Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
I laughed. “Sorry, it’s a twofer deal.”
“I like your idea, but I also feel like it’s a cop-out for me. I was fine living by myself and having my own life, and suddenly everything’s been turned upside down.”
“I know. Just something to think about. We don’t have to make any decisions now.”
“Okay. But I’m all in for a new series.”
Ellis fell asleep less fitfully than me, but I eventually got there. I should’ve never proposed the idea. But my feelings were all over the map. After our conversation during Heartthrob, I’d been thinking about him in a new way.
And when I felt his chest against my back in the middle of the night and his hot breath on my neck, I shivered with raw need.
But then I heard him whimper, his limbs going still, and I knew he was having another nightmare. I turned toward him and saw him trembling all over.
“Ellis, you okay?” I shook him lightly. “You’re having another bad dream.”
Suddenly his eyes flew open and his breath whooshed out. “I’m sorry.”
“Shh, it’s okay. I’m here.” I maneuvered his body easily so we were lying with my chest to his back, and I threw my arm around his torso and pulled him in. He didn’t protest or fight me, just fell back asleep.
For my part, I was so hard I nearly came in my boxers. I tried to keep some distance between my groin and his ass, and I should’ve moved away. But I was obviously attracted to him. To my best friend. And I didn’t know what to do about it. I buried my head in his neck and smelled him, but I felt creepy too, like maybe he’d be angry if he knew what I was thinking.
Just the idea of losing his friendship over this terrified me. I wouldn’t pretend he felt the same, even after that conversation. He was a straight guy who had a traumatic experience and was relying on his friend to help him. I needed to remember that.
After another couple of minutes, Ellis shifted, turning over to drape his limbs over me. When I felt his stiff length against my hip, I stifled a gasp.
“Please,” he mumbled in his sleep. “Nolan.”
When I felt him press his groin firmly against me, my breath hitched.
“Are you…asleep?” I clicked the small lamp on the nightstand.
Ellis reached up to swipe at his eyes and answered in a bleary voice, “Fuck, what did I do this time? I wasn’t having a nightmare…it was something else…”
“Yeah, I think…maybe you’re horny?”
“Fucking hell.” He rolled away from me. “I’m…I’m sorry. I should’ve jacked off downstairs before I came up here. Maybe that would’ve helped.”
“It’s fine. I’m having the same problem. I can go to the bathroom again and take care of it if—”
“No, don’t. It’s your apartment. Do what you want,” he said, his words a bit slurred.
I swore under my breath, my head a confused mess as I tried to figure out what the hell to do. I reached inside my boxers and fisted the base of my cock, trying to calm it down before something embarrassing happened.
Ellis’s eyes went wide as his gaze followed my hand, but there was something else there too. Curiosity, maybe, mixed with…desire? Unless I was reading him all wrong, but something told me I wasn’t. We were both hard up, so anything was possible.
My hand stayed inside the fabric as I moved it from root to tip. “Is this…okay?” My heart was throbbing against my throat.
“Yeah, go for it.” His voice was throaty, his gaze still trained on the front of my boxers.
“I’ll be quick.” I pushed my underwear down my hips so the waistband fitted beneath my balls and tried to focus on getting myself off without meeting his eyes. But my pulse was pounding in my ears, and I could feel his gaze pressing in on me. Afraid of what I’d find, I stole a quick glance. Ellis watched me with bald eagerness in his expression.
My shoulders unwound. Damn, maybe this wasn’t a horrible idea after all. And the way my dick was standing at attention, I obviously liked what was happening. I bit off a moan as I jerked myself again, hoping to make it quick but also wanting to draw it out if it meant he’d keep looking at me like that.
Totally confusing.
“I can be fast too,” Ellis said, voice thick as he fisted his cock inside his boxers.
When our eyes met, his decision seemed to click in place as he pushed down his underwear, and I looked away to give him some privacy, which I swiftly realized was ridiculous because we were jacking off side by side in the same bed. I almost laughed out loud, but that could go either way—break up the tension or make it uncomfortable.