Page 11 of Love Potion

“Good. I don’t have to go beat anyone’s ass?”

I laugh softly. “Nope.”

As Bane holds my gaze, Alec’s words replay in my head, but I push them away. If Bane was in love with me, he’d tell me. That’s the kind of guy he is. He doesn’t sit on the sidelines, he goes for what he wants, and he’s never made a play. So that settles it. He sees me as a close friend and that’s it. Besides, he needs an active sex life, and I can’t give him that, though if I had a genie in a bottle, it would be my only wish. If I could fix that part of my life, maybe I could be a good partner for Bane.

But there’s no such thing as genies.

“Sure you’re alright?” Bane asks, brushing his fingers across my cheek.

I stuff it all down like I always do. “Perfect.”

SIX

BANE

Jerrynand I enter the house a little past midnight, kicking off our shoes at the door and heading for the stairs. It goes without saying that he’ll follow me to my room, as he does most nights. For some reason he prefers hanging out in my space over his, and that’s totally fine with me. I’m dying to know what went down with him and Alec.

Inside my room, Jerryn goes straight to the couch, curling his long body into a ball and waiting for me to join him.

“Don’t you want to change?”

“Can you bring some of your pjs?”

“Sure can.”

I walk to my room, tugging my t-shirt over my head and thinking about how I can shift my normal behavior towards him from caring friend to romantic option. The trouble is, I couldn’t tell the guys, but I’m not sure Jerryn even has those kinds of feelings inside him. I know he’s hung up about sex, but if that wasn’t an obstacle for him, would he even see me as boyfriend material? I guess Ridley is right—there’s only one way to find out.

After sliding out of my jeans, I open my dresser drawer and grab a pair of black pj bottoms for me and the comic strip pj’s forJerryn. He told me they’re the most comfortable, so in my mind they became unofficially his.

When I enter the living room, he’s got the remote in hand, flipping through channels.

“Here you go.”

His face lights up as he takes the pajamas. “I like these the most.”

I smile back even though I want to tell him I know that. Of course I know. I pay special attention to everything he likes.

“Find anything good to watch?”

He shakes his head as he gets to his feet, casually undressing in front of me. I’ve seen his body a million times over the years, mentally counted the freckles that dot his chest, fantasized about running my tongue around his pebbled nipples, wondered what he would feel like beneath me.

My cock plumps slightly, and I shift my weight to avoid showing it before plopping down on the couch. He shimmies out of his jeans, draping them over the arm of the couch before directing his attention to the pajamas. He has no idea how appealing he is or how much I want to wrap my arms around him and hold him until the sun comes up.

Once he’s got the pants on, he settles next to me on the couch. “Alec wanted to apologize.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Really?”

Jerryn nods. “He said he’s thought about it a lot over the years, but didn’t think a call would be sufficient. He wanted to tell me to my face.”

“That’s… nice. How did it feel?”

“Awkward.” He chuckles. “But I could tell he was sincere.”

I nod, searching his face. “Did he look good?”

Jerryn shrugs. “I guess so. I actually wondered what attracted me to him. He’s not my type, really.”

“No, he isn’t.”

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