On a Roll Beth Bolden (best book club books for discussion .TXT) 📖

Sean wrapped his arms around him and then they were kissing again.

Gabriel knew he’d promised a second round, had hoped it would happen, but he’d never imagined that Sean would be so eager. Or that he’d be the one tugging him towards the bedroom again.

They were kind-of friends. And they were having sex. Again.

If Gabe kept reminding himself of these two facts, maybe he’d figure out how to keep his heart out of it. He knew that his heart was already in it. His heart had always been in it. As Sean wrapped his hand around Gabriel’s cock and he reciprocated, he swore he could feel it skip a beat.

No matter how good the sex was, Gabriel was always going to want more.

Chapter Seven

 Sean told himself that he was not disappointed that Gabriel hadn’t stayed.

After all, he was the one who’d set the expectations. They were going to have sex, and scratch a mutual itch, and that was it.

He just hadn’t expected to like spending non-naked time—and naked time—with Gabriel so much. He’d known him for two years now, and it was not exactly a mystery that they hadn’t really liked each other. The guy had thrown a meatball at Sean. He’d been floored when he’d discovered how much he wanted to have sex with him. But discovering that he actually enjoyed spending time with him? That was a discovery that was throwing him a hell of a lot more.

“You’re frowning at that kale mix like it did something to you,” Tate said, as they sat in the shade, eating a late lunch together. “Does it need to apologize?”

“What?” Sean’s head jerked up. He’d been lost in his thoughts. He’d had too many questions recently. Like, why had it been three days since Gabriel had been over and he hadn’t asked if Sean wanted to get together again?

Sean was thinking he might have to ask him himself, and that thought made him both hot and cold all over.

With nerves, and with undeniable anticipation.

It had been so good the first—and the second—time. How good would it be the third?

“Does your salad need to apologize?” Tate asked again, still patient. Always so patient. He deserved a better friend than Sean was being.

“No, no, I’m just . . . thinking,” Sean said. About Gabriel.

“About Gabe?” Tate asked, so casually that for a split second, Sean was terrified that he’d actually said that part out loud.

“No!” Sean said quickly. “No, of course not. Why would I be thinking about him?”

Tate chewed his wrap thoughtfully. “Maybe because you had sex with him?”

“I . . . we . . .” Sean spluttered, and Tate rolled his eyes.

“You were all over each other at the party and then you left together. You definitely had sex.”

“Oh, yeah, that,” Sean said weakly. “Um, yeah, we did. But no, I am definitely not thinking about him. No way. It’s just . . . a sex thing. That’s it.”

“That’s it?” Tate repeated with disbelief.

Okay, so Sean was a terrible liar. If he hadn’t been so convinced he couldn’t possibly have any feelings—he’d know, because he’d been deeply in love before and it would be impossible for him to mistake it for lust—he wouldn’t have even convinced himself.

“It’s just a sex thing,” he said. “No big deal, right?”

The look Tate shot his direction made it clear that it was very much a big deal, but that was why Sean hadn’t gone around sharing any details of what they’d done. It was nobody’s business but their own.

Especially since it wasn’t going anywhere.

“Right,” Tate said, clearly not convinced.

Sean decided it was time to change the subject. “Have you ever met any of Gabriel’s family?” he asked. Okay, so it was technically not a change of subject, but Sean was really curious after their conversation the other day.

“Only a few of them,” Tate said, “There’s like a million of them. Did Gabe tell you he’s the middle child? Like literal middle child? Of seven kids?”

No, he had not. Sean told himself again that he had no right to feel disappointed.

“Wow,” Sean said. No wonder Gabriel had left the family restaurant business to branch out.

“I met Luca once—he’s the oldest,” Tate said. “He comes down once a year, to make sure Gabe isn’t fucking up or something.” Tate rolled his eyes. “He’s a little ridiculous. Imagine Gabriel times about a hundred. And talk about anal retentive. Geez.”

“I bet Gabriel can’t stand it,” Sean said. Not surprised that he’d never met Luca; back then, he’d have wanted to keep Sean away from any vulnerable spots.

But things between them had changed. Maybe they would never see eye to eye about who should change their name, but they weren’t constantly at each other’s throats any more.

“Oh, he does,” Tate said. “And last year, he brought Dario, who I think is a year younger than Gabriel.”

“What’s he like? Are he and Gabriel friends?”

“Well, anything looks good compared to Luca,” Tate said. “But yeah, they seemed to be.” He hesitated. “You sure seem interested in Gabriel, considering all you have is a sex thing.”

Tate was not wrong. He rarely was.

“Oh, well, just gathering info, you know. I’ve got to convince Gabriel to change his name, and well, why not go back to the original? That’s the family restaurant name, right?”

Even as he said it, Sean knew Gabriel wouldn’t want to go back to that. He’d changed it for a reason and he’d already told Sean that he didn’t feel like he could take any credit for anything he did. Changing the name would only make that worse.

“Yeah,” Tate said. “But I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

“I’m not,” Sean reassured him. “Just exploring some options.”

Tate did not look totally convinced. “You could both change it, you know, and that would be a solution where neither of you feels like you lost,” he suggested. “Maybe you could even be friends afterwards.”

Tate was sweet; he really did mean well. But he didn’t have all the facts. He didn’t know about