Page 2 of Tall, Dark, & Ginger

“I do love ginger,” I murmur, taking the glass and lifting it to my lips. The burst of citrus and ginger on my tongue is pleasant, mellowed by the rum. “Mm. Delicious.”

“Perfect for summer,” Wren adds. “Goes down smooth too.”

“Florian is so good at these drinks.” Jerryn nods appreciatively. “I’m meeting with him in a few weeks to come up with my signature drink.”

Bane is focused on Jerryn, a warm expression on his face. “It better be sweet.”

Jerryn chuckles, even as his cheeks turn rosy. One day, I’ll ask Bane why he’s never made the leap even though he’s obviously in his feelings when it comes to Jerr.

“Be right out with food,” Wren says.

I watch him walk off before my attention shifts to Lowen and Oakley coming in the front door. “You made it.”

Lowen nods, smiling at all of us. “Traffic was a nightmare.”

“How’s the latest project going?” Kit asks.

Oakley pulls out a chair for Lowen, kissing him on the cheek as he sits. If you ask me what true love physically looks like, I’d like to present exhibit A: Oakley Rhinehart.

“Good,” Oakley says, sitting next to Low. “Only a few snags so far. I don’t know who Yves

has in his pocket in the city council, but any time we have trouble with an inspector or a permit, he resolves it overnight. Normally that’s my job, but he told me to make sure I let him know what obstacles we hit.”

“Yves is a very intense individual,” Lowen adds. “But weirdly easy to work with.”

“Agreed,” Oakley says. “At this rate, the next apartment building should be ready in a month.”

“So cool,” Bane says. “New Onyx desperately needed more affordable housing.”

Indy and Salem finally saunter in, and exactly zero of us wonder why they’re late. Those two fuck like rabbits at any time of the day, and I gotta wonder if it’s Salem’s age keeping Indy so wrapped up or if my friend just has superhuman dick abilities. Not that I’m slacking, but at forty plus, I need a little more recovery time between sessions.

Salem grins, sliding into a chair and patting his flat belly. “I’m starved.”

“Your steady diet of dick-downs isn’t enough?” Kit teases.

Salem doesn’t miss a beat. “I have many appetites.”

Indy squeezes the back of Salem’s neck and leans in to kiss his cheek.

I huff in frustration. I have no fucking idea what I want when it comes to romance. What Indy, Kit, and now Lowen have seems hella nice, but I’m not like any of them. I’ve never been a guy who’s into permanent domestication, but I’m also not dead set against it like those guys were. And yet here they are, all in love and shit.

Maybe I just keep chasing the wrong thing. Like emotionally unavailable men with more baggage than an international airport.

Do I need therapy? Could I sit down with a stranger and talk to them about how all I want to do is fuck and get fucked, but when Wren walks in the room, suddenly I’m thinking about cozy Sundays in bed? There’s gotta be a way to get this man out of my head.

As if on cue, he comes out of the kitchen, followed by his sous chef, Carlos, both of them carrying trays of food. They set them down on two empty tables and Carlos starts arranging plates as Wren launches into his presentation.

“As we head into summer, I wanted to create a few lighter specials.” He smiles at us and my stomach does a weird flutter. His teeth are so white and straight, except for one canine, just slightly out of place and jutting forward, and it adds a shit ton of charm to his already really nice face. “First, an appetizer. I’m glad you’re here, Oak. You can speak for a lot of the guys who come in here to eat.”

Oakley nods. “Sure thing, man.”

Carlos sets a platter of something brown and round in front of us.

“Mushrooms stuffed with goat cheese, sautéed in a white wine reduction on a polenta disk with microgreens.”

Carlos sprinkles the greens over the dish and proceeds to serve one to each of us. Wren turns back to the tray, mixing some kind of liquid in a bowl while I dig into the mushroom.

Kit moans as he chews his bite, while Oakley is too busy trying to get every drop off his plate. Lowen nods appreciatively as he chews. Salem is wiping Indy’s lips with a napkin, while Jerryn is studying his plate as Bane takes a second bite.

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