The second Zack met his gaze, the tension between them rose like a tidal wave. Part of Zack wanted to turn away from the intensity of it, but another part of him just wanted more. It was their first date, yet he felt like he’d been waiting for this for months. John was looking at him like he was the most fascinating thing ever. It was impossible not to be flattered by the attention.

John muttered as if in a daze, “I didn’t think it was going to be this difficult.”

“What?” Zack asked.

“Making it all the way through dinner without touching you.” John’s eyes were wide, as if he couldn’t believe he was speaking aloud. “I told myself I wouldn’t. I thought it wouldn’t be appropriate or that you’d think I was being presumptuous, but . . .” He shivered, and Zack could have sworn he felt the vibrations throughout his own body. Zack willed himself not to get turned on. He might not have much experience with dates, but he was fairly certain you weren’t supposed to flip the table and jump the other person.

“You can touch me,” he said, mesmerized. “I want you to.”

John shuddered again. “I really can’t.”

“Why not?”

When John finally looked at him again, his eyes were like molten cobalt. “The second I saw you tonight, I knew it was hopeless. I don’t think you understand what you do to me.”

“Actually,” Zack drawled, using his phone sex voice, “I have a pretty good idea. It’s the same thing you do to me.”

John groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Your confidence is also really hot, by the way. I don’t know how I’m going to survive this. It was bad enough when I couldn’t see you.”

The waiter came by then and asked if they knew what they wanted. Zack almost snorted. What he wanted was definitely not on the menu.

John ordered for them in Italian, his eyes never leaving Zack. The combination of eye contact and his smooth voice speaking in a foreign language was too much for Zack’s already tattered willpower. His cock began to swell. He mentally commanded himself not to get hard at the dinner table like a teenager. If John could show self-restraint, he could too. He forced himself to recite the alphabet backward in his head. By the time he made it to U, the waiter had left, and his hormones were somewhat under control.

“Something on your mind, Zack?” John asked.

“No,” Zack said. “Why?”

“You looked like you were trying to do long division in your head.”

Zack laughed. “You’re not far off. I was distracting myself.”

John nodded. “I think we could both use a bit of that, Zack. Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

“Sure, but first, can I ask you something?”

John raised an inquisitive brow.