"Where’s your boyfriend?”

“Don’t have one.” The blush returned. “Single and ready to mingle or whatever it’s called.”

“Oh.” Perfect.

Raine waved his hands. The beer sloshed in his bottle. “Strike that. I mean…Christ, I don’t know what I mean. I don’t have a boyfriend. The last time I tried to date, the guy said I was too nerdy and turned me down.”

He placed his palm on Raine’s thigh. “What if I said I wouldn’t?”

Raine dropped the bottle onto his lap and yelped. “Wait. Wouldn’t turn me down?” He wound his fingers around the neck of the beer and stared at Tate. “You just met me.”

“So?” Tate stood, then put his bottle on the make-shift coffee table. “Sometimes things are meant to happen fast.”

“Fast maybe, but are you sure? I’m…no one. I bet Blake has a guy over there that’s more like what you want.” He scrambled to his feet. “Someone hotter.”

“You’re one of the sexiest men I’ve ever met.” Tate tugged Raine into his arms and stuffed his hands into Raine’s back pockets. He liked the way he and the geeky man fit together. “Dance with me. The music is just loud enough for ambiance.”

“Sure.” Raine bowed his head and draped his arms around Tate’s shoulders. “I’m not very good at dancing.”

As they swayed together, Tate held Raine to his chest and breathed in the scent of him. Spicy, but fresh. He rested his chin on Raine’s shoulder and feathered a kiss over Raine’s neck. “You’re doing a great job.”

“Am I?” Raine smoothed his hands up and down Tate’s back.

Tate relaxed a bit. He needed this—a soft, quiet moment to gather his thoughts. Having Raine in his arms was definitely a plus. Neither he or Raine spoke for the longest time. He’d just met Raine and didn’t have much to offer the guy in terms of anything beyond that night, but still. He liked the innocence in Raine’s eyes and the almost clumsy, geeky way he conducted himself.

“Tate?” Raine asked. “Can I…I have a question.”

“I’m here,” he whispered.

Raine leaned back in Tate’s arms and toyed with the short hairs at the base of Tate’s skull. The muscle in Raine’s jaw tensed and he blew out a long breath before he spoke. “Will you stay tonight?”

Tate nodded. He didn’t want to be anywhere else.