Some Like It Hot Read online

  Though, I would be open to both.

  "I like Chinese," I said huskily, watching the way his eyes darkened as I spoke and the small blush that stained his cheeks.

  "To eat?" he asked, making me laugh.

  It almost sounded and looked like… but no. I wasn't stupid enough to think a beautiful man like him, who spent endless hours in a day fielding responses from men all over the nation who wanted to be with him, would want… me.

  Shaking his head, he groaned, mumbling something to himself as he fell down onto the cushions of the couch.

  I started to follow him, but suddenly remembered I wasn't fully clothed. "I should probably put a shirt on. It seems weird to be sitting around in your house without a shirt."

  "No way!" he said loudly. "I'll take mine off, so you'll be more comfortable." He whipped his shirt off over his head, laying it across the coffee table, and turning slightly to smile at me. "There." I tried not to laugh at the expression on his face, but it was becoming clearer by the moment that he was uncomfortable with the choice he'd made. "This isn't something normal people do, is it?"

  I grunted out another laugh, shrugging my shoulders. "You met my brothers' boyfriends."

  I didn't know a damn thing about normal, but he could sit around without his shirt on, if he wanted to. I sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to tell him to get dressed. I knew he'd done it to make me more comfortable, and to a point, it had definitely worked, since I didn't quite feel so exposed any more, but now things were getting uncomfortable in other ways.

  "Oh. Those were all boyfriends of your brothers? Not like, your lovers?"

  "You thought…? No."

  He nodded, squirming a bit as I looked him over, not doing nearly as good a job of hiding it as I normally would, but it wasn't every day that the man you'd been fantasizing about since you met him, ripped his shirt off in front of you.

  I'd seen him shirtless countless times on his videos. Hell, I'd seen him naked and masturbating––which was something I really needed to avoid thinking about––but he'd never been so close to me when his beautifully smooth and lightly bronzed body was on display. I could actually see the slight pebbling of the skin on his pecs and the way his abs contracted every time he breathed out.

  He cleared his throat, snapping me out of it, and I dropped my hands down in front of my pants as nonchalantly as possible, since the fabric of these particular jeans was thin and soft, and my dick was neither of those things at the moment.

  Leaning forward again, he grabbed his shirt off the table, flipping it inside out. "You go put on a shirt. I'll put mine back on and try to act like less of a weirdo, while I order Chinese food. Then you can come back over, if you aren't terrified of my extreme awkwardness, and we can watch a movie."

  I grunted out another of my laughs that Wagoner had once told me sounds a lot like a burp, and headed toward the door with a nod. "Okay."

  Again, I wasn’t really sure why I was agreeing to this. Spending time with him wasn't going to make this damn crush on him lighten, and regardless of his rambling when he was around me, I really doubted he was into me in that way.

  Maybe he was just lonely. I'd wondered that about him more than once. I never saw anyone coming and going, except a delivery man here and there. I had a ridiculous amount of family and I still got lonely fairly often.

  Did Bates need a friend? Could I be that friend without fucking it up? I was a gruff man. Not mean. Not even really grumpy. I was just unused to having to converse with people outside of my family on a regular basis, since most people avoided me, because––as Wagoner and Langston liked to put it––I wasn't all that approachable with my serial-killer vibe.

  "What do you like?" Bates asked as I opened the door to his apartment, and I turned, shrugging.

  "Order whatever you usually get. I'll eat anything."

  "Are we back to that?" he asked, meeting my eyes and tilting his head to the side.

  "Huh?"

  "Huh?"

  I shut the door behind me, chuckling softly at the look on his face. It seemed the sweet little omega, with the beautiful body and the not-so innocent side, had a small problem with watching his mouth. It was incredibly endearing, and just another thing to like about the man.

  Just what I need, another reason to like him.

  He was still on the phone with the restaurant when I let myself back into his apartment, so I wandered over to the couch, sitting down.

  Turning to me when he was finished, he pointed to the remote, once again looking a little nervous.

