Page 22 of Come As You Are
Vee’s expression brightened immediately. “Sure.”
“I have to admit, I’ve never really watched the show.”
Putting a hand to his chest, Vee looked me up and down. “Are you sure you’re gay?” he asked, and I laughed.
“Pretty sure on that score.”
“Good. You had me worried for a moment.”
He grinned as he followed me to the kitchen where I made popcorn so we could snack during the show. Butterflies swooped in my stomach even as I tried to tell myself his words hadn’t been anything more than friendly banter. As we returned to my living room and settled on the couch, I internally shook my head at myself. I was always confident around guys. Bartending at a gay club made it easy to flirt and find hookups, and I’d rarely been turned down by someone who caught my eye. But, somehow, Vee made me doubt myself.
As we settled on the couch to watch the current season, I tried to figure out why. Yes, he was beautiful. And, yes, he was young. I wasn’t that much older than him—perhaps six or seven years—but the gap between us felt enormous. Vee had an air of innocence about him, a sweetness, that called to me. It’s why I had wanted to protect him when I found him sleeping in the storeroom. But it was more than that. It was somethingindefinable that had flared to life when Olivia and I comforted him.
“Are you even watching the show?” Vee asked. “All you’re doing is staring at me, and it’s starting to freak me out.”
Whoops!I turned my attention to the TV and tried to follow what was happening. The performers were all so good and their acts so outrageous and fun that I felt overwhelmed.
“How am I going to do that?” I asked as one contestant did a high-energy act that included acrobatics—without losing her wig—and backup dancers who lifted her on their shoulders at the end of the number.
“You’re not,” Vee responded. “It’ll be better if you do a lip sync rather than something so choreographed.” He wrinkled his nose, which was all kinds of adorable. “Doing choreography is really hard, especially if you’ve never danced before. I kind of wish I got to work at the bar with you.”
“That probably wouldn’t be a good idea,” I said. The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, but fortunately, Vee took them the wrong way.
“Yeah. You probably have to learn a lot more than how to shake your ass to make drinks.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Vee blushed and looked so adorable that I reached out and ruffled his hair. He batted my hand away and growled at me to quit it. I threw a piece of popcorn at him, then he threw an entire handful at me and reached into the bowl for another. Grabbing his hand, I pulled him toward me. The bowl went flying, popcorn sailing through the air in every direction, but I wasn’t paying attention because Vee was now lying on top of me.
We were both laughing so hard, he bounced against my chest, shifting his position so his dick was pressed against mine through our jeans. Mine hardened in an instant, and I tried to bite back my groan, but failed miserably.
Vee’s breath caught as he looked down at me, his big, blue eyes staring into my own, and I swallowed hard. He tried to shift away from me, but I wouldn’t let him go. “Don’t,” I whispered and rocked my hips against his, feeling his cock—hard now—against my own. “I don’t know what I’m asking for, but don’t pull away.”
“Okay,” Vee whispered.
“Is this all right with you?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
The word was a sigh as Vee relaxed against me, bringing his lips tantalizingly close to mine. His breath ghosted my cheeks, and I felt the heat that rushed from his mouth as he parted his lips.
“Can I kiss you?” he asked.
So enthralled by the proximity of all Vee’s beauty, all I could do was give the smallest of nods, and then his lips were on mine.
My first thought was how soft his lips were, but then I opened my mouth to him. He moaned as our tongues met, and my hips bucked up of their own accord, which made him gasp. My hands pulled his shirt from his jeans so I could touch the silky smooth skin of his back. I ran my fingertips up the groove of his spine, fingernails raking lightly against that perfect skin, then tracing the slightly raised lines I’d left behind until I put my hands on his ass and pulled him closer.
We ground against each other, cocks trapped behind zippers and denim, but it didn’t matter. I felt Vee’s hardness and heat, knew he could feel my own, feel the need that pulsed through my veins with every beat of my heart. I had never gone from zero to sixty in so short a time, but as we continued to kiss and move against each other, all I could think of was how much I wanted to come.
With a gut-wrenching groan, Vee lifted himself up on his arms breaking our kiss. His beautiful face was flushed, his lips red andpuffy, eyes wide and hungry. Though I wanted to continue what we’d been doing, a small part of my brain knew I should be the responsible one. I was older, and while I wasn’t technically Vee’s boss, I was part of the management team at Illyria and he was an employee.
At the same time, I wanted him, and he seemed to want me, and the blood that should have been going to my brain had detoured south, and…fuck…I couldn’t think about the reasons for not doing this anymore.
I put a hand around the back of Vee’s neck. “Are you good with this?” I asked, and it was Vee’s turn to nod.
“Very,” he said.
“Tell me if you want to stop. It’ll be hard, but I will.”
“I don’t think that will be an issue,” Vee told me and closed the distance between us once more.
