Thick as Thieves (Aster Valley 4)

Parker’s challenging gaze made me feel a kind of nervous excitement.

I nodded. “We are.”

He leaned over and pressed a kiss to the side of my face before speaking in a low voice in my ear. “I’m going to force you to relax, Peanut. Even if it takes days and days of my mouth on your hard cock.”

My eyes slid closed. “You’re tempting me, Shortbread.”

“You going to teach me how to please you, Julian?” His strong fingers trailed lightly over the back of my hand and traced the outline of my middle finger. “Show me again how good it can be with a man?”

“No.” The possessive fire I’d tried to bank earlier flared back to life as I opened my eyes. “I’m going to show you how good it can be with me. Because there’s never going to be anyone else. Not for either of us.”

“Exactly,” he breathed. He moved his lips over to brush across mine. “Finally, you understand.”

What I understood was that it was time for us to go back to our suite. But when he bit his lip hesitantly, I realized there was more on his mind… and for Parker, I could be patient.

“I’ve been thinking,” he finally said. “Didn’t you tell me about a friend of yours from college who was only sexually attracted to people after she’d formed a strong emotional connection to them?”

“Oh, right.” I nodded, trying to clear my head from the sexual haze. “Ingrid. I met her at a queer student mixer, and we ended up living next to each other the year we graduated. You met her when you visited for that ski competition, and we watched movies all night. She identifies as demisexual.”

“I think that makes the most sense. For me, I mean.” He took another sip of wine. I could tell he was processing important thoughts, so I stayed quiet. “I never wanted random hookups. I wasn’t attracted to people that way. But I like… I like taking our close relationship further. It was sort of like that with Erin, too. I think I had the wrong idea about demisexuality before—like, if I was demi, I should also have been attracted to Tiller or Hazel, or anyone else I considered a close friend. But I never was.”

“None of it is black or white, babe,” I reminded him. “I identify as gay, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t gotten hard for a woman before. It’s not that cut-and-dried. Just because demi means you need a closer relationship before feeling sexual attraction doesn’t mean you’ll be sexually attracted to everyone you have a close relationship with.”

I could tell he was ready to move on from the heavy discussion when his eyes got a teasing glint in them. “Tell me what woman made you pop wood. And how have I not heard about this before?”

I rolled my eyes. “Never mind.”

“Spill. I demand it. As your best friend and boyfriend, I have certain rights. Full disclosure is one of them. We keep no secrets in this relationship, Julian.”

I kicked his leg under the table, causing him to make an exaggerated oof sound. “Fine, but if you use this against me later, I’m going to get my Sharpie out in the middle of the night and make you sorry.”

He gave me a quicksilver grin. “Oh, I don’t know. I think I might like wearing your ink the way you wear mine.”

I barely restrained a growl.

Or, actually, maybe I didn’t restrain it entirely, because Parker’s hold on me tightened, and his head tilted back with the force of his laughter.

Answering happiness bubbled up in my chest, leaving me feeling light and relaxed for the first time in a long time.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. Remember when we went to that strip club for John Tolliver’s bachelor thing?”

Parker nodded.

“There was a woman dressed in a red sparkly thong and lacy bra that did it for me for some reason. Don’t ask me why.”

Parker’s jaw dropped. “I know why. Oh my fucking god, you’re an idiot. You follow that guy on Instagram who does burlesque and dresses in that kind of thing all the time. She reminded you of him. A guy. You’re so gay. Even when you pop wood for a chick, it’s because of a dude.”

I stared at him for a beat before remembering exactly who he was talking about. My face heated. “Wait, how do you know I follow him?”

Now it was Parker’s turn to blush. “I… I pay attention.”

He was totally lying. “What happened to the no secrets in this relationship thing, Parks? Full disclosure is sacrosanct in our new paradigm, right?” I crossed my legs and leaned back, taking another sip of wine and studying his reaction. He was adorably flustered.

He groaned and buried his face in his hands. “I may or may not have kept an eye on who you follow on social media, but… and before you freak out, just listen… it’s because you follow a bunch of really cool people like the woman who shuffle dances and the guy who rides the unicycle. And the family who sings sea shanties and the little cat who always cuddles with that giant dog.”