“You fucking hit me!” Bryce’s hand was shaking as he wiped the blood from his bottom lip.

“You fucking kissed me!” And then Nick was pacing the room. Just a minute before his brain had shut off, and now it wouldn’t stop going. Bryce had kissed him. Bryce was a man...his friend...and part of him hadn’t wanted to stop it.

“Shit.” Bryce shoved the door closed and went into the kitchen. “I shouldn’t have gone for it like that. I don’t know what I was thinking. Actually, I wasn’t fucking thinking. Jamie and Christi thought I had a thing for you, and I didn’t know what to believe. I came over here to prove them wrong and then, Jesus, you looked so fucking sexy when you opened the door all tired, and bare-chested with those fucking abs of yours. I realized they were right, so I just acted.” He wet a paper towel and wiped his mouth as though he hadn’t admitted...a whole hell of a lot of shit that Nick was still processing.

“Wait. Slow down...your brother and Christi think you have...” The word “feelings” got stuck. Or hell, maybe that wasn’t even what Bryce meant, so Nick just said, “something for me.” Bryce’s sullen attitude this afternoon made a whole hell of a lot more sense now.

Bryce held the towel to his face, guilt slamming into Nick. He couldn’t believe he’d fucking hit him. Nick had never hit someone in his life. He grabbed a baggie from the drawer, filled it with ice and then handed it to him. “Here.” Nick jerked his hand back so they didn’t touch, and he could have sworn he saw Bryce flinch.

That just made the guilt thicken, turning to mud in his veins.

“Yeah... Jamie mentioned it when I was doing dishes. He thought we were together and hiding it. It tripped me the fuck out at first.”

“Welcome to the club,” slipped past Nick’s lips and he couldn’t help but chuckle. Logically, he knew there was nothing about this situation that should make him want to laugh.

“I didn’t see it. Or maybe I did and I was in denial. I called Christi to have her tell me Jamie was crazy, only she said the same thing. I came over to prove they didn’t know what they were talking about and you opened the door,” he waved a hand at Nick. “Like that. Christ, put a shirt on, would you? And I just reacted. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Nick backed up until he ran into the fridge and couldn’t move anymore. His head swam with a thousand different thoughts—Bryce, Jill, his family, Bryce’s family, the kiss, the feel of Bryce’s lips on his and his rough hand on Nick’s face. The pain, and fear, and fucking bravery in Bryce’s voice and actions. Yet the thing he landed on was... “You said I’m sexy.” It had been in his first rambling explanation, but the words were only sinking in now.

Heat lit Bryce’s steel eyes as he took Nick in. “You are. Jesus, you so fucking are. I kept noticing shit like that before, but I ignored it.”

Nick couldn’t believe this. He didn’t know what to think or feel. His gut twisted and he felt the need to run, but he didn’t. Couldn’t. He needed to understand. Needed to know more. “Have you ever...?”

“No. Fuck no. Not with any other guy except you. Have you? Wait. I guess you haven’t said if you’re feeling whatever the fuck I am about you. And there’s the fact that you’ve only been with one person. Fuck.” He shook his head.

Nick squeezed his eyes closed. Locked his hands behind his head. The thing was, he did feel...whatever it was that Bryce felt. He did, and he didn’t know what that meant. But he couldn’t lie, either. “I do... I don’t understand it, but I do. I think I’m fucking jealous over Christi.”

“I swear I wanted to tape her mouth closed and keep her as far away from you as possible every time she calls you hot neighbor Nick. Or touches you. I hate that, too.” Nick’s eyes popped open at Bryce’s words. He still leaned against the counter, holding a bag of ice to his mouth.

“I’m sorry I hit you.”

“I’m sorry I kissed you...I think. Maybe not. No, I think I’m just sorry you hit me, too.”

A loud laugh fell from Nick’s lips. He couldn’t stop it, and soon Bryce was laughing with him. It was a crazy, ridiculous, fucked up response to whatever was happening here, but it was all he seemed to be able to do.

When they finally calmed down, Nick said the only truth he could. “I don’t know what to do with this. What I can do with it. I don’t understand it.”

He froze up when Bryce took a step toward him, then another...and another one. He stopped when their toes touched. “I can’t believe how fucking much I want you.” His breath whispered across Nick’s skin, and damn if his dick didn’t start to go hard. “Maybe it’s because we’re both so fucking horny. I haven’t gotten laid in months, and I know it’s been even longer for you.”