by Jaclyn Quinn
He opened his mouth to argue, but what was the use? He clearly was not hiding his attraction to Griffin effectively. “Shoot. Is it that bad?”
“Bad? Why is it bad that you have a thing for Griffin? That man is fine, and he obviously feels the same way, if that golf ball keychain is any clue.”
Jeremy snickered. “It’s not a golf ball; it’s the Death Star.”
“You say that like I’m gonna know what the hell you’re talking about. Now stop changing the subject and tell me what’s going on.” She cocked that snarky eyebrow again, daring him to argue with her.
Jeremy exhaled and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “I’m new here. Hell, this is only my second week. I can’t be messing around with another employee.”
“Why not? You’re not in the same office.”
Jeremy huffed. “That’s exactly what he said.”
“Jeremy, do you know how many couples work here on campus? Miriam’s wife works in the English department, and Kate, the Director of Admission Processing, is married to the head football coach, Ian. Hell, the university eats that shit up.”
“Seriously?” Hope flared in his chest, only to be squashed. “But I already made a big deal about us being just friends.” Truth was, he could use another one. Meeting Aaliyah was an unexpected surprise, but Jeremy couldn’t always count on her to be around.
“Why can’t you be both, honey?” Her eyebrows drew together in pity, like she knew, without him saying it, that there was something else going on.
Truth was, the only sexual encounters he’d had before Griffin was the blunder of losing his virginity sophomore year of college to a guy who pitched and ditched and his barely-friends-with-benefits deal with Aaron. Neither made him sexually experienced enough for a man like Griffin.
The night they’d shared over the phone, watching each other from two different houses, had been something completely out of Jeremy’s realm. There was a freedom in thinking you’d never see someone again. He’d let go in a way he never had before, feeling like he could be that person for one, fantasy-filled night. Now, he couldn’t help but be terrified that Griffin would expect him to have more experience than he did. Being twenty-five, he should, shouldn’t he?
The happiness he’d been feeling only minutes before had evaporated, replaced by a perpetual feeling of being less than. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea.” It was a lame response, but right now, it was the best he could do.
Aaliyah reached her hand across the desk and squeezed his. “Do what’s best for you, honey.” She stood up and turned away, but then stopped and faced him again. “Promise me something, though. At least give the friendship a chance.”
Jeremy looked down at the keychain and remembered how easy it had been to talk to Griffin. He owed himself at least that much, right? “Okay.”
Chapter Five
Jeremy had discovered pretty quickly how much it sucked supposedly being on the same campus as Griffin. The more he casually looked for the man the last couple of days, the more he was convinced the guy didn’t actually work there. He never stops for lunch? Seriously? And what about walking to his damn car? The guy was nowhere to be found.
Of course, Jeremy’s phone dinged with an incoming text, as if the elusive man had read Jeremy’s mind. So what if he’d set Griffin’s text notification to sound like R2-D2? It was practical. You look like you’re on a mission.
Jeremy abruptly stopped and looked up. Where are you? he typed, still searching the area in front of him.
Behind you.
Jeremy turned and jumped, fumbling his phone which Griffin swiftly rescued midair. “Jesus, you scared the hell out of me.”
Griffin’s shoulders shook in amusement. “Man, you’re jumpy, huh?”
“Only when people sneak up on me… Stop laughing!” Jeremy hit Griffin on the chest, biting his upper lip, trying to hold back the smile so he wouldn’t humor the man. He pushed his glasses up on his nose, rolling his eyes when Griffin’s laughter increased.
“Sorry. You just should’ve seen your face.” Griffin wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. “You wanna grab lunch, friend?”
“I was beginning to think you didn’t really work here.” Shit. Why did he say that? Why not just tell the guy outright that he looked for him every time he left his damn office?
Griffin took a small step closer. “Missed me?”
Oh my God, I really did. “N-no,” Jeremy stammered, looking everywhere but at the man in front of him. That’s real mature. He finally gave Griffin a shy half-smile that no doubt told Griffin the truth, but the guy didn’t call him on it.
