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Reluctantly, I lift my head away from the warm pocket of skin between his neck and shoulder.

His pretty brown eyes find mine immediately.

I kiss him, tongue invading his mouth and a hand diving into his hair to keep his face still.

He laughs into my mouth when I rock my pelvis, sliding my dick against his hip.

Maybe we should table the talking and have sex again.

“Really?” he asks on another laugh. The happy expression on his face winds me up even further and I crawl back on top of him. His hands move to cup my ribs and his back bows as his own dick starts to perk back up.

“I’ll be quick,” I promise, before reaching a hand between us. He’s smiling as I kiss him.

Had I known we’d be refueling after a couple epic orgasms, I’d have ordered more sushi.

Sitting half naked and cross-legged on my bed, we spread out the now room temperature food.

Marcos is seated across from me, but close enough that all I’d have to do is lean forward and stretch my neck if I wanted to kiss him.

I want to hoover my way through this food so we can hopefully get back to the snuggling portion of the night’s events.

It could be months before cuddly Marcos makes another appearance.

“To answer your question from before?—”

“From before you got horny,” Marcos fills in, lips twitching .

“Any horniness on my part is completely your fault,” I tell him around a mouthful of crab rangoon.

“What did I do?”

“Exist.”

He snorts and shakes his head, reaching over and snagging a rangoon off of the tray in front of me.

Unlike he usually does, he left the majority of his clothes off and is sitting here in only boxers.

I watch him hungrily, drinking my fill of brown skin and dark hair.

There’s a mark on the side of his hip I’ve never noticed before—a tiny birthmark, lighter in color than the rest of him.

“Nate?”

I look up. “Sorry. Got distracted by this.” Leaning forward, I press my finger to the mark, completely obscuring it. “It looks like a strawberry. Or maybe a?—"

“—acorn?” he fills in, looking down. “My abuela used to call me and Max her chicos de otono. I don’t think I ever heard her use Max’s name. He was always zorro, because of his hair.”

“Zorro?” I repeat.

“Fox,” he clarifies, and steals another of my rangoons. I push them closer to his side of the food spread. “So, your uncle’s…?”

“Right, to answer your question from before. Yes, we’ll be at my uncle’s, technically.

But it’s not what you’re thinking. We don’t all live in the same house or anything—it’s a ton of land and we’re all sort of…

” I spread my hands to mimic an explosion.

“Last year, my uncle converted the loft above his horse barn into an apartment, so that’s where I live now. ”

Marcos’ eyebrows scrunch together as he thinks. “Who all is there? ”

“Oh, sorry. The hands and seasonal workers. But they don’t live at the main house, they have their own space.”

“And your uncle?”

“My mom’s brother. Well, one of her brothers. Me and Uncle Jes are really close. I spent more time with him than with my parents, growing up. His ranch has always been home.”

He smiles at that. “That’s pretty cool that he wants you to take over his business.”

“Yeah, I’m lucky that something I love is so easily within reach. I’m actually pretty excited to take over, to be honest. I’ve got ideas.”

Another smile, this one managed around a piece of sushi roll.

“I could use an accountant,” I tell Marcos. He laughs. I wasn’t joking, but that’s not a conversation for right now. That’s a conversation for when I’ve got him at the ranch, and can ply him with baby animals and fresh air.

“When do you think I should come?” he asks.

“I’ll be going back within a couple days of the semester ending, so…a couple days after the semester ends.”

He laughs again. Today might very well be the best day of my life—Marcos happy and comfortable and agreeing to come back home with me. I wonder what else I might be able to get away with.

“Max will be heading to Detroit for training camp the last week of June,” he says slowly, as though he’s thinking while he talks. “So, maybe I come then? For a week or?—”

“—or the rest of the summer?” I fill in hopefully. A week isn’t long enough. Hell, the summer probably won’t be long enough .

“Yeah,” he says slowly, staring at me hard enough that it feels like he’s trying to read my mind. “Maybe.”

I nod and happily pop another sushi in my mouth. There is a lot of wiggle room in maybe. Maybe is good. I can work with maybe.

“Fantastic. I can’t wait to see you on a horse.”

“I’m not going to ride a horse.”

“Tight blue jeans,” I continue, ignoring his protests, eyes closed as I picture it. “A little bit dirty; sweaty. Cowboy hat.”

“I will never, in my life, wear a cowboy hat,” he says firmly. Laughing I open my eyes and find him scowling at me.

“You can ride double with me,” I offer.

“Because that wouldn’t be embarrassing in front of your family.”

At the mention of my family, a little bit of joy slips away. I haven’t told them about Marcos. I don’t think they’ll care, but I also think that’s probably what everyone believes when they come out to their parents. What if they do care?

Marcos, who’s been watching me and is incredibly observant, apparently reads all of my thoughts right off my face. Leaning forward, he puts a hand on my knee, bringing his face close to mine.

“It’ll be fine,” he says.

“I think so,” I agree, even though I’m unsure.

“If it’s not, you can come back here with me, right?” I nod. “Good. Now you’ve got a back-up plan, even though you won’t need it.”

I nod again, and then close the distance between us to kiss him.

The sushi is finished, so I haphazardly stack all the trays and put them back in the take-out bag.

Setting it by the door to deal with later, I tug on my pajamas and crawl back into bed.

Marcos does the same. For a second, I wonder if the expiration date on cuddling has passed, as he curls up onto his side with his back to me.

I don’t have to wonder long. Reaching a hand behind him, he finds mine and tugs me over. Grinning, I spoon him—sliding a leg between his and tucking my face back into that lovely little spot on his neck.

The last thing I think about before falling asleep is the upcoming summer and the many nights I’ll hopefully get to sleep just like this.