Page 74 of Catch Me (Becoming Us #4)

Roman

“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked as I stepped into the kitchen.

Kai, Theo, and Travis were standing at the back door, staring outside. They each had a cup of coffee in their hands and looked sort of like old men. I might have laughed except that when they looked at me, they were obviously not happy.

I moved closer and looked outside. A flash of lightning appeared above the clouds, followed quickly by a clap of thunder.

“Shit. Is it gonna last?”

“Pete said they’re likely gonna call the game,” Travis replied.

“It’s supposed to clear up by one,” Kai added. “But they have no way of knowing what the field will look like. Worst case, they play tomorrow.”

“That’s a bummer.”

“More rest for Trav’s delicate arm.”

“I don’t want rest,” he countered, obviously annoyed. “I want to go win the damn game.”

My hand moved toward him but stopped short. Dropping it, I awkwardly diverted to the coffee pot, pouring myself a large cup. After adding some milk, I sipped it and stared out of the window above the sink. The sky looked angry, like it had some vendetta against this final game.

Something touched my back lightly, then I smelled Travis’ soap as his hair brushed my face. He pressed his lips to my cheek before he leaned against the counter beside me.

“Sorry about the game.”

“I’ll live,” he said, pasting on an easy smile. There was tension in it, but it didn’t seem forced.

“You sure? I bet Kai has a portable defibrillator in his trunk. That seems like something he’d carry around for some reason.”

“You’ve already got my heart racing.”

My face felt warm, especially when I remembered that there were other people here. My eyes went to the place he’d once taken off his clothes so that I could draw him, right here in this kitchen.

“Wanna do something?” I asked. “Just me and you.”

“Like what?” He grabbed my hand, yanking me closer to him. “Up for a dance?”

I breathed a laugh. “No, not that. Do you trust me?”

“No.” I pursed my lips, but he smiled. “Anything you want, I’m there.”

“You really shouldn’t have said that.”

*****

It was stupid for me to be nervous about going on this run, but I was. There were two times that we’d done this, and each of them were significant to me.

The first time, Travis all but led me to my death.

I was shocked when I’d seen him leap off the edge into the water, but I hadn’t slowed.

I’d trusted him. When we swam together, it was one of the first times I’d looked at him for longer than a couple of seconds.

I really looked—not at his body but at his face, his eyes, his smile, the way his expressions shifted throughout a conversation.

He told me that he liked touching the stone beneath the water, and even though I found it weird, I was fascinated as I listened to him share the way his mind worked.

The second time, I was a completely different person. I almost kissed him, and it was a terrible experience at first, but it led us to where we were now.

There was a lot of bullshit in-between, but that didn’t change the fact that our near kiss in the water set things in motion. If it hadn ’t happened, we might not have ever found our way to each other. I would’ve gone home and life would go on.

I glanced at him, and he looked at me with a mischievous grin before he sped up. He was still faster than me, which wasn’t a surprise. I didn’t really care about winning this time, but I knew that he liked the competition, so I pushed myself as hard as I could.

The storm had moved east toward Atlanta, so I imagined it was violently raining there right now, whereas there was a light drizzle here. I was used to that, and I actually enjoyed it. The smell of the rain was like waking up at home.

My feet left the ground and my heart nearly stopped, just like it had the first time. The thrill of it rose in combination with the fear of falling. Once I hit the water, all that remained was exhilaration.

I drew in a long breath when I breached the surface. My lungs burned from the run and the few seconds I’d been unable to breathe. The water was cold, not at all ideal for swimming.

“You’re shivering,” Travis said in my ear as his arms came around me from behind.

“It’s freezing.”

“Want to get out?”

I snorted. “We just got here. You haven’t even done your tactile shit.”

Releasing me, he paddled backward toward the cliff.

I followed, feeling a sense of déjà vu. It was surreal that I didn’t feel uncomfortable the way that I used to.

Nervous, yeah, and there was still some shit in the back of my head that tried to make me revert to playing defense against being gay.

I’d learned to manage that, though. Therapy helped, but without my friends, I wouldn’t have gotten here.

His back hit the stone, and I continued until we were chest to chest. The way his lips parted made my heart speed up.

