Page 24

24

VAUGHN

S o I have a boyfriend now, and I fucking love it. I still can’t believe Austin showed up like that on Halloween, but it was one of the happiest moments of my life. Let’s face it, I hated being mad at him and probably wasn’t going to last that long anyway. But him showing up like that—and in a matching costume, no less—yeah, it showed me he really does love me.

That he wants to be with me, but he’s scared.

And I get it, he spent a lot of his life terrified of people around him finding out his biggest secret, but I’m here to show him I’ll always have his back. If he’ll let me, I’ll always be there to watch out for him, to defend him, and to love him.

He just has to let me.

We’ve been together every weekend since Halloween, and I swear I’ve spent most of that time inside him. What can I say? My boyfriend is hot, and I can’t get enough. No regrets here.

But now, we’re driving very slowly, might I add, through the main street of our hometown. We’re back in Big Bend for Thanksgiving. It’s Wednesday evening. He came to my school yesterday and stayed the night at my dorm. We drove the rest of the way together today.

His mom isn’t expecting him until tomorrow, so we just go straight to my house, but the plan isn’t to stay there. My mom, dad, and sister all hug us both, but my mom isn’t thrilled to hear that we aren’t staying.

“You boys cannot sleep in a tent tonight. It’s November.”

“It’s November in Kansas,” I say as I grab the tent from the garage, Austin following along. I hope he doesn’t look my mom in the eye. He’ll totally cave. I just know it. He’s a sucker for my mom’s sad face. “It was almost eighty degrees today.”

“And it snowed on Thanksgiving last year,” my mom pouts, her hand on her hip. And yeah, okay—shit, I looked her in the eyes, and I may be a sucker too.

“Hence, why we didn’t camp out last winter.” I try to offer her my most charming smile, but she’s a mom and totally doesn’t fall for it.

“Vaughn Christian Montgomery, I haven’t seen your face since September.”

“I know it’s a cute face, Mom.” I put the tent in my truck and turn around to face her, trying not to look into those mom eyes. “But I promise you’ll see this face tomorrow and the next day.”

“You’ll be totally sick of that face by Saturday, I promise,” Austin adds, and I smirk over at him.

My mom doesn’t look too pleased, but when my dad wraps a secure arm around her, she kind of melts into his side and sighs. “Fine. Stay safe. And if you get too cold, come home.”

“Promise.” I kiss her cheek and hug Dad while Austin does the same and then hops back in the truck.

I take off toward our usual spot, Austin’s hand on my thigh. This break is going to suck, not being able to touch as much—although, if it were up to me, it wouldn’t be a problem.

I park the truck, and we get the tent set up, making a fire, but not wasting time before climbing into the tent together. I zipped our sleeping bags together, so we’ll have more room, and no way in hell am I sleeping in a different sleeping bag than him.

I kiss him hard, already working on his clothes, and he chuckles against my lips. “What, no s’mores first? No wining and dining, now that we’re boyfriends?”

I pull his shirt off over his head and kiss his smart mouth. “After. I need you.”

His teasing smirk leaves his mouth now, and all I see is blind lust. “Okay. Yeah. I want that too.”

I laugh as he pulls my shirt off, his hands roaming all over my bare skin. I love feeling his hands on me. And for the millionth time, I want to tell him how much I love him, but I hold back because I don’t want to ruin the moment. How messed up is that?

“I thought we could change it up tonight.”

He pulls back a little from licking down my chest, and I groan softly at the loss. I always want his mouth on me. He looks slightly concerned as he looks up at me. “What do you have in mind?”

“I thought maybe you could get inside me for once.”

His eyes widen, clearly surprised, which makes me fidget a little. I’m lying flat on my back with him between my legs, and he sits back on his heels. “You want that?”

Shit. Does he not want that? Truth be told, I’m not sure it’s something I’ll like, but he’s played around a little with my hole when he’s blowing me. He hasn’t pushed fully inside, and I can’t say it’s totally mind-blowing—but I think it could be. “I mean... only if you want to.”

He’s watching me carefully now, his hands resting on my lower stomach, and I wonder if he can feel how nervous I am. “Vaughn, I want everything with you. You know that. But this isn’t a deal-breaker for me. I love bottoming. If you don’t want this, I’m fine with it. More than fine. But if it’s something you want to try, I’m more than willing.”

My eyes drop to the bulge in his jeans, and then I look back up at him, almost losing my nerve. “You mean that? If I don’t like it, you wouldn’t feel like you’re missing out on something?”

His smile is sweet and kind. Patient, like it always is. “Everything with you is a gift. Don’t you know that? You have to know that.”