“Come on.” Griffin nudged his head toward the building then started walking, looking back over his shoulder. “I’ll buy you a slice of pizza.”
Jeremy caught up to him. “With pineapple?”
Griffin stopped short, his brows drawn together as he pointed at Jeremy. “That’s where I draw the line. You want bacon? I’ll get you bacon, but let’s not get crazy.” He began walking again, shaking his head in mock disgust.
“What? It’s delicious!” Jeremy said, falling in stride next to him.
“You need to have your taste buds examined.”
By him? Because that would be—Jeremy internally groaned. Friends. They were just friends. He cleared his throat, finding incredible interest in the ground as they made their way to the Student Center. Once inside, Griffin instructed him to find a table while he bought their lunches. It’s not a date. It’s not a date.
Five minutes later, Griffin sat across from him, setting down a tray with two slices of pizza—no pineapple—and two bottles of water. “I looked for your disgrace of a pizza, but they didn’t have any.” Griffin gave a teasing wink and smiled. “They didn’t have much of anything left, so it was plain or plain. I got you plain.”
Jeremy huffed out a laugh and took his plate off the tray. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure.” Griffin lifted his own plate and moved the tray to the top of a nearby garbage bin. “How’s the new job?” He took a bite of his pizza. Jeremy tried to ignore the way his plump lips wrapped around the end of the slice, his scruffy, bearded jaw working as he chewed the cheesy dough, his Adam’s apple bobbing while the food slid down his throat.
“Uh”—he dropped his gaze, pushing his glasses up—“it’s been pretty good. Aaliyah is really awesome at explaining things. It’s not too different from banking. That’s what I used to do in Delaware.”
“You lucked out with that office. There are some where the employees are happy and love their jobs, and then there are the ones where everyone is miserable.”
Jeremy swallowed his food, washing it down with some water, ignoring the way Griffin watched him. “You seem pretty happy with your job.”
“Yeah, for the most part. The first few weeks of the semester are always busy, hence why you haven’t seen much of me.” Griffin stared at Jeremy, as if he was trying to figure him out. “Kept meaning to stop in and see how things were going with you, but it was a bit crazy.” He studied Jeremy, then added, “And maybe a part of me figured I should stay away from you for a few days.”
“What? Why?” Jesus, had he fucked up the friendship already? How could he have when they hadn’t even seen each other?
Griffin didn’t answer for a moment, still looking at Jeremy. Finally he said, “Because it’s incredibly difficult to be just friends with someone when you know what they look like naked—and can’t stop imagining what they feel like naked.”
The pizza crust slid from Jeremy’s hand, his fingers trembling. They were in a corner of the enormous cafeteria, yet Jeremy’s face flushed red-hot as he glanced around, seeing if anyone had heard that. He slowly slid his gaze back to Griffin. “I honestly have no idea how to respond when you say things like that to me.” He released a heavy exhale and sat back in his chair. “That night…” He shook his head. “That wasn’t me.”
Griffin leaned his forearms on the table, clasping his hands, his dark brows
drawn together. “Who was it then?”
“I don’t know. Not me.” Man, he hated admitting all this, but it was better to get it out now. “I’m not that guy. I don’t have…sex,” he whispered that one word, glancing around nervously, “with people I don’t know.” He looked down at his lap, shrugging one shoulder as he quietly admitted, “I don’t have much of a sex life at all, really.”
“It’s a shame you can’t see what I see.”
Frustration coursed through Jeremy’s veins, his knee bouncing. “That’s just it. You think you know me, but—”
“I know you second-guess every move you make. I know you love Star Wars, have a disturbing taste for pineapple pizza, and love binge watching shows on Netflix. I know you’re really fucking funny without even trying. I know you push your glasses up on your face when you’re nervous.” Jeremy dropped his hand from the black frames perched on his nose. Griffin continued, “I know you’re just as attracted to me as I am to you. I’ve learned all that about you in one week. I wanna know more, Jeremy.”
