Foxe Hunt by Haley Walsh Page B

blamed Skyler for it!
    “What are you doing in the shower?”
    Skyler’s heart jumped into his throat and he spun around, facing Keith. Embarrassment took over and he felt his face warm as he stepped out. “You know, they could stand to re-grout that,”
    he muttered, trying to recover his lost dignity.
    Keith looked at him steadily and when Skyler gazed up into those forlorn eyes all his arguments for putting Keith in his place melted away. The man was really too good-looking for himself.
    70 Haley Walsh
    “I’m here,” he managed to say.
    Keith smiled warmly. “Thanks for coming. I thought you might not show. I got a little carried away at your place the other night. I’m sorry. Really. I just saw this other guy there and I thought maybe you ditched me for him and I…well. I guess I was a little…jealous.” He grimaced. “That’s not a very attractive trait, I know. But I can’t help it. When I’m really interested in someone that’s how I get. This wasn’t just a hook-up to me, you know?”
    “I know. It wasn’t to me either. But I’m not used to this. I’m more used to hooking up.”
    “So I gathered.” Keith worried the handle of his gym bag.
    He seemed anxious, a new look for the normally confident man.
    “Look, Skyler, I have to be here for a few more hours, but could we do something tonight? I want to see you.”
    His gaze was unnervingly intent on Skyler’s. It was hard to look away. And when all was said and done, Skyler didn’t want to. “I want to see you, too,” he heard himself say quietly. He laughed, suddenly finding all his earlier intentions flying out the window. “Come over when you’re done. I’ll cook dinner. A quiet evening at home. We can talk.”
    Keith’s smile was positively radiant. “A home-cooked meal?
    Great! I can be there around seven.”
    Skyler left the locker room feeling light on his feet. He swung his satchel and if he weren’t afraid of someone seeing him, he would have kicked up his heels.
    § § §
    At his apartment, Skyler chopped the peeled blood oranges into small pieces and mixed them with red onions, strips of red bell pepper, and balsamic vinegar. The zucchini was quartered into bite-sized pieces and steaming on the stove, and the sea bass was broiling nicely, almost ready to come out.
    He had just put the butter in a heated pan when the doorbell rang. Flinging open the door he smiled on seeing Keith standing there.
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    Before he could even think about it, he reached up to the taller man and kissed him on the lips. Keith was almost as surprised as Skyler. Feeling himself blush at his audacity, Skyler gestured for the man to come in. He poured him some white wine, and Keith sat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar, watching Skyler in the kitchen.
    “You really can cook, can’t you?”
    Skyler preened. He had changed into the tightest jeans he had, with his favorite champagne-colored silk T-shirt. He slung a towel over his shoulder. “I do like to. Not as much fun cooking for one, though.”
    Keith glanced at the small dining table where they had shared breakfast last weekend. Skyler had rearranged the tropical bouquet Keith had given him into a shorter and smaller decoration between two squat candles. The table was set with his Mikasa Global china.
    “This is just spur of the moment cooking?” asked Keith, clearly a little taken aback.
    “Well, yes. I was going to make the sea bass this way anyway.
    And there was enough for two. I hope you like fish.”
    “I think I’d like anything you made.”
    He warmed at that. “Do you cook?”
    “I can throw a steak on the barbecue and make grilled cheese sandwiches. That is the extent of my gourmet abilities. But I enjoy good food.”
    “Well, I hope you like this.”
    The fish was ready and he placed a filet on each bed of zucchini. Finally, he spooned some of the blood orange relish on top and brought it to the table. “Dinner is served.”
    “Smells wonderful.” Keith took