took a small step backward to regain my control and bit my lip to prevent my groan of desire escaping. It didn’t matter how far back I stepped. I could finish three blocks away and I’d still only have a slim grasp of my control.
My cock shifted, and I focused on the wine in my hand. “I brought wine.” I all but shoved it into his hands, and his fingers grazed mine, sending a wave of desire rippling through me.
“Shit. You are so sexy,” I blurted, and my mind shut down as shame pushed heat into my cheeks.
Leo raised his eyebrows, and I shifted my position, following up my inappropriate declaration with a groan of humiliation.
“That was actually supposed to be an inner-voice moment,” I clarified, my cheeks burning hotter by the second.
I pushed my hand through my hair, the memory of high school with me all over again. One of the first times I’d seen Leo, I’d managed to tell him I thought he was cute, which wasn’t so bad, but then I’d also wondered out loud if that made me gay. I could hear that conversation in my head, and it still made me cringe.
Almost like Leo was having the same memory, he half grinned. Then he obliterated all doubt about what he was thinking about. “Are you having another panicked moment about being gay? Or still just wondering?”
I shook my head, certain for the first time all day. “Nope. Still very much gay.” I lowered my voice. “And still very much think you’re cute, too.”
Fuck me. I hadn’t meant to say that last part, either. I needed to muzzle myself or something. Being around Leo was very bad for my self-control.
Leo’s lips twitched and he stepped aside to let me into his apartment.
“Wow… This is nothing like I expected.”
“Are you using your internal voice outside again?” Leo laughed. After he spoke, but it was a gentle sound.
Shit. My face heated again. Perhaps I was just destined to spend the entire evening hot. “No… I mean… I just mean it looks like an interior designer came through here.”
Leo laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, well, Mom spent some time helping Adrian clean up his apartment on his birthday and apparently, she was just scandalized at how much he was living like this bachelor-student hybrid, so we all got a dose of Vanessa Caldwell style.” He paused. “Seriously, there isn’t much my Mom can’t turn her hand to.”
“I remember her,” I said. “Not just from the barbecue, I mean. A whirlwind of a lady busy achieving and accomplishing and raising enough boys to start her own football team.” I didn’t even need to close my eyes to remember the attractive, live-wire woman with the warm smile who’d always made me welcome in her home.
For years, I’d wished for a mom just like her. A new sense of guilt washed through me. I’d not only hurt Leo, I’d hurt Vanessa’s son, and I must have disappointed and hurt her, too. I could hardly bear to think about it. Without really thinking, I reached out and smoothed my hand over a soft throw on the arm of the couch.
“She has very good taste.”
Leo smiled sadly. “I’ll tell her you said so.”
I couldn’t make myself smile back, but the aroma of sizzling meat attracted my attention again and I was saved from any further conversation about Leo’s mom. “Dinner smells great.”
Leo’s smile widened and his eyes sparkled. “Yeah. I had steak after my workout earlier. Need something a bit lighter now. You like salad?”
My stomach gurgled its disagreement but I nodded enthusiastically. “Sure. I’ve never met a lettuce leaf I didn’t enjoy, right?” My stomach growled again, letting Leo know I was a liar.
He chuckled. “Oh, Shayne. It’s not salad. Well, it’s salad to start, but then it’s steak. A proper meal.”
A proper date. The thought sneaked into my head, and I tried to push it away.
“Everything’s ready if you’d like to come and sit down?” He led the way to a table set for two, a small candle flickering in the middle of the table.
I glanced at it, then back at him.
He shrugged. “It’s a dark corner. It always needs a little more light.”
Yeah, I would have believed that if he hadn’t just told me his mom had decorated his place. Date, date, date.
But I nodded like that was totally plausible and admired the salads on the table. “These don’t actually look too terrible,” I said, and he