Body and Soul (Vanguard Towers #3) - Aiden Bates Page 0,57

so bad.” He adjusted his balance as he sat on the stool and tugged at the sheet barely covering his groin - the one concession I’d given him for posing nude for me. Domino was sound asleep at the base of the stool and let out a soft sigh as the sheet moved above him.

“So…I was right?” I grinned and started filling in details of Ry’s gorgeous, muscular legs.

“You mean last night while you ‘convinced’ me to agree to this?” He raised his eyebrows and I caught the slight twitch of his lips he did whenever he really wanted to burst into a big smile but was trying hard to keep up the tough-guy persona.

“Yeah. When I had your dick in my mouth.” I poked my tongue out cheekily, wanting to make him crack.

He laughed. “Yes, you were right, you finally convinced me to ‘pose’.”

“I’m glad I can convince you to do things like this …”

“Oh, you like manipulating me?” He grinned, and I pretended not to notice his cock swelling a little.

“Mm-hm. I wouldn’t mind manipulating you right now, actually…” I was about to set down my pencil when—

I spun around just as the door flew open. Hunter barged right in, took two steps inside and stopped short when he saw Ryland. Naked. In my apartment.

“I knew it!” he shouted and pointed at Ryland as Seb and Derek smacked into his back.

I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes. It was none of their business who I was sleeping with. Seb wolf-whistled and Derek averted his eyes as Ryland struggled to cover his whole body with the sheet. Domino woke up, attacked the hem, and dragged the sheet most of the way off Ryland’s lap.

Seb and I snickered, while Hunter kept pointing at Ryland like he was some kind of vision.

“Knew what? That he’s posing for me?” I shot Hunter a look. I knew Hunter had been drilling his partner about what our relationship was really about but Ry hadn’t let out a peep.

“Cut the crap, little bro. You’ve been so happy lately, I knew something serious was going on between you two.” Hunter crossed his arms over his chest smugly, the look of an agent who had cracked the case.

“Nothing serious.” Ry disappeared out of the room, dragging the sheet behind him, with the cat chasing fast after.

“Nothing serious?” Seb squinted at the door where Ry.

“What does he mean, nothing serious?” Hunter stormed over to the bedroom door where Ry had disappeared to and banged on the door. “Hey! What do you mean ‘nothing serious’?”

Ry growled and poked his head out. “We’ve been sleeping together for a while. Nothing more to it.”

I flinched inside. It hurt more than it should have to hear him say it.

“Sex! That’s it?” Hunter turned to me. “And you’re okay with it? ”

I shrugged like it was no big deal. “Of course. I’m not ready for a relationship.”

“Huh.” Hunter looked from Ry to me and back again, like he was trying to piece something together.

Ry shut the door in his face, and Derek cleared his throat. “Being safe?”

Seb slapped “Don’t be such a dad about it. He’s an adult, jeez.”

“Thank you, Seb. And yes, Dad, we’re being safe.” I rubbed the heel of my hand against my breastbone where my heart was still stinging and willed it to calm the hell down. This was the arrangement Ry and I had agreed to. It was for the best.

“And you’re okay with it?” Hunter asked again.

“Yes!” I snapped and pointed to the door. “Thanks for checking in and ruining my portrait session, see you later.”

“All right!” Hunter threw up his hands. “If you’re fine, then I’m fine. At least now we know why you’ve been so happy lately.”

“Derek was worried it might have been drugs,” Seb mumbled, and then snickered with me, well aware how important sobriety was to me.

“And we came to ask if you wanted to have lunch.” Derek put an arm around my shoulder and squeezed me tight. “But yes, you’re definitely in the middle of something. Sorry for intruding.”

Ry slipped out from the bedroom, fully clothed and looking like the man of my dreams. White shirt, gray slacks, muscles popping. All the sex we’d been having had made his biceps and forearms even stronger, his thighs thicker, his ass even perter. Fuck, every day he was with me, I grew more and more attracted to him.

“Oh-kay…” Hunter glanced at me, then Ry, and back again. “Clearly you two need some more alone