Page 21 of The Mechanics of Lust

I took a seat at the opposite end of the table from Luke and his mouth turned up in a wry smile. “I can sit in the mudroom if you’d prefer?”

An amused snort came from the direction of the espresso machine but I chose to ignore it.

“Here you go.” Holden returned and took a seat. He slid a local IPA across the table, one I knew he stocked just for me. “So, Douggie, huh?” Holden cast an amused gaze Luke’s direction.

“For fuck’s sake, can we just drop it?” Luke grumbled. “I don’t get why everyone finds this so amusing?” His gaze landed on me. “I never claimed to be a monk.”

“You’re right.” Holden took a swallow of his beer. “But hey, we live on a fucking sheep station. Any chatter from the outside world is solid gold to get us through the day. And I have to say, the dating life of my partner’s ex-husband definitely qualifies.”

“Nota date,” Luke emphasised once again. “Not to mention, the divorce isn’t actually final.” He arched a brow and grinned. “Just saying.”

Holden blinked. “Jesus, I forgot about that.”

Gil laughed. “I assume you’re not angling for a redo, Mister Nichols?” It was most definitely a joke, but Holden’s horrified gaze jerked to Gil nonetheless.

I couldn’t contain a snigger. There was nowhere Gil was going to be in the next fifty years that didn’t include Holden at his side. Those two were fused at the heart.

“Hell, no.” Luke squeezed his eyes shut and shuddered dramatically.

Gil chuckled. “Case closed.”

Holden grew thoughtful and his gaze swept the room. He frowned and lifted a finger in the air, circling it as he said, “So, the four of us sitting here is really fucking weird, right?”

Gil walked a coffee over to Luke and gave Holden an affectionate peck on the cheek. “Aw, bless him, he finally got there.”

Luke snorted while Holden held up his hands and griped, “You think you’re all so funny, don’t you?” We nodded almost as one and he grumbled and flipped us off. “I’m going to take my beer and see if I can round up those books while you lot chat.”

“I’ll come with you.” Gil wiped his palms down his jeans.

Holden’s brows dipped in confusion. “I can manage—”

“I’m coming.” Gil eyeballed Holden. “I want to see what we have in case a guest asks.”

As excuses went, it was pretty thin, and I could tell Holden had zero clue what was going on. I, on the other hand, knew exactly what Gil was up to and delivered a sharp toe to his calf to let him know I was onto him trying to build bridges between Luke and me. Meddling little psychologist fucker.

But Gil was good. He barely acknowledged my less-than-subtle warning and then sidestepped a second attempt by quickly dancing after Holden, leaving Luke and me alone in the kitchen. The room immediately fell into an awkward silence. Well, awkward on my part. Luke merely looked... amused.

“Like I said earlier, you don’t have to stay,” he repeated softly.

Ugh. Why is it when people say things like that, you feel even more obliged to do the thing you don’t want to?“It’s fine,” I huffed, perfectly aware that I sounded like a put-upon teenager. “What is it you want to know?”

“Everything.” He grinned. “But just a couple of local stories to start with will be fine. Something not on the tourist websites.” He grabbed his mug of coffee and made his way to my end of the table, taking the chair right alongside, close enough so our knees touched.

The sizzle of that connection drowned every other sensation in my body.

“Much better.” His eyes danced merrily over my face. “I almost needed glasses to see you from the other end.”

“Personally, I don’t see the problem,” I argued, regretting the sulky words the second they left my mouth.

Luke stared at me for a moment then shook his head. “Jesus Christ, Zach.” He scraped his chair back and got to his feet. “You know what, I don’t need this. I don’t deserve to feel like a fucking leper for whatever you think I’ve done or haven’t done. Let’s just go back to ignoring each other. Seems the best solution all around.” He went to walk away but I grabbed his wrist.

“I’m sorry.”

He turned slowly back around and waited.

“I... I just—” I fumbled, having no clue what I wanted to say. All I knew was the feel of his hot skin against my palm and the pounding of my heart in my throat.

Luke sighed but made no move to free his arm. “Justwhat, Zach? What do I have to do to earn your friendship?”

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