He fell down onto the couch with a chuckle, reaching over me to grab his beer that had been left on the end table. It brought his neck extremely close to my lips, which made me extremely tempted to lean in.

“How’d you like my mom’s cooking?” he asked, sitting back out of range of my ravenous mouth.

“It was Michelin-star-worthy. Can you cook like that? Besides breakfast, obviously.”

He huffed out a breath, following it with a drink of his beer, setting the can down on the metallic coaster with a clink. “Hell no. Breakfast is as far as I can get. I mean, I’m sure I can get by, but it won’t hold a candle to her.”

“Well then, we’ve got to have dinner there more often,” I teased, not expecting Jake to answer in the affirmative, asking me when was the next time I could make it.

“I don’t know… Saturday?”

“Saturday it is,” Jake replied. He had one leg crossed over the other, his knee rubbing against mine. It was a soft, subtle touch but not one that went unnoticed, my body reacting as if the man had pulled out his hard dick and started stroking himself. I was that thirsty for him, and yet what the hell was I supposed to do about it? I didn’t want to make things awkward between us, and acting on my lusty thoughts could definitely bring a side of awkward if things didn’t go right.

But his leg… he was moving closer. It wasn’t just our knees touching but a majority of our thighs, the leg hairs rubbing together, the body heat rising and making the room feel a couple of degrees warmer. I swallowed, wondering if the buzz through my veins was the beer already working or something else.

“You know, Noah, I couldn’t stop thinking about our kiss from the other day.”

Jake’s confession nearly knocked me off the couch and sent me flying across the country, landing somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, lost and confused.

“I, uh, well—”

“Is that bad? I know we’re just friends, but kissing you felt like kissing the sun. It left a mark on me. And I want more.”

My eyebrows darted halfway up my face, my lips parting in slight shock.

“It’s not bad, Jake. I don’t think so… Honestly? I feel the same exact way; I just wasn’t sure how to even bring it up.”

He threw me a cocky smirk. “Un—”

“—expected,” I said, finishing his thought, a bubbly sensation rising up my chest, like the fizz in an expensive bottle of champagne.