Page 27 of Reece & Holden (Gomillion High Reunion #6)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Holden

My mouth is dry when I see Reece’s mom enter the store the next morning.

I’m thankful the store is empty as she wastes no time in coming over.

I’m also glad I have a beard because my cheeks burn red hot as she gives me a huge smile.

I'm sure she can probably see everything Reece and I did last night written on my face, and what we did this morning. My mind flicks back to how he woke me up with kisses and the promise of breakfast. But then that moved to hand jobs in the shower, and we took so long that we didn’t get any breakfast, which is where Reece is now.

“Morning, Holden. How are you doing?”

Well, apart from my ass being able to feel the pounding from last night every time I take a step, I’m fine. And I’m definitely not complaining about the state of my ass; the achy burn feels good.

“Did you want to see Reece? He just popped out for a minute.”

“No, it’s you I came to see. I want you to say that I’m glad you and Reece have managed to work things through. He was worried about it. I’m really happy for you both.”

My first thought is that she really does know what happened last night, then my brain kicks in and I realize she’s talking about the bullying. I’m not overly happy that she knows about it, but it’s done and it’s in the past.

“Thank you. W-we’re trying to put it behind us and move on.” And may she never mention it again. Her compassionate smile tells me that she probably won’t, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

“I want to invite you to dinner tomorrow. It’s Marina’s last night and I’d like to give her a good send-off.”

“I’d like that Mrs. Fisher, thank you.” Her brow creases slightly. “Can you even consider calling me Theresa now?”

Oh God, that’s a big thing, but she is being nice, so I can try.

“T-thank you, T-Theresa.” She smiles widely, not minding that my stutter made me stumble over her name.

“Great, I’ll see you tomorrow at seven.” She turns to go. Reece enters the store as she reaches the door and they exchange a few words before he comes over.

“She knows about us,” I squeak.

“Well, she knew about the date last week and yesterday and that I didn'’t come home last night. So I’d say she has pretty normal powers of deduction.”

“No! S-she knew about us b-before,” I cry, and he comes over and catches me, putting his hands on my upper arms.

“Yes, baby, she does. When I was struggling to talk to you, I asked her for advice. She’s always been wise, but she didn’t know about it before then, I swear.”

“W-what advice did she give?”

“That I should try again because you were worth ten of me.”

“She did not say that!”

“No, but she meant it, I could tell.”

I chuckle. I can’t be mad at him when he can disarm me so easily with his self-effacing charm. I roll my eyes, but I relax my shoulders and he rubs his hands up and down my arms.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, baby, but I’m not sorry I asked for her help. She’s my mom and she’s always had my best interests at heart. Yours too now, I imagine.” He laughs and I give a little sigh. There are worse things, I suppose.

When I pull up outside Theresa’s house, I peel my hands from the wheel and wipe them down my pants.

Then I take a few deep breaths to bring my heart rate under control.

I’ve known her for years, but this is different, very different, and I’m not sure what to expect.

I never met the parents of previous boyfriends, though most of them met mine.

I was never invited, which tells me a lot about them and why none of my relationships worked out.

Not that I’m sorry, of course. Especially not now I have Reece.

Reece, who I haven’t seen since yesterday and it already feels too long.

I can’t believe how quickly my life—physically, mentally and emotionally—has accommodated him.

It’s like all of me has been waiting for him, and in a way it has.

That connection I originally felt back in high school was never fully broken, though we both thought it was.

I know Reece feels the same way too, and this is the happiest I’ve been in my life so I shouldn’t be nervous, but even so, I feel that this is an important step.

Reece opens the door to my knock.

“Hey, baby. You look good.” He smiles. “That color suits your gorgeous eyes.” I laugh and maybe preen a little because I had chosen my sweater vest carefully. It’s a reddish brown with an orange pattern.

“Thanks. I brought gifts. The flowers are for your mom and I have yarn for Marina. She was admiring it the last time she was in the store.”

“What about me? Did you bring me anything?” He gives me his best puppy dog eyes, which, well, they do work. I place the flowers and the yarn on a table in the hallway and step closer to him. Then I put my arms around him.

“I brought this,” I say and kiss him deeply. He catches me around the waist and kisses me back, his tongue dancing with mine, and I lose myself in him, conveying how much I’ve missed him with my mouth.

“Hi, Holden.”

I nearly choke when I hear Theresa’s voice. I try to prise myself out of Reece’s grip, embarrassed to have been caught making out in the hallway, but Reece doesn’t let me go.

“Can you give us a minute?” he asks, his eyes never leaving my face, which is in a rictus grin of horror.

“Well, don’t take too long, boys. Dinner is in ten.”

“Okay,” he calls and turns back to me. “I can think of lots we could do in ten minutes.”

I giggle despite the deep embarrassment, which he spends the next few minutes trying to make me forget with his mouth. Even so, my anxiety goes through the roof when I walk into the kitchen.

“H-hello, Theresa. T-these are for you,” I stammer out, and hold the flowers out like some sort of shield.

“Thank you, that’s very thoughtful of you,” she says, taking them from me. “They’re lovely.” She doesn’t mention anything about catching her son with his tongue down my throat, so I relax slightly.

“Marina, I got you these.” I hand her a bag stamped with the store logo.

