enjoyed letting my eyes take in the porcelain, smooth flesh of his exposed arms.
“Huh?” He gnawed on a crust and tilted his head.
“Tattoos.” I’d only seen him from the front and my eyes hadn’t exactly been lingering anywhere other than his crotch and his bright red lips. The memory made me hard, and I shifted to stop my cock from jamming too hard against the seam of my pants.
He kept chewing but his eyes dragged down my body like he knew. “Mm-hmm.”
I wet my lips. “You do have tattoos?”
“Mm.” He nodded and met my eyes again, making my heart stir and my cock swell when I tried to imagine where he was hiding them. Or it.
“How many?” I sounded raspy and desperate, so I took a big gulp of tea.
He held up his forefinger and took another bite of pizza while I swallowed thickly and tried to keep my dick under control. Not so easy with my brain working double-time. Imagining. Wanting.
“One?”
“Mm.”
“Where?” I was desperate for a visual.
His green eyes seemed to flash even brighter than usual as he smirked cheekily and shrugged.
I flicked my napkin at him. “You’re not going to tell me?”
He grinned so smug I wanted to wipe it right off his face. Wanted to kiss it. Wanted it to go slack so I could push right into his beautiful mouth…
I inhaled sharply and put my attention back on my meal. I was supposed to be keeping things platonic. Out of the ethical gray area. I mumbled. “You’re impossible.”
“Impossibly good at ordering pizza.” He kicked me under the table and shot me a smile as he pushed my plate closer to me. “Eat up, it’s not as good when it’s cold.”
We finished off the food, and Seb grimaced when he reached for a wallet that wasn’t there.
“Hey, I’ve got it.” I slid the bill toward me, and he feigned to grab it back, but quickly let it go.
“I’ll pay you back.”
“Please, it’s on me. Let’s not keep a tab.”
He flushed as I paid the bill, but maybe it was just the pink of the sunset pouring off the brown brick walls making his cheeks red as we stood up to leave.
“Besides, you showed me this place. Now I know where Zackori’s is.”
“Ugh! It’s called Zuconi’s! Oh my god!”
I winked, and his horrified expression turned into a playful scowl as he shoved me all the way out to the back lane.
The lights of the commercial wharf district glowed off the Potomac as I wandered back to the Vanguard Tower, full of pizza and happy with Sebastian by my side. We walked in silence and I appreciated how comfortable it was to be with him.
Back at the apartment, I made myself a coffee and turned. Seb was watching me, his lips twisted and eyebrows narrowed.
“What? What’s wrong?” I panicked and hovered the spoon over the mug.
“That’s how much coffee you use?” His eyes widened, and he came close to me to look in my cup, so close that I could smell his scent mixed with my soap.
“Yeah…why?” I dropped the spoon into the cup and stirred slowly as I searched his face for an answer and took a deep, greedy breath of his scent.
“Yikes.” He looked up and blinked his eyelashes. Adorable. Beyond tempting. “I put way more coffee in mine. No wonder I was, uh…wide awake.”
I chuckled and took a sip, then stepped away to give myself a break from temptation, Being so close to him was a test of my will. My strength. My ability to control myself. “You want another?”
“Absolutely not. I wouldn’t sleep for a week.”
I leaned against the counter and took him in as he poured himself a glass of water from the filtered faucet. “You look like you could use some more sleep.”
“Is that your professional or personal opinion, doctor? Either way, you’re right. I’m zonked. Mind if I go to bed?” He switched off the faucet and looked over his shoulder.
I wanted to keep him up all night. I wanted to get to know everything about him, ask him questions that only got asked in the darkest parts of the night. But I just took a sip of coffee and nodded. “Make yourself at home. I sleep late, and you’re welcome to as well. You’ll need your energy to see Ben tomorrow.”
Seb’s face fell. Tomorrow was going to be a tough day. “Yeah. I suppose I will.”
He paused at the hallway leading to the bedrooms and turned to face me as I