I light up from his praise. I can’t help it. And I know I can trust him with this like I couldn’t trust anyone else. He’ll take care of me, and he won’t make me feel bad if I can’t do it. I look into his eyes, my body trembling from nerves and excitement. “I want to try.”

His hand smooths over my chest and up to my heart, where he lets it rest, his gaze intense as if he’s reading every single thought—and knowing him, he is. “If at any minute you want to stop, we stop. You have to tell me, Vaughn. Promise me.”

“I promise,” I say easily because again—trust. Total and absolute trust. This is what I always thought love was. No doubts. When it comes to him, I know he’s my person, the one I can always go to. He’s the love of my life.

He takes his time now, stripping me out of the rest of my clothes and does the same for himself, leaving us both blissfully naked with a roaring fire just outside the tent.

It’s chilly, but not cold, and when he starts to kiss every inch of my body, I don’t feel even the slightest chill. My entire body is boneless and on fire as he worships every bit of me. By the time he grabs the lube from my overnight bag, I’m begging him to get inside me.

Of course, he ignores me. Teasing the hell out of me while he circles my rim with his lubed fingers while taking my cock into the back of his throat. He’s really mastered deep-throating lately, and I’m a fan. When he pushes one finger inside me, it feels a little strange, but there’s no pain.

The pain comes when he adds a second, but it’s brief and gives way to my desperate need to have all of him. He’s slow and patient with my body, giving me time to adjust, and when he finally deems me ready, he removes his fingers and climbs between my spread legs.

He lubes his cock and then surprises me when he reaches behind himself, obviously playing with his hole, though I don’t have a good view from here. I drag my hand down his chest and wrap it around his cock, stroking him once. “I thought you were going to fuck me.”

His head is tilted back, his eyes closed as he fucks himself on his fingers, his cock thrusting into my hand as he pants and gets lost in his own pleasure. It’s a sight to behold, and if I wasn’t so desperate to have him inside me, I’d gladly sit back and watch the show.

His eyes open, and his head lolls forward to look at me. Both his hands move to my hips as he leans forward and steals into my mouth. He kisses me like he owns me, and I can’t get enough. When he stops kissing me, he remains near my mouth. “I’m definitely going to fuck you, but I thought when I finish, if you hold off, you can come inside me.”

My cock twitches, thinking about being inside his tight hole. “Yes. That. Let’s do that.” I’m a bumbling fool, but no part of me cares.

He chuckles, but finally he’s positioning his lubed cock at my entrance as he grabs more lube and adds it to my cock, stroking me a couple of times until I bat his hand away and pant, “No. No way. I’m not coming until I get inside you, and if you keep doing that, it’ll ruin everything.”

He laughs and kisses me hard again. “You’re so dramatic.”

“Uh-huh.” I don’t even argue, just use my hands to grip his ass and pull him to me, his cock pressing against my hole.

“Just breathe for me and let me in,” he says, confident and strong.

I do as he says and focus on breathing while he eases inside me. Before I know it, he’s fully seated, and I’m stretched wide open for him. It doesn’t hurt. It’s a little uncomfortable, but I’m grateful he took so much time getting me ready.

I grip his firm ass as he strokes into me, taking his time and hitting that spot that makes everything go white.

“Austin. Fuck. Hurry,” I whine because if he does that anymore, I’m going to lose it.

He pushes into me again, my fingers digging into his flesh, and then his head falls back. All the chords in his neck pull tight, and his cock jerks inside me, and I feel the warm heat of his cum splashing my inner walls.

I barely let him come down before he pulls gently out, and I nudge him to all fours and climb behind him. “Do it. Get inside me,” he bosses, and I push into him with one solid stroke, his body opening for me. “Yesssss.”

“God, it’s like you were made for me,” I say as I grip one hip and one of his shoulders, shoving into him over and over, lost in pleasure.

“I was,” he says, pushing back against each thrust.

It doesn’t take long for me to come inside him, and we collapse into a sweaty, sticky pile on top of the sleeping bags.

“Damn.” I can’t help but laugh as he crawls out from under me and lies down next to my side, curled into me where he belongs.

“What’s so funny?”

“We’re idiots.”

He looks even more perplexed now. “What do you mean?”

“We could have been doing that the whole time.”

That makes him chuckle now, and he leans over and kisses my cheek. “I liked just cuddling too.”

I hold him close to me, relishing in all his warm bare skin and kiss his temple. “Yeah. Me too. I’m a total cuddle slut.”

“Oh, I know,” he says teasingly, but it’s fond.

We get cleaned up and then crawl under the sleeping bag, his head on my chest as I run my hand over his back. “Have you thought about telling your parents about us?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. I think they’d be totally fine, but I mean...”

