Page 11

Shane

I have to use every muscle in my face to control the huge grin that wants to escape. Knowing that he wants me to stay is making me way too excited. He’s still standing in front of his door, looking up at me. I school my features and drop my hand from his face. His eyes are dull golden brown, reflecting how exhausted he must be after going through a panic attack. He didn’t fall asleep on the way here, but he also wasn’t present either. I asked him about five times if he was alright and where he lived before I decided to call Lily.

"Do you want to go lay down in your room?" I point to the door behind him. I noticed three doors when I walked in, all of which were closed. Lily said he lives alone and doesn’t like visitors, so the state of his place might be a mess. But other than a pile of blankets on the couch, it looks and smells fine.

He looks at the door for a few seconds, struggling with what to do. When he looks back at me, his cheeks are flushed a soft pink, but I have no idea what he could be embarrassed about. He looks away and walks past me to where his couch sits in front of a tiny TV mounted to the wall.

There's a sliding glass door, like what I have at my condo, on the far wall. Walking up to it, I look at the view but then remember these are the student townhouses. His view is of the dark pond in the back of campus.

He doesn't have a big balcony. It’s barely wide enough for a chair to fit sideways on. I go to turn around but stop when I spot a black bar running across the bottom of the door. It's one of those security bars that has a lock on it to keep it in place, preventing it from being moved to open the door. There's also a small metal plate screwed to the frame right up against the door that slides open, essentially preventing the door from opening. The screws are stripped like someone tried to remove the plate but didn’t have the right-sized screwdriver. Why would he need two security locks when he's on the third floor?

Scrunching my brows together, I turn to ask him, but he’s not behind me.

"Charlie?"

I take a step towards the closed bedroom doors when I notice the heap of blankets on the couch move.

I walk up to the couch and sit in the middle seat so I'm right next to the pile of blankets. I gently pull the top blanket down and find another. Then another. I let out a soft chuckle as I grab the rest, pull them down, and finally find him.

He's tucked in the corner of the couch, hugging his legs to his chest with his forehead on top of his knees.

"What are you doing under all these blankets? It's got to be hot as hell under..." I lean over and count them. "Six blankets. You don't have the a/c up that high," I smile playfully so he knows I’m teasing.

He turns his head towards me, keeping it on his knees, and I notice his tired, red-rimmed eyes.

"I'm really tired," he whispers.

"You can lay down and use my legs as a pillow if you want.” I scoot over so he has room to lie down across the couch. He moves slowly as he places his head on my left thigh and covers the rest of his body with three blankets.

“Want me to put something on TV for you?”

The blankets lift as he shrugs. “I don’t watch TV. You can watch whatever you want.” He sounds like he’s seconds from sleep.

I spot the remote on the end table, so I grab it and turn it on. He has Hulu Live but no other streaming services, so I channel surf for a few minutes, looking for a movie to watch. When I land on one of the Avatar movies, Charlie lets out a soft sound, and his weight becomes heavier on my leg as he relaxes.

I set the volume low and put the remote back on the table. Draping my arm over the back of the couch, I settle back into the cushion. I’ve never watched one of these movies from start to finish, so I have no idea how long is left. The big ass blue alien dude with a tail is being cornered in a huge forest with some weird black dog things attacking him.

Fuck, those things are creepy.

As the movie continues, I find myself moving my hand from the back of the couch to his hip. He doesn’t make a move to remove my hand, so I leave it there. But by the time blue dude is brought to meet the rest of the tribe, my hand has moved to his head. I weave my fingers through his silky soft locks. I thought he had black hair but this close I can see that it’s actually dark brown.

Movie forgotten, I can’t help but watch him sleep. The cut from a few days ago when he fell is a light pink line now. It sits in a bed of tiny light brown freckles that cover the top of his cheeks and over the bridge of his nose. I’m about to trace them with my finger when he twitches and lets out a whimper.

“No, please. I-I won’t do it again. Please don’t,” he mumbles, turning his face into my thigh.

What the hell?

“You’re okay, Charlie. I won’t let anything happen to you.” I run my fingers over the back of his head.

He shifts so he’s facing the back of the couch with his face inches from my crotch. I move his longer pieces of hair out of his face and leave my hand resting on the back of his head. It doesn’t look like he woke up. Hopefully, the bad dream doesn’t come back, so he can stay right here.

I wake sometime later with Charlie still asleep on me but he’s down to only one blanket and his head is now directly over my dick. He’s still facing me, looking so peaceful and sexy with his sleep-mussed hair.

