Page 71 of Missed Steps

Abruptly, his weight collapses on top of me. I go down with a squeal, speared and crushed into the mattress.

Mark groans. “Bedtime.”

I wiggle, but I don’t achieve any more than adjusting the angle of Mark’s softening cock within me. After a few more minutes, when I twist, it comes out and I can’t help my groan. Mark rolls off of me, his movements slow and lethargic. “Bedtime, Kyle,” me murmurs, pulling me against his side.

I want to tell him we should clean up. That we’re a mess and my body has become a disaster zone in desperate need of a shower. Instead, I curl up against him, happy to shut my eyes and drift into a tired sleep.

I blink awake hours later to my body being wiped down with a damp washcloth. “Mark?” I murmur, making a valiant effort to swat away the cloth. I grab his wrist. “Bed. Cuddle.”

I hear his lovely chuckle in the dark.

“One minute,” Mark promises. I go still as he cleans me up. “Was it okay?” he asks as I’m about to fall asleep.

“Really good,” I say.

I feel his relief in his relaxed exhale and warm touch as he slides into the bed next to me.

“How about for you?” I try to rouse myself, but I can’t even peel my eyes open. I can only roll over and hug his waist.

“Perfect.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

We snag our booth in the pub, and Mark sits close to me, promptly wrapping an arm around my back and slotting his hand onto my waist. Tommy’s gaze lingers a moment on the contact, but he glances away without complaining or picking a fight. Since he said how Mark has liked me since first year, he’s stopped giving him a hard time. Mostly.

Sebastian sits next, setting down our drinks.

“They gave me this.” Sebastian places a pencil and a piece of paper on the table.

Tommy looks toward the barkeep. “He was probably asking for your number,” he says.

“It’s for trivia,” I explain.

“Trivia?” Tommy repeats.

“Yes. Did I not mention that?” I ask.

“You said you were going out for drinks.”

“…We have drinks, too. What do you have against trivia, Tommy?” I ask, noting his peeved tone.

“I just got through five days of trivia at college, essays are kicking my ass, and now I have to use my brainmore?” Tommy grumbles.

Sebastian sits next to Tommy and pulls the sheet of paper in front of himself as he looks across the room. His eyes narrow at the other tables. “Do they all have dictionaries?”

“It’s a hardcore trivia quiz, which is why we brought you, Seb,” Mark says. He roots around in his jacket pocket and digs out a miniature dictionary. “And we alsohave a dictionary.”

Neither Sebastian or Tommy look impressed as Mark sets the tiny book on the table, and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. “Do you have a microscope in your other pocket?” I ask.

Mark hums. “That’s not a microscope you’re feeling.”

“Don’t you—”

“I will killyou if—”

Sebastian’s and Tommy’s complaints become a jumbled mess as both object sternly to Mark’s remark. He laughs in delight and I grin with him.

“Mark, you will wake up on fire if I have to hear anything like that ever again,” Sebastian threatens him.