“What?” I ask, pushing his hair out of his face. “You’re worried about me?” Because if telling my teammates didn’t prove to him I’m all-in, I’m really not sure what will.

“They’re your parents, Vaughn. Their opinion matters.”

“Not if they don’t support us, it doesn’t.”

He frowns, his lips thinning, and I feel like we’re about to fight. “You love them. Not everything is so easy and black and white. I don’t want you to lose them because of me.”

So, he’s worried about me. Of course he is. “I think they know how much I lo—” He tenses, and I change what I was going to say. “How much I care about you. If they love me, they’ll support me.”

“They do love you.”

I smile and kiss his temple. “Then it’ll be fine.”

I know it bothers him that I just take things as they come, but I can’t worry too much about other people’s opinions.

Not even my own family’s. That’s just not me.

Tonight is supposed to be much cooler, and if we don’t stay at our houses, our moms might riot. So we clean up the tent and campsite the next morning before I drop Austin at his house.

I’ll see him soon at my house, along with the rest of his family. I have to make a quick stop at the town’s bakery to pick up a couple of pies my mom ordered. I look around at a sea of familiar faces and am greeted by so many people I grew up knowing.

Some who know me from school, some who know my parents. Hell, even some who know my grandparents. It feels nice being back here like this, but I can’t lie... lately college has started to feel more familiar.

The same people are usually working at the student union and at my favorite coffee place. I see familiar faces on campus. It’s starting to become more like home for me.

“Well, well. If it isn’t Vaughn Montgomery.”

I chuckle when I see Benny walk in through the door as I wait for my order. Charlene—the bakery owner takes orders to be picked up every Thanksgiving morning and then shuts down for the rest of the week, so lots of people are scrambling to pick up their orders. “Benny McBride. What the hell are you doing in town?”

“You know I live here,” he says, that infectious smile on his face. “The question is what are you doing here?”

“Picking up a pie for Thanksgiving.”

Benny is grinning from ear to ear. It’s clear he hasn’t changed much. The guy is always happy. “Don’t tell anyone, but that’s what I’m doing too.” He says it in a loud whisper, and I laugh.

“You taking credit for it?”

He laughs. “Nope, but my mom is. As if my grandma doesn’t know she doesn’t bake them herself at Thanksgiving.”

“Hey, gotta support small businesses.”

He bobs his head. “Exactly.” He puts a hand on my shoulder. “So how have you been?”

I should probably talk about football or college, but for whatever reason, when I open my mouth, it’s to blurt out, “In love. Completely and totally in love.”

He cocks his head to the side curiously. “I heard you and Van broke up...”

Of course he did. Damn, small towns really never change. “We did,” I confirm—kind of sad that I haven’t talked to Vanessa since we broke up. Maybe I should call her sometime—tell her that she was 100 percent right to break up with me. “It’s not her I’m in love with.” I keep my voice fairly low because of the busybodies who are posted everywhere inside the small bakery. “It’s not a her at all.”

His eyes widen, and the surprise is shining there, but he’s grinning even wider now. “Austin?”

I look around carefully, seeing no one is paying attention to me, but when I meet Benny’s eyes, I nod. “How did you know?”

He snorts dismissively. “How did you not know?”

I laugh. “Touché. Did everyone know?”

He shakes his head. “Don’t think so. And I didn’t know know. I just assumed. I saw how much you loved him but wasn’t sure if you’d ever get it together and just love him out loud.”

I chuckle at that, but my chest kind of aches, thinking about it. “I would.” I look into his eyes, I guess kind of relieved to have someone to talk to, even if it’s not at the most opportune time. “If he’d let me.”

His mouth is in a straight line now, as if he’s thinking it over really hard. “Ah, yeah, I had one of those.”

I grin. “How is Rowan?”

“Totally in loooooove,” he sings. “With me,” he says as if I didn’t pick up on that.

“Never change, Benny,” I say, slapping him on the shoulder.

“Look.” He gets semi-serious on me. “Sometimes you just have to wait these grumpy men out. Show them how good it can feel to be in love around everyone else. To not care so much about ignorant assholes, but mostly, you just have to show them you aren’t going there.”

I think that over. Surely he knows that, but maybe he doesn’t. We did get together pretty soon after Vanessa broke up with me. Maybe he thinks this thing isn’t permanent.

That thought breaks my damn heart because it’s forever for me.

I grab my order, and Benny grabs his before we walk out toward our cars. “Thanks, Benny.”

“Good luck, Vaughn.”

He salutes me, and I wave, heading to my car and ready to drive straight to my man.

I have to show him this is it for me and hope like hell he knows, without a doubt, I’m not going anywhere.