Page 15

Daniel

T he longer that Shawn stayed silent, the more anxious I became. The feeling that I should get off him, walk away, and lock myself in my room was becoming more and more overwhelming. Why the hell had I said that? We hated each other on the best of days, but here I was telling him about Reggie, my grandma’s stupid cat, and telling him about how much I liked the feel of his mouth against mine.

That, and he was hard again.

The ridge of his dick against my ass had my blood heating. It was the only thing keeping me glued to my spot. I wanted to soak in the feeling, to experience it while I could. He wasn’t shoving me away. That had to mean something.

Instead of him answering me, though, I was on my back, shoved into the cushions of the couch as Shawn’s tongue sought entry into my mouth once more.

Fuck. Yes.

This was exactly what I needed. I needed to feel a hard body, to forget that I’d had a humiliating morning between panic attacks about a phone call and seeing a damn kitten.

I gasped for air when Shawn trailed kisses and bites down my neck, his hands diving beneath the bottom edge of my hoodie. The muscles of my stomach jumped beneath his touch. When his teeth latched onto my throat and he sucked at the skin, a loud groan broke free from my chest. I was used to being the more dominant one in the bedroom, so to have someone take control over my body in such a way was a huge turn-on.

And fuck, was my dick on board with this. It was hard as steel, and when Shawn ground his hips against me, I nearly came right then and there. My eyes rolled back as my body took over, my hips rolling against his with each downward thrust.

The air was hot around us, and I struggled to pull in proper breaths as I clutched at Shawn’s back. Did this make me feel like a horny teenager? Fuck, yeah it did. I also didn’t care. It felt good. Too good. Why did it have to be him?

“You with me, babe?”

My eyes widened at the endearment, but I could only nod. Fuck, I was so close, and Shawn could call me whatever the hell wanted at this point, as long as it meant that I got to come.

One, two, three more pumps of his hard cock against mine, and it didn’t matter how many layers of clothes were between us. Hot cum soaked into my boxers as I stared at the ceiling in amazement.

I’d just made out with and dry-humped Shawn Stevens while stuck in his family cabin in the mountains.

“ A re you going to keep hiding out in there for the rest of the night?”

I stuffed my head under the pillow and tried to pretend I wasn’t there. It didn’t work. Shawn knocked again. “Come on. I put the cat back in my room. I fed him and I found a bunch of old shredded paper in my dad’s office. It’s not perfect, but unless you have another idea for a litter box...”

I got up and threw open the door. “Like I have any idea what would make a good litter box.”

That was a mistake. A smug smirk stretched across Shawn’s face as he crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. “Got you to open the door, though.”

I rolled my eyes and slunk back into the room, collapsing on the edge of the bed. Of course, Shawn didn’t take it as a sign that I wanted to be left alone. He sat right next to me. When his fingers trailed down the side of my neck, I jumped at the contact. Goosebumps exploded down my arms.

“Does that hurt?”

I closed my eyes, knowing exactly what he was talking about. When I’d taken my hoodie off, there’d been a purple bruise where he’d been sucking on me. It had been stupid of me to let him mark me in any way without knowing when anyone would show up here, but I had been too caught up in the moment. Too drawn in by the way my body had lit up at his touch and the way his fingers had felt trailing across my chest.

Damn.

I rolled away from him and stood up. The mirror was on the other side of the room, but the mark was so prominent that I could see it from where I was standing.

“Honestly? I didn’t even realize you’d done it at first...”

When Shawn stood next to me, I did my best not to flinch when he wrapped an arm around my waist and pressed his nose into the spot. Little zaps and zings shot down my spine. Now was not the time to get turned on by him. I needed to stop avoiding him and we needed to talk about what the hell had happened. I shouldn’t have let it get that far, but part of me wanted to let it go there again. To go further. To let me finally get a taste of what I’d been craving, even if it was Shawn.

“Are you mad?”

My breath caught. I wanted to shove him away, to tell him to stop touching me, but the second he kissed the hickey I was goo. Completely gone for the guy who made me want to slap him most of the time.

“Not—not exactly.”

Everything felt cold when Shawn pulled away. Even if a moment ago I’d been wavering, now all I wanted was his warmth.

Shawn said nothing as he walked out of the room, leaving me to stare at his retreating back. Had I read that entire conversation wrong?

“The hell?” The words were out of my mouth as I stomped out of the room and followed him down the hall. He had just opened his bedroom door when I caught up to him. Shawn turned wide eyes on me as I shoved him into the room. “What the fuck do you want from me? You’re the one who came and bothered me. I don’t understand what you get out of messing with my head. Is this a game to you?”

My fists clenched in the front of his shirt, pushing him further into the room. “It’s not a game. I don’t think you understand what you want.”

I laughed, shoving him onto the bed. This wasn’t me. I wasn’t the person who got aggressive like this.

“I don’t know what I want? The biggest fucking joke I’ve ever heard. Not once have I ever been shy about asking for what I want, and do you know what it gets me? Laughed at. You’re just like everyone else.”

When Shawn’s eyebrows creased, I knew I’d said too much. It wasn’t fair to keep projecting all of that onto him, but how dare he try to say that I didn’t know what I was after? Maybe he wasn’t just like Art, after all; maybe he was worse.

Words tumbled uninhibited from between my lips. They’d started and there was no way to stop the avalanche once it’d begun. “I’ve been bi since I can remember. The first time I asked a guy if I could touch him, he laughed. Told me I could get fucking lost. The worst part is the fucker was my best friend. Was being the important distinction there. And yet I let him continue to dangle it in front of my face for years.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Shawn had scooted to the edge of the bed, moving closer. He reached out to grab my arm, but letting him touch me would be a disaster. I needed to talk, needing him to understand the way I ticked.

“I shared my best friend’s girlfriend because it was the only time I got to be with him in any capacity. Was that fucked up? Maybe. I was desperate. The asshole took advantage time and time again and I shouldn’t have been surprised...”

I didn’t get to finish. Shawn was off the bed, hands in my hair, with his mouth slammed over mine. He took my breath away, and I clung to his shirt again, this time pulling him closer instead of shoving him away.

“You’re right, he is an ass,” Shawn panted as he pulled away for a moment. “But if he hadn’t, you wouldn’t be right here, right now.”

Warm fingers grabbed the bottom edge of my t-shirt and I let Shawn go long enough to let him pull it over my head.