High Heat (Hotshots 2)

He could have slid in something about the company and how that was the real draw for him, but he wasn’t that smooth, not then, not with a throat this tight and Garrick looking at him like he was a few minutes from ditching them for the big city experience.

They finished up their food and returned to browsing the booths, Jacob trying to goad Linc into a temporary rainbow tattoo and Linc threatening to get Jacob’s name instead in some cheesy location, their banter filling up any silences between him and Garrick.

“Hey, it’s your favorites!” With Linc and Jacob distracted by the tattoo selection, Garrick pointed at a pink T-shirt with Rain’s favorite pony characters and a Morning Sunshine slogan. “You should get it.”

“Or maybe that one.” He pointed at a different shirt with a single pony and Daddy, I Want a Pony under it in swirly font.

“Behave.” Though Garrick’s mischievous smile said he wasn’t truly opposed to Rain getting the shirt.

“You’re almost elderly enough to be someone’s sugar daddy, old man,” Rain couldn’t resist teasing. Not that he’d changed his mind about wanting one of those, but Garrick could get uptight about the age difference every now and then, and teasing him was a good way to get him to lighten up.

“Ha.” Garrick captured his wrist and tugged him down so he could whisper closer to Rain’s ear, “Bad boys get spankings. Might want to be nice.”

Oh yeah. Delicious heat spread through all his muscles, molten butter and sugar leaving him all bubbly and craving more. “I’m getting the shirt.”

“You do that.” Garrick winked at him, and damn if Rain didn’t want a teleporter to zap them both right back to Garrick’s bedroom, where he could make him carry through on all the sexy threats in his eyes.

As he paid for his purchases, another singer on the stage was crooning about love lasting only a single night, lyrics hitting Rain square in the chest. He didn’t want a single night, not anymore. Hell, he was starting to think he might never get enough of this man and little moments like this one.

Chapter Sixteen

“Are you sure about this?” Frowning, Garrick studied his handiwork, not at all convinced it was ready for public consumption. And truly, he wasn’t at all sure about this whole day, lacking Rain’s easy confidence.

“She’s going to love it.” Rain plucked the lumpy little purple-striped pouch out of Garrick’s hands and dropped it in a gift bag. Garrick had actually managed to complete a knitting project of sorts—a small drawstring pouch that held a bottle of local lavender essential oil and a gift card. It was far from perfect—lumpy with some unintended eyelets, and the cord was possibly the best knitting of the whole piece, but Rain kept insisting Shirley would appreciate the gift.

“If you say so.” Privately, he was rather proud of the lumpy little project. What had started out as admittedly something to get in Rain’s good graces had become an activity he genuinely got some satisfaction from, to the point that he’d worked on the project several times without Rain being around. Rain himself did the best job of distracting Garrick when the nights got long and lonely, but the hobby didn’t hurt.

“Guess we should head out.” Garrick’s gaze flitted across the street. Any moment now people would start descending on Shirley’s backyard for a combination birthday and Fourth of July celebration.

“Calm down. You’re nervous about meeting my family, which is cute, but I’m pretty sure they’re going to love you.” Rain put the finishing touches on his own gift. The handmade socks had turned out beautifully and he’d paired them with a foot cream from the same little gift shop where Garrick had found the lavender oil. They’d had a number of fun outings recently in addition to Pride, trying different parks and paths with Cookie and exploring shops and restaurants.

Garrick knew keeping him busy and distracted was a lot of the motivation behind their explorations, Rain on a mission to keep him from the melancholy that threatened to reappear whenever he was idle too long. So busy was good. Knitting lessons. Rain’s workouts. Eating out. Work, taking on a few more hours. Playing with Cookie. Getting better at Rain’s board game. None of it exactly made up for what he wasn’t doing, but he didn’t like dwelling on that, preferred to focus on making fun memories with Rain. There would be plenty enough time later to let the disappointment back in.

“I still say I’m too old for you, and your parents are going to give me the evil eye.” Meeting the parents had never exactly been Garrick’s favorite thing, and even if Shirley seemed cool with their friendship, he wasn’t convinced Rain’s parents would feel the same.

“They are not driving down from Portland to lecture either of us. Although I do talk about you enough that they’re curious. Besides, it’s going to be a big party. No one’s going to be that focused on us.” Rain grabbed both gift bags and the carrot bread they’d made together.