“She obviously covers her sadness well.”
“Why didn’t he come for her?”
“I can’t speak for him… hell, I don’t even know the guy, but my guess is pride and love.”
“Pride and love?”
“Yeah. If they loved each other as much as she relayed, then he knew within hours that she didn’t mean what she said. He figured out it was coming from her father. At that point, any man’s pride would take a hit. He also may have been betrayed by a man he respected and thought highly of.”
“What about the love part?”
“He loved her enough to let her go. His role in life changed. He was trying to take care of his family.”
“But she was his family!”
“Maybe so… but she was going to give up an opportunity for a college degree for him. He was looking down the barrel of an unknown future. Learning the everyday business of his dad’s shop was going to consume him. He figured it out and let her walk away, knowing he was doing what was best for her. Pretty much, he was as selfless as her.”
“That’s a complete tragedy! Would you let me walk away?”
He doesn’t answer, and the silence stretches until I become uncomfortable. I roll to the side and see him staring at the ceiling, his face blank.
“Bryce?”
“I honestly don’t know what I’d do in that situation. In my mind, we had our own tragedy. It still kills me that if I’d have come to you and told you my feelings, we may have been together. That’s something that will stay with me forever. But at the time, I thought it was for the best.”
I put my head back on his chest and feel his heart racing. Talking about the year and half I spent avoiding him always puts him in a somber mood. Even as far as we’ve come, he’s in his own form of pain when we talk about it. For so long, I believed it was the loss of the baby, but now I know. It was the future he was facing.
We sit in silence for a few seconds in our own thoughts, the heaviness of the conversation weighing us down. A thought pops into my head that will ease the tension. It also makes my body tingle.
“Do you trust me, Bryce?”
“With everything.”
“I have a small surprise for you, but I need you to strip and promise to keep your eyes closed.”
His lips twist into his sexy as sin smile. “This I can do.” He lifts up, tearing the shirt over his head and removing his shorts in a quick motion.
I roll off the bed and turn to him. “Time to close your eyes, and under no circumstances can you open them until I say so.”
He does as I say, and I run into my closet, changing quickly. When I come out, he’s got his hands behind his head and is wearing nothing but a smug grin, the boxers tossed on the floor. As if he knew what to expect, his hard, long cock is lying against his stomach.
My brain screams at me to jump him, but I fight to stick with my plan. I crawl up the bed, kissing along both his calves and position my hands under his ass. He tenses at my touch but relaxes when I start to massage gently.
“Babe.”
“Here’s the deal. Do not open your eyes. If you do, I’ll stop. And believe me, you don’t want me to stop. You may not understand until later, but this is something I hope you’ll remember forever.”
“Eyes are closed,” he agrees, smirking.
“No matter what, Bryce—eyes closed. I’m watching you.”
He nods unconvincingly.
There’s no way he’s going to listen, but it’ll be fun to watch him try.
I run my tongue along the vein of his inner leg until I reach the top of his thigh. Then I repeat on the other leg. He squirms underneath. My mouth nips and licks from hipbone to hipbone, teasing him. When my lips graze the tip of his dick, he inhales loudly. Instead of sucking him in, I lick lower until his balls are in my mouth. Gently, I alternate rolling them with my tongue.
He starts to pant, placing his hands on my head. His fingers thread through my hair, trying to guide me, but I resist. My mouth moves up, slipping his head between my lips. I play with him for a few minutes, wanting him to beg, but he bites his lower lip, forcing his eyes closed.