“Yeah, I can be pretty awesome sometimes.”
Luke slaps Ben’s back, and the sound snaps me out of my obsessive gazing. “Well, as much as I’d love to stand here and listen to you two not flirt with each other, I’m starving and we need to get back out there.” He smirks at me. “You know, bad guys to catch and all. Protect and serve. That whole thing.” He turns his head toward Reed. “Sorry to interrupt your date.”
“It’s not a date,” I blurt out, immediately regretting the hidden implication that I’d never actually be on a date with Reed. I look over at him, silently pleading for him to agree with my statement and not make this any more awkward than I’ve just made it.
Help a girl out. Don’t leave me hanging here.
He cocks an eyebrow at me. “Well, that’s the last time I service you with my free hand underneath the table. You’ve broken my heart, Mia.”
My jaw hits the table I definitely was not recently serviced under. Is he nuts? “What?” I manage to choke out.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Ben questions with a tone that no man in his right mind should challenge. “Say it again, asshole, and see what happens.” He moves closer to Reed but Luke steps between the two.
“I’m gonna let him punch you if you say something stupid like that again,” Luke states, straining his head over his own shoulder to connect with Reed.
Ben and Luke are roughly the same size, so Luke doesn’t have any difficulty in holding him back. Reed, on the other hand, is more leaned out than muscular, and probably wouldn’t stand a chance against Ben.
Luke turns back toward Ben, who is still looking ready to kill. “Not a date, man. Just relax.” His words are barely audible, but I hear them. And Ben seems to calm down as he processes them himself.
Reed holds up his hands in surrender. “Kidding. Jesus Christ. You used to have a sense of humor, Ben. What the hell happened?”
Ben places his hand on the back of my chair again, hovering over me in a very possessive way. If I’m not mistaken, it’s as if he’s staking his claim in front of Reed, just like he did the other day on the pier. But this time, I don’t object to it. This time, the very thought of being Ben’s doesn’t infuriate me. It intrigues me. I want to know what that feels like. But he asked me out for Saturday as friends, and friends don’t act like that with each other. So that can’t possibly be what he’s doing right now. He’s probably just looking out for me. So I push those thoughts to the back of my mind and watch his eyes shift back to mine. He hasn’t said anything else to Reed but I don’t think he needs to. His actions and demeanor are speaking loud enough for him.
“I’ll pick you up at four o’clock. I figured we’d surprise Nolan so I’m not going to tell him where we’re going.” His tone is friendly, all edginess and agitation gone, as if he didn’t just have a pissing contest with the guy that I am not on a date with.
I tuck my hair back behind my ear. “Make sure he brings his sword. He’s gonna need it.”
I feel his thumb brush along my back, and that slight bit of contact sends my lower half into a frenzy.
“Ben. Get over here and order,” Luke calls out, having moved to the counter. He must have thought it was safe to leave his friend alone with Reed. That or he was too hungry to care anymore.
Ben lets go of my chair with a grin and brushes against my shoulder with his hand. These tiny touches are going to kill me.
“See you Saturday.”
“Okay,” I choke out with a shaky voice.
He turns and shoots Reed a scowl, before walking over to the counter. And now his back is to me. His shoulders in that shirt. His ass in those pants. Someone may have to scrape me off the floor.
“You’re hilarious.” I glare at Reed, accomplishing the difficult task of prying my eyes off the glorious body standing no more than fifteen feet away from me. “I think I’d remember getting fingered underneath a table, ass.”
“I’d hope so.” Reed grins before shrugging. “It’s all good. I’ve never seen Ben get all I’m caveman, this my woman before. He’s fun to rile up.”
I roll my eyes before giving in to the temptation standing at the counter.
I don’t want to stare, but given the fact that Ben’s back is to me and he’d never know I’m drooling down the front of my shirt, I allow it. I hear Reed’s voice as it enters my ear, and it would be rude of me not to answer him. Besides, I’m perfectly capable of answering one person while I’m glued to someone else. I’m a woman for Christ’s sake. We can multi-task the shit out of stuff.
“Hmm mmm. Yeah, me too,” I reply.
Ben pulls his wallet out of the back of his pants. Where his ass is. That. Ass. It’s this perfectly sculpted entity in and of itself. There should be internet sites dedicated to it. Fan clubs. Parades, even.
“Oh wow. That sounds really fun. I’d love to do that,” I respond.
Ben reaches over his shoulder and scratches his back, pulling his shirt tight across his muscles.
My God.
“That’s crazy. I hate it when that happens.” I have no idea what Reed just said to me. No idea. His chuckle catches my attention and I whip my head around. “What?”
His eyes drift from the men at the counter back to me. He grins amusingly. “I
