Skye had seen Blaise's bright red face when she entered the living room. She knew Raine was trying to buy time by asking for another beer and although she was burning with curiosity, she gave the two guys a little more time together. From the corner of her eye, she saw that Raine was whispering something in Blaise's ear, startling her friend so much he choked on his beer and started to cough.
Skye bit back a smile. It was just so adorable. She hadn't seen Blaise in love before, but there was a permanent blush on his cheeks now. It was so freaking cute! Had Raine picked up on it? She hadn't noticed anything until they'd gone to her home, but well, it was hard to miss...
With two drinks she returned to the living room. Cross-legged, she sat down in the armchair, taking in the two men. Yeah – they would be an amazing couple. Raine was exactly what Blaise needed, and during the date she had felt Raine's longing for someone who understood him; someone he could lean on when caring for his family was becoming too much for him.
There was a tense silence in the room. Had it been there too when she was in her room? Both men had told her they had a click, so she had expected things to go pretty well between them. However, Blaise's discovery that he was in love might've complicated things.
She caught Blaise's gaze and motioned with her eyes to her bedroom door, silently asking him if he wanted her to leave. Almost imperceptibly he shook his head. She saw the panic in his eyes; he didn't feel comfortable at all.
She clapped her hands. "Alright! I know you've both turned each other inside out when you were stuck in the elevator, but I love a good late night conversation! So... let's all ask one question that we all have to answer honestly."
Blaise looked relieved, thankful that the silence was broken. She smiled.
"Okay, I'll start." She looked at Raine. "The perfect date. What does that look like?"
"Hmm..." He leaned forward. "Something givin' me an adrenaline boost. Like... bungee jumping or something. And after that... getting some cheap food, finding a quiet place to talk and ending up with steamy sex?"
She chuckled. "So I did like everything wrong?"
"The night isn't over," he winked.
"Unfortunately for you, I don't do sex on first dates," she winked back. That wasn't exactly true, but he didn't need to know that. As hot and nice as he was; she would never do that to Blaise.
"Okay Blaise. Your perfect date?"
He ran a hand across his Mohawk. Poor baby, he was so nervous... She felt sorry for him. It felt like he didn't dare to say anything at all. "Ummm... going to some arcade sounds cool, and an old school marathon afterwards?"
She started to laugh. "Boy, like you will even finish the first movie when you like someone. I'm sure your date is half naked before the title even shows up."
Finally, a grin appeared on his face. "Hey, leave me to my delusion that I'm a gentleman. And, what's your perfect date?"
She thought about it. "A date with a millionaire sounds awesome. Throwing money around all day long."
The two men started to laugh. "Well, you better stop dating bikers then Mouse. We're poor."
"Well, we're outlaws after all," Raine said to him. "A good outlaw should earn some good money someday."
Blaise chuckled. "Think you gotta choose a more experienced biker. What about the Foxes president? You like grey?"
She scrunched her nose. "You two cause me nightmares. Next question." She gave Raine a questioning look.
"Hm..." He took a moment to think. "What's your biggest fear?"
Blaise was the first one answering the question. "Being alone," he said quietly. He bent his head and fidgeted with the nail of his index finger. "Sometimes I'm afraid to fuck something up, where after I will lose everyone again. Like I did back in New York."
Raine wrapped an arm around him. "Hey, that was before you met us. We're way too badass to let someone scare us away."
Blaise gave him a small smile, although his cheeks started to flush again. Desperately, his eyes shot to Skye, but she couldn't do much about his blushing face.
"Hmm, my biggest fear..." she started to divert Raine's attention away from Blaise. "Well – I'm fucking afraid of lightning." She looked at the Warrior. "Always have been. All those stories about people being struck by lightning... it freaks me out. I even crawl into Blaise's bed during a thunderstorm."
"Aww, that's cute," Raine teased, taking his arm away from Blaise's shoulder and reaching for his beer.
"Well hero, you afraid of nothing?"
