“What if they went door to door to find you?”
“They probably wouldn’t go that far,” he said hesitantly. “I mean, it’s unlikely.”
“You talk about the press like them being all over you is completely normal.”
“Because this is my life.”
I put my hand on his cheek and he covered it instantly with his. “I’m sorry. That kind of attention must get very wearing.”
“I love the fans part of it, talking to all kinds of different people, but the rest of it is not that much fun.”
“I wonder if it gets better or worse once you go pro.”
“That’s a very good question.”
“Well, I definitely don’t want to be the cause of bringing any more scrutiny your way.”
“That might not be something you have control over and maybe I don’t actually care.”
“But you should.”
He didn’t appear convinced and instead more like he was working things out in his head.
Inside my apartment, I shoved him through the living room to my bedroom. I grabbed a couple of bottled waters, and by the time I got to my room, he was stretched out on my bed, shoes off, sweater vest off, petting my stupid cat. Boaz had his head rubbing under Carson’s chin as his own was scratched. The purring was deafening.
“Sorry about that.”
“No,” he sighed, smiling when Boaz walked imperiously to the end of the bed and spoke to me. “He’s a beauty.”
“He’s a pain,” I told him, even as I bent to touch noses with my feline friend.
“Yeah, I can tell you hate him.”
I chuckled as Boaz, having met Carson and greeted me, went to take his normal perch in the living room on the ledge overlooking the parking lot. After closing my bedroom door and locking it, I walked over and offered him the water.
He caught my wrist gently but firmly. “Lie down by me. I wanna talk to you.”
I toed off my red Chuck Taylors, pulled my sweater up over my head, left the T-shirt underneath on, and then just stood there.
“Come on, please.”
I stretched out beside him so both of us had our heads on my pillow.
“You really think I would try to sabotage myself?”
“This is the craziest conversation ever.”
“How so?” he asked, propping himself up on his elbow so he was looking down at me.
“You don’t know me at all.”
“I know you.”
I shook my head before I closed my eyes.
“You were honest today when you said that if I’d shown you who I was last night, you would have made the posters for me. You didn’t blow off your buddy to be at my party, and you let me be here.” He exhaled before I felt his fingertips on my eyelashes. “And you say what you’re thinking and don’t worry about hurting my feelings.”
“Does that happen to you a lot?” I asked, opening my eyes to look up into his.
He nodded. “Yeah, that happens a lot. Everybody lies to me all the time.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, lifting my hand to his cheek.
He released another deep breath and leaned into it, his eyes fluttering shut before a tremble ran through him.
“What’s wrong?”
“You gotta not run away from me, okay?”
“What are you talking about?”
His eyes drifted open, and he bent down and kissed me.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and opened for him, my tongue sliding over his as he pushed in deeper.
He felt good, all that power and heat pinning me to the bed, and after a minute of feeling like I was going to melt, I tore my mouth free and asked if he had a condom.
“What?” he asked, pupils blown, glazed expression on his face, flushed and panting.
“Do you have a condom?”
He shook his head.
“Well, you’re lucky I do,” I said, pointing at my nightstand. “There’s lube and condoms in there. Get them both.”
He did as he was told, and as he rummaged, I started taking off my clothes.
“Oh God.”
I froze under his stare. “What?”
“I wanna… see,” he almost whined, lube dropped, condoms forgotten as he bent and kissed the soft skin of my stomach, sucking it into his mouth before he began nibbling below my navel, one hand sliding up my chest, holding me down while the other went to work on my belt.
“What’re you doing? You don’t know how to—ah!”
His nose bumping over my erection through my briefs was hotter than any guy’s hand had ever been. The way his breath hitched, how he tugged at the zipper, was so sexy. When I lifted up off the bed, shucking briefs and jeans down all at once, allowing my cock to bob free, his groan sent a shiver through my entire body.
“I read, you know? I’ve watched stuff.”
Had he? “Okay.”
“I won’t… hurt you.”
“I know.”
“I have things I wanna try… wanna do.”
“Like what?”
“I wanna put this in my mouth.”
“Have you ever done that before?”
He mumbled an answer.
“Carson?”
“Not a real one.”