Page 27

Kai settled his hand at the back of Atticus' neck, watched him lean back into the touch, and Kai couldn’t resist. He tugged on Atticus' hair again, tilting his head further back.

Atticus' eyes flew open as he let out a small gasp. Kai stared down at him, their faces only inches apart. Atticus was flushed, breathing hard, each puff of air brushing Kai’s lips.

Kai looked down, focusing on that parted mouth, on that full bottom lip, on how easy it would be to lean down, just enough.

How easy it would be to press their lips together, to taste Atticus again the way he’d longed to since the night before.

Maybe for much longer than that.

“Kai.” His name on those same lips pulled Kai’s eyes back up to meet the ones staring at him. They watched each other for a long moment. Kai shifted closer, his hips settling in between Atticus' legs.

“What?” Kai was going to make him say it.

“I want you to kiss me.”

The longing in the words, the way Atticus was giving him the power, giving him the reins, it set something off inside of Kai. Unleashed a side of himself that he wasn’t used to, a side that enjoyed taking control in these situations, a side that he’d denied himself for so long.

Kai pressed on the back of Atticus' neck as he leaned in, guiding him forward.

Where their kiss last night had been full of fire, had been a crash of tongues and teeth, this one was more subdued, laced with intention.

Kai was in control, and he drew it out, pressing into Atticus' mouth carefully, steadily.

He breathed in the sounds coming escaping those soft lip as his hand tightened in bleach-damp hair.

Long fingers trailed up Kai’s bare back, setting off sparks along the path of skin. Atticus' other hand stayed at his waist, grip nearly bruising as he kissed Kai back.

The smell of the bleach so close stung Kai’s nose as he breathed heavily, made his eyes water.

He didn’t care. It was impossible to pull away, impossible to end what they had allowed to begin.

Atticus tasted like toothpaste, with a hint of the banana he had eaten earlier, and Kai couldn’t get enough.

He pressed in deeper, letting his tongue explore as his stomach came flush against Atticus' chest.

Arms wrapped around his waist. Atticus held him close, tight in a way that told Kai that he too didn’t want to let this moment go. Didn’t want it to end.

A blaring alarm went off from the sink’s counter.

Kai jumped back. He couldn’t go far, still braced in by Atticus' arms. Atticus blinked several times, as though he were having trouble coming back to reality.

“You set an alarm,” Kai breathed out, unsure if he was asking a question or stating a fact.

“Yeah,” Atticus said, loosening his hold around Kai’s waist. “Yeah, before we started. So I wouldn’t leave the bleach in too long.”

He still looked a little dazed. Honestly, Kai kind of felt the same. He forced himself to focused on the task at hand.

“Let me look,” he said. “Tilt your head forward.”

Atticus obeyed, and Kai checked the progress of the bleach on his roots.

“Not gonna call me a good boy again?” Atticus asked, a cheeky grin on his face as Kai motioned for him to get up. Kai rolled his eyes.

“You should be good to go ahead and rinse it out,” Kai said, removing his gloves and cleaning up the mess of supplies. His heart was still pounding, so loud he wondered if Atticus could hear it.

“You’ll help me with the toner too, right?”

Kai looked back over his shoulder. There was sincerity in Atticus' expression, sure, but there was also a good amount of mischief there as well. Kai felt his cheeks heat, but he nodded.

“Yeah, I can.” The words came out as a fucking squeak.

As Atticus began to disrobe, because apparently he was going to take an entire shower instead of just rinsing his hair, Kai exited the room hastily with the stuff that needed to be either cleaned or thrown away.

He stood over the kitchen sink, rinsing out the bowl they’d used for bleach and scrubbing away any remnants.

The kitten sat on the counter, staring at him with wide, knowing eyes, as though she could read his mind.

Atticus' voice could be heard from where he’d left the bathroom door wide open, off-key singing floating throughout the house.

Kai held the kitten’s stare until he couldn’t anymore. Atticus always said they had the same eyes. Was Kai that intense when he looked at people?

She continued to watch him cleaning up, until Atticus hollered that he was ready for Kai’s help again. Kai sighed, still shaken by how flustered he’d become. By how much that whole scene with Atticus had affected him. By how natural and right it had felt.

The kitten jumped off the counter as he made his way out of the kitchen, settling into one of her beds and curling up. He’d lost her attention, as though she’d simply wanted to make him squirm and could now go on with her day.

Kai reentered the bathroom to Atticus blow drying his hair. And goddammit, he looked cute . Hair a mess, blown every which way, a little wiry from the bleach. He smiled as Kai came back into the room, a look so genuine and happy that Kai couldn’t help but return it.

He thought that maybe… maybe he was just a little bit in trouble. And maybe he was going to have to think a lot harder than he’d realized about what Atticus had asked him that morning.