Page 8 of Boy Toy Not Included

Kuba fought for his life for a different reason. How did this man not know Kuba would shove this sickness all the way to the back burner if Diesel would stop teasing him? Jesus, he had never wanted anyone so badly. Diesel wasn’t like anyone he had ever met. The guy genuinely had no idea how much he turned Kuba on. Kuba hadn’t meant for these feelings to happen. He hadn’t realized the way Diesel made him feel immediately. At first, Kuba was intrigued and confused by Diesel. Then they had sat side by side on that couch, and their gazes had met. Holy shit. The instant he realized Diesel really looked at him with the same desire building inside Kuba, boom. Everything had made sense. They had clocked each other immediately without even realizing it. Now he didn’t have to feel weird about the way Diesel definitely made his dick hard. Of course, there was still the pesky detail of Diesel working for him. Kuba wouldn’t act on his desires. Maybe. Possibly. He just really enjoyed the way hefelt with Diesel. Who was he kidding? He would totally act on his desires.

“Look at you. You got it down.”

Kuba glanced at his plate. Sure enough, the toast and coffee were gone. Diesel was right. He did feel better.

Kuba looked Diesel’s way. Their gazes met the way they tended to do and, as always, didn’t budge. He wondered if Diesel realized how his every feature transformed when he looked at Kuba. At first, Kuba had thought he imagined things. There was no denying the matched desperation for long. Diesel obviously had no plans of admitting it, but he definitely wanted Kuba too.

Diesel’s thumb stroked Kuba’s nape again, making Kuba realize Diesel’s arm rested on the back of Kuba’s chair. The world disappeared. Diesel looked away first. He blushed. Kuba followed Diesel’s gaze. Nova leaned against the counter and watched them while sipping her coffee. Kuba was unbothered. He liked her. Kuba really liked her son. It was best there were no misunderstandings from the start. Her son was in danger with Kuba. She tried—badly—to hide a smile behind her coffee mug. Kuba smirked. Nova winked, and it hit Kuba. This invitation hadn’t been out of pity. Nova was matchmaking, and Diesel was too clueless to notice a thing. Kuba kind of wanted to laugh, but he also didn’t want to give away her game.

Diesel stood. “Let’s open presents.”

Kuba pushed to his feet and carried their dirty dishes to the sink. Diesel headed for the living room.

Nova leaned close and lowered her voice, speaking quietly and quickly as if she didn’t want Diesel to hear. “Good luck. He’s not an easy one to catch.”

“I’m not worried.”

With her laughter trailing behind her, Nova joined Diesel in the living room.

Kuba hesitated and took a deep breath. This was such a dumb move. Absolutely nothing about this would end well. He should back off now before it was too late. Kuba smelled him before he saw him. Whatever cologne he wore suited him perfectly.

Diesel’s palm slid across his lower back as Diesel moved to stand close. “Are you okay? Do you need something for nausea or a headache?”

Kuba returned to his cocky self. “Nah. I’m good. Let’s go do this thing.”

Diesel eyed him for a moment before nodding. They made their way to the living room. A surprised laugh burst from Kuba when he spotted a filled stocking with his name on it waiting for him on the couch. He felt like a kid again. Kuba picked it up and sat where it had been. He eyed the large, bright red stocking that bulged with whatever was inside.

“Oh my god. This is awesome.” He looked Nova’s way.

She wore a bright, happy-looking smile. “I guess Santa knew where to find you.”

He shook his head. Kuba hadn’t gotten a stocking from Santa since he was twelve.

Diesel handed him a gold-wrapped present. “Merry Christmas.” He passed another box Nova’s way before Kuba decided how to react.

“Thank you.” He didn’t open the gift in case they had a traditional way of opening presents.

Diesel kept handing out gifts. He had five before all the presents were gone from beneath the tree, minus the bag of gifts he had brought.

“Go ahead and pass those out too.”

With a nod, Diesel placed another box on top of his waiting stack of gifts and then handed the last one to Nova. Diesel sat on the floor when he was finished. “Okay. Open up, guys.”

Kuba blinked in confusion. Diesel’s stack sat nearby on a recliner. “What about you?”

“I want to watch you two first. That’s my favorite part.”

Damn. Was this guy for real? There was no way he was for real. Kuba didn’t think people like Diesel existed. There had to be something terrible about him.

Diesel motioned for him to get started.

Kuba cautiously opened a gift. Discomfort sat heavily on him. He did a lot of shit with thousands of fans watching. Somehow opening a gift with Diesel watching, as if he was in more suspense than Kuba, was more nerve wrecking. All of that was forgotten the second the wrapping paper fell away. A smile exploded across his face. It was a Lego set. Not just any set, but the LOTR’s one with the Eye of Sauron. “Whoa. I love it.” He met Diesel’s stare. Diesel smiled like an idiot. He really looked as if he enjoyed watching Kuba’s reaction as much as Kuba loved the gift. “How did you know?”

Diesel shrugged. “It’s my job to be observant. When you gave me a tour of your place, I noticed you have a hobby room, and you had all the LOTR sets but this one.”

Damn. He was about to be the best guard anyone could ask for. “Thank you. This is amazing.”

Diesel kept smiling.