“Oh wow, thank you, Holden. These are great. I’m already thinking of a project they’d be perfect for.” She envelopes me in a large hug and goes to show them to Theresa.

Reece offers me a drink and I ask for a soda, then he leads me through to the dining room.

“Should we offer to help?” I whisper.

“I’ve tried,” he whispers back, though I’m sure it’s loud enough for his mom and Theresa to hear. “But I’ve been told to go away so many times I’m starting to get a complex. It’s better we just stay here out of their way.”

We’re sitting close enough for him to wedge his leg against mine, and he reaches over and places a hand on my knee, gently caressing my thigh.

“Tell me about your day,” he asks, and I impart a few details, but his hand is very distracting and I know I trail off a few times.

By the time Theresa and Marina start to bring dishes through I’m in a state of semi-arousal, which makes conversation difficult at first. But as he has to place both hands on the table, my desire banks down to the background lust I usually feel around him.

I ask Marina about her visit to the States and what she thought the differences were from her first trip.

“This time I had wonderful hosts.” She smiles, and talk turns to her journey back. I ask her about England.

“The town I live in is small, much smaller than Gomillion. It’s a village really, with just a few shops and a pub.”

“Does it have a yarn store?” I can’t help asking.

“No,” she laughs. “It’s not big enough for that.

The nearest one is in Oxford and owned by my friend Ami.

The whole village is old, most of the houses are made from what we call Cotswold Stone, which is local and a warm yellow color.

My own cottage is over three hundred years old.

But it's all very pretty and it’s a beautiful part of the country. ”

I think it sounds interesting. Dinner’s relaxed and takes a long time as we talk a lot more. The food is incredible and we nearly finish it all. Eventually we wind up with coffee on the deck in the yard listening to the cicadas. I need to pee, and make my way inside to use the bathroom.

When I come out, Reece is leaning against the wall opposite. He puts a finger to his lips and takes my hand. I follow him silently up the stairs and into what I assume is his childhood bedroom.

He shuts the door behind us and I stand and look at his swim trophies. He stands behind me and encircles me with his arms.

“Did you bring me up here to show me your trophies? I mean, I’m impressed, but you know you won those nearly twenty years ago. What have you done since?”

He gives a derisory snort. “No, I didn’t.” He spins me around to face him. “I can’t sit there and make small talk with my mom and Marina with you sitting next to me and not being able to touch you.”

He leans in and kisses me, then he cups my ass and pulls me close so we’re touching, chest to groin.

My banked-down desire floods back into life and I’m hard within thirty seconds.

I can see from his eyes that he can feel it, and I moan against his mouth.

He pulls back with a wicked grin on his face.

“Reece! Surely you’re not planning to have sex in the house, with your mom and Marina downstairs,” I hiss.

“That was the general plan, yes, but I have an idea.”

He guides me backward, and when my knees hit the bed I sit. He pushes me gently, so I lie down, with my feet still on the floor. He kneels between my legs. He unbuttons my pants and starts pulling them down, freeing my cock from my boxers.

“Reece!” I exclaim in a loud whisper.

“Shh,” he says, and I wriggle, letting him pull my pants down further. He stops, and I lift my head to see his mouth barely an inch from my cockhead, which is now aching and desperate for some attention. He gives me a toothy grin.

“You can tell me to stop at any point.” Then he takes half of me into his mouth in one go.

I let my head drop back on the bed and let out a moan.

He bobs his head up and down, applying exquisite pressure, and my hips lift with every stroke, needing more.

I don’t think I could ask him to stop even if my life depended on it, as he expertly applies his tongue around the head of my cock.

It nearly takes me over the edge. Around the periphery of my pleasure, I become aware of him shifting slightly.

I turn my head to the side and catch sight of him in a mirror.

He’s pulled down his pants and his hand is shuttling up and down on his dick, while his mouth is stretched around my cock.

“My God, Reece. I can see you. That has to be the hottest sight ever.”

He makes a low moan and picks up speed. Does dirty talk do it for him?

“Fuck, yeah. Reece, I love watching you. Give me more.”

He groans deep in this throat and my dick responds. I don’t think I’ll last much longer.

“I’m gonna come, Reece. Make me come with your magic tongue.

” He speeds up and I explode in his mouth.

I feel him jerk and then he slowly withdraws his lips.

He reaches for a towel and cleans me up where I’m wet from his spit and drool, then he cleans his hand and himself.

I lie back, barely able to move except to draw my pants back up.

He flops down beside me on his back. I turn my head to the side, he looks at me, and my cheeks spread into a wide grin.

“Stop,” I say, and he laughs. He props himself up on one elbow and looks down at me, brushing my hair out of my eyes.

“Do you think they know what we’ve been up to?”

“Yeah,” he says.

“Shit.”

“Don’t worry, they won’t care.”

I give a little giggle, hoping he’s right.

“I have to take Marina to the airport tomorrow,” he says. “But can I come around and see you afterward?”

“Yes, of course,” I whisper. His talk of Marina going back brings to mind that he’d planned to go back tomorrow as well, and I think of his reason for visiting.

“Reece?” I reach for his hand.

“Mmm?”

“I’m glad you came back to Gomillion.”

“Yeah, me too,” he says, giving my hand a squeeze.