Page 25 of Caged Hunger

He wasn’t used to being the center of attention, and compliments like these made something warm and unfamiliar bloom in his chest.

“What is this?” Nikolai boomed, totally ruining the moment the two of them were sharing.

“Cameron made me some treats,” Basher answered, holding out the container to the big, burly Russian.

Nikolai reached in and fished out two pieces. He popped them into his mouth, then let out an orgasmic moan.

“Can you teach my fiancé how to bake? He keeps trying to make me eat muffins with kale and all sorts of weird shit. Treats are supposed to have chocolate and sugar,” Nikolai spilled. Then he turned to Basher. “Marry this man right now. He is way above your league, and he is still willing to bake you food. Marry him now.”

Basher felt his cheeks flush.

Yes, he was obsessed with the sweet little spitfire smiling up at him, but marriage? They weren’t even dating yet.

“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Cameron said, stroking Basher’s arm before heading back inside.

Basher gave Nikolai a dirty look.

“What?”

“You’re a real asshole, you know that?”

Nikolai gave him a cocky grin. “Hey, I’m just trying to help you out. You two have been flirting like crazy these past few weeks. It’s time you grew a pair and asked that boy out.”

Basher popped another piece of fudge into his mouth, then snapped the lid on the container. He needed to stop now, or else Cameron would be riding a dough boy whenever they did fuck.

It was just after midnight when Basher headed back inside.

The bar was about closed.

All customers had been kicked out, and the only ones who remained were Cameron, Alexis, and Basher.

“Want me to lock this?” Basher asked, referring to the front door he was standing next to.

“Umm, no,” Cameron said, straightening up behind the bar and looking over at Alexis. “You can head on home. I’ve just got some restocking to do, which will only take me a few minutes.”

“Are you sure, hun?” Alexis asked, already throwing on her rhinestone jacket and adjusting her tits beneath her top.

She and her husband, Jake, no doubt had another raunchy date planned, judging by the thick layer of lipstick she had applied the moment they kicked the last of the customers out of the bar.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. You can head home as well, Basher,” Cameron said, not bothering to look over his shoulder as he headed toward the back room.

Basher held the door open for Alexis, then locked it behind her once she left. There was no way he was leaving Cameron here alone, especially this late at night.

No. He intended to walk Cameron home once everything was finished. Truthfully, he'd been doing it almost every night. Cameron just didn't know it. Basher always kept his distance, moving in the shadows and keeping out of sight.

Okay, maybe some people would see it as stalkerish behavior, but Basher didn’t give a shit what those morons thought. All he cared about was making sure Cameron got home safely each night. If anyone thought there was something wrong with that, they could go fuck themselves.

It wasn’t like he was bothering Cameron or anything. He always walked several blocks back and stayed in the shadows. As far as Cameron was concerned, he was fully independent and always walked home alone each night.

“So, what do you need?” Basher asked, sneaking up on Cameron, who was bent over, pulling a few bottles of vodka from the middle shelf.

Cameron jumped and nearly dropped the bottles he was holding.

“Jesus! Bash, don’t fuckin’ sneak up on me like that!” Cameron pleaded, clutching the bottles to his chest as he tried to regain control of his heartbeat.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“No. It’s fine. Actually, I could use your big, strong muscles. Want to grab a case or two of those premium beers?”