Page 30

Jae grabs Luke and me by the hands and drags us further into the room, stopping just short of the edge of the tub. Then they, along with the rest of the barebones crew, head behind a curtain to give us privacy while we undress.

“Do you have underwear on?” I murmur. The stylists had me go commando under these football pants, and the subtle shake of Luke’s head tells me that his stylists did the same.

“So I guess we just…” Luke starts, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.

“Get naked and get in the tub.”

With shaky hands, I pull the loose ties of the white pants and shuck them to the ground. I kick them off along with my sneakers and climb into the tub, sinking under the warm water as quickly as I can. The mix of the heat and the scent of the essential oils do little to calm my racing heart.

“Damn, you’re quick,” Luke laughs as he fiddles with the ties on his own pants.

He turns his back to me as he pushes them over his hips.

My mind is screaming at me to look away, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from the globes of Luke’s ass or the thick, muscular curves of his tree trunk thighs if I tried.

My breath hitches, and I’m thankful for the hum of the R&B music playing overhead that masks the sounds of my irregular breathing.

Even SZA’s crooning can’t cover up the gasp that escapes my lips when Luke turns and my eyes settle between his legs.

I should probably close them. I should look away.

Avert my gaze, look up at the ceiling, examine my nail beds, literally do anything but stare.

But how the hell am I supposed to look anywhere else when the dick that loves to snuggle against my hip while Luke sleeps is staring me right in the face, half-hard and hanging proudly between my husband’s legs.

My own dick swells so quickly, I feel like I almost pass out from the blood rush. I can’t even scoot or adjust before Luke approaches the tub.

“Room for one more?” he asks as he steps into the bath, turning so that his peachy ass passes right in front of my face as he sinks down.

Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck.

He’s gonna feel it. He’s gonna feel my hard dick and he’s going to know that I’m a horny pervert and all those mornings I spent sneaking out of bed and getting myself off to thoughts of him are all going to go to waste.

I can throw all that hard work right into the trash, because my cock is fucking weeping as Luke settles into my lap.

I’m two seconds away from dunking my head in the bath water and drowning myself out of pure humiliation when Jae reappears with a camera strapped around their neck.

“You know, I just realized I forgot to leave out the privacy pouches for you boys!”

“Now they tell us,” Luke murmurs, and I chuckle, which causes my body to shift and my hips to lift, ever-so-slightly.

My dick drags along Luke’s ass, and suddenly, I don’t feel like laughing anymore. I try to slide backwards, but there’s nowhere for me to go, and the movement causes water to slosh over the side of the tub.

“Relax, Dean. It’s fine, it’s just your body doing its thing,” Luke whispers over his shoulder. I press my lips into a tight line and nod.

“But it shouldn’t be a problem,” Jae continues, thankfully oblivious to the awkward tension simmering in my gut.

They hold up the camera and take a few test photos.

“The water is opaque enough, we don’t have to worry about any willy shots.

And it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, being married and all.

Just try to keep your hands where I can see them, okay? I run a PG-13 ship here, boys.”

“You hear that husband? Keep those hands where we can see them,” Luke says as he settles his forearms over mine on the edge of the tub and intertwines our fingers. The rasp in his voice scrapes across my insides like gravel, making my heart and stomach go topsy-turvy.

“Is the water temperature okay?” Jae asks as he clicks away.

“Perfect,” Luke hums as he leans back, settling against my chest and closing his eyes.

I look down at him, taking in the way his long, dark lashes fan out over his cheeks and the slight flush of his skin from the heat of the room and the water.

He looks impossibly soft and small like this, just like he does in the mornings when I wake up with him still asleep in my arms.

Except right now, we’re both awake and wet and aware of my obvious arousal trying to dig a hole through his ass cheek.

But still, I’m able to breathe him in like this.

I’m able to inhale his scent and get high on his pheromones like they were created in a lab just for me.

I’m able to find happiness in his quiet contentment, to simply enjoy being in his presence and feeling the way our bodies meld together so perfectly.

“Oh that’s wonderful, guys. Don’t change a thing,” Jae says as they move around the tub, snapping photos from various angles. When they’ve got the shots they need of us like this, Jae instructs Luke to turn around so he’s straddling me .

“Perfect. Now Luke, put your hands in Dean’s hair. Give it a little tug. Dean, tilt your head back. Yeah, like that, exactly. Now put your hands on Luke’s hips. Amazing. Tease him a little. Run your fingertips over his skin, press your foreheads together, whatever feels natural. Forget I’m here.”

Luke doesn’t hesitate to follow Jae’s instructions, sinking his fingers into my hair while his palms cradle my neck.

He drops his forehead to mine, his minty fresh breath and the smell of his skin clouding my brain and making me feel hazy.

I do as Jae says, gripping Luke’s hips and slowly massaging them in my hands, reveling in every small shudder my touch earns me.

