A bright smile lit Spencer’s face. “Right? I half expected clay to go flying across the room, but it didn’t and—” Zayn kissed him, cutting Spencer off mid-speech. It was out of his control. He needed to taste the excitement flowing from Spencer.
Spencer’s hands flattened against Zayn’s chest and slid upward. Zayn shuffled closer as Spencer’s fingers found their way to Zayn’s hair. He tilted his chin higher, getting as close as he could to Spencer as Spencer deepened their kiss. He recognized this might be the last time they touched. Zayn was okay with that since they would part on a happier memory. Even when the kiss ended, neither of them moved away. With their foreheads pressed together, Spencer kept his eyes closed as if savoring the moment while Zayn couldn’t stop staring at him. He looked so normal tonight in his brown t-shirt, light-colored jeans, and work boots. It was like Spencer had attempted to fit in for Zayn. Zayn didn’t want that, but it was sweet.
Suddenly, Spencer backed away as if he forced himself to take a step back. “Would you like to have breakfast with me tomorrow?”
Zayn fought a smile. “I’d love to, but I have a business meeting in the morning.”
Spencer nodded, looking crestfallen. “Oh. Okay.”
A chuckle rose and stuck in Zayn’s throat. He couldn’t help it. Happiness had him in a chokehold. “There are other meals in the day. How do you feel about me cooking dinner for us tomorrow night instead?”
Spencer’s smile returned. “I’d like that.”
“Six?”
“Sounds good.” Spencer looked around as if he didn’t want to leave, but he knew they couldn’t stand in the parking lot all night. “I guess I should let you go home.”
“Yeah. I have that early morning thing. You probably have—” This time, it was Spencer cutting him off with a kiss. It was every bit as sweet as the last one. They were kisses with a promise behind them. Hope built in Zayn’s chest. Spencer didn’t kiss him like a man bent on fucking him until he got bored. He kissed Zayn like they had all the time in the world together. Zayn couldn’t wait to find out if that was true.
Five
Truth be told, Spencer hadn’t expected Zayn to show up for the pottery-making class. He had thought about Zayn looking to try something new, since the bodybuilder thing had gotten old. With that thought in mind, Spencer had taken a chance. Honestly, Spencer wasn’t good at making amends. Since becoming an adult, he had chosen to live his life unapologetically. This time, though, he had been completely at fault. He needed to make things right.
Zayn had shown, and now he was making Spencer dinner. He hadn’t expected to be under Zayn’s roof again. Not only was he there, but he also had a club soda in hand and Zayn didn’t seem to mind Spencer being nosy as fuck.
Spencer hadn’t explored Zayn’s place the last time he had been here. They had gone straight to bed. Afterward, he had sneaked away as quickly as possible. Now he couldn’t stop inspecting everything. Zayn lived in the coolest house Spencer had ever seen. Everything was open and glass. Water gushed over the glass wall of the living room, fascinating Spencer. He tried tilting his head and leaning closer to the windows to see why.
“What’s above us?”
“The second-story pool.”
At Zayn’s response, Spencer’s curiosity tripled. “Do you have a leak?”
Zayn laughed as he moved to a nearby wall. “No. It’s a waterfall. The water from the second-floor pool pours into the pool down here and is pumped back to the top again. The two are connected. See.” He pushed a button, and the water stopped falling, clearing the view. They were literally standing in the pool. Spencer imagined it was only an illusion, but it was amazing. He wondered how the house looked from a distance with an endless pool of water flowing from one floor to the next. Zayn pushed the button again, and the waterfall resumed.
“Holy shit. That’s amazing. You would think a waterfall would be loud, but I barely hear a thing.”
“The glass is basically the same stuff they use in commercial aquariums. You know, the places where you can go see full grown sharks and whatnot.” Zayn motioned toward a small doorway at the opposite side of the room. “If you head through that door, you’ll find the indoor part of the pool. You can slide open the wall to swim through the waterfall. You can see how thick the glass is when you open it. It’s like ten inches. It’s soundproof and bulletproof.”
Bulletproof? Damn. Spencer couldn’t fathom Zayn’s life. It had to be wild being this rich. “You have the coolest things. I can’t imagine having even half of this.”
A line appeared between Zayn’s eyebrows. “It’s not like you’re poor.”
Spencer sipped his drink and shrugged. “Honestly, my place is paid for along with everything else I own. Otherwise, I have about a hundred grand in the bank.”
Spencer fought a smile at the way Zayn tried valiantly to hide his shock. “Are you not charging people for your work?”
A laugh burst from Spencer. “Of course I am. Money just isn’t that important to me. I like to have enough in case of an emergency or whatever. Otherwise, I try to improve the world around me. I have scholarships set up at two different music academies, and I keep the art program in several schools funded. Jinx’s mom is on dialysis and can’t afford it, so I pay for that. Plus, I keep up with her other bills, so she’s not stressed. There are tons of ways I can help and still not struggle, so I do.”
If Zayn felt one way or another about anything Spencer said, he didn’t show it. Instead, he kept asking questions. “What about your parents?”
Spencer’s
