Page 26 of Under The Twilight Rainfall
I’m not sure if he wants the answer to be yes or no, but as I go to answer, Dex beats me to it.
“So what if we are?”
I snap my eyes to his, and he shrugs.
“No date,” I say, watching Dex’s eye twitch. “Do you and your friends want to join us?”
As much as I like having my time alone with Dex, a part of me wonders how far this little jealous streak runs. He hates sharing, always has, but I can pretend for a night that it’s because there’s more between us, that how I feel might be reciprocated even a little.
Jonah is more than happy to share a room with us, and as we head down the hall, Dex’s hand finds my hip and his lips touch my ear.
“You think you’re so cute, don’t you?”
His voice makes a shiver of pleasure shoot down my spine, and my answering grin has his fingers digging harder into my hip.
“The more the merrier, right?”
He’s sure to pull away before the others see him, and once inside the private room he takes a seat at the far end of the sofa from where I sit.
He doesn’t look angry, just contemplative, so I push aside the compulsive worry and go about searching through the music catalog.
Karaoke isn’t something I get the chance to do often. Back home there’s only events held at bars, and it’s rare for me to be able to drag my best friend, Liam, out to go with me. It sure as shit isn’t any fun to go alone.
Karaoke in the Philippines is also a more intimate experience. There’s no stage where you get up and perform, though you could walk around if you wanted, and there’s a couch along the length of one of the walls that gives us all room to sit without being scrunched in each other’s business. There’s a TV on the opposite wall for the lyrics to scroll through, and a little box with the microphones below it.
When it’s my turn, I’m loud and on my feet, invading everyone’s personal space. So it isn’t suspicious when I plop down on the couch and throw an arm around Dex’s shoulders. He barely acknowledges me other than an eye roll and a bitten back smirk, but the way his heartbeat picks up under my fingers when I press them against his chest tells me he doesn’t mind.
As soon as I’m finished, I toss him the microphone and drop my arm but don’t put any kind of distance between us. Jonah’s two friends are engrossed in a whispered conversation towards the other end of the couch, and though I see Jonah’s eyes straying to where I’m carding back Dex’s mess of hair as he swats my hand away, I don’t pay him any mind.
I don’t think it’s a secret that I’m into Dex; I’ve never been able to hide my affection for him, but even more so when he shoots me those fleeting glances like maybe he actually wants my attention too.
Dex doesn’t move around and get animated like me, but he isn’t quiet and shy either like the girls are. His voice is confident and strong, and he manspreads across his seat with smirks thrown in my direction when he catches me staring.
I have to remember that there are other people here, and I’m supposed to be repressing my need for Dex, not feeding into it.
When I scoot a good foot away so I’m not invading his bubble, I’m startled by a body that I’m sure wasn’t this close before.
“You never were subtle about what you wanted.” Jonah’s voice is in my ear, and I turn to see him pressed against my side, close enough I can feel his breath on my neck.
I go to put some distance between us, but he places his hand on the small of my back and shakes his head. “I’m not doing anything. I promise.”
His eyes drift between me and Dex, whose glare is directed at Jonah.
“I guess there won’t be any fooling around this summer.” It’s not spoken as a question, and Jonah chuckles quietly as his eyes crinkle. “He’s been giving me evil eyes since we met at the market. Is he why you never called me back?”
I could lie, but I’m so fucking soft for Dex, and even seeing the murderous expression he’s trying to hide can’t keep those warm feelings at bay.
“Something like that,” I say, immediately followed by a shiver when Jonah places a kiss on my shoulder.
Before I can reprimand him, he smiles and tilts his head towards Dex. “Watch him.”
When Jonah slides his lips to my neck, I hear the hitch in Dex’s voice, the tremble as he trips over his words, see the bob of his throat as his eyes become locked on where Jonah is trailing lazy kisses across my shoulder. His hand has moved from my back to my waist, and while his ministrations do nothing for me, the heat in Dex’s eyes has my pants tightening and my heartbeat quickening.
When Dex’s nostrils flare and his gaze sharply cuts away, I slip out of Jonah’s grasp, avoiding his knowing expression as he slides back to his friends. After handing off the microphone, Dex sits back down with his expression from before masked.
“Looks like you’re having fun,” he says, and I feel guilty for letting Jonah mess with him, but I’m not sorry for how I react to Dex, to how out of my mind he makes me.
I’ll take whatever shreds of attention he can give me.