Leaning forward, I kissed him with agonizing slowness.

I wanted more, but I was letting him make that move.

For now, I was simply going to enjoy being with him, touching him, kissing him, laughing with him, and everything he offered me.

Taking his hand underneath the water, I threaded our fingers. When I held on to the side of his neck, it was easier to stay afloat without drifting away from him .

Suddenly, he lunged forward, yanking his hand from mine so that he could wrap his arms around my neck. I gripped his thighs and guided his legs behind me, then pressed him up against the rock again. I might’ve found it comical that I was holding a six-foot-two man if it didn’t turn me on so much.

My lips brushed his, and when he tried to close the distance, I moved back a little. I leaned in a second time and did the same thing. The frustrated sound he made brought a smile to my face.

“You’re being a dick,” he said.

“Am I? Last time we were here, you were the one who pulled away.”

“That’s an unfair comparison.”

His fingers tangled in my hair, and I let him pull me closer. The softness of his lips against mine made me want to stay like this forever, tasting him and breathing him in. After a few seconds, I gently pushed my tongue into his mouth and tilted my head to reach deeper.

“The only thing that’s unfair is what you’ve done to me,” I murmured.

“Oh, he’s romantic now.”

“Sometimes. If it makes you happy.”

He let out a breath through his nose and clutched me tighter. Dropping his legs, he nudged me backward. As we moved, he didn’t slow the kiss for even a second. If anything, it became more heated, and by the time my back hit the raised bank, my dick was straining toward him despite the cold.

Putting my hands on the ground behind me, I pulled myself out of the water. He followed immediately and forced me onto my back. I was struck with a brief image of worms slithering out of the dirt and spiders crawling toward us, but it quickly faded away as I got lost in him again.

His teeth snagged my lip and he pulled on it with a groan. My breath hitched when he kissed the side of my neck, then across my shoulder.

“I haven’t made you cum in eleven months,” he said against my chest before he circled my nipple with his tongue.

My mouth opened, but I couldn’t remember what words were right now. The only sound that passed my lips was a moan as he kissed further down my abdomen. When he tucked his fingers into my waistband, I sat up and cupped his face.

“You don’t want to?” he asked.

“Obviously, I want to, but I want you to cum too. At the same time.”

He began to smile, but he rolled his lips to push it back. Leaning closer, he bit down on my shoulder, then readjusted so that he was straddling my lap. His dick was as hard as mine, and it made me dig my fingers into his thighs, encouraging him to grind against me.

The nerves were still there, but it was different this time.

I wasn’t afraid of hurting him—not in the slightest. There was no going back for me, and there hadn’t been for a long time.

As much as it had sucked, I thought it was better that we’d found our way back to each other this way.

Like I told him, I was ready now, and that gave me a confidence that had been foreign my entire life.

Reaching between us, he adjusted my shorts so that he could get my dick out. When his fingers touched it, I tipped my head back a little, simply enjoying the way it felt to be with him like this again.

His lips grazed my throat. “Nobody else?”

“No. Just you.”

He pulled his dick from his shorts and grasped both of ours together. Dipping his chin, he streamed spit onto them, then moved his hips. The way he slid against me made me stare down at them. I brushed my thumb over each of our heads, and Travis tightened his grip as he stroked us.

“Fuck, Travis.”

“You like when my cock is on yours, baby?”

“Yes,” I groaned.

He thrust his hips forward, and I held onto his thighs. I was dying to kiss him, but watching his face while we did this was more arousing.

Since he wasn’t going fast enough, I moved my hand to his dick and took it from him. He kept hold of mine and stroked it at the same speed. Keeping my eyes on him, I tracked the way his lips parted, then pressed together tightly.

Grabbing his wrist, I held it in place while I thrust upward, fucking myself into his hand.

He did the same, using my grip to get himself off.

His precum slid between my fingers and made him glide more s moothly against my skin.

With his free hand, he collected some of it and brought it to my lips.

I groaned as I took two of his fingers into my mouth and sucked his taste from them.

He put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me onto my back.

His hips rolled like it was his day job, and I imagined his dick inside of me instead.

