Stripped Love (Guys Next Door #1) - Baylin Crow Page 0,31

curl of his hair behind one ear. "Kellan, but I don't think we've met."

"Yeah, Kellan." Damon smirked. "You take my place. I'm done playing anyway. Relax and I'll grab you a beer."

Asshole. I glared at the back of Damon's head, knowing he was trying to set me up with a little entertainment for the night. He didn't know about Archer, so I couldn't completely fault him. It wasn't that I was keeping him a secret, but I honestly didn't know what to tell anyone.

Did I have a friend who I couldn't keep my hands off of and out of my thoughts? Or was it more? My ego wasn't big enough to assume Archer wanted more from me than to fuck him, but I wasn’t satisfied with the thought of only casual sex between us either, I realized. I liked Archer. A lot.

Under Kellan's interested gaze, I rubbed the back of my neck. I was definitely going to need that beer. Luckily, Damon returned quickly, and I downed the beer before crushing the can.

Damon raised a brow. "You can get the next one on your own. I need to go show these boys how to play poker."

He walked away, leaving me with Kellan again.

"Bad day?" He chuckled and gave the crumpled can a pointed look.

"Just thirsty," I lied as he lined up his cue. I took the opportunity to scan his features.

Medium height, lanky, sky blue eyes, pale skin and wheat-colored hair that curled up under his black, backward hat—he wasn't hard on the eyes. His light coloring clashed with his all black clothing—loose shorts paired with a Three Days Grace t-shirt.

Two weeks ago, I might have been interested, but I found myself comparing him to Archer. Okay, I had it bad for my complicated little muse. I just hated that I couldn't tap into his quirky, creative mind to get a solid read on how he saw our...relationship?

Kellan sunk another striped ball, leaving me to assume I was solids. He straightened, and his lids grew heavy as he studied me. "You're staring hard enough to give a guy the wrong impression…unless you'd like to take this in the other room."

"No, it's not that. I was just thinking about…" I trailed off, unwilling to share anything personal with a guy I didn't know who was clearly down for some fun in the sheets. "Be right back. I'm gonna grab another beer. Want one?"

He frowned, but after a beat, bopped his head. "Sure."

Tempted to bail on the party, I instead turned to find the trash and tossed the can away before popping open the busted-up refrigerator. I snagged two cans, and on my way back, I caught Damon still smirking at me again over his hand of cards. I flipped him off and made my way back to Kellan at the pool table.

I popped the tab on my beer as I examined the table to see Kellan had sunk yet another ball. Counting, I saw I still had five and he was down to three. After I took a healthy swallow, I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand and watched as he scratched on the next try.

"Damn," he muttered and took the beer I held out for him. "Thanks."

Though I wasn’t an expert, I wasn't completely terrible at pool and knew exactly which one I wanted to go for. Setting my beer on a chair, I leaned down and aimed my cue, hindered slightly by my rings.

"Wait," he said and a whiff of his spicy cologne hit my nose as he sidled up next to me. Pausing, I glanced up. "Let's make this more interesting."

"Yeah?" I raised a brow. "What did you have in mind?"

He tipped his head toward the table where it appeared a game of strip poker had been started, as one of the guys made a show of tugging his shirt over his head to the tune of whistles and catcalls.

"Each scratch or miss," Kellan continued, "an article comes off. Yeah?"

I gave him a blank look. "You know you can just visit the club for the same show, but better, right?"

"Don't be a buzzkill. We playing or what?" He gave me his best seductive smile and my cock took zero notice. Fucking zero. Archer didn't even try and…

"Listen, I don't want to lead you on. I told Damon I'd swing by, but..." I set my cue on the green velvet top and took a step aside to create some distance between us. It was officially time