Shit. Don’t get hard. DO. NOT. GET. HARD!

Of course, it doesn’t listen and starts to harden under his head.

Walking in on my parents fucking.

My stick snapping in half.

Gummy worms.

Fuck, real worms!

I squeeze my eyes shut and envision all these horrific things and beg my cock to go down. I take a few deep, slow breaths before opening my eyes and looking down.

The most beautiful golden-brown irises are looking up at me.

Fuck me, he’s the most attractive man I’ve ever seen.

My traitorous dick decides now is the best time to rapidly grow again. And, of course, I’m wearing basketball shorts, making what’s happening very evident. I’m not one to get embarrassed easily, but I can feel blood rising up my neck when Charlie’s head snaps up.

He looks down at the large tent in my lap then back up at me with a raised eyebrow.

“What? I can’t control my body’s response when I have someone as hot as you looking up at me with those stunning eyes.”

He sits up and scoots back to the corner of the couch, his cheeks taking on a much deeper pink color. I stand up and turn my back to him, quickly tucking myself into the waistband of my boxer briefs.

With it safely tucked away and covered with the bottom of my shirt, I turn to a bright red-faced Charlie covering his mouth and shaking. At first, I’m concerned because it doesn’t look like he’s breathing but then he lets go of his mouth to take in a deep breath and starts laughing. It’s such an infectious sound that I start laughing with him.

He’s trying really hard not to start laughing again when he looks at me.

“Okay. That was embarrassing. He’s returned to normal. You can stop laughing now.” I wink as I sit back down. He’s biting the corner of his lip, making a dimple I didn’t know he had pop out. “You have a dimple.” I hear myself say as I reach over and gently poke it, causing him to chuckle.

“I have two actually.” He faces me and smiles tightly, making them both appear. He looks silly smiling like that but damn if those dimples don’t add to his sexiness.

He turns to the TV and starts watching what I believe is now the second Avatar movie. We sit in silence on opposite ends of the couch, but it doesn’t last long. My stomach lets out a loud grumble right as a train is derailed by an army of blue warrior dudes riding bizarre-looking horses.

I pull my phone from my pocket and see that it’s a little past seven. Ryder texted me a little while ago asking about dinner plans. Sorry bud.

Setting my phone on the armrest, I look over to Charlie, who’s biting the shit out of his thumbnail. There’s nothing suspenseful happening in the movie anymore, so I don’t know what he could be nervous about.

“Are you hungry? I know we had a late breakfast but we skipped lunch and it’s almost seven thirty. I can make a meal out of whatever you have in your fridge.”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say because he jumps up off the couch and starts pacing in the opening that leads to the kitchen. He’s mumbling something I can’t hear, still biting his thumbnail. I stand up and walk in his path, making him stop.

“I-I can’t. I d-don’t have…” he stutters out, then grabs his hair and pulls.

I grab his hands and pry his fingers open. “What’s wrong, Charlie? Did I say something to upset you? If so, I’m sorry. Please look at me.” He shakes his head, keeping his face down. “Please?” I gently squeeze his hands in mine.

When he looks up at me, he has that frightened look in his eyes like he did earlier at my condo.

“Talk to me, beautiful. I’m here, and I’m more than happy to help you, but you have to tell me what’s going on.”

He looks to the right, into the kitchen, and whispers, “I don’t have any food.” He removes his hands from mine and sticks them in my hoodie he’s still wearing, his shoulders climbing to his ears. Then he’s back to looking at the floor.

Why is he so scared to look at me?

“Well, we grabbed that stuff from earlier, so you have some more food now. We don’t have to eat it since you weren’t planning for two people to be eating here. How about I order us a pizza? Maybe some breadsticks, too?”

He looks up at me with his head tilted to the side like a puppy trying to figure out what’s been said.

Fuck, he’s cute as hell .

“Does that sound alright? We can get a veggie pizza, and I’ll even skip the wings this time.” Smiling, I reach out and move his hair from his eyes.

He scrunches his nose adorably. “No vegetables. Cheese will be fine…if that’s ok?” He plays with the strings hanging from the hood, looking up at me with a hopeful look in his eye.

“Of course. Do you have a favorite pizza place?” I walk back to where I left my phone on the couch. I grab it and turn, expecting him to be behind me but he’s still standing where I left him. He shakes his head while looking at one of the closed doors. It’s not the one he was in front of earlier so I don’t think it’s his bedroom.