When I feel goosebumps start to spread across Luke’s flesh, I feel emboldened.

I move my hands from his hips to the middle of his back.

Slowly, gently, I rake my nails down over his spine until my thumbs settle in the delicious dimples at the base.

Luke gasps, an intoxicating, breathy sound that has my dick thumping. He falls forward an inch, and that’s when I feel it. His cock bumps against mine, hard and needy, just like I am.

And for the first time since I climbed into this ridiculous bath, I feel relaxed.

Knowing that my husband is as affected by my touch, by my body as I am by his?

That this energy I feel buzzing between us is real and not just one-sided grants me the serenity I need to make it through the rest of the photoshoot.

With every sway of Lukes’s hips, every rise of his chest when he fills his lungs, I grow impossibly harder. The only thing keeping me from doing something stupid—like blowing my fucking load right here in the tub—is the shutter and click of Jae’s camera tethering me to reality.

“Now get close like you’re going to kiss, but don’t let your lips touch.”

“Te quiero comer a besos,” I whisper when Luke’s lips are only a hair's breadth away from mine.

“I think you’re right. Maybe one of these days, I should try to learn Spanish so I can understand you,” he smiles, and I hum, sinking to the warmth of his breath coasting across my skin.

“I’d like that. If you knew what I was saying, you might get that cute blush that goes from your cheeks all the way down to your chest that I love so much.”

“Are you flirting with me, husband?”

Have been for ten years, glad you finally noticed.

“I’m sitting naked in a claw foot tub with my husband while a stranger takes our picture, how else am I supposed to fill my time?

” I give Luke a noncommittal shrug, accompanied by my flirtiest smirk.

When he parts his lips, swiping the tip of his tongue over the spot that I want so badly to taste, I start to inch forward, desperate to replace his tongue with my own.

But Jae’s voice cuts through the moment. They instruct Luke to pull back and sit on the opposite side of the tub so they can capture a more playful vibe.

Fucking cock blocked by my boudoir photographer. Go figure.

Jae continues to give us cues, having us turn this way and that until my skin is pruned and the water has gone cold.

An assistant approaches with towels and robes, draping them over a nearby stool before the room clears, giving us privacy once again so we can emerge from the tub.

I feel half-drunk, lost in some kind of haze as I watch Luke stand and step out the tub.

I follow suit, and not even the cool air hitting my overheated skin is enough to calm my dick down.

We towel off and wrap ourselves in robes in silence, the air thick with tension and unchecked lust.

“Luke,” I say, reaching out for his hand. I want him close again. I want to feel his skin on mine. I want to feel his tongue in my mouth and his cock in my hand. I want to tell him that I want more, I want to consummate this marriage and give us a go.

But as soon as my fingers brush his, Luke pulls his hands away .

“We are killing this whole fake marriage thing. I think Jae believed we actually want each other.”

Fake.

Jae believed we wanted each other.

It’s just your body reacting.

Because of course, none of this is real to him. Why would it be? I’m the one who made sure to use the word ‘fake’ not ten minutes after we signed the marriage license. I’m the one who sneaks out of bed every morning. He’s just following my lead.

And besides, Luke wasn’t turned on because of me.

He said it himself, his body was reacting to mine.

He doesn’t cuddle me in his sleep because he wants me.

His body is seeking warmth. And he doesn’t come to me for comfort because I’m his husband.

He comes to me for comfort because that’s what we’ve always done. Because we’re friends.

I am such a fucking idiot.

“Yeah, we really showed them,” I mutter, pulling the old Crushers hoodie I brought along this morning over my head, even though my chest is still coated in the damned shiny oil they doused me in before the shoot.

Good thing this hoodie is not one of my favorites, because it’s likely going to smell like potpourri and baby oil for the rest of eternity.

“Hey, so I’m going to head down to the Redwoods training facility.

I’m meeting up with James Adler. I figured since he gave us such a generous wedding gift, I should see what he has to say.

He’s sending a car to pick me up in like ten minutes,” Luke says, brushing a comb through his hair, taming down the curls that formed from the humidity on set.

“Oh, wow. You finally got the balls to answer your phone.”

I mean for it to come out sounding playful, but I miss the mark and swing right for annoyed, petulant, and bratty. And boy, does Luke notice. He visibly tenses, then makes a face of annoyance, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

“Woah, okay. I was going to see if you wanted to come with me since your sister has the kids until dinner time. But apparently some kind of bug has crawled up your ass…”

No, but if you wanted to play around back there, I wouldn’t be mad about it.

“Nah, I’m good,” I say as I hike my bag over my shoulder. “I’m just tired. I could use a nap. I’ll see you later.”

I brush past Luke without a second glance, hoping that an afternoon to myself will help me shake off some of this self-loathing.