Page 17

Shane

B y the time the noodles are made there’s flour everywhere. Charlie managed to get it in his hair and all over the front of his black pants while I have flour all over my arms. But we have a sheet pan full of noodles and the sauce is almost finished.

“Why don’t you go clean up in my bathroom while I finish up here.” I turn to find him shaking his head like a wet dog. I can’t help myself from laughing. When he stops, his hair is a puffy mess making me laugh even harder.

He smiles back, flashing those adorable dimples. I poke them then ruffle his hair trying to get the rest of the flour out.

“How did you even get this much in your hair?”

Shrugging, he runs both hands through his hair. Then he stops and laughs at what he just did.

That answers that question.

“Why aren’t you covered in flour? You did most of the work.”

“Well for one, I was standing behind you, and two, I know how to cook without wearing the ingredients.” I chuckle as I pull him flush to me. “Go change into some of my clothes and I’ll have dinner finished when you come back.” I peck his lips and turn him towards my door.

He looks over his shoulder with a smile as he walks away.

With the sauce at the right consistency, I drop the noodles into the boiling water.

“I’m not your dad so if you want to eat, I suggest you come make your own damn plates,” I shout to the group in the living room.

I pull the pasta out as Matt skids to a stop next to me. “That looks good. Carbs are exactly what I’ll need to get through practice tomorrow.”

He reaches for the pasta spoon, but I smack his hand away before he gets to it. “Let me get Charlie’s bowl first before you heathens take it all.” He pouts but steps back as I get mine and Charlie’s bowls filled.

Setting them on the end table in the living room, I head to my room to check on him.

I don’t see him as I walk into my room, but I can hear the shower going. Smiling to myself, I walk into the bathroom and lean against the door frame. He’s rinsing the suds out of his hair with his face turned up to the water. My eyes travel down his slim body and stop at the trimmed dark patch of hair right above his soft dick. I lick my bottom lip as he runs his hands over it with my body wash. He startles when he sees me once he turns off the water.

His cheeks are flushed as he opens the glass door. “Hi.”

“Hi, beautiful.” I grab my towel from the hook and open it as he steps out of the shower with one hand covering his cock. I noticed he did that earlier too when he was in the bathtub.

He turns, showing me that neat tattoo on his back and his small round ass. I wrap the towel over his shoulders and hug him to me. “You smell like me again.” I take a deep breath of his hair and let out a satisfied ‘mmm’ sound.

“I like the smell of your body wash,” he says softly, looking up at me through his wet hair.

I move it from his face as I turn him to face me. “Just the body wash? Not me too?” I tease.

His neck starts to match his pink cheeks as he steps out of my arms. “I need some clothes that aren’t covered in flour.” He says, leaving the bathroom and going into my closet.

I follow, curious to see what he picks. He grabs one of my hoodies and a pair of black sweatpants that have zero chance of staying up on his narrow hips. He spins in a slow circle before coming to a stop facing me.

“Can you turn around for a minute, please?” He hugs my clothes to his waist as the wet towel starts to slip.

“I’ll go wait on my bed.” Sitting on the edge facing the closet, I don’t know what he’s embarrassed about. I’ve now seen him naked twice and he’s perfect. Everything about him is on the smaller side but that only adds to how perfectly he fits against me.

Shaking my head I rub my hands over my face as I remember how hard of a day he’s had. He’s going through something. I just wish he’d tell me so I can help him through it.

He walks out of my closet wearing a black hoodie with a death grip on the sweats. Snickering, I walk over to my dresser and pull out a pair of basketball shorts and lounge pants that both have drawstrings. I turn, holding them up. “Which one? Pants? Or shorts that’ll probably fit you like pants?”

I toss the lounge pants to him when he nods to them. He shuffles back into my closet and comes back out a second later, more at ease. The pants are dragging on the ground, but I can tell that he’s already rolled the waistband to shorten them. “Come on beautiful, let’s go eat.” I place my hand on the small of his back and lead him out of my room.

Everyone is sitting around the living room talking and eating. Asher notices us first and nods to my spot on the couch that’s been left open. I sit first and move over so Charlie can sit between me and his friend Noah. I hand him his bowl then dig into my food.

Looking around, I’m happy to see everyone enjoying it. I look down at Charlie and see he’s just twirling the noodles on his fork, making no effort to bring it to his mouth. I nudge him with my elbow. He looks up at me with a small smile, then empties the mound of noodles off his fork, picks up a single noodle and eats it. He looks back up at me and nods with a tight smile.

