Dean glanced around, floundering. He didn’t know how to react. Brett hadn’t said Xavier was coming too. Dean said the first thought that came to mind. “I can’t believe you’re dressed.” And it was sexy. Goddamn. Xavier looked like a man who needed to be stripped bare and fucked hard. While his jeans and shirt weren’t anything that would have stood out on anyone else, it was Xavier. He made everything look ten times sexier than normal.
Xavier flashed a laughing gaze his way. “The last time I saw you, I thought you rather enjoyed having my naughty bits bare.”
Unfortunately, Dawson chose that moment to bring their drinks. He set Dean’s coffee down harder than necessary and refused to meet his stare. “Does anyone need anything else?”
Dean tried to get Dawson to look his way, hoping to reassure him. “Thank you. I’m good.”
Xavier took a cautious sip of Dean’s coffee. As he set the cup back down, he kissed Dean’s cheek. “That’s not bad. I’ll have one of those as well.”
Giving up, Dean pinched the spot between his eyes. Dawson walked away without a word. When Dean reopened his eyes, he found Brett’s gaze moving between Xavier and him. His expression said everything Dean needed to know. Brett wasn’t dumb. In fact, he was the smartest person Dean knew.
“I have questions.”
“Please don’t.” Even Dean heard the dead note to his voice. Dean had been trying so hard to stay away from Xavier. He couldn’t let himself believe Xavier’s attention was anything more than boredom on Xavier’s part. Dean had definitely one hundred percent never wanted Brett to know about them.
At Dean’s plea, Brett picked up his coffee and started sipping like his life depended on the hydration.
Xavier didn’t seem to notice or care about any discomfort. He kept talking and making things worse. “Did you ask Dean why he’s been avoiding us?”
Dean sighed. “I haven’t been avoiding anyone.”
“He’s says he’s been working,” Brett said at the same time. Brett set his coffee aside. “I’m sorry. I tried, but I can’t do it. How long has this been going on and why did neither of you tell me?”
“A month,” Xavier said at the same time as Dean said, “There’s nothing going on.”
Brett look between them. “Which is it? A month or nothing is going on?”
A cup of coffee appeared on the table in front of Xavier. Dawson was gone again before Dean could even look his way. Maybe it was for the best. Dean couldn’t blame the guy.
Xavier didn’t comment on the service. He stayed focused on the task of telling Dean’s business—like Brett wasn’t a brother who had raised him like a father. “We slept together a month ago, but he’s been avoiding me ever since. So, possibly, it’s both. This has been going on a month and nothing has happened since, because he’s been avoiding me.”
Brett didn’t look like he could stop studying them. His gaze kept moving from Dean to Xavier and back again—like a fan stuck on oscillate. “I have more questions.”
“Please don’t,” Dean said again, losing his temper. He was uncomfortable and no one seemed to care how he felt. Brett had never seen Dean with a man and he knew that was the biggest shock for Brett at the moment. For Dean, he didn’t care how anyone else felt at the moment. That one night with Xavier had been just for him. It was supposed to be a magical memory. Dean pushed away from the table and stood, leaving Xavier no choice but to move his arm from Dean’s chair. He snagged his helmet from the table. It took some doing, but he managed to shove his way out from behind the table.
“Dean.”
Dean ignored Brett. He couldn’t explain his anger, but the rage was there. Before he made it to the door, Dean spotted Dawson wiping down a nearby table. He changed directions and pulled out his wallet. Dean found a twenty and passed it Dawson’s way.
“For my drink. I’m sorry about earlier.” Even Dean heard the pain lacing his voice.
A hint of shock crossed Dawson’s features as he reached for the bill. Dean didn’t stick around to hear a response. He had to get out of there. No one understood. Dean wasn’t a part of this crowd. Just because Brett had fame and money, that didn’t mean it extended to him. Dean was a nobody. Nobodies were playthings to people like Xavier. Dean wanted to be with someone who thought he was special. Someone like Xavier could never think Dean was anything more than a good time. A shot of pain hit him, nearly taking him to his knees as an image of Xavier kissing a path down his chest flashed through his mind. Dean had never wanted anything in his life more than he had yearned for that night they spent together.
He straddled his bike. Dean didn’t move. He needed to get to work, but everything hurt too bad. The urge to turn around and see Xavier’s face one more time was slowly murdering him. If he ached this much after one night together, he would never survive two. He sat straddling his motorcycle and incapable of moving. Every molecule of his body stayed focused on the memory of Xavier in his arms. Dean couldn’t even lift his arms to put on his helmet. When strong fingers gripped the back of his neck, Dean gasped. It was his fantasies coming to life again. The moment of confusion Xavier created by pulling Dean from the fantasy of him and into the real thing was enough time for Xavier to claim his mouth.
Dean didn’t think. He forgot where they were and where he had been intent on going. Xavier had caught him while he had been trapped somewhere between a frothy rage and ecstasy at the memory of Xavier. Something in Dean’s chest expanded as Xavier’s tongue stroked his and the man’s hand slid down his arm, caressing. Damned if Xavier didn’t taste like he cared.
Xavier pulled away.
Dean found himself staring into gray eyes that seemed to look into his soul.
Xavier swiped the back of his knuckles down Dean’s cheek. “I’m sorry that being with me embarrassed you.” He walked away before his words penetrated the haze he created around Dean’s brain.
As Dean looked on, Xavier climbed behind the wheel of an oddly nondescript black SUV. He didn’t give Dean time to decide if he would go after him. Xavier pulled from the lot without looking back. Reality came rushing back like lightning. He had just been kissed by one of the world’s biggest celebrities in the middle of a public parking lot. There was no taking that back. Xavier thought Dean was ashamed of what they had done. Nothing could be further from the truth. Dean had never regretted anything less in his life. That was why he thought things should end there. He didn’t want to taint the only perfect memory he had by trying to push for more. This was for the best. Xavier would forget him soon enough. Everyone forgot Dean. Xavier would see. By next month, he wouldn’t remember Dean’s name.
“I hear you had an interesting, if not short, coffee date this morning.”
Xavier looked up from his laptop as Roman cleared the kitchen doorway. He went back to working on his menus. It never surprised him when Brett or Roman appeared without knocking. He always left his back door unlocked for them. “Perhaps it was of interest to Brett. Other than an amazing kiss in the parking lot, it was not that great for me. But yes, it was brief.”
Roman snagged an empty chair at the table. “I can’t believe you’re dressed.”