  "I wasn't sure what kind of movie you'd want to see, so I decided to let you choose, but you can't go wrong with comedy."

  I nodded, picking up the remote and flipping through the movie options in the Comedy section, finding one that I'd seen the preview for, but never got around to watching, and raised my eyebrows in question at him, and he smiled, nodding.

  We settled in to watch the movie, sitting a few feet from each other, shooting glances in each other's direction. I hadn't been on many dates, but the atmosphere was similar somehow, even though I was pretty sure that wasn't what we were doing here.

  I was almost relieved when the food arrived… or I was, until he opened the door and gasped excitedly, throwing his arms around the man standing there with two armloads of food.

  "Lukas! How have you been?" He stepped back, still holding the top of the guy's arms, and looked him over. "Are you back home for the summer? Why haven't I seen you?"

  Lukas was young and handsome, probably around nineteen, and he blushed like a typical overwhelmed nineteen-year-old when an attractive person hugged them. It would have been funny, if it weren't for the fact that I was really starting to feel the oafishness I usually felt around attractive people.

  "Hi, Bates," Lukas said shyly, smiling. "I'm doing really good. I'm only helping my parents until I go back to school. My mom just got her shoulder surgery. I was working for the travel adventure company just outside of town, but Mom didn't have anyone else who knew enough about what they were doing, so I came back to help. I still do the rafting on the weekends though."

  "I bet that's a great way to stay in shape."

  I stood to go help with the food, feeling weird about just sitting there on the couch while Bates grabbed the food and chatted it up with the handsome omega standing in his doorway.

  "Oh, wow," Lukas said, when he spotted me, his eyes going wide.

  I blinked, unsure what was happening. I didn't think I looked as intimidating without all that hair on my face, and Jennings and Riley had assured me that my hair looked much friendlier when it was down, but that I had to make sure to blow dry it and put product in it, because my hair was––in Riley's words––lifeless as fuck, and made me look like I needed to wash my balls. Whatever, my balls were clean, and my hair only looked like that because I pulled it back in a ponytail when I was done showering, to keep it out of my face.

  That was another thing. Jennings said no more low ponytails. I didn't really understand why they'd made it their mission to groom me. It seemed kind of pointless to me, and now with so much of my face exposed, I felt… almost vulnerable.

  Like Lukas standing there, staring at me like that. If my look was so much friendlier, why was he looking at me like that?

  Bates cleared his throat, taking the bags out of Lukas' hands, before smirking at me over his shoulder, making me even more confused.

  "Hi," the young omega said, leaning around Bates to give me a small smile, while he watched me with those wide eyes.

  I lifted my hand in an awkward wave, before reaching out, handing him a wad of money that was more than enough to cover the food, not all that impressed with myself as I recognized the feeling in my chest as jealousy. I had nothing to be jealous about. The man absolutely did not belong to me, so I shouldn't be irritated by the easy way Bates seemed to be able to talk to the guy and the bright smile on his face.

  "Wow. You guys are really stunning together," Lukas whispered in awe
.

  There wasn't anything in my mouth, but I choked anyway, going into a coughing fit as Bates laughed nervously.

  "Oh," Bates said. "He's not my omega. I mean, I'm not his alpha. He gives me sugar!" He yelled that last sentence loudly, before whimpering. "Not that kind of sugar. He doesn't love me!" He shot me a distressed look. "Why are you allowing this to happen? Cover my mouth!"

  He shut up immediately, and the room went silent for a moment, as my coughing finally came to an end, and Bates clamped his mouth shut hard, before groaning and dropping his face into his hand.

  A laugh bubbled out of Lukas, drawing my attention as he nodded, patting the air. "Okay, okay, I think I understand," he said, winking at me before looking back at Bates just as the man peeked up over his palm. "You guys are fuck buddies."

  Bates groaned and covered his face again, while Lukas laughed even harder.