I thought this was what he wanted.

I watch him out of the corner of my eye as I eat my food and watch him eat one noodle at a time. By the time I’m finished, along with everyone else, he’s eaten half his bowl. He rests it on his thigh and places his hand on his stomach like he’s full.

He should be eating more than that. Maybe he’s saving room for his cake…that he knows nothing about.

“Are you finished?” I lean into his side.

“Yes. Thank you. It was really good,” he smiles up at me.

“You helped too. Those noodles were perfect.” I take his bowl and place it on my empty one.

“I don’t think I did anything other than get flour everywhere.”

“You did but that’s part of having fun when you’re cooking.” I brush my thumb over his cheek wanting so badly to kiss him. Normally I take what I want regardless of what anyone around thinks but the last thing I want is for Charlie to freak out. So, I tell him with my eyes what I want, looking down at his lips a few times. He subtly shakes his head and looks at my friends sitting across the room. “It’s okay. They won’t tell anyone,” I whisper.

“Not here. Please.” He looks like he’s about to panic so I nod quickly and lean back. When I drape my arm around his shoulders, he leans into my side.

“Alright, fuckers,” I say loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Charlie and I cooked therefore you guys get to clean up. I don’t care who does what, but three rounds of rock-paper-scissors is how we decide these things in this house.”

“I call bringing the dishes to the sink,” Ryder jumps up and starts collecting everyone’s bowls.

“That’s not fair,” Matt says as he tries to collect more bowls than Ryder.

A deep rumble comes from Asher behind me as he heads to the kitchen.

“Let’s go grab that one thing while they clean,” Lily says to Noah as she stands and pulls him to the kitchen where Ryder and Matt are arguing over who washes the dishes that they both grabbed.

Shaking my head I look down at an amused Charlie. “Do they always argue like that?” He glances down the hall where we can see them playing rock-paper-scissors.

“They argue over anything they think the other should be doing. The only time I don’t hear them bickering is on the ice, thankfully.”

“The season starts soon, doesn’t it?” He doesn’t look at me as he asks but I can see him chewing the corner of his bottom lip.

I gently pull it free as I turn his head back up to face me. “Our first game is Friday. I’d like it if you could come and watch us. I have a pair of noise-canceling headphones you can use, and I have tickets so you can sit right behind our bench.”

He shakes his head before I even finish. “I can’t. There are too many people and I don’t want to mess you up. Benji would ask me a million questions that I won’t answer.”

“You won’t mess me up, beautiful. Seeing you would make me happy, and I’ll want to impress you, so I’d probably play my best game.” I stroke the side of his face, enjoying how soft his skin is. “And Benji can mind his own damn business.”

“Maybe. I’ll have to work myself up to being in an arena like that again. The only game I’ve ever been to was the game when you guys won the trophy. I only went because Lily bribed me with tickets to the sold-out Linkin Park concert that had just been announced the day before.”

“I heard they went in a matter of minutes after they announced a new tour. But I get needing time for the game.” I look over my shoulder at the group and see that they’re still cleaning up the flour mess. “Want to go sit outside again? It’s a clear night which is perfect for star gazing.”

He looks at me startled. “You look at the stars too?” He sits up facing me. “I love watching the stars. It’s calming and reminds me that there’s more out there than just us. I spent a good amount of my childhood sleeping under the stars.”

I love this side of him. His face is lit up and the weight he’s been carrying all day has seemed to finally fade.

He stands up, grabs my hand, and pulls me to the sliding doors. Opening it he walks to the rail and looks up.

“Wow. You can see so many.” He spins in a slow circle, keeping his face to the night sky.

I don’t bother looking up when I have the brightest star right in front of me.

“How can they be seen so clearly? I can only see them from my place when it’s a clear night.”

I shrug even though he’s still looking up. “We’re a bit further out from the city lights and pollution so I’m sure that helps.”

He nods, not taking his eyes off the stars. I grab his hips and slowly pull him with me as I sit down, leaning back so he can keep looking up.

He settles his head on my shoulder, so I turn and bury my nose in his soft hair that smells like me. How does he make it smell so much better? I close my eyes and soak in the feel of his weight on me, knowing that he’s relaxed.

“Hey, how are you able to go to loud concerts with crowds of people but struggle at the store and hockey games?” I think out loud.

“Easy. I like going to concerts. Plus, the loud music drowns everything else out.” Shrugging, he shifts around on my lap. “I hate shopping because everyone’s voices together create a buzz in my head, and I can’t concentrate.” He tilts his face to look at me. “The game was okay, but I think the intensity of it all got to me. But at least I got, well had , a piece for my portfolio.”