Guilt gnawed at him. While worrying about whether or not he was on equal playing field with Griffin, he was the one who’d dropped the ball. He couldn’t say he knew as many things about Griffin as Griffin knew about him. He’d been too worried about measuring up. “I wanna know more about you, too,” he admitted softly. “I just don’t want you thinking, because of that one night, that I’m someone I’m not.”
“Then show me who you are.” Griffin’s understanding smile broke through the tension surrounding them.
“How…how come you never called me? You know…after that night?” He wasn’t sure why he needed to know, but it confused him why Griffin would want him now, after the time that had passed.
“I came home from work that day and you were gone. You didn’t say goodbye or anything, so…I just chalked it up to an amazing night with a man I would never see again.” Griffin shrugged one shoulder. “Never stopped thinking about you, though.”
Jeremy hung his head. “Jeez, I didn’t think about that. And I didn’t call because I didn’t think you’d want me to. I’d never done anything like that. I didn’t know if calling would be weird.”
“Doesn’t matter because you’re here now.” He glanced down at his phone. “Damn. Time went by too fast. I gotta get back to work.”
“Yeah, I should get back, too.” Jeremy was reluctant to get up and walk away, though.
“Same time tomorrow?” Griffin asked, making Jeremy’s shoulders sag in relief.
A huge grin broke out across Jeremy’s face. “Sounds good.”
Griffin stood up first and grabbed both plates, throwing them in the trash bin. They walked out of the building together, Jeremy feeling almost as if he was walking into a new stage of his life. One where an amazing man like Griffin wanted to get to know him better. It terrified him at the same time that it exhilarated him.
As they turned to go their separate ways, a warmth spread through Jeremy’s fingers as Griffin slid them through his own. That one touch—their first touch—had heat pooling in his lower belly, every nerve ending firing zings through his veins. Jesus, this man made him feel alive…from one touch.
By the look on Griffin’s face, he’d felt it, too. “See you tomorrow.”
“Okay.” He watched Griffin walk away, wondering how the hell he’d gotten here in such a short period of time. He’d never been pursued the way Griffin was pursuing him. He’d never been pursued ever. He felt light, walking on air back to the office with a huge, cheesy smile on his face.
“Coke or Pepsi.”
“Everyone knows Coke wins,” Griffin answered then took a bite of his turkey on rye.
“Apparently my brother doesn’t.” He and Craig argued about that growing up. Obviously, Craig was wrong.
“Well, we already figured out there’s something wrong with the Anderson taste buds.”
“Hey! There is absolutely nothing wrong with my taste buds.” Jeremy tossed his crumpled napkin at Griffin with a huff. “There is, however, something wrong with your lack of knowledge.”
Griffin snorted. “Trust me, I know a lot of things.”
Jeremy rolled his eyes, shaking his head at the crazy man sitting across the table from him. “We’re not comparing sexual knowledge. We both know you’d win. I’m talkin’ pop culture, my friend.”
“Who said anything about sex?”
He’s got ya there. “It’s your goal in life to make me blush, isn’t it?” The Student Center wasn’t as busy as it had been the previous Friday, but Jeremy didn’t seem to mind anymore anyway. This was the third day in a row he’d had lunch with Griffin. He practically expected the flirting at this point, though, Griffin had toned it down. A lot. Hopefully, that didn’t mean he was losing interest, because the more time Jeremy spent with him, the more he liked him.
Okay, liked was an understatement. He couldn’t stop thinking about him, and it was becoming quite a distraction.
Griffin’s laughter was infectious and, like he’d done so many times since meeting him, Jeremy couldn’t help but join in. “That’s just a bonus,” the damn man said then wiggled his eyebrows mischievously and stole one of Jeremy’s fries.
“Hey!” Jeremy batted his hand away. “No one messes with a man’s food.”
“Sorry. I need to feed my sexual starvation somehow. If you can’t bust a nut, eat one.” Jeremy choked on his water. Griffin tilted his head to the side, brows drawn together…and then lost it. “That sounded painful, didn’t it?”
Jeremy laughed so hard, he had tears lining his eyes. “I literally crossed my legs and cringed. Remind me never to let your mouth anywhere near my—” Facepalm. Jeremy cleared his throat as Griffin’s eyes darkened.
