a little tease

 Here's an excerpt from my upcoming story, See Right Through:

Sam watched Devin move another piece and then quickly moved his knight, taking it. “I want to know what part of this you have a bigger problem with. Call it curiosity on my part.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Sam began, “is your issue that Mike and I have talked about you a few times?”

Now it was a few times? Devin frowned.

“Are you bothered because he says he could see us together? Or is there something else?”

Sam's voice had grown quieter with that last question. Devin looked up from the board to see something he'd never thought he'd see from Sam. An expression that, on anyone else, would've been more than curious. It was open, vulnerable. A naked longing that disappeared as soon as Devin was sure he knew what it was, to be replaced by Sam pressing his lips together and looking down at the board again.

Wow. Okay. That made this conversation a hell of a lot more interesting. Maybe Sam had spent so much time analyzing Devin because he wanted to know if he had a chance. Devin wasn't sure how he felt about that.

“I'm not in love with the idea that you guys have talked about me,” Devin said. “It's strange.”

“I'm sorry our conversation made you feel that way,” Sam said. “I honestly wouldn't have said anything if you didn't want to know.”

“I know, I asked for it,” Devin responded. “About...us.” Dev looked up in time to see Sam's expression change before the mask slid back into place. “You don't think it's weird?”

Sam's lips trembled as he fought down a smile. “I think,” he began, reaching across the table, “life is full of possibilities.” He touched the back of Devin's hand with the tips of his fingers, gently stroking the skin. “If this isn't one you want to take advantage of, then you shouldn't feel pressured to do so.”

It wasn't Devin's imagination that the temperature in the room had risen. It was one thing when Sam was getting into his head on a purely academic level. It was another thing when Sam looked at him from beneath thick lashes as if he could unravel Devin from the inside out if given half the chance. And he so wanted that chance.