He figured just in case Brent was expecting him to show up with an actual dessert, he’d better have one. So he’d whipped up some brownies. Worst case scenario, they’d be good comfort food. And best case, they’d be fun to eat with his fingers.
Calen figured he could probably get Brent to react beautifully if he worked it right.
He was going to have to pay attention to figure out what made Brent react though. Calen had spent so long trying not to notice the people he worked with, he wasn’t sure what Brent’s preferences were.
Sure, they’d gone to the club with the same people. But when you were in a group of Doms and subs who were mostly related, you had to be more careful. He’d done his best not to pay attention to anything the other guys were doing.
If he happened to see one of his friends in a more intimate situation or even something that looked personal, he’d walk away. And with Brent looking for a more serious long-term relationship, Calen hadn’t even seen him flirt with that many men at the club.
Parking his car in front of Brent’s house, Calen walked around to the passenger side to grab the food. As he tried to figure out a way to carry the lasagna and the brownies without dropping them, he heard the door to the house open.
“Need any help? Since you cooked, so the least I could do was help carry it in.”
“I was going to have you work off your debt another way—but I guess this is a start.” Calen’s dirty mind was working overtime. He hoped he hadn’t pushed his luck.
As he stood up and turned around to hand Brent the heavy casserole dish, he caught a little grin and the faint blush that was tinting Brent’s cheeks. Knowing that Brent wasn’t immune to his teasing eased some of his worries. If he could make Brent blush, there was a good chance that the sub didn’t just think of him as a co-worker.
Brent cleared his throat and glanced at the dish. “Smells good.”
“Thank.” Picking up the plate of brownies, he shut the door and locked the car.
Brent gave the brownies a curious look. The fact that Calen showed up with dessert seemed to have thrown him. Not wanting Brent to get the wrong idea, he waited until Brent looked up to speak. He did his best to make sure Brent could see the desire in his eyes and gave him a wicked grin. “I figured this would be a good start to dessert. First course maybe—we’ll figure out what else should go with it.”
Bingo.
Brent’s blush flared back to life, obvious and bright. Then he looked away. He swallowed several times and Calen could tell he was trying not to react, but it wasn’t working. Calen was glad Brent couldn’t hide his reactions. It made him feel more confident about his own decisions.
“Come on. Let’s get the food inside before it gets cold. Right now, it’s hot and should be delicious.” Calen let his voice drop lower, watching as a little shiver raced through Brent.
Calen knew he must have been too obvious because Brent gave him a frustrated look and shook his head.
“Calen.”
Calen pretended innocence, but he knew it wasn’t believable. “Yes?”
“Are you going to do that all night?”
“Oh yeah. Now that I’ve seen your blush, how could I not?”
“You’re going to make me crazy.” There was a feigned frustration in Brent’s voice, but the look on his face made it clear that Brent didn’t mind Calen’s teasing.
“You are going to love the way I make you crazy.” Calen let his desire for Brent fill his eyes and was rewarded with another cute blush.
Watching the man who was always so put together and in charge react was addicting. Calen couldn’t wait to see how far down that blush went and how much more flustered he could make his friend.
Brent simply shook his head at Calen again, then turned to walk back towards the house. Now that he didn’t have to pretend to be immune to the sexy man, Calen enjoyed the view as Brent walked away. The man had the most incredible ass.
He must have realized Calen wasn’t following because Brent turned back, a questioning look on his face. “You forget something?”
Calen gave him a naughty smile. “Nope. Just enjoying the view.”
Brent didn’t seem sure what to say as heturned back to the house and kept walking. It was going to take some time to work out their new dynamics but Calen wasn’t worried. Some people might think going from friends to lovers would be hard but it didn’t seem that way.
The constant questioning about how Brent felt was the most difficult part. Now that he knew the interest wasn’t one-sided, he wasn’t going to let anything scare him away. Not even his own fears about what Brent would say. This was his friend. He trusted Brent.
Pushing away his worries, Calen started walking up to the door. Brent had a cute little cottage-style house that fit him perfectly. It was warm without being fussy and more like a real home than Calen’s place.
Closing the door, he made his way back to the kitchen. If this counted as a first date, it was going to be the most comfortable he’d ever felt on one. Brent’s place was like a second home to him and knowing they were going to hang out was relaxing. Sure, things would hopefully get more interesting as the night went on, but if all they did was hang out and talk, it would be the best time he’d had recently.
