Page 23 of Right Side of Paradise

All Eyes on Me

I’d spent most of my life avoiding being the center of attention.

I wasn’t shy, I was selective . The only people I wanted interacting with me were the three people I currently lived with.

Outside of my parents, they were the only three people who mattered to me. Rico, Soul and Harlow knew me inside and out.

They loved me when I went quiet and escaped inside my head, always making sure I knew I’d have a safe place to land.

They were my safe place to land.

And as someone who was a creature of habit, I didn’t see that changing. Ever. Why would I try to go elsewhere when I already had that?

Yet, as true as all that was, something was changing. Or maybe the better word was shifting.

I didn’t know how else to explain why I suddenly loved having Rico Donovan’s eyes on me when I was having sex.

Nothing I did could shake the memory of the hunger in his eyes when he looked at me on Sunday.

And I thought about him having that thong more than I thought about anything in the four days since.

It was an accidental discovery, one I tried to write off for a sum total of twenty hours before I tested my luck again.

I knew what I was doing when I climbed into bed with him and Harlow.

That moment of hesitation—that pause before I entered her—was me trying to talk myself out of exactly what I wanted. I wanted Harlow. And I wanted Rico to see me have her.

And fuck, I came hard when I got both.

We hadn’t done anything but cuddle since that morning. All of us were too tired with our hectic schedules, but I woke up in Rico’s bed this morning with Harlow and Soul long gone.

Just me and the man whose attention I desperately craved in new ways.

Rico was awake, scrolling through his phone with one hand propped behind his head.

He slid a brief glance in my direction and smiled when he felt the bed dip.

“Morning, Chris.”

“H-hey. Where’s Harlow? Soul?” It was Juneteenth, so I knew Soul had the day off. Harlow was supposed to help her mom set up the event, but I didn’t know she’d leave this early. It was barely eight o’clock, so why were their spots on the bed cold?

I knew I wasn’t Superman, but I still wanted to go help Harlow and her mom even though I got home well past three this morning.

Rico lowered his phone to his stomach and looked at me. “Soul is with his parents. He’s gonna meet us at the festival. Harlow just left but I told her we’d take all the heavy shit she loaded in my jeep out to them in a couple hours when you woke up.”

Nodding, I yawned at the new information.

Rico had designed this room around his massive Alaskan King bed. Because of that, there was enough space between us to fit two bodies, but his eyes made me feel like we were only a breath apart.

Rico turned on his side and studied me with a faint smile. “Go back to sleep. We have time and you got home late.”

“Ok.” I nodded again, my lids heavy when I looked at him.

“You want coffee when you wake up?”

“Nah.” I wiped a hand over my eyes. “I’ma just drink all day at the festival.”

He chuckled. “Bet.”

“Rico…”

“Yeah?”

“Why didn’t you walk out when you saw me Sunday?”

“Because I didn’t want to,” he answered quicker than I expected.

My heart thudded at a wild cadence. What was I supposed to say to that?

“Why?” is what I settled on. And I knew I sounded like a three-year-old going through the “why” stage, but I couldn’t stop the question if I tried.

“Why didn’t I want to leave?”

I moved my head up and down on my pillow in a drowsy semblance of a nod.

Rico cleared his throat, gliding his tongue over his teeth before he answered, “Because I liked what I saw. And I wanted to keep seeing it.”

I wasn’t naked today and it was a good thing because I had a chub forming from his confession.

“You look good as fuck when you come, Christian.” His hand was on top of his durag, rubbing against the material. “Especially when you had your legs open like that. I’ll never get that image out of my mind.”

I’d never get it out of my mind either.

“Is that why you took the panties? Because you wanted to remember it?”

“We can go with that.” Mischief coated his words and I was too tired to decipher what he wasn’t saying.

“I think I like it when you watch me...want you to keep doing it,” I trailed.

I didn’t know if this conversation was a figment of my imagination or if I’d wake up and remember it all. Either way, I liked what I was feeling right now.

“Trust me, Chris. I’ll keep watching you. Until you tell me you want something different.”

I tried to nod again but it was like pulling my head out of mud. Impossible.

The bed dipped again and sandalwood was all around me. His skin was touching mine. I relaxed deeper into the soft sheets. This was peace. I was sure of it.

His voice came through strong as I faded back to sleep.

“I won’t touch you unless you tell me to.” He kissed my temple. “And one day, I really hope you fucking tell me to.”