Page 46 of Before It's Too Late
“Chloe figured me out a long time ago, but earlier, when you were on your way over, she was especially insistent that I tell you today.”
Zach smiled at him thoughtfully. “Something tells me she figured me out too, along with my sister and my mom.”
The smile fell from Zach’s face as he stared past Cael for a few seconds.
“I’d heard it so many times that I needed to open my eyes. I used to brush it off. It wasn’t until my mom said it to me on the day of Abbey’s accident, telling me to do it before it was too late, that I started trying to figure out what the fuck everyone was seeing that I wasn’t.”
“That would explain all those weird looks you’ve been giving me the last few weeks.”
Zach nodded as Cael crammed a bite of pizza crust in his mouth.
“I realized, of everyone in my life, you were the one I’d be lost without.” Zach rubbed his fingers across his chin and snorted quietly. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for weeks now.”
“What would you have done if you didn’t like it?”
Zach shrugged, twisting his lips and raising his brows so his forehead wrinkled. “Never crossed my mind.” He took a bite from the pizza slice in his hand then pressed his lips into a small, tight smile as he looked at Cael and began chewing.
Before Cael could think, he leaned in to kiss Zach, nipping lightly and tasting the little bit of pizza sauce on his lips before pulling away with what he knew was a stupid, happy grin on his face. But then Cael saw the same look plastered across Zach’s face, and his heart beat a little faster.
After Cael had polished off a few slices of pizza, he grabbed his beer and sank back into the cushions with his other arm across the back of the couch. Zach popped in one last bite, then stacked their paper plates on top of the pizza box and pushed it over to one side of the table. As Cael took a long pull of the amber suds, Zach kicked his feet up and leaned back and against Cael’s side, resting his bottle on his thigh.
They sat in relative silence, watching TV, but not really watching. Instead, Cael spent the time absorbing every single detail of this moment—the way Zach’s hair tickled his neck and cheek… the scent of citrus shampoo and musk and garlicky barbeque… the sound of his breathing and his heartbeat… the warmth of Zach’s body pressed to his. It was all beautiful and unbelievable, and Cael never wanted to forget it.
After the show ended, they found themselves lazily glued to a movie they’d both seen at least a dozen times. Neither of them wanted to move. He wasn’t sure about Zach, but Cael thought he enjoyed their new found closeness as much as he did.
As the movie credits rolled, Zach leaned forward and clicked the TV off with the remote, then settled back against Cael again. Cael pressed a lingering kiss into Zach’s hair, in no hurry to move.
“Cael?” Zach asked.
“Yeah, Pook?”
Zach turned and straddled Cael’s thighs. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on Cael’s shoulders. Closing his eyes, Zach tilted his forehead to Cael’s for a long moment. Cael cupped his hands over Zach’s hips. Christ, Zach sitting on him like this was pure heaven.
“You okay?” Cael whispered, shifting under Zach’s weight to adjust for his growing erection. As he moved, Cael felt Zach’s member swelling, pressing against his, and he stifled the groan forming in the base of his throat.
“Yeah.” Zach breathed a laugh. “It’s just, for the first time, I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing.”
Cael grinned. “Well, I think I can help with that,” he said, holding Zach down as he rocked his pelvis upward from below.
“You think so, huh?”
Cael pressed kiss to Zach’s lips as they hovered above him. “Yeah, but I have a confession to make.”
“What’s that?”
“This is somewhat unchartered territory for me too.”
“How so?”
“Simple.” Cael kissed Zach again, running his hands from Zach’s hips up his sides and beneath Zach’s shirt. Gooseflesh formed under his fingertips. “I’m in love with the guy sitting on my lap right now.”
“Fucking crazy coincidence—because I’m in love with the guy I’m sitting on right now.”
Zach ground down against his groin as he spoke the words. The feel of Zach’s balls and hard root rubbing against his own through the denim set off a chain reaction of want and need exploding throughout Cael’s body.
“Zach…” Cael grabbed Zach and flipped him onto the couch so he lay on his back, then climbed over him and captured him in a hungry kiss. Zach opened his legs just enough for Cael to lay between them, unable to stop the immediate thrust of his hips.
Zach’s hands found the back hem of Cael’s shirt, and he pulled and pushed it up Cael’s back. Cael sat up and yanked his shirt the rest of the way off as Zach wriggled out of his. Shirts discarded on the floor, Zach pulled Cael down for another kiss, licking deep into his mouth.