I pull up my favorite pizza place with the best crust and place an order. Sticking my phone in my pocket, I make my way back over to where he’s still looking at the door.

“Pizza will be here in about thirty minutes.” I look at the door and then back at him. “Did you want to do something while we wait? Both Avatar movies are basically the same, with wild blue alien things jumping around and fighting each other. Kind of boring, actually. We can see if something else is on, or we could-”

“What did you just say?” he cuts me off looking like he smelled something bad.

“I was asking if you wanted to watch something else or…”

“No, before that.”

I scratch the side of my head trying to remember what I said. “Umm. Avatar is boring?” I shrug.

“Which is far from the truth. It’s more than just blue aliens jumping around. Have you even watched the movies?” He asks like I personally insulted him.

It’s turning me on watching him get all riled up.

“I have seen bits and pieces, thanks to my little sister, plus I don’t really have time to watch four-hour movies between practice and school.” I snicker at his look of pure shock. His eyes are comically big.

“How can you just say both movies are the same when you haven’t even seen them?! The first movie shows the world of Pandora and how fucked up humans destroy a world they don’t understand. And the second one shows what happens when said humans become greedy and try to take over something that isn’t theirs,” he huffs, crossing his arms.

Where did this guy come from? Not five minutes ago he’d hardly look at me but now he’s determined to prove his point. I think I’m going to enjoy seeing these little personality bubbles pop up.

Chuckling, I look back at the movie and point to it. “They look like they are doing just fine to me. Look how many there are. Wait…are those their kids? And what the fuck is with mini Tarzan?” Okay, maybe I do need to watch this movie from the beginning because the hell is even going on.

Charlie snorts. “Yes, those are their kids. If you actually watched the first movie, you would have seen them cement their relationship and mate under the Tree of Voices.” He shakes his head. “I can’t believe you’ve never seen the movies. The first one has been open for over ten years.”

He stops with wide eyes and steps back looking scared. “I-I’m s-sorry. I d-didn’t mean to snap like th-that. It w-won’t happen a-again, I p-promise.”

He’s back to looking down and his shoulders are up by his ears.

I’m beyond confused about what just happened. I go to lift his chin up, but he backs up to the wall and slides down. He’s got his arms over his head, and his body is in a tight ball sitting against the wall.

I kneel next to him and place my hand on his shin trying to show him everything is okay.

“You have nothing to be afraid of.” I slowly move my hand up and down, from his knee down to his ankle and back up. I hear him take a deep breath and then sniffle.

And my. Heart. Breaks.

What could have happened to him that has him fearing talking about something he’s passionate about? Was he bullied in high school about it? His position is almost identical to how he was curled up at Sip n’ Go, except he was on his side on the floor and not sitting. But still, it’s such a visceral response that these two instances weren’t the first.

“Charlie, you’re safe. I’d never hurt you. You can talk Avatar and blue aliens all day, and I’d still never touch you. Please believe me. I want to help, not hurt.”

I shift around so I’m kneeling in front of him, and gently pull his arms off his head and hold his hands. They’re cold and clammy. He keeps his forehead on his knees with his eyes squeezed shut. I can tell he’s trying to get his breathing under control because he keeps taking deep breaths, holding it, then slowly letting it out.

I lean forward and bring his hands under my shirt and up to my chest, pushing his hands flat to my skin. I take steady breaths that expand my ribs so he can feel the smooth rhythm. After a minute or so, his breathing is synchronized to mine.

He slowly lifts his head from his knees and lets it thud against the wall behind him, keeping his eyes closed. He flexes his fingers in my chest, so I let his hands go, but he surprises me by keeping them on my skin. He slowly moves them down to my pecs and then to my nipples. My very sensitive, erogenous zone, nipples. His now warm palms hover over them, and he makes tiny circles, barely touching my pebbled skin. My breath hitches, and my cock jumps. If he keeps this up, he’s going to get something very hard stabbing him in the leg.

Not willing to have blue balls twice in one day, I grab his wrists and slowly lower his hands to my abs. His soft fingers trace the dips and grooves around each ab muscle. It feels nice. It’s been a minute since I’ve had anyone touch me like this.

He moves his hands even lower now at the sides of my Adonis belt. He slowly traces the path down until he hits the top of my boxer briefs. My breathing picks up again. He’s not about to follow it down, is he? His eyes are still closed, and his breathing is steady.

How is he not affected by this?

He starts to move his fingers down, over the band of my boxers, then over the band of my shorts. Right as he touches the head of my cock, there’s a knock on the door.