Series: Cobalt Empire Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 220
Estimated words: 215301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1077(@200wpm)___ 861(@250wpm)___ 718(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1077(@200wpm)___ 861(@250wpm)___ 718(@300wpm)
“Hate it.” I ignore the heat against my neck. I open and close my lighter with a click, click, click. “I like climbing. Ladders. Obstacles. Mountains.”
“Men?” he taunts.
I’m a furnace. “Straddling. I excel at it all.”
“I didn’t ask if you were good at it, nepo baby.” He watches me turn the doorknob. “And I’m gay,” he says so fucking casually that it steals oxygen. What. The. Fuck.
My brain full-on record scratches. I let go of the knob. “You’re not gay,” I say.
He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “You want to rewind time and tell that to my fourteen-year-old self? When I realized I didn’t want to kiss Eva Terrell on Homecoming—because I couldn’t stop thinking about sticking my tongue in her brother’s mouth.”
“In a totally platonic way,” I add. “That sounds not gay.”
He bursts into a laugh. “You can’t be serious.”
I’m losing it. I force myself not to rub my face with two hands. “This can’t be real. Only one of us can be gay.”
He makes a face like I’m unreal. “Says who?”
“Says me and the band. Our band.” Holy fucking shit, he cannot be attracted to men. This got so infinitely worse. I squat down, hands on my head.
“What are you doing?” Phoenix frowns.
“I’m like trying not to freak out right now.”
“It looks like you’re already freaking out.”
My eyes are planted on the shiny floorboards. Why did I assume he was straight? Because I know his brother has been spotted in the press kissing dudes. And I thought—what are the chances that both St. Pierre brothers could be into guys?
“Jesus Christ.” Phoenix bends down and grabs me by the arm, pulling me back to my feet. “What is your damage?”
My brain is spinning. “My damage is that we’re both into guys, and you’ve been flirting with me.”
He chokes on a laugh. “I have not been flirting with you.”
No. No way. I have not been imagining this. I glare. “Dude, you told me you were going to hold me down and cover my mouth.”
His muscles tense. “Because you were pissing me off.”
I give him a look like come the fuck on.
He growls out a frustrated breath. “Okay. Maybe a little flirting, but it’s fucking harmless.”
“Harmless. Yeah. That was before I jacked off in the shower thinking about what you said. For which I am blaming you.”
He laughs harder. “Wait—you’re blaming me for jerking one out?”
“Yeah. I am. It’s your fault.”
“You are…” He grinds his jaw and makes a deep noise in the back of his throat. He’s not killing the mood here. His eyes dance over me in a rough wave.
“A musical genius,” I offer.
He scoffs. “Yeah, right.”
“A gorgeous god.”
He takes a step forward in warning. “Tom—”
“The guy you can’t stop thinking about.”
His eyes flame at this, and I realize I might have hit the bullseye. I’m grinning as he steps so close, my back hits the wall.
“You jerk one out to me too yet?” I taunt.
“Shut the fuck up,” he growls, so close to me that he could so easily place his palm over my mouth and make me. He presses his hand to the wall above my head. He’s a few inches taller, but I’m not cowering beneath the threat in his eyes.
I want to meet it. I want to be up against it. I want to live inside the roaring danger.
Pushing boundaries, I crave. Which is why I never wanted someone available in my band with me. Someone I could act out my desires with. I don’t need the fucking temptation. I am weak around it.
I never back down from his heated, biting gaze. Mayhem is my kryptonite. I literally can’t stop myself. “What will happen if I don’t?” I ask. “You going to put your hands on me?”
He doesn’t blink. “You want my hands on you?”
It’s a trick question.
I do.
I shouldn’t.
My throat is raw. I’ve never been this turned on in my fucking life. My cock strains against my jeans, but luckily, he’s not looking there. He’s just penetrating me with his eyes. But I’m five seconds from fisting his dark-gray T-shirt and wrenching him into my chest. My hands twitch at my side, fighting the urge.
I turn my head just slightly to the left. Phoenix pushes my jaw hard with two fingers, forcing me to face him.
It’s the hottest thing any guy has ever done to me.
His eyes fall to my lips. I stare at his mouth. One beat later, our gazes ascend, leaving the temptation of a kiss.
His chest rises and falls heavily as if he’s been scaling a cliff. “You’re quiet,” he notes. “It’s a miracle.”
“Just trying not to do something stupid here.”
“Me too,” he admits and falls back a step. He runs a coarse hand through his hair and lets out a heavy breath. “To be clear, I don’t fuck bandmates.”