were folded and stuffed back into the bag, Eli offered to make dinner as a thank-you. Nate replaced the large skillet Eli had unearthed from the cabinet.
“No thanks. We were planning on…” Nate’s gaze flicked over Eli’s shoulder in Kellan’s direction, “…ordering in,” he finished with a sigh and an eye roll.
Eli didn’t care. He was having a crisis. Kellan and Nate could fuck or whatever else they’d been planning another time.
Kellan had his phone out before Nate could finish exhaling. “Pizza, all veggie, coming up.”
“Pizza?” Nate’s brows shot up.
“After last night, you know I deserve better than bean scum.” Kellan had a sexy voice, deep with a ripple of laughter in it, but it couldn’t make Eli shiver like Quinn’s did.
Eli leaned against the counter. “Ooo. I want details.”
“Not a chance.” But Kellan put his arm around Eli’s shoulders and leaned next to him. “Instead, you can tell us about tall, dark and—”
“Old?” Nate suggested.
With a deliberate stare at Nate, Eli pushed away from the cabinet. “Gimme old any day because that was absolutely the best sex of my entire existence.” He reached into the fridge for a bottled water and rubbed it over his face and neck. “I get hot just thinking about it.”
“Ouch. Score.” Kellan’s laugh rumbled through the kitchen.
Nate folded his arms. “If it was that good, why are you plaguing us with your presence when you could be having the best sex of your entire existence.” His tone didn’t need air quotes. He made his sneer do it for him. “Did you give him a heart attack? Make him run out of his little blue pills?”
Eli wiped some condensation off the bottle then licked it off his thumb. “Nope. I cut him loose. Great in bed. Way too much baggage.”
“Besides the stuff under his eyes?”
Eli made a hissing cat noise that had Nate’s cat Quan Yin whining back. “Step back, Kellan. I think we’re on the verge of a queen out. Jealous, Nate?”
“Be serious,” Nate scoffed.
“Sounds kinda jealous to me.” Kellan picked up Yin and cuddled her. She flopped contentedly in the cradle of his arm.
“You’d be happier if you dated guys closer to your age.”
“Hey Gray,” Eli said as if he were addressing Nate at the advice column he did for the paper. “Did I ask for your advice?”
“You’re not going to find some kind of substitute for—”
“The father who threw my ass out on the street while I was still in high school? God, take a few psych courses in college and you too can be an annoying, know-it-all asshole. Do you think that’s what Kellan is doing? Looking for a substitute father?”
Eli wondered how Nate could type out his advice if he always had that judgmental, defensive, arms-folded thing going on.
“Kellan’s different. His father—”
“Everyone is different.” Eli threw up his hands. “I’m different. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I date older guys because they’re hot? And they usually have their shit together?”
Nate blinked, but he didn’t answer.
“The guys my age are fucking infants. Either they just came out, or they’ve had it so easy they have no idea what life is like. They’ve never had to worry about where they’re going to live.” Eli swallowed hard. That was one of the things he’d come over here to stop thinking about.
Yin jumped up on the kitchen table and sharpened her claws on the paper before sprawling out. Eli ran a hand through her long hair and then rubbed his face in her fur. It made him feel better for a second. He’d like to have a cat, but he had enough trouble keeping a roof over his own head.
He felt Nate come up behind him but slipped away onto one of the kitchen chairs and kept petting Yin. When he was sure his face was under control, he looked up. “Where’s Kellan?”
“Probably went to pick up the pizza. He doesn’t like it when things get loud.”
“And yet he lives with you.”
“We manage.” Nate’s
“No thanks. We were planning on…” Nate’s gaze flicked over Eli’s shoulder in Kellan’s direction, “…ordering in,” he finished with a sigh and an eye roll.
Eli didn’t care. He was having a crisis. Kellan and Nate could fuck or whatever else they’d been planning another time.
Kellan had his phone out before Nate could finish exhaling. “Pizza, all veggie, coming up.”
“Pizza?” Nate’s brows shot up.
“After last night, you know I deserve better than bean scum.” Kellan had a sexy voice, deep with a ripple of laughter in it, but it couldn’t make Eli shiver like Quinn’s did.
Eli leaned against the counter. “Ooo. I want details.”
“Not a chance.” But Kellan put his arm around Eli’s shoulders and leaned next to him. “Instead, you can tell us about tall, dark and—”
“Old?” Nate suggested.
With a deliberate stare at Nate, Eli pushed away from the cabinet. “Gimme old any day because that was absolutely the best sex of my entire existence.” He reached into the fridge for a bottled water and rubbed it over his face and neck. “I get hot just thinking about it.”
“Ouch. Score.” Kellan’s laugh rumbled through the kitchen.
Nate folded his arms. “If it was that good, why are you plaguing us with your presence when you could be having the best sex of your entire existence.” His tone didn’t need air quotes. He made his sneer do it for him. “Did you give him a heart attack? Make him run out of his little blue pills?”
Eli wiped some condensation off the bottle then licked it off his thumb. “Nope. I cut him loose. Great in bed. Way too much baggage.”
“Besides the stuff under his eyes?”
Eli made a hissing cat noise that had Nate’s cat Quan Yin whining back. “Step back, Kellan. I think we’re on the verge of a queen out. Jealous, Nate?”
“Be serious,” Nate scoffed.
“Sounds kinda jealous to me.” Kellan picked up Yin and cuddled her. She flopped contentedly in the cradle of his arm.
“You’d be happier if you dated guys closer to your age.”
“Hey Gray,” Eli said as if he were addressing Nate at the advice column he did for the paper. “Did I ask for your advice?”
“You’re not going to find some kind of substitute for—”
“The father who threw my ass out on the street while I was still in high school? God, take a few psych courses in college and you too can be an annoying, know-it-all asshole. Do you think that’s what Kellan is doing? Looking for a substitute father?”
Eli wondered how Nate could type out his advice if he always had that judgmental, defensive, arms-folded thing going on.
“Kellan’s different. His father—”
“Everyone is different.” Eli threw up his hands. “I’m different. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I date older guys because they’re hot? And they usually have their shit together?”
Nate blinked, but he didn’t answer.
“The guys my age are fucking infants. Either they just came out, or they’ve had it so easy they have no idea what life is like. They’ve never had to worry about where they’re going to live.” Eli swallowed hard. That was one of the things he’d come over here to stop thinking about.
Yin jumped up on the kitchen table and sharpened her claws on the paper before sprawling out. Eli ran a hand through her long hair and then rubbed his face in her fur. It made him feel better for a second. He’d like to have a cat, but he had enough trouble keeping a roof over his own head.
He felt Nate come up behind him but slipped away onto one of the kitchen chairs and kept petting Yin. When he was sure his face was under control, he looked up. “Where’s Kellan?”
“Probably went to pick up the pizza. He doesn’t like it when things get loud.”
“And yet he lives with you.”
“We manage.” Nate’s
Similar Books
