Melting - Sean Ashcroft Page 0,13

“Me too. With lime.”

Friendly Otter. That… was a name. Definitely made up of words.

“I’m gone, make your apologies,” Seth said as he got up and bounded toward the bar.

“Friendly Otter?” I asked.

Shy shrugged. “Ultra-local microbrewery. We could literally crawl from here,” he said. “And I am sorry about Seth. I should’ve warned you.”

“It really is fine,” I said. “I’m… not used to it, but I could get used to it.”

“Look at you,” Andre drawled. I couldn’t place his accent, but I liked it. I liked him, and I hadn’t missed that he was hot, too. As tall as I was but better built, with the most incredibly kind eyes and a smile that looked impossibly bright against his dark skin and neatly-trimmed stubble. “Local beer, local twinks, you’ll be a real local in no time.”

“I don’t think you should call him that,” I said automatically, and then hated myself for it. They were friends. He didn’t mean anything by it.

Andre’s eyes lit up like it was exactly the right thing to say. “And he’s a knight in shining armor even if Seth makes him nervous. I agree, we can keep him.”

“That’s settled, then,” Wes said, grinning broadly at me. “You’re stuck with us.”

7

Wes

“So, have you fucked him yet?” Seth asked as he strode into the bathroom, coming to stand next to me with absolutely no respect for my personal space.

“Can I pee in peace?” I asked, knowing the answer was no before I even opened my mouth.

“Not until you tell me about Hayden’s dick.”

“I haven’t seen it,” I said, blushing to the tips of my ears. Normally, I could take Seth’s particular brand of teasing, but…

I did kind of like Hayden.

And he was off-limits.

And I hadn’t managed a full week without sex yet, so I didn’t really want to think about it.

“Really? Because everyone else did. Those jeans have a lot in common with cheap hotels.”

I raised an eyebrow as I zipped up, heading for the sinks.

“No ballroom,” Seth said, grinning at me in the mirror. “I’ve never seen a man dressed more to your taste in my life, so either this is a happy coincidence or he’s already taking fashion advice from you.”

“I helped him dress,” I admitted. “But it wasn’t like that. I just walked in on him struggling to get those jeans on, that’s all.”

“I’d struggle to get those jeans on. Have you seen his ass? I’m gonna be thinking about it for weeks.”

“I’ve seen his ass,” I admitted.

I was going to be thinking about it for weeks, too.

“He likes you,” Seth said. “I mean, I know everyone does, but you can count him among the number. He’d totally go there.”

“He’s my boss’s kid.” I tossed the paper towel I’d dried my hands with in the trash. “I like my job.”

“We’ve been over this, Mr. Lewis would love it, that’s not an excuse.”

I was pretty convinced it was an excuse, but I didn’t want to argue with Seth about my sex life in a public bathroom.

“I’m gonna go rescue him from Andre and Mark,” I said, heading for the door.

“They’re talking about antiques, it’s so gay it’s making me feel straight in comparison,” Seth complained.

“Can’t believe there’s anything remotely gay you’re not into,” I said, holding the door for Seth.

“They’re having a tops conference out there,” Seth said. “Andre was right, he’s totally a top.”

“I don’t think you can boil the entire beautiful spectrum of human sexuality down to two boxes.”

“Obviously not,” Seth agreed. “Some people are switches.”

Before I knew it, I was leaving Hayden off at the door like a teenager who’d promised they’d bring him home not a minute later than eleven o’clock.

It was actually twenty minutes past, but who was counting?

The night had flown by, and I was starting to think Hayden had even enjoyed it. He’d definitely been laughing real, genuine laughter toward the end there, some of that tension in his perfectly-broad shoulders easing.

“I wanted to thank you,” he said, fingering his keys in the doorway. “For, uh. Everything. Tonight.”

He paused, running his fingers through his hair. His cheeks were flushed, heat and alcohol both working to make him look a little rumpled.

He looked twenty-nine right now.

Twenty-nine, and soft, and kissable.

I could not think that. I could not be thinking anything like that.

No matter how pretty the shy little smile he was giving me happened to be.

“You wanted to thank me for exposing you to my insane friends?” I asked.

He liked them, though. He wasn’t used to them, clearly, but he was