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Lee leaned his hip against the railing, briefly sidetracked by the playful curve of Alex’s lips, the happiness tucked into the corners of his eyes. “You barely even liked me when you bought this.”
“I liked you just fine,” Alex protested.
Lee let a dubious look do the talking, and Alex chuckled.
“All right, I wasstartingto like you just fine. And” —Alex leaned in, glancing up through his lashes— “I thought you were hot the instant we met.”
Lee found it really bloody hard to remember the line he’d drawn. But really, what was it good for anyway? Alex posed a distraction no matter whether they kept their hands to themselves or not. Might as well indulge, then. And yes, maybe that was residual adrenaline talking, with Oliver and Shelly cheering from the sidelines, but fuck it.
“Same here, and it hasn’t changed.” A quick glance reassured Lee that no one seemed to pay them any attention. He smiled, slow and deliberate. “You know, this will be the first time in weeks we don’t share a room.”
Alex’s gaze flicked to Lee’s mouth and back up. “I’m aware.”
“Planning to put the privacy to good use?” Lee’s question came out as a murmur, hardly loud enough to carry over the hurrahs and good nights as people began trickling away to their rooms. Alex swayed closer, just enough for Lee to notice.
“Maybe.”
I want to kiss you.
Lee inhaled deeply—lavender in bloom and the fresh, salty aroma of the sea, mingled with the faintest hint of Alex’s cologne. “I want to kiss you.”
Alex’s lashes swooped down in a near-hypnotic blink, the night turning the hazel of his eyes a dark grey. “What’s stopping you?”
“Other than the obvious?” Lee indicated their surroundings without looking away from Alex. “It may still be a bad idea.”
“Entirely possible.” Alex tagged a private smile onto the words. “Kieran did tell us to work on our chemistry though, didn’t he?”
“I doubt that’s what he had in mind.”
“Eh, I don’t know. Think he’s pretty open to unconventional methods.”
Lee leaned back slightly to run his gaze down the length of Alex’s body, then back up, lingering on where the partially unbuttoned shirt granted a generous glimpse of Alex’s throat and the dip between his collarbones. Alex’s skin gleamed faintly in the distant glow of string lights. DearGod, Lee wanted him—might have sunk to his knees right this moment if they’d been alone out here.
He met Alex’s eyes. “Define unconventional methods?”
Something in Lee’s tone must have given him away because Alex swallowed. “Whatever feels good.”
“Vague,” Lee admonished softly.
One corner of Alex’s mouth curled up. “Well, you’re the experienced one. I was hoping you could show me.”
Christ, Lee had never been one to salivate over virgin porn and shit like that— inexperience was not a turn-on for him, thanks. Yet something about Alex’s tone worked for him, or maybe it was a twisted throwback to when they’d first met and the two years Lee had on Alex felt much more substantial than they did now.
“Does that innocent act ever actually work for you?” Lee asked, striving for an even tone. He missed the mark if Alex’s smile was any indication.
“On occasion, yeah.”
“And what—”
“Hey!” Shelly said brightly, and Lee realised with a jolt that he and Alex stood just a tad too close. He took half a step back and turned to face his sister.
“Hey.” He cleared his throat to counter the tinge of awkwardness. “Ready to turn in?”
Shelly glanced at Alex before she fixed Lee with a curious look. “Not really, but everyone else is leaving. Something about how there’s no rest for the wicked, show must go on, blah blah blah.”
“Guess we should call it a night too.” Alex sounded relaxed, certainly not like he’d basically asked Lee for gay sex lessons just a minute ago.
“I guess we should,” Lee echoed.
