Page 12 of Burning Up

Mason smiled like he realized what Bryce had said, but he didn’t comment on it. “It all depends on the people involved, I guess. I’ve seen how you watch them.”

Bryce hoped no one else had noticed. “They’re really fucking hot.”

“Plenty of guys who come in here are hot.”

Exasperated, Bryce blurted out, “They’re extra hot.”

Mason laughed. “Keep telling yourself that’s all it is.”

Bryce finished his meal and shot a few rounds of pool with some firefighters who worked at another station in town. Rollo sat watching and happily accepting treats from anyone who offered.

When the game wrapped up, he glanced at his watch. It was late enough he might succeed in picking someone up if he hit a club or another bar. From the look a guy was giving him from across the room, he could likely pick him up right then, but he’d made a rule to stay away from Nathan’s regulars just like he needed to stay away from his fellow firefighters.

As he headed to the bar to pay his tab, Toby and Matt walked in. Fuck.

You know you hoped they’d be here.

The hell I did. Was he lying to himself? Had he hoped they’d come in? He didn’t have to stay just because they were there. He could still head out to a club or another bar like he’d planned.

Toby made a beeline for him. “Thought you weren’t working tonight?”

Had he told Toby that?

He glanced at Mason, who quickly looked away. Bastard. He’d been talking to them? They were going to have a long chat later.

“I’m not. I just stopped in for dinner and a beer or two, but?—”

“You’re not leaving, are you?” Toby asked in a voice so sultry he might as well have said “You’re going to fuck us tonight, aren’t you?”

“Um…” Since when did he get tongue-tied, especially around overly bold twenty-two-year-olds?

“If you can stay for a while, come sit with us,” Matt said, giving Toby a look that probably meant for him to tone it down.

Stay or go? He’d not accepted Toby’s invitation to join them at a club because he figured the chances of them all ending up in bed were almost certain, but here at Nathan’s that wasn’t the case. Toby and Matt weren’t out and there were plenty of people around so all they were going to do was talk, right? “What do you think, Rollo?” he asked, looking down at his companion. Rollo stood up on his back legs to sniff at Matt and Toby. Then he gave a little yip that Bryce decided meant they should stay. “Okay, I’ll join you. You wanna head to the back, play pool or something?”

“Sure. Go on.” Toby gestured to Matt. “I’ll get your beer. You want something else?”

Bryce nodded. “Mason knows what I’m drinking.” And now he’d know Bryce was drinking it with “his boys,” as Mason called them. Dammit.

Bryce headed toward the back, and Matt followed close behind him.

“I feel like I should apologize for him, but Toby’s just?—”

“Extra friendly?”

Matt laughed. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it. I just don’t want him to piss you off. He’s a little…”

Bryce looked at Matt. His cheeks were red. “I get it. It’s fine.” What had Matt planned to say—eager? Infatuated?

The pool tables were taken, so they played a round of foosball while they waited for Toby. He joined them a few minutes later, set their drinks down on a high table next to the game, and leaned on the edge of the table to watch. Matt was good, but Bryce ultimately won the round.

Matt and Toby played each other next, and Bryce sipped his beer and petted Rollo while he watched. The more he saw, the more he wanted them. Toby smiled the whole time, even when Matt got a point. When Toby won a point himself, he shook his ass and danced in a little circle that made Bryce wanted to bend him over the foosball table and see what it felt like to drive right into all that energy.

Matt was making Bryce just as crazy. His sculpted arms bunched and flexed as he twisted the handles to move his men. And his ass. Bryce circled the table just to get a better look at it. He wanted to yank those tight jeans down and bury himself. He was in serious trouble.

Fortunately, their game ended before he did something as foolish as proposition them.

Now it was Bryce’s turn to play Toby. How the hell was he going to concentrate?

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