Page 17 of Flirt
“Look, it’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” He pointed to a man in an orange T-shirt standing at thehostess podium. “I hate when people let themselves go like that.”
The man in question looked down at the floor, clearly mortified by Scott’s insensitive remarks. Cameron felt pretty fucking mortified himself.
“I think he’s very attractive,” he replied, making sure his voice carried. It wasn’t a lie, either. Sure, the stranger carried a little extra weight around his middle, but he had thick hair and sharp features that gave him that classically handsome look. “I’d take him home in a heartbeat.”
The man blushed a dozen different shades of red, but he gave Cameron a grateful smile. Cameron should have stopped there, but his annoyance at Scott’s shallowness pushed him to say more.
Holding his right hand to the side of his face, thumb at his ear, pinky finger touching his lips, he mouthed, “Call me.”
As he’d hoped, the man laughed and nodded a couple of times, seemingly in much better spirits.
“I’m sorry,” Scott muttered once outside of the restaurant. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No,” Cameron responded, not even trying to hide his irritation. “That was a dick move.”
Scott shoved his hands into his pockets and stared down at the sidewalk, falling into step beside Cameron as they began the three-block trek to the club. “Yeah. Would you really date someone like that, though?”
“Someone like what? Someone handsome with a great laugh?” He shrugged. “Absolutely.”
God, this date really sucked, and he just wanted to go home, take a shower, and fall into bed. Unfortunately, his ride for the evening wanted to get a fucking drink.Thanks a lot, Nico.
He walked beside Scott in tense, uncomfortable silence while Nico and James carried on in front of them, both waving their hands in wild animated gestures as they talked and laughed. It felt like an eternity before they reached the club, and by the time they stepped through the doors, Cameron had started grinding his teeth so hard his jaw ached.
Nico led the way to the bar, but before Cameron could follow, Scott’s massive arm came around his shoulders again, pinning him in place. “Listen, I’m really sorry if I offended you. I say stupid shit sometimes, but I’m usually not this big of an asshole.”
Somehow, Cameron doubted that. Still, he had to get through the next hour or so, and it would be less stressful if he played nice. “I understand. Just know that when you’re a jerk, I’m going to call you on it.”
Scott smiled, his free hand coming up to cradle the side of Cameron’s face. “I like that.” He leaned in a little closer, dipping his head until his lips hovered just a few inches away. “I think I like that a lot.”
Gritting his teeth, Cameron tried to push away, but that muscular arm held him trapped. “I’m not going to kiss you,” he stated bluntly. “You need to back off, Scott.”
Undeterred, he smiled a little and movedcloser. “Don’t worry. You’ll like it.”
“Jesus, you’re an arrogant prick.” He shoved hard at the chest pressed against him. “Get the fuck off me.”
Scott laughed but stepped away, dropping both hands back to his sides. “Okay, okay, don’t get your panties twisted.”
Cameron straightened his collar and checked the buttons on his polo as he tried to calm his racing pulse. Nico better pray to whatever deity he worshipped, because when they got home, Cameron was going to fucking kill him.
CHAPTER SIX
It had been along, exhausting week, and Asher needed a distraction.
He’d spent every day since his date—yeah, it had been a date—with Cameron alternating between fantasizing about him and hoping he never saw him again. Not the best use of his time, and he still didn’t have any answers.
He’d tried writing, but everything sounded trite and contrived. The dialogue came out forced. His characters just kind of went through the motions without any real direction, a lot like himself.
Nothing felt natural, and everything felt like shit.
He’d had lunch with his agent on Monday, but the only thing he really remembered about it was her chastising him for allowing his photo to be slapped on every blog from here to the moon. That, and herremindinghim about a looming deadline on a book he had barely started. He hadn’t bothered arguing with her about either.
Dinner with Luke on Tuesday had steadied his nerves for a while, but when the conversation had turned to Nico—and in conjunction, Cameron—he’d been right back to where he’d started.
Relationships were messy, and he avoided them at all costs. He didn’t date, and he never fucked the same guytwice. Hell, he barely remembered their faces once they left his bed, let alone their names. He damn sure didn’t have coffee with them.
He hadn’t spentallhis time thinking about Cameron Stone, though. Most of it, but he still left room to dwell on Kyle, which inevitably led him down a dark, winding road into the past. No one in his life now knew about the person he’d been or the things he’d done. No one apart from Luke, and he intended to keep it that way.
Cameron made him feel things he didn’t want to feel, had him talking about things he’d never told anyone. Hell, he hadn’t even hinted to his agent that he might want to write something else, but he’d readily spilled that tidbit of information to Cameron.
