Common Goal (Game Changers #4)- Rachel Reid Page 0,30
pretty fucking obvious, I know. And pathetic.” He set the last of the bottles on the counter and turned, bracing himself with both hands on the edge of the sink behind his back. “Anyway. I need to get over it. I mean, I am getting over it.”
“I’m sorry.”
Kyle laughed without any humor. “You know what the most ridiculous part is? Kip was supposed to be the end of me having crushes on inappropriate men. He was supposed to be a good choice.”
“Inappropriate men?”
He shook his head. “I shouldn’t be talking about this with you. Or anyone. It’s fine. Forget I said anything.”
“No, I—” Eric’s hand found itself back on Kyle’s arm. “I want to listen. If you want to talk.”
“I’m way too sober for that.”
Eric studied his face. “You are sober, aren’t you? You didn’t drink tonight?”
Kyle shrugged. “Didn’t feel like it.”
The possibility that Kyle had abstained because Eric didn’t drink warmed him. But maybe Kyle truly hadn’t felt like it and Eric shouldn’t read any more into it. “Why don’t I get us both some water, and we can sit in the living room for a bit?”
“Okay.”
A few minutes later, Kyle was wedged into the corner of a sectional sofa, and Eric was sitting a safe, platonic distance away. Kyle took a sip of his water and said, “So what do you want to know?”
There were a lot of careful, easy questions Eric could have asked. Ones that wouldn’t have been completely selfish. But what he asked was, “Is Kip not the type of man you’re normally attracted to?”
Kyle’s eyebrows raised over the frames of his glasses, and his lips quirked up. “No. Not usually. I mean, I don’t have a strict type, but...”
Eric shifted to the edge of his sofa cushion. “But?”
“I have a bit of a weakness for...older men.”
He swallowed. “How much older?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe forty. Or”—Kyle smiled mischievously at him—“forty-one.”
Eric’s dick arrived to the party at that moment. Late, but very keen to celebrate his birthday. He knew he should reply to Kyle, but his head had gone fuzzy.
Kyle waved a hand. “Don’t take me too seriously when I flirt. It’s basically a defense mechanism for me.”
“Defense,” Eric repeated thickly. “Right.” He shook away some of the haze of lust. “Of course. I know you’re not serious.”
“Good. But let me know if I ever make you uncomfortable, please. I really don’t want to do that.”
“I’ll tell you.” Uncomfortable was one way of putting it. Although, whether he was uncomfortable from being unsure of how to respond to Kyle’s suggestive remarks, or if it was from the sudden tightness of his jeans, it was hard to say. Did Kyle know that Eric was attracted to men? Was it as obvious to him as Eric’s inability to leave his basement a mess?
“You are gorgeous, though,” Kyle said easily. “If you didn’t know that.”
“Thank you.” Return the compliment, Eric! Or should he? Would that only make things more weird? It was probably safer if the flirting was only one sided. But he had to say something, so he said, “I like your glasses.”
Kyle laughed. “As in you want to buy a pair for yourself, or as in you want to see me wearing nothing but them?” Before Eric could respond, Kyle quickly said, “Sorry. That was too much.”
Eric crossed his legs as casually as possible as he fought to banish the mental image of Kyle wearing only his glasses. Maybe he would be stretched elegantly across Eric’s bed, his back arching as Eric trailed kisses up the inside of his thigh...
“I’m trying to be anyway,” Kyle said.
Trying to be? Trying to be what? Oh god, Eric had completely missed everything that Kyle had just said.
“Trying to be, um...pardon?” Eric said elegantly.
Kyle grinned. “Good. Or smart. Trying not to date creeps.”
“Creeps?” Anger flared inside of Eric at the thought of a man hurting Kyle. “How do you mean?”
“Oh, you know. Secretly married. Closeted and staying there. Manipulative and selfish. Any combination of those things. That’s my type, apparently.”
That didn’t sound like the sort of man Kyle should be with at all. Kyle should be with someone who cherished every one of his playful smiles and devilish winks. Who appreciated how smart Kyle was, and how easy he was to talk to. “Those guys sound like assholes.”
“Yeah, well.” Kyle pulled his knees up and rested his tilted head on them. “You wanna hear something funny? I thought you were going to be one of them.”