left it hanging in the shower.
He only had one arm in the sleeve of Grady’s shirt when he ventured back out into the kitchen, and Grady totally looked again. Lake only preened a little. He shrugged the shirt the rest of the way on and then buttoned it up. He had to roll the sleeves up so that he could use his hands. He hadn’t thought that Grady wasthatmuch bigger than him, but the shirt didn’t lie.
“You’re right,” Lake said with an open-mouth smile. “It’s a little big.”
“It’s basically swimming on you.”
“I feel like I should be in a rom-com movie after a night of hot sex with my boss.” Everything but the sour cream had been put away, and Lake hoped that meant something was cooking. The oven was on.Yes.Suddenly, he wasstarving.
“What kind of movies are you watching?” Grady asked.
“The ones with hot sex, obviously.” He slid back onto his stool and beamed. “Can I have another drink, or have I been cut off?”
“I should cut you off.” But he made Lake another drink regardless.
Lake took a smaller, more measured sip of the whiskey this time.
“The nachos should be ready in a second. You were saying before about Vaadhoo Island?” Grady asked.
“What? Oh! Right, so it’s like this gorgeous fucking bright blue that just spans the beaches. It’s like the sea is made of magic. Pure beauty. I’ve always wanted to go and see.” It had been on his destination list since he’d been a kid and learned about it in science class.
“So why haven’t you?” Grady asked. He put a large square wooden chopping board on the bench and then transferred the steaming-hot nachos from the oven onto it.
Lake reached forward for a chip, and Grady caught his hand in his, swallowing it. Lake hadn’t noticed, but Grady had big hands.
“Careful,” Grady said, “let them cool down for a minute first.”
Lake pouted. He wanted to eat them. “What was the question?” he asked, trying to remember what they were talking about. “Why haven’t I? I dunno. Time, maybe? Just haven’t.”
Grady scooped out some sour cream into an almost flat bowl. “You know, I’ve been a cop a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of things. The best piece of advice I can give a person, that I’ve learned after working so many cases involving death, is don’t wait. You don’t know what will happen tomorrow. If you want to do it? Just fucking do it.”
Lake smiled, glad that he’d met Grady that night. “You’re a good guy.”
“Don’t tell anyone.”
“Would anyone believe me?” Lake wondered aloud. What kind of person did someone like this guy call friend? He wanted to check the criteria and see which boxes he could tick. It didn’t sound like Grady had a lot of fun in his life, and Lake was pretty good at the whole fun thing.
Gradywokefeelinglikesomething had died in his mouth. He ran his tongue across his teeth and grimaced. He needed to brush.
He turned and stopped abruptly when he realised that there was an unexpected warmth next to him. Had he taken someone home the night before? Surely no—oh.Lake.Right. The stray puppy with the incredible ass that had kissed him at midnight and then given him a lift home. Normally that would have resulted in getting laid, except that Lake wasstraightand had just drunk his liquor, eaten his food, and then passed out in his bed. Wearing Grady’s shirt.
Grady blindly reached out, and his hand hit warm, smooth skin. A hard chest and a soft stomach. Where was his shirt?