“Hence the need for more fries,” Griffin said in a husky voice, stealing a few more off Jeremy’s plate. “Are we still on this weekend for Game of Thrones?”
Shit, he’d forgotten all about that. “Uh…”
Disappointment marred Griffin’s gorgeous features. “It’s cool. We can do it another time maybe.” He stood up with his empty paper plate and water bottle. “Well, I think that’s my cue…”
What the actual fuck is wrong with you? Stop him!
Jeremy grabbed Griffin’s arm before he could take another step. “How about tomorrow night at seven?” He stood up, surprisingly close to the man who made him all kinds of nervous. “We can order pizza or something.”
Griffin took a step closer, and suddenly, it felt like all the air had been sucked from the room. “No pineapple for you.” He smirked, his eyes dropping to Jeremy’s mouth.
“No nuts for you,” Jeremy said then bit his lip when he realized what he’d said, and Griffin snorted. “We really have to stop making jokes about nuts.”
Griffin glanced down between them. There was no way in hell he couldn’t see how Jeremy’s body was reacting. Jeremy pulled his blue polo shirt down, covering the evidence. “I’ll behave…until you don’t want me to.”
Until. How did one word hold so much promise?
“I’ll see you tomorrow night.” With that, Griffin gave that sexy half-grin then turned and walked away.
And Jeremy definitely did not stare at the man’s ass.
Or adjust himself the second he was alone in the stairwell.
He also had no idea how he found himself outside Ace’s Wild on Saturday afternoon—the place where it had all began. I just need more lube. That’s all. Because that’s what you did after going to the grocery store. Toothpaste: check. Bread: check. Lube: check.
“This feels like déjà vu.”
Jeremy whipped his head to the left. Griffin was right; he really was jumpy. “Wilder…hi.”
“Hey.” Wilder held his hand out. “It’s Jeremy, right?”
“That’s right.” Jeremy rubbed his clammy hand on his jeans before clasping the man’s palm. He didn’t know what he was doing here. He really was almost out of lube—completely Griffin’s fault, though the man had no clue—but there was
no reason for him to rush and get it today. Because you definitely won’t need it tonight. Nope, nope, nope.
“You coming in?” Wilder asked with a hint of humor in his eyes.
Jeremy grinned and nodded, because what was the point in denying it? And what else did he have to do right now, anyway?
Wilder held the door open for him, and he stepped inside the brick building. It was hard to believe all that had happened since he’d last been in here. He hadn’t realized it then, but walking in this store had been his first step to a new life…new interests. New…friend? That word didn’t seem right for Griffin. The man had had a point the other day. Never had Jeremy ever known what his friends looked like naked. Not that he’d had many close friends back in Wilmington, but the ones he did have held no interest to him.
Griffin, however… That man was right out of Jeremy’s fantasies. Maybe that’s what made all this so hard to believe. Fantasies didn’t come true—at least, his didn’t. Yet, somehow, Griffin seemed to want him, and it honestly made no sense.
“Well, well, well…look who’s back.” The deep baritone came from the right side of the store. “If it isn’t the King Kock Destroyer.”
Jeremy’s face was on fire, his eyes nervously flicking around the, thankfully, empty store.
“Ace, behave.” Wilder laughed softly, shaking his head in mock derision. “I swear, Jeremy, he’s a big teddy bear.” He turned to Ace. “I seem to remember a store in San Francisco where you took out an entire display of superhero butt plugs with those big, beefy arms.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The big man raised a challenging eyebrow but wasn’t able to hold in his laughter for more than a second. “It was so long ago, I have no recollection,” he said innocently.
Wilder turned to Jeremy. “It was last year, and let me tell you, those superheroes flew…all over the aisle.”
Ace let out a laugh that echoed around the store. “Would’ve been even funnier if they’d had capes.”
“They make superhero butt plugs?” Jeremy’s eyes widened. He was a geek to the core, and apparently that carried over into every aspect of his life now.