  "I'm kidding. I'm kidding," the kid said. "But seriously, I'd totally watch the two of you––"

  He was cut off by the door slamming in his face, and Bates groaned while Lukas cackled, his voice fading as he made it toward the stairs.

  Bates' face was bright red when he turned to look at me, and I wasn't really sure what to do with myself, so I took the food from him. He stopped me when I started to turn, taking one of the bags and pulling the two containers out of the paper sack, before placing those containers back in my hands, and putting the paper sack on his head.

  I watched him for a moment, not entirely sure what I expected him to do, but starting to make the trek across the living room with the bag still in place was not it. "What are you doing?"

  "It's better this way," he said, sounding miserable.

  The kneecap to the coffee table probably didn't help his misery.

  I hustled over to him quickly, putting the food down on the table and grabbing his shoulders, easing him around the coffee table and onto the couch, where he flopped backward with a groan.

  I frowned, watching him for a long moment, before easing onto the couch a few feet away, not entirely sure what to do.

  "Are you going to watch the movie like that?" I asked finally.

  "I've seen this one. I just need to listen."

  "How are you going to eat?" I tried, hoping a little rationalization would coax him out of his bag.

  I honestly didn’t really understand why he was hiding anyway. Was he really bothered by his friend… or whatever the guy was thinking we were together? I was pretty sure the guy had been joking.

  "I'm not hungry," he grumbled, but his stomach grumbled harder, making him groan.

  "Would you rather I left?"

  He sat up quickly, reaching blindly for me. "No! I want you to stay. I'm just embarrassed. I swear I'm usually better at talking. The rambling idiot you always seem to encounter is not the norm for me."

  Grunting, because I really wasn't sure what I was supposed to say to that, I reached out and pulled the bag off of his head, handing him one of the boxes and a plastic fork. He blinked at me for a moment, searching for something on my face, but I also had no clue what that could be, so I simply shrugged and picked up my own box, turning back to the movie.

  After a while he started to eat too, and not long after that, he was laughing loudly at the hungover idiots on the screen as I chuckled with a bit less enthusiasm, while stealing glances at the beautiful man, and hoping this could be the start of a friendship.

  I didn't dare hope for more.

  Okay, maybe I hoped a little, but I really did know better. I did.

  "So, you're all adopted?" he asked a few hours later, while I was still sitting on his couch with him, watching yet another movie.

  Well, we'd started out watching it, but he'd started asking me questions about my family within a few minutes of pushing play, and I'd happily answered, since family was the one thing I had plenty of and plenty to talk about.

  "All but Cole, Riley's fiancé."

  "And all alphas?" At my nod, he shook his head with wide eyes. "Your parents are brave."

  "Yeah, we should have been hellions, but they never really had much trouble with us. They were really lenient, so there wasn't really anything to rebel against. They let us know what they expected from us, and it never really occurred to us to not listen, especially since Da got really pouty when he was disappointed in us. Something about that man pouting made it to where you always wanted to be good."

  Da was one of a kind. He and Dad both had some of the biggest hearts out there, but Da could guilt the hell out of you if you stepped out of line. It sounded manipulative, and he was definitely that––so was Dad for that matter, though he was a lot more subtle about it––but he was also the first person to wrap you in a hug when you needed it, and the acceptance in that man was unbelievable.

  "They sound great," Bates said with a wistful smile. "My dad passed when I was really young. I don't even remember him. I always wanted siblings, but my mom never even looked at another man. I don't remember what she was like before my dad died, but the woman on all the old home videos is different from the woman I know. Don't get me wrong, she's still amazing, and she always lets me know how much she loves me, but I think she lost half of herself when he died. There's a spark missing in her now." He gasped slightly, shaking his head. "Wow, this is getting deep for a first date."

  Date? Did he just say date? Something about my face must have given away my surprise, because his eyes widened comically, and he sputtered out a weird sound that ended with a snort.

