name. He turned to find Kyle running toward him with his jacket clutched in his hand. “Eric! Wait!”
Kyle caught up to him, his cheeks flushed and his breath huffing out in white clouds. Eric took his jacket from his hands and held it open for him to put his arms in the sleeves. It was way too cold to be outside in a T-shirt.
“Didn’t you have a scarf?” Eric asked, heart hammering against his ribs. Kyle had come after him.
“What? Oh yeah. I did. I guess it’s gone now.”
Eric took his own scarf off and looped it around Kyle’s neck. He flipped the collar up on his coat, which was much warmer than Kyle’s corduroy jacket. “Why’d you follow me out?”
“Why did you leave?”
“I’m tired. And you seemed...busy.”
“I thought you were going to dance.” Kyle’s bottom lip jutted out petulantly. Eric wanted to capture it between his teeth.
“You should go back in,” Eric said, arranging his scarf so it covered more of Kyle’s exposed neck and chin. “You’re young and I’m...” He sighed. “Not. You should be having fun with that guy with the blue hair. Not worrying about me.”
“I’m not worried about you. I just...” Kyle’s mouth pinched, like he didn’t want to finish his sentence. “I wanted to dance with you. Or at least watch you dance with someone else.”
“I’m not a good dancer.”
“As if I’m going to believe that! I saw you do full splits like three times during that game the other night. We need to get you on a runway. You could be death dropping all over the place.”
Eric smiled fondly at him. He liked how Kyle looked, all bundled into Eric’s scarf. “I have no idea what that means.”
“So much to learn,” Kyle sighed.
“I know.”
God, he was beautiful. His pale blue eyes sparkled as he worried his red, kiss-swollen bottom lip with his teeth. Eric hated that those plump lips were the result of someone else’s efforts, but not enough to keep himself from wanting to kiss him. To erase all traces of that other man.
Without even realizing what he was doing, Eric bunched the ends of the scarf in his fist and tugged Kyle to him, walking backward until Eric was against a wall. He watched Kyle’s face for one moment, searching for any signs of resistance. All he saw was Kyle’s gaze drifting to Eric’s mouth, and the tip of his tongue poking out to wet his bottom lip.
Their mouths crashed together. Eric probably should have been embarrassed about his lack of control, but he didn’t care. He was frantic, needing to claim Kyle after almost losing him to some pretender with blue hair.
Not that Kyle belonged to him. At all. But right now, with Kyle matching his urgency as they kissed, Eric could pretend. Kyle pressed him hard against the brick building, wedging a thigh between Eric’s legs and letting him feel his arousal. Eric inhaled sharply and moved his hips to gain some friction against his own erection. Kyle moaned into his mouth, then broke the kiss and said, “Is that from watching me make out with another guy?”
Eric didn’t want to answer that. “Come home with me.”
Kyle grinned, then kissed him again. “My place is closer.”
“Your place has a roommate.”
“We both bring people home all the time. We’re used to it.”
Eric shook his head, frustrated by the time they were wasting. “I won’t be able to relax if I think someone is listening. My place.”
“Fine.”
Kyle stepped back, and Eric took his phone out so he could call his car service. When he ended the call, he noticed Kyle hugging himself, clearly freezing.
“You need a parka,” Eric said.
“I have one, I just didn’t wear it because I’m an idiot,” Kyle said.
Eric wrapped his arms around Kyle’s shivering body. Kyle relaxed against him, and Eric closed his eyes. This was nice. They stood like that for a few minutes, not speaking. Kyle turned his head and nuzzled the side of Eric’s neck, which made Eric’s breath hitch.
“You’re warm,” Kyle murmured.
“Glad to be useful.” He wanted to offer to hold Kyle all night. He loved the idea of having Kyle snuggled against him while he slept.
“It might have been fun,” Kyle said, tilting his head up to grin mischievously at him. “If we’d gone to my place. Seeing if you could stay quiet. We could have made a game of it.”
“I don’t want to be quiet.” Eric was shocked by how gruff his voice was. Kyle must have been surprised too, because