that for a minute. “Is that so?”
Reese shrugged. “Don’t know if there’s any proof it’s valid, but yeah, I’ve heard it.”
Brantley leaned closer to Reese, lowered his voice. “Usin’ that logic, what’s it mean if you’re also fuckin’ the one you’re kissin’ at midnight?”
He probably should’ve, at the very least, let Reese take his drink before he asked the question. Because he hadn’t, Reese choked on his beer.
And then in a move that surprised the shit out of Brantley, Reese leaned over, put his mouth right to his ear and said, “Not sure. But maybe we should go home and find out.” Reese paused. “You know, after midnight.”
It took everything in him not to rip Reese right out of his chair and drag him out the door.
Chapter Eleven
Brantley wasn’t sure how he managed to make it to the countdown.
For the past few hours—no, scratch that—ever since he saw Reese sporting the hat and boots, the only thing he’d wanted to do was find a horizontal surface and … hell, he didn’t have an agenda after that. As long as they were naked, it didn’t much matter what they engaged in. It was always sinfully hot and intensely satisfying.
And now that they’d toasted the new year like friends—he had no desire to put Reese on edge by expecting anything more in public—Brantley was ready to take their party back to the house and start the naked part of the evening.
“Please tell me you’re ready,” he said to Reese, leaning in close to his ear since the bar was still loud.
“I am, yeah.”
Brantley pulled back, sighed his relief.
“You think we should convince Baz to jet, too?” Reese asked.
He glanced over, saw Baz downright cozy with the blonde. Looked as though he’d finally made a decision, considering he’d been flirting with both the redheaded waitress and the blonde all night long.
As much as he hated to see it, to know that Baz was moving on, Brantley couldn’t blame the guy. After all, this was what JJ had been pushing him toward for the past month. Right into the arms of some woman who would not allow Baz to think about JJ for at least a few hours.
“Nah. He’s a big boy,” Brantley answered. “But we will take his truck, make sure he doesn’t drive in his current condition.”
“Good idea.”
While Reese convinced Baz to hand over his truck keys, Brantley went to the bar, closed out their tab, covering Baz for the night, too.
Reese approached holding Baz’s keys up. “I’ll see you back at the house.”
After signing the credit card receipt, Brantley hightailed it out of there. He made good time getting home, shaving nearly a solid minute off the time all because he was eager to get his hands on Reese.
When he arrived, he found the house was still dark, but Baz’s truck was parked out front, meaning Reese had double-timed it, too.
“Reese?” he called out when he made it inside.
Toenails clicked on hardwood, and he glanced down to see Tesha moving toward him, a little hesitant but no longer cowering at any and every sound.
“Hey, girl,” he greeted, scratching her head when he moved close enough. “It’s all good. Just me.”
Evidently she was happy with that, because she turned and trotted back to her bed in the living room.
Hearing sounds coming from their bedroom, Brantley headed that way, pausing in the doorway.
The bedside lamp was on, and Reese was stripping off his shirt, revealing the deliciously sculpted body Brantley loved to ravish every chance he could.
“Damn,” he muttered, leaning his shoulder against the jamb. “I like the show.”
“Do you?” Reese taunted, looking up as his fingers moved to the button on his jeans.
“Oh, yeah. Keep goin’, cowboy.”
The blush that crept up Reese’s neck made Brantley’s dick hard. There was something so sinful about a shy yet confident man.
He watched as Reese did a slow, slightly uncoordinated strip tease. He’d mistakenly believed he could remain cool and collected through it all, right up until Reese’s boxer briefs disappeared and the man stared back at him with a bashful but ridiculously sexy smile on his face.
Brantley took a step forward, setting his hat on the dresser then unbuttoning his shirt. He closed the distance between them, while Reese stood gloriously naked, watching him. Once he tossed his shirt to the floor, he was on Reese, fusing their lips together while his hands roamed over smooth, hot skin.
“Do you know how hard it is to keep my hands off you?” Brantley whispered, sliding his lips