Page 24

CHAPTER 24

Zeb

My head is pounding and my body feels more than a little sore.

I open my eyes, slivers of dawn creeping in through my window.

My body is warm like a fire.

I grip Geo’s waist, pulling him closer.

The moment he brushes against me, backing his bare ass against me, I freeze.

Panic floods me as I slide one hand between my legs, feeling the evidence dried on the inside of my thighs.

Oh, no.

No, no, no, this wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

.

.

Geo turns in my arms, rubbing his eyes.

“Fuck, my head is killing me,” he groans, as I fight to steady my breath.

He squints, looking at me with those warm, amber eyes, and I feel like an even bigger asshole.

“Geo, I’m sorry. I?—”

“What are you apologizing for now?” he groans.

“I thought we did the apologizing thing already.” He slides his arm over my hip, pulling me closer.

“We—” I struggle with what to say because I can barely process what’s happened.

We fucked.

Geo is no longer a virgin, because of me.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

I can’t take something like that back.

Ever.

This is not how I wanted this to happen.

“Last night…” I try to wrack my brain for words, but I can’t find the right ones.

“Last night was amazing,” he says, burrowing closer to me.

His hand squeezes my back.

I freeze again.

“We were drunk,” I say, as I wrap my arms around him, hoping to hold onto this moment a little longer before he really leaves.

“Yeah, and?” He groans as he threads his leg through mine.

My jaw tenses.

“Yeah, and?”

“You don’t regret it, do you?” he asks, and I can see the fear striking his face.

“Shit, you do, don’t you?” Panic floods his face, and I squeeze him tighter.

“I—” I have to think about my words, because I know my answer will make or break more than just us.

“No, I just... I don’t want you to regret it,” I say.

Sunlight streams through the window.

Geo purses his lips as he touches my lips with his fingers.

“I don’t,” he says softly.

I part my lips just the slightest as he grazes his thumb over my bottom lip, and the way he’s looking at me soothes my fucking soul.

He kisses me, and all the tension, all the anger, all the pain, disappears.

In that kiss, I feel everything.

“I waited thirty-nine fucking years, Zeb. Let me have this, okay?” he says, his voice dark and full of humor.

“I feel like I’ve corrupted you somehow,” I say, with a laugh of my own.

“You did,” he says, holding me close.

“But now I know what make up sex feels like, and I can totally see the appeal now.”

His phone rings out from down the hall, and I look at him as he traces his fingertips along my beard, and I realize I need to shave.

“You going to get that?” I ask.

Geo rolls himself over top of me, pressing me into the mattress with a smirk, planting another soft, feathery kiss on my lips.

“Nope.”

He settles his weight against me, but the position isn’t overtly sexual.

It’s comforting.

I trail my fingertips along his ass, up his spine.

My body aches, knowing where he’s been, and my heart aches knowing where he’s going.

The phone rings again.

And again.

“You should probably answer,” I say as he groans, rolling his eyes.

When he shifts off of me, I feel the emptiness of his weight.

I throw myself out of bed, heading for my bathroom to get showered.

Being covered in dried cum is not as appealing as it sounds.

When I get out of the shower, I find Geo across the hall in the guest bedroom, packing up his guitar.

“What’s up?” I ask, leaning in the doorframe.

“I’m late for sound check.”

Sound check, right.

The show.

.

.

The show’s tomorrow.

And so is his birthday.

Tomorrow, he’s going to be forty.

Originally, Katy and I had planned to take him out for dinner, then follow up at his parent’s house for cake and ice cream, but after dinner the other night, and the postponed show.

.

.

Katy and I haven’t really discussed alternate plans.

And I’m not entirely sure she isn’t pissed at me right now because I called her last night crying that I’d fucked up.

I do have to give her props for not telling me “I told you so,” but something tells me if she finds out what really happened last night.

.

.

Yeah, I might disappear in the desert somewhere and become an urban legend.

“You guys are coming to the show tomorrow, right? I mean, your tickets should be honored since it wasn’t a full cancellation, but if they give you shit, Kevin?—”

“Yeah, of course,” I reply, watching him sling his guitar case over his shoulder.

“I’ll drive you,” I offer as he shakes his head.

“No need, Kevin sent an Uber.”

Who the fuck is Kevin?

Anxiety and panic start to cycle again, and Geo must notice.

He steps up to me, placing his hand on my stomach.

“Kevin’s my manager,” he says softly.

“He’s just doing his job.”

“Right,” I say.

His fingers slide over my hip, drawing lazy circles.

“What?”

“I just hate to watch you leave, that’s all,” I utter, feeling more naked than I did when I woke up with Geo’s dried spend all over me.

Geo settles his free hand around my neck, pulling me lightly against him.

My forehead rests against his.

“I don’t want to leave,” he says, his voice barely a whisper.

“So don’t leave,” I implore his gaze with my own.

Pick me.

Choose me.

.

.

My heart beats so loud I think he can surely hear it.

Geo purses his lips, his fingers sliding into my hair.

“It’s not that simple, Zeb. But for the record, I wish it was,” he says, as I hear a car pull up.

“See you later?” he says, stopping in front of my door.

I take a moment, committing him to memory, like this.

Guitar slung over his shoulder, dark hair a little mussed, thick glasses framing his face, dressed in tight black jeans, a faded white shirt, and a leather jacket.

A glimmer of youth marred with the shimmer of the present.

I look at half my heart, standing there in the living room, and I want to fall apart.

But I can’t.

I have to be stronger now than I was then.

“Yeah, of course.” I force a smile, if only for him.

Because as he walks out of my house, jumping into a sleek, fancy car, I know that my time with him is limited.

Because perfect things don’t last forever.