Page 36 of All I Want Is Love
“Oh! That makes sense! And what’s with the blond girl?” I ask him. “Mia, was it? I noticed she wears a bracelet in specific colors. I know they are on the pride flag… but… Sorry, for being so stupid.”
“If you don’t stop apologizing, I might just kiss you here on the spot, and then leave for you to explain to everyone that we are dating.”
“You wouldn’t do that!”
He grins. “Dare me.” When I frown, he just chuckles. “Don’t look like that. Of course I wouldn’t do it. But I meant it: Stop apologizing. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Like you said, you had to hide your identity for so long, it takes a while now to catch up with everything.” He pauses. “So, Mia. The bracelet she wears, that’s the trans flag.”
“Oh! I knew I had seen it somewhere before. I had a one-night stand once with a man who only recently transitioned. He was even more in the closet than I was. He basically went no-contact with his family.” I sigh. “Sorry.”
“You are doing it again,” Soren says. “Apologizing, I mean.”
“Yes, but I just told you about a one-night stand I had.”
“Well, you have a past.” He shrugs. “Don’t worry. I am fine with it. Don’t feel embarrassed for anything you did or didn’t.”
“Okay.”
This would be the perfect chance to ask him about his ex-relationships, but Aspen interrupts us by joining us. “Robin is going to order us some drinks,” he says.
“Awesome. And hopefully also some food,” Soren says.
“Yeah, I asked him to bring some fries.”
Under the table, Soren still has his hand on my upper thigh, now rubbing circles with his thumb. It’s such a simple gesture, yet it does something to me. His hand is so close to my groin. If he moved it only a bit upwards…
At the thought, I can feel my cock hardening. Oh, fantastic! That’s exactly what I need now. I am getting horny just sitting next to the guy I am falling for. Like I am still a teenager. Fortunately, Robin returns right at that moment, successfully distracting me with some colorful cocktails he is bringing along.
thirteen
*LEO*
Robin pulled Aspen and two of his other friends onto the dance floor, leaving Soren and me behind. Soren has kept his hand on my upper thigh the whole time, only removing it when we got our food. Now that we are alone, he starts rubbing my thigh again.
“Leo, there is something I wanted to talk with you about.”
My first thought immediately goes to the worst-case scenario. Maybe he just figured I am too boring, too stupid for him, or that I have too much baggage.
“I don’t know what you are thinking,” he says. “But whatever it is, it’s notthat.”
“Sorry, old habits,” I say quietly.
“I am not going anywhere,” he says. “It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to date anybody, and I certainly want to date you.Even more reason why I feel bad for hiding it from Robin and, particularly, Aspen. It makes it look like we are doing something forbidden.”
“Oh,” I blink. “Oh! That’s what you wanted to talk about?” When he nods, I let out a sigh of relief. “I wanted to talk about the same. Earlier today, Robin helped me with grooming Barkley, and he kept hinting that you might be crushing on me.”
“Oh, did he?” Soren snorts. “And of course he had to tell you.”
“Yep. Robin and I have that sort of relationship,” I say earnestly.
Soren taps my leg and laughs. “A gossiping relationship.”
“Exactly.”
Soren furrows his brows while looking at me. “See? This is the moment I would absolutely want to kiss you. The expression you just made is adorable.”
“I feel bad about hiding it, as well,” I clarify, feeling my cheeks heat up. “And I want to kiss you, too, just for the record.”
One of Soren’s brows moves up, his expression more than a little intrigued. He cups the back of my head, pulling me into a kiss. My stomach makes backflips in a way I have never felt before. I just want to straddle his hips and cling to him, feel as much of his body and his warmth as possible.