“Can’t you cut Benji out and, I don’t know, glue it to a new page? Maybe make it into a collage?”

“Maybe.” He smiles softly as he leans back against me, returning to the stars.

We’re interrupted a few minutes later by Lily carrying out a cheesecake with a shit ton of lit candles on it. Charlie sits up with a smile on his gorgeous face as everyone starts singing to him.

“Happy Birthday Charlie!” We all shout at the end.

“Make a wish beautiful,” I whisper into his ear.

He closes his eyes for a beat, takes a deep breath, and blows out all the candles as he opens his eyes.

“Wow. Did you see his blowjob, Shane?” Matt wiggles his brows and laughs.

I give him the finger as everyone else laughs and Charlie turns back to the stars.

“Did you really fit twenty-one candles on that?” I ask Lily as she plucks them off and puts them on a small plate.

“You bet your sexy ass I did!” She smiles brightly at me as she sucks a bit of cheesecake off the end of a candle.

“Jax gets the first slice then you guys can fight over the rest.” She cuts a small piece and places it on a plate and stabs a fork in it, handing it to Charlie. But he’s lost to the stars, so she hands it to me with a knowing smile on her face.

“Jax?” I ask, setting the cake on the table next to me.

“He loved Sons of Anarchy, specifically Jax who’s played by Charlie Hunnam. Charlie and Charlie, get it?” She beams as she cuts another piece. “Would you like a slice before I let them loose,” she asks pointing the knife over her shoulder at Matt and Ryder who are comically trying not to hover. I look at the store- bought stiff cheesecake and shake my head. “Suit yourself.” She turns to the guys. “Back inside. I don’t need anyone falling off this balcony over a damn cake.” They follow her inside leaving me alone with Charlie once more.

I rub his back to get his attention. “Charlie Hunnam, huh? He is a fine -looking man. Though I liked him better as King Arthur. He’s a bit older than he was as Jax Teller so there’s more sweat and muscles.” He has a small smile on his face still tilted upwards.

I bounce my knee, getting his attention. “Would you like to eat your cheesecake?” I hold it up to his face.

“I don’t want to miss the stars. They’re so bright tonight.”

I pull the fork from where Lily stabbed it and scoop a small amount onto it. “Open,” I whisper next to his ear. He does so without taking his eyes from the sky. I feed him his slice of cheesecake bite after bite until it’s gone.

We sit out here until a chill works its way through my t-shirt.Charlie pulled the hood over his head a little while ago, so I know he’s getting cold too.

“I think we should head inside before it gets any colder.” He doesn’t say anything.

As I slowly sit up, I pull his hood off his face and see that he’s passed out. Chuckling lightly, I turn him over so his chest is on mine with his head resting on my shoulder. Standing, I carry him inside.

He told me earlier that today brings a lot of stress, and it drains him, which is why he tries to sleep through most of it. He also mentioned that sleeping pills help, but I had no idea they could make him sleep this muchThe lamp is on by the couch, but everyone has left.

I carry him to my bed and tuck him in. Smoothing the hair from his face, I place a light kiss on his cheek.

“Happy birthday, beautiful.”

I quietly step out of my room, leaving the door cracked. I check my phone to see if I have any messages, but it’s blank.

Where the hell did they all go?

I head for the kitchen and find a slice of cheesecake sitting on a plate next to a piece of paper with Asher’s familiar handwriting on it.

These animals weren’t ready to call it a night, so we’re heading to Benji’s party. I’ll try to get Ryder and Matt to leave at a decent time for practice but I’m not promising anything. -Ash

Party? Charlie hasn’t mentioned anything about a party. Did Benji invite him? That’s kind of fucked up if he didn’t tell his brother about a birthday party for them.

I know at least half the team will be there which means practice is going to be hell tomorrow…for them. Asher will leave once he’s met his people quota for the night, so I know he’ll be good.

I grab the plate, put it in the fridge while grabbing a bottle of water, and turn on the light over the stove and head back to my room. I quietly make my way to the side of the bed Charlie isn’t currently spread out on. I plug in my phone, double checking that my alarm is set then strip down to my boxers and slide in under the cool sheets.

Charlie rolls over and drapes his leg over mine while nuzzling my neck. With his hand on my ribs hugging me to him, I place mine on top of his and close my eyes.

It doesn’t take long for sleep to take me.