"Did I?" I barked out.
"No," he responded and then to my disbelief, he turned and began to walk away. I found myself grabbing his arm and pulling him back.
"Wait, that's it?" I asked, surprised. I’d expected an interrogation. I’d expected him to ask what it all meant. I’d expected him to want to know how I felt about the whole thing.
"That's it," Brooks said. "That's how these things work, right? Relax, Xavier. You’re not my first hookup. I know the game. So clear your conscience. I knew none of the stuff you said last night was real. We had a good fuck. Let off some steam. Nothing more, nothing less."
He was saying everything right, and his voice sounded unaffected. He was calm, cool, collected. He had his arms crossed and was watching me as if he believed everything he was saying, even though I was certain the look in his eyes didn’t match his words.
Why did I care? Why the fuck was his reaction pissing me off? He wasn't being clingy or possessive. It was, in fact, an almost perfect response.
"Is that all you wanted?" Brooks asked. He seemed impatient and I wondered if he was more interested in getting back to his precious numbers than being around me. I was unreasonably angry and frustrated and that just pissed me off more. Frustration had my blood running hot beneath my skin, and I found myself flexing my fingers so I wouldn’t reach for him and demand the truth.
I told myself to answer him, but the words wouldn't come. Brooks stood there for a moment, then murmured, "I’ve got work to do." He held up the paper and added, "Thanks. I'll talk to Uncle Curtis about this." And with that, he began to walk away again. The sight of his back set something off inside of me. I took a few big strides to catch up with him and grabbed his arm once again. I yanked him backward and turned him so he slammed into my chest.
"Xavier—" he began to say in confusion, but when I settled my mouth over his, he moaned. There was absolutely no resistance as he hungrily kissed me back. Something inside of me shifted once again and that agitation I'd been feeling was quickly replaced with a sense of victory. Not that I’d bested him in any kind of way, but that he still wanted this…me. That he was as desperate for my mouth as I was for his.
I clasped his face so I could hold his head as I kissed him in every way I wanted. He surrendered to my will and let me control the kiss. His hands moved to my back and slipped beneath my shirt. The feel of his long, firm fingers pressing into my skin was heaven.
I released Brooks's mouth long enough to press kisses down the column of his neck. I didn't miss the sight of the faint bruises on his throat from where I’d held him the night before as I’d fucked into him. When I reached the marks I’d left on him with my teeth, my cock jerked hungrily in my pants. Brooks’s fingers dipped beneath the waistband of my jeans as I examined the red marks on his neck.
"Does this hurt?" I asked as I nuzzled the area.
"Nuh-uh," Brooks said on a breathy moan as his hands settled on my bare ass. "I couldn't stop staring at it in the mirror last night," Brooks whispered.
His words jerked me to attention and I pulled back so I could look him in the eye. "What?" I asked.
He blushed prettily. "Nothing," he murmured. "Forget I said that." He went to kiss me, but I grabbed him gently by the throat. I walked him backward until he had a stack of hay bales behind him. The man was pressing all the right buttons inside of me and he had no fucking clue. Brooks moaned when I held him against the hay.
"Say that again," I demanded.
He seemed to know what I was talking about. His pupils were blown and he was panting heavily. His hands had moved up my back again, but he was doing nothing more than hanging on to me at that point. I sensed it was a defining moment between us. I'd been with plenty of guys who liked it rough, but it wasn't something I’d ever talked about with any of them. It had just been understood. And there'd always been the sense of shame within me that I liked being aggressive with the man I was with. Many times, I’d had to temper myself with them.
"I took a shower last night after we…" Brooks began. I could see he was suddenly nervous, but that didn't silence him. I had this strange feeling of pride that even though he might've been embarrassed to talk about it, he was, in fact, talking about it. It meant that maybe he trusted me just a little bit.