  "Date? I meant dinner with the neighbor type date. Not a date, date. Like two buds just…" he trailed off with a whimper, closing his eyes for a moment, before reaching out and retrieving the bag I'd taken off of his head earlier so he could eat, and plopping it right back in place.

  I chuckled softly, still not really sure how to take any of what had just happened, but unable to keep that slowly growing hope from taking root.

  What would it be like to date this man? Amazing. It would be amazing. I'd fall in love so damn fast, and my family would too. The poor guy would never know what hit him. One minute he'd be a single man with a weird neighbor, the next Da would be planning our wedding, and Wagoner would be trying to keep Jennings away from him at family dinners.

  It was too bad I didn't have a better personality. Maybe if I was fun like Wagoner, or sweet like Boyd, he could overlook the uniqueness of my outer appearance. Maybe if I was as handsome as any one of my brothers, he could give my gruffness a bit of leeway, and I could win him over with my family.

  They were all nuts, but I had a feeling Bates would love them.

  Unfortunately, I was kind of a troll. Ugly and less than friendly, and my brother in-laws hadn't exactly put their best feet forward today. All things considered, I really had no idea why this beautiful man would want to spend time with me, but I was going to take advantage of it.

  I'd let him keep his bag, though. Maybe it would keep me from doing something stupid, like lean over and suck on his neck, when he threw his head back and laughed at something on the television.

  Chapter Four

  JULY

  I looked away from the sight of myself on the screen of my computer that my camera was hooked up to, still finding it hard to watch myself talk, even after all the time I spent on the damn thing. It was easy to close my eyes and concentrate on my pleasure when I was doing a scene, but vlogging was a different story, so I usually chose my plant Vern the Fern to look at.

  "You know that hot neighbor I've been gushing over and now owe like four bags of sugar? He was in my house today… without a shirt. Holy crap. Of course, I ended up flashing him my tits and rambling about my heritage… which I know next to nothing about, and I think I might have asked him to eat me. For some crazy reason, he decided to stay for dinner, and I screamed at the delivery man by accident, and finished our not date wearing a paper bag, because I couldn't look at him, even though I really, really like to. And before you ask, yes, that was him in the video earlier. Isn't he delicious? And
he's so nice. At first, I thought he wasn't, because he always looks really intense, never smiles, and grunting seems to be his only form of communication, but he's actually really, really nice. I can't tell if he thinks of me like that. Again, he's a grunter, so I don't know."

  I shrugged, swallowing hard around the lump in my throat. "It doesn't matter anyway. No alpha wants a camboy omega," I whispered, remembering all the guys in my life who'd found out what I was and decided they couldn't handle dating someone who made a living that way.

  I paused for a long moment, letting my mind wander before remembering what I was doing. "Oops! Pay no attention to the guy who makes good money doing what he does and is sitting here feeling sorry for himself, because he's probably going to die alone." I gave an uncomfortable laugh and shook my head. "My hot Wolverine will probably never marry me, but maybe I can talk him into bending me over the couch or something, right?"

  My dick jumped wildly in my pants, and I glanced down, before sighing and rolling my eyes. "Predictable."

  ***

  "Yes," I moaned, letting my mind drift as I pressed another finger in my ass, while on my hands and knees with my slick hole facing the camera.

  My dick leaked all over the bed, and I spread my legs just a bit more, to let the wet tip drag against the sheet, loving the sensation against my sensitive head. I knew I should be stroking it for the show, but if I so much as touched the thing right then when I was imagining Grant's strong hands on my ass, and his deliciously sculpted body above me, while the hair of his legs brushed the back of my thighs, I'd shoot all over the place, and I still wanted to take that knotting dildo tonight.

  I should have put a cock ring on. I knew how worked up I got when I thought about Grant while doing a scene, and while it would be smart to stop thinking about him, so I wouldn't have to stop so much while I was supposed to be working, I couldn't get much to work at all when I tried thinking about someone else… plus people seemed to like it when I got that worked up. For some, it seemed to be part of the appeal.