I squeezed his thigh tightly, picturing my fingerprints in his skin.

I’d spent a year wishing for one more touch, and I had no intention of letting him slip away from me this time.

If I had to leave my mark, over and over again, so that he couldn’t forget me, I would commit my life to doing that.

“I’m dying to see you cum,” he groaned. “My name on your lips... while you look at me like that.”

“How am I looking at you?”

My breath caught when his thumb stroked beneath my head. The way his lips twitched told me he was trying to drive me insane. The joke was on him, though. I’d been losing my mind since the moment I fucking met him, and at this point, every shattered piece of it belonged to him.

“You’re looking at me like...” He trailed off, his eyes falling shut.

I sat up and positioned my mouth over his. After a second, he kissed me. His groan was more of a growl as his hips faltered.

“Like you’re home,” I murmured just before my muscles tightened. His cum hit the tip of my dick, and I dropped my head back as my body spasmed with my orgasm. It was almost painful how hard I came, and I had the urge to close my eyes, but I watched him instead.

Travis’ lips were parted enough for me to see the tips of his canines. I studied the way his brow pinched and committed the imprint of his fingers on my side to memory.

“You’re stunning,” I said when it had been a full minute since we finished.

His lips curved up, then he chuckled. “Stunning, huh?”

Sinking my fingers into his hair, I tipped his head back and kissed beneath his ear. “You’re the most breathtaking creature on the planet.”

“Have you seen red pandas?”

“They don’t compare.”

He rolled his eyes playfully. “I dare say you’re attached, Roman. ”

“Since our first conversation.”

“Bullshit.”

“Fine.”

“When was it?” he asked. “The moment you couldn’t stop thinking about me.”

“Like the third ‘hey back,’ probably.”

“You’ve been domesticated. The angry Roman would never approve.”

“I’m still angry.”

When he met my eyes, I found myself wanting to hide. As if he saw it, he took my face in both hands. “Me too. It doesn’t go away. You just learn how to manage it, and if you’re lucky, you find something that’s powerful enough to make you want to be happy instead.”

“Have you found that?”

Releasing me, he winked, then got to his feet and adjusted his shorts.

I wanted to drag him back down and demand a real answer, but I just stood.

I felt a little awkward now, still uncertain of how exactly this thing worked.

Before I could start stumbling over my words or spiraling internally, there was a whoop from further in the trees.

I crossed my arms, watching as a dark-haired figure leapt off the edge. He plopped into the water, his loud ‘fuck’ cutting off abruptly. Sen walked over to us, clearly not on whatever hype shit Kai lived by.

“You guys look... refreshed,” he noted with a slight smirk.

“The water is nice,” Travis replied casually.

Sen’s eyes went wide when Kai pulled himself from the water. He stalked toward him, his intentions clear to everyone.

“No,” Sen warned.

Kai caught him and threw him over his shoulder with a maniacal laugh.

“Kai, I said I don’t want to swim!”

“If you’re in my arms, you don’t have to swim.”

“Don’t be an ass. Kai!”

The wild bastard ran up to the cliff edge and, without pausing, leapt in with Sen. When they breached the surface, Sen shoved him, looking legitimately angry.

Kai laughed, reaching for him. “Baby. ”

“It’s fucking c-cold.”

“You’re from Colorado.”

“And you’re from hell.” He tried to escape, but Kai caught him around the waist.

I jumped a little when Travis dipped his face into my neck and brushed my skin with his lips. “Let’s not be around for how that turns out.”

“Murder or weird shit,” I guessed.

The second one was unlikely to happen, considering I heard a loud howl in the woods that quickly grew closer. A moment later, West burst through the trees, headed directly for the edge. He leapt farther than any of us had, then drew his legs in to do a cannonball.

“Kai is gonna drown him,” I laughed as I grabbed Travis’ hand to pull him away. He threaded his fingers with mine and made a sound of agreement.

Before we reached the trees, he turned to me with a smile.

I shook my head, but it was pointless. He tugged me to the edge, keeping hold of my hand, and for the first time, we jumped in together.

We hit the water, still holding onto each other.

I didn’t intend to let go, not even if the world suddenly began to collapse and tried to tear us apart.