Page 78 of Bait and Switch
Gabe allowed himself a few seconds to absorb the magnificence that was a naked Ranger Man. Casey Lundin was better for Gabe than any drink. And he, for reasons Gabe couldn’t comprehend, was his.
For now.
“Are you trying to kill me?” he teased, brushing his insecurity aside. Casey was old enough and mature enough to know what he wanted. “I’m an old man!”
“Old man,” Casey scoffed. “I don’t know how you do it, but in reality, you’re younger than I am. Probably, like Claribel, you have a deal with a demon.”
Claribel was a force one could only admire, not aspire to. She seemed to have Casey’s number, so to speak. That evening, she’d teased him mercilessly about knowing that he and Gabe were together back when she’d first met them a few months ago. The deeper Casey dug his heels in about not being together yet at that time, the harder she’d grinned and poked until Niall told her to knock it off.
While Casey was discussing demons, Gabe hastily stripped down to his briefs, scattering his clothes across the carpeted floor. Bowie pointedly huffed his disgust at human shenanigans and curled up in a corner with his back to them.
“You know,” Gabe said, easing onto the bed so he could lay next to Ranger Man, who also doubled as a furnace when it was cold. “You should be worried. I could get used to this same bed thing.”
“You’re supposed to get used to it, Gabriel.” Casey sounded slightly exasperated. “The point of being together is thetogetherpart.”
“I’m damaged goods. Together is a concept.”
“We can be damaged goodstogether.”
“I suppose that works,” Gabe said, mimicking Casey’s position, hands behind his head and eyes on the ceiling. “I just don’t feel worthy of you.”
The sheets rustled, and the next thing Gabe knew, Casey was lying on top of him, pressing him into the mattress. His warm, strong hands cupped Gabe’s face.
“You are worthy, Gabriel Karne,” Casey, said staring into his eyes.
Without giving Gabe a chance to respond, probably knowing it would be something along the lines of “I think you need a cognitive assessment,” Casey covered Gabe’s mouth with his, effectively cutting off his rejoinder.
The thing was, Gabe was uncomfortably aware that, against his best judgment—all judgment had fled him when it came to Casey Lundin—he’d fallen in love with Ranger Man. But Casey was not ready for declarations, not yet. So instead of revealing his heart, Gabe wrapped his legs around Casey’s calves and held him tight, arching against the hard panes of his muscled body, returning the kiss.
Telling Casey that he loved him without saying the words.
End for now…
