UNNUMBERED STORY: RUBBING TIME (M*M)

Liam’s POV The movie was still playing in the background, but I hadn’t been paying attention to it for the last fifteen minutes. Mason was too close. Too close to be just sitting next to me, every time he shifted, his thigh brushed mine, a touch so small but enough to set something sharp and hungry loose in my stomach. Tasha had gotten up twenty minutes ago, probably to refill her drink or maybe just to escape whatever was building here. The instant she left, the room felt different, like a door had been opened, and there was nothing left standing between us. I tried to focus on the screen, I tried to pretend nothing was happening, but Mason leaned closer, and I caught him glancing down at me out of the corner of my eye. That crooked grin of his was still there, slow, knowing and dangerous. “You’re taking all the space,” I muttered, half‑joking, trying to break the tension. Instead of moving, he leaned further over me, one hand braced on the couch cushion near my shoulder, the other cl