He gives a crooked smile, his voice rumbling in his chest. “Real clever response, Stevens.”
This time, I feel like we’re both painfully aware of the sexual tension. The play in his eyes morphs into a suggestive intrigue. I just want to get closer and have him pin me against this wall.
Warlord, the gym,allof it, completely disappears when I’m close to him like this. And I should really fucking know better.
That’s when I lower my gaze in defeat, and he finally relinquishes my wrist, looking away like he’s retracting every consideration.
The night isn’t over for me, though. I don’t want to just go to bed. So, I say, “Well, I can’t sleep. You want to go watch some Netflix with me?”
His muscled chest rises and falls, as if he knows he should go to bed. “Yeah, I can’t sleep either, if I’m to be fucking honest. My muscles are on fire.”
I head toward the stairs, hoping we don’t wake Andrew. But in that man’s stupor, he’s probably out cold. “You should use the sauna tomorrow.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I chuckle. “I know you hate how steamy they are, but they’re fantastic for your body.”
When I reach the bottom and glance back at him, he is less meticulous about concealing the wicked nature of his thoughts, his lips gently curling upward like he’s amused by whatever he wants to say.
But we are both adults and know that we are playing with fire, even if we keep tossing fuel on it. Perhaps we are waiting to see who will get burned first, so we have permission to dance in the flames. We sit at opposite ends of the room and debate on what to watch.
We are both Marvel fans over DC, although we agree that Christopher Nolan knocked theBatmanseries out of the park. We don’t want to watch anything too serious, and I know better than to try a rom-com with him.
So, we settle on watching something with mystery and suspense.
I sit in a big chair while Ryder sits on the couch, and I wrap myself in a blanket as we begin. I thought this whole thing might be awkward, but it’s actually nice. We easily slide into watching TV together. Before I know it, we are already on the second episode.
While the intro plays, I steal a glance. He appears so relaxed and comfortable...
His eyes dart my way, and I immediately look at the TV.
“Yeah, like that was sneaky,” he chides, but doesn’t sound mad or put off.
I fail at suppressing a smile and face him. It’s so natural to flirt with him. “Just, uh. Thought there was a spider near you.”
“Mhmm,” he hums, the dark lighting making it hard to read his expression.
I blush at being called out, and yet I love it. I love how he’s growing bolder with his replies, how he actually seems intrigued himself.
There’s no point in denying that I want to curl up next to that damn man, and we are right back to that silent staring. But this time, whatever wall he usually builds is pretty much gone.
A door opens from upstairs, and a groan echoes in the hall as Andrew slightly stumbles on the descent. I tense, reminded of how close to the fire I am, probably burned already, and just not aware of it.
Thankfully, Ryder speaks, pausing the TV show. “You okay, man?”
“Just getting some Gatorade.”
“You hit it hard,” Ryder replies.
“Don’t want a lecture.” He looks at the two of us with disapproval. “Why are you two down here?”
“Just watching TV. Both couldn’t sleep,” I explain.
“Weird.” He goes to the kitchen, his hair a complete mess, walking through the light of the bright screen and back into the darkness of the kitchen. “I swear I walked in on you two doing some shit earlier.”
Ryder, fortunately, carries the dialogue for us. “No, man, you were just shit-faced.”
“Good. As much as I’d like that gym name,” Andrew starts, pausing to drink, his speech still slurred but clearly sobering. “I’d hate to terminate you before the comp. You’re good with him. So keep it in your pants.”
