Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
My heart was pounding. I watched the muscles of his neck relax. His mouth loosened around my thumb and I pulled it out, gently brushing my fingertip against his slick lower lip.
So hot.
So fucking hot it was kind of shattering my brain, right now.
The night air was chilly on the wet skin. My heart was still beating so hard I swore he might be able to hear it. He kept breathing deeply next to me, both of us hanging in the moment.
He looked up at me, seemingly just as half-lidded and delirious as I was.
I kept searching his face for a sign.
“Good,” I finally said gently, nodding and praising him because I didn’t know what else to say. “Very good.”
I swallowed past my dry throat.
A few minutes ago, I hadn’t cared if this was a bad idea.
Now? I was increasingly certain that it had probably been a pretty terrible one.
Not that I regretted a second of it.
I just felt weird. Like everything I’d known was just flipped on its side.
But more importantly, I had to convince Ori that I didn’t feel weird. Because I never wanted him to think I was grossed out by what we’d done. It was hot as fuck, and the last thing I felt was grossed out.
“Damn,” he said softly, looking up at the sky.
“That was so fun,” I said, knowing my voice sounded awkward and overeager. “So much fun.”
When he looked over at me, he searched my face.
“You’re totally freaked out.”
“Fuck, no,” I said. “I’ll jerk off next to anybody, and you know it.”
Shit.
Did that make it sound worse? Like Ori was just anybody?
Thoughts raced through my mind all at once. I thanked the stars above when Ori stood up from the blanket and pulled in a breath, walking back toward the house.
“Need to clean off. You want a towel?”
“I’ll, uh, put out the fire. Be back inside in a minute,” I told him.
A moment later he disappeared inside. I was left with nothing but my own thoughts and the sound of the crickets, which sounded louder now, as if they were laughing at me.
Life had never felt easy for me, exactly, but one thing was certain: I’d always known who I was. I knew what my role was. What I was supposed to do.
First off, I was a Tennessee boy, born and raised.
I liked football, horses, country music, and intelligent women. I was going to try to have a good career, and a few hobbies.
And beyond that, one day, I would marry a fierce Tennessee country gal, show her love, and have a couple of kids. I was supposed to fix all of the things my parents hadn’t given me, and I’d vowed to live my life with a plan, with goals, on a clear path.
Ori had just tossed a fucking lit match onto my mental “life list,” though.
Get really turned on by your best friend was never on the list.
Scratch that.
Make yourself come next to your former best friend, who’s now sort of your rival, and also the only person you’ve ever felt truly comfortable around.
I’d checked that one off with flying colors.
Bonus points: shoot your load onto his arm.
Make him suck it off.
Holy lord above.
As I was gathering up the blanket a few minutes later, I heard the sound of the back door swinging open again.
“Get the fuck inside, Cumshot King,” Ori said, calling out toward me. “I put on British Baking so we can crash out on the couch. Also, we’re never doing that again, okay?”
My heart flooded with relief all at once, like a dam had broken inside me.
God fucking bless.
He’d acknowledged the weirdness, made a joke, and agreed that we would never do it again, all in one fell swoop.
Ori Adams, my hero. No filter, no hesitation. I knew he’d been my best friend for a reason.
“I’ll be in soon,” I said.
But a twinge of disappointment crept in as I made my way back inside, glancing back out at the extinguished fire pit.
Never again.
But it still felt really good, didn’t it?
7
ORI
They say nothing good happens after 2 a.m.
But really fucking hot things do.
I stepped out of the diner and onto Laurel Ave. Instantly I was met with the smell of barbecue. The sun was just starting to set, and a crowd of people were standing across the street near the Hard Spot.
“No wonder nobody was coming into Red Fox for the past hour,” I told Thomas as we spotted the Big Slab BBQ food truck parked across the street.
“They bring in food trucks for game night at the Hard Spot,” Danielle said from behind us. She’d just left Olivia with the babysitter for two hours so she could come with us.
“Guessing these game nights are kind of a big deal, if the crowd is any indication,” I said as we walked past the cobblestone corner on Laurel & Second St.