Page 56 of Passion and Payback

“Grass,” I said with a snort. “That’s probably herbs.”

“Well, it looks like grass. Wait?—”

“Maybe…lemongrass?”

“Shut up.”

I chuckled, taking a bite of the salad and discovering it was there for all the rich, heavy duck on my plate. The combination of meat, salad, and wine proved to be one of the best meals I ever had. There was a lot to like about the food, and I quickly forgot that Kai was forking over a great deal of money for the exquisite meal.

“Alright,” I said after we had time to approve our food. “So, spill. I wanna hear.”

“This is,” he said with a pinched expression. “I come across so much worse than you with this story.”

“How old were we?”

“Fourteen.”

“Later than me.”

“I mean, I always figured it started sooner than that. Not as early as you, of course, but…well, it was different.”

“How?”

“I had a lot of the same feelings you did. Wanting to be close to you, wanting to spend all my time with you, wanting to be alone, liking those rare moments when we touched or hugged. It was all wrapped up in my head and had me thinking that we were just really good friends, and that’s how good friends were supposed to be.”

“Well, they probably are,” I snorted, cutting into another medallion. “But this is probably the part where you say you felt those things, but they were different when you realized it was more than that.”

“Pretty much.”

“And the moment you realized it…was?”

“Well, like I said…it doesn’t make me look good.”

I could probably argue, considering how good he looked right now. Honestly, he wouldn’t have had to take me out to make a good impression. He’d looked like sex in a suit when I first saw him in it, and that hadn’t changed. Despite getting off earlier, I could still feel a thread of tension running through me as I looked him over, his shoulders filling his suit beautifully, the way the tailoring managed to make him look debonair without detracting from his generous size.

“Try me,” I said instead of admitting that I was starting to drool over him more than the food.

“God,” he said softly, shaking his head. “Remember when Donovan and his buddies decided it would be hilarious to take your swimsuit during gym class?”

“Easily,” I said in a dry tone, “one of the worst memories of that school. Literally, everyone in the pool and locker room saw everything I had…or didn’t have, for that matter.”

“Remember how it took me a minute to catch up to you?”

“Yeah, you said you decked Donovan and one of his cronies before Mr. Reckloff split you up.”

“Yeah, well, there was a moment before that when you ran off, trying to cover yourself. I froze because I just…well, I saw your ass.”

He paused, and I raised my brow. “You…when I was running off?”

“Yeah.”

“I…let me get this straight, you saw my bare ass and had yourself a gay awakening?”

“Bi, but yeah.”

“One of the worst memories I have at that damn school, and you were turned on?”

“I said it made me look bad!”

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