Eli walked to the opposite counter and leaned against it, mirroring him. “You look different.”
Dominic raised an eyebrow. “Shirtless?”
“Older. Stronger. I don’t know. Different.”
Dominic chuckled softly. “You’re not exactly the same kid I used to see bouncing a basketball in the driveway.”
“I’m not a kid at all.”
“No,” Dominic said, voice lower now. “You’re not.”
The air between them sharpened. Charged. Eli could feel the tension crawling up his spine, see it settle in the set of Dominic’s shoulders, in the tight line of his jaw.
“You looked at me today,” Eli said quietly. “Not like you used to.”
Dominic didn’t answer at first. Just stared into his glass, then said, “You noticed.”
“I notice a lot.”
Dominic’s gaze lifted again. This time, slower. More deliberate.
Eli stepped forward, closing the distance between them by half. His pulse thudded in his throat. “You looked at me like you wanted something.”
Dominic exhaled. “Eli…”
“You going to tell me I’m wrong?”
Dominic’s jaw clenched. H