"I'm fearless," he smirked. "But believe it or not – I have some serious dental phobia. For real – do with my body whatever the hell you want but getting anywhere near my teeth and molars... no fucking way." He bumped his shoulder against Blaise's. "That better stay between us, bro. That killer of yours doesn't need to know that pulling out one molar is enough to make me talk."
With an amused smile, Skye watched them. It was beautiful to see how both men were opening up to each other more and more, despite the possible consequences.
"As long as you don't tell your brothers that you can drive me crazy by locking me up in an elevator, your secret is safe with me."
His words sounded light-hearted, but his tone told her he was relieved that Raine dared to share his weakness with him too.
"Okay, your turn to ask a question Blaise!"
He leaned back in the couch. "Uh... What's your biggest love blunder?"
Skye dug into her memories and started to laugh. "Oh yeah, that's a good one. It's a classic, actually. Once, I had a boyfriend whom I took home. We were having dinner with my parents and suddenly he started to play footsie. He thought it was me, but it was my mom!" Remembering her mom's face, she started to laugh again.
"Hey, that was my story to tell!" Blaise threw a cushion at her head.
"Well it was pretty awkward for me too! Your foot was almost between her legs. I was embarrassed like hell."
He rolled his eyes. "Exaggeration is also a profession. And you're shamelessness itself, Mouse."
She smirked. "Yeah, after that night I was." She turned towards Raine, who was chuckling. "What about you?"
"Well... I already told you," he said, "but okay." He turned a little more towards Blaise. Skye could barely hide a smile – if he was going to confess to Blaise that he had kissed a guy once, it would surely make him feel more comfortable. "It was during my patch-in party. They would get me the hottest chick around, but they got me so drunk I kissed a guy instead of that chick."
Blaise froze. Instead of smirking about it, like he would have done when every other person had told him this, he turned his face away.
Oh dear, she thought when she saw him fighting his tears. She caught Raine's glance, who looked confused. She knew Blaise well enough to know those tears were increasing his panic because he didn't want to cry around Raine.
With her eyes, she motioned towards the balcony. Raine got the hint and stood up. "I uhh – I'm going to smoke."
The moment he had left the room, Skye hurried to Blaise and wrapped her arms around him. "Hey, what's going on baby?"
He rubbed his eyes. "He knows," he said. "He knows I'm in love with him. And I – I don't know, he confuses me the whole time. It feels like he's making fun of me."
"Calm down..." She squeezed his hand. "Why do you think he knows?"
"Because I say those stupid things all the time! And right before you joined us... I was staring at him and he said I looked like I was about to kiss him." With his thumb he wiped a few tears from below his eyes. "And when he made you get that beer, he whispered I had to relax and that he wouldn't have minded if I'd kissed him."
"But that is fantastic sweetie! The air is vibrating with the chemistry between the two of you!"
"You heard what he said! He thinks kissing a guy is a blunder! It was an obvious hint he's not too fond of gay people. He's just fucking with me, and I'm sure he doesn't want to be friends with me anymore now he knows I fell for him."
"He didn't hate kissing that guy, Blaise. It's just a funny story because he would get a hot chick, and instead he started to kiss a guy in the middle of the clubhouse. He told me they're still teasing him about it." She gave his hand another squeeze. "He said it wouldn't hurt to keep his options open. You know, including girls and guys. I even think he was trying to show you that your feelings for him aren't bothering him."
Blaise sighed deeply and rubbed his face. "What should I do now?" he asked quietly. "I'm such a dumbass the whole time; I'm afraid to scare him away."
"Lovey, listen carefully to me." She lifted his face until he looked her straight in the eye. "You're the reason he's here. He really likes you, Blaise. Even if he doesn't have romantic feelings, I'm sure he can deal with yours. But you gotta talk to him about it, especially if he already knows anyway. Ask him how he feels about it, and if he reciprocates these feelings. You can't simply shove this to the side, Blaise, your feelings are way too strong. Talk about it. Then you will notice that you're less nervous too, because you don't have anything to hide anymore. Just get it all out on the table, like we used to do. It'll make your friendship so much stronger."
Comments (1)
See all