Was that even a question? Bryce shrugged. “Doesn’t matter what you make, it’ll be good. Honestly, I don’t give a shit what we eat. I get to watch porn with a sexy man tonight and get my dick sucked. Nothing else really matters.”

When the man smiled at him, he couldn’t help but lean forward and take Nick’s mouth one more time.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Nick almost forgot he’d been frustrated until he had to knock on the bathroom door so Christi would come out. But then...if there was anything going on, she wouldn’t have hid out in the bathroom to discretely give them time together.

She opened the door and mouthed, “Finally.”

He liked her. In a lot of ways she would be the perfect woman for Bryce. She could keep up with him, match him sarcastic jab for sarcastic jab. But he didn’t want that...because Bryce was his.

“Can I walk out with you?” she asked.

“Yeah, sure. Weren’t you waiting to go back in with Bryce, though?”

She shook her head. “I’m done with him. I was waiting for you.” Christi fell in step beside him. When they got outside, she walked toward her car and he followed her over to be polite.

“I want you to know you have nothing to worry about with me. Bryce and I...it was a mistake. We were scared to lose each other. We were confused. That’s all it was. I’m not in love with him, and he’s not in love with me, either.”

“I wasn’t...I’m not...” But he really was worried.

“I saw your face when you came in. It’s okay. I get it. He’s happy. I’ve never seen him like this before. He sure as hell doesn’t look at me the way he looks at you.”

A warmth spread through Nick’s chest. As weak as it made him feel, he needed to hear that. “Thanks. He’s...” He’s what? Bryce meant something to Nick. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure what, but he knew it was big. He knew he’d felt real jealousy thinking of Bryce and Christi together. Nick had wanted a connection with someone, and he got that with Bryce. Got it in a way he never had before. “He’s hard to put into words.”

She laughed. “That’s one way to describe him.” Christi reached out, grabbed Nick’s hand and squeezed. “He has you just as upside down and backwards as you have him, doesn’t he?”

Nick nodded. There was no reason to deny it. “There are a lot of variables involved, though.”

“None that should matter besides the way the two of you feel. If anyone else’s tune doesn’t go with yours, it’s just background noise. I know it’s easy for me to say that, but it’s true. Thanks for giving this...giving him a chance. It feels good seeing him like this. I know he doesn’t show it, but Bryce isn’t very good at letting people in. It’s just not the way he’s built. He let you in, though.”

“Thank you,” Nick told her. No matter what happened, or how things went with them, this, Bryce, was important to him. This was very real to Nick. He wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t. The thing was, that wasn’t a guarantee it would work. If Bryce and Christi, heterosexual best friends, weren’t meant to be together, two straight guys who suddenly wanted each other sure as hell wouldn’t be.

They said their goodbyes and Nick headed to the grocery store. He got the stuff to make homemade pasta, his secret sauce and rosemary chicken breasts.

When he got home, he took a shower and changed before getting dinner ready. It was a few minutes after five when there was a knock on his door.

Bryce was home...and their night was about to start. In that moment, nothing else mattered. Nick couldn’t wait.

***

Bryce was leaning against the house when Nick opened the door. He crossed his arms and looked at the other man with a grin on his face. “You’re covered in flour, and I’m covered in oil.” Nick wasn’t really very messy, but Bryce was. He reached out and wiped the dusting of white powder off Nick’s cheek.

“I like it when you’re dirty.” His eyes darted down. He looked almost shy to have said something like that to Bryce, but he didn’t have any reason to be. It was fucking hot.

“It’s a shame I have to go shower then. I can still be dirty for you, though—just in a different way. It’ll be more fun that way, too.”

Nick adjusted himself. “You’re going to give me a hard-on before we get started.”

Nick’s words made him stumble over his thoughts for just a second. He was giving another man an erection.

Yeah, he wanted that.