Heartbeat Repeating - E.M. Lindsey Page 0,64

all he’s getting, he stands up and begins to wander, finishing his coffee as he scans the bookshelves. The office is a lot smaller than he expected it to be, but it feels very much like the older man. All the rooms Alejandro seems to feel most at home are like this—closed in walls and tight spaces. It wasn’t something Avery ever pictured, but seeing him here now, in his home, it just makes sense.

He touches the edge of a fuzzy succulent then turns back to Alejandro who is sitting back now and watching him. “We should go ice skating.”

Alejandro raises a brow. “What’s that now?”

“Ice skating,” he repeats very slowly, fighting off a grin. “It’s this super cool invention where you get these boots with knives strapped to the bottoms…” He stops and laughs when Alejandro rolls his eyes.

“Yes, thank you. I am aware of what ice skating is,” Alejandro says dryly.

“Good. Have you ever been?” He pauses suddenly because what if this is like a thing he used to do with his husband and daughter. What if this is just another cruel reminder of a thing he lost when she died?

“I skated a bit as a kid,” Alejandro says after a beat. “There used to be a winter rink out of doors near my school. My brother and sister liked it.”

“But not you?” he presses, tapping his fingers along one of the bookshelves before taking a step closer to the desk.

“It wasn’t my thing.” He reaches over and closes his laptop then lays his glasses on the case with a sort of finality that makes Avery sad, because Lord, he really does look good in them. But then he stands and stalks over, swiping the mug from Avery’s hand with a deft movement that has so much grace it’s sexy. Avery’s crowded back against the bookshelf, and something above him rattles. Then it falls, and he sees Alejandro catch it in his periphery.

“Fuck,” he gasps.

Alejandro smirks, and he thinks, who even is this man? Who is this man who refused to even give him eye contact, now seducing him like he was born to do it? “I’d like to give you a proper good morning kiss, Avery.”

Alejandro has said his name so rarely, it sounds like a gift coming from his lips, curled around his accent. He swallows thickly and nods, and then Alejandro makes it very clear his version of a good morning kiss has nothing to do with Avery’s mouth.

It’s almost noon by the time they make it out of the house. He’s lost the purple panties from two messy orgasms and he has absolutely no regrets. Watching the way Alejandro reacted to them, the way he couldn’t take his hands off, the way he made Avery come inside them—it was worth it.

He’s deliciously aching and wrapped up in winter gear with the world’s softest scarf, and Alejandro actually holds his hand as they take the elevator down to the lobby to wait for his car. It’s not one Avery’s seen before—a little two-seater sporty thing, and he wants to mock him for his lavish tastes, but it’s not like he hasn’t benefitted over the last year. His car is something he’d never be able to afford on his own, and that apartment… He almost laughs at himself then, but instead, he just leans back and closes his eyes.

Alejandro can’t hold his hand because it’s a manual, but every so often when they’re at a cruise, he brushes his knuckles along Avery’s jaw. It’s romantic, and it’s sweet. It’s otherworldly. He leans a little closer, and they don’t really make small talk, and it takes him a few moments to realize just how badly he needed to know there could be silence between them. He’s spent the last year filling the void with pointless words that meant nothing at all, and now he knows he’s more than just that. He’s more than just a body to help pass the time.

“You kept them,” he says as his mind drifts back to the shelf in Alejandro’s bedroom.

Alejandro makes a curious noise and grips the wheel tightly. “Sorry?”

“The gifts I got you,” Avery says, and he doesn’t smile when Alejandro blushes, but it’s a near thing. “They’re on your bookshelf in your bedroom.”

The look Alejandro gives him is both shy and exasperated, and he rolls his eyes a little. “Of course I kept them. What else would I have done?”

Avery drags his tongue ring over his bottom lip and