Chapter 11 #2
“I’m assuming you don’t want to talk about mine, either?”
“Reid.”
“Okay, okay.” He laughed again before growing quiet. “There is something I’ve been meaning to ask you, but you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“Now that doesn’t sound like the man who demanded to know ‘everything’ about me.”
“I was trying to give you an out, but you’re right. You have to tell me.”
I chuckled as I moved to my side and propped myself up on my elbow to prepare for whatever he had coming my way. “Go ahead. Shoot.”
“Okay.” He clasped his hands in his lap. “When did you know you were gay?”
“That’s it?”
“What? That’s a pretty personal question.”
“The way you made it sound, I thought you were asking for vault-type stuff.”
“Oh, that sounds juicy. Can I have the vault stuff too?”
“Maybe one day if you ask nicely,” I said, winking. “And to answer your question, I think I’ve always known. I don’t remember a moment where it was ever a flashbulb moment for me. It just always was.”
“And your family knew?”
“They knew. They sat me down for ‘the talk,’ you know the one, and man. My dad handled it like a champ.” I ran my hand along the stubble on my cheek as I thought back.
“I don’t think he’d ever known a gay man in his life, but he never got embarrassed or held back from telling me exactly what to expect and how to stay safe.
I don’t think I ever respected him more than I did then.
Sometimes it can be hard in a conservative town to be someone outside the majority box, but I never felt anything other than pride when he looked at me. That goes for my mom, too.”
“They sound like good people to me.”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “The best.”
Reid looked down at his fidgeting hands. “I haven’t told my family about you yet.”
“I figured as much.”
“Does that upset you?”
“No,” I answered. “That’s your call. I’ll never pressure you to do anything you aren’t ready to do.
I mean, you may wake up tomorrow and decide you don’t want to do this.
And that would be okay.” Wrong. It would hurt like a motherfucker.
“You’ve had a shit-ton’s worth happen over the last few months, and you’re allowed to take things at whatever pace you’re comfortable with. ”
Reid lay down on his side and mimicked my pose, propped up on his elbow. “Ollie?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t ever see changing my mind about you.”
His words melted my heart, but I wasn’t foolish enough to believe them—not yet.
“Can I ask you another question?”
“No. Yes.”
“How do you… Um. I mean, how does it work when you…” A blush hit his cheeks as he struggled to say whatever he was curious about. “Like do you…or does someone… Ah, shit. I don’t know what I’m trying to say—”
“Are you asking me if I’m a top or a bottom?”
“Uh… I don’t know what that means.”
No shit, Ollie, of course he doesn’t. “It basically means do I like to fuck or do I like to be fucked.”
“Oh.” His blush deepened. “Then, yes, that’s what I meant.”
“I thought so. And you don’t have to feel shy about asking. That’s a normal question and pretty important when you’re getting to know someone you may want to be with that way. Truthfully, my preference is that I like to bottom—that’s being fucked—but I would switch and top someone I cared about.”
Reid nodded and stayed quiet for a long time, but after a minute passed and he still didn’t say anything, I said, “Is that too much to take in?”
“Huh? Oh, no, no. I was…filing that away for later.”
“Okay. And just so you know, there’s no rush here, okay? I want to spend time with you, in whatever form that takes.”
He reached out for me and ran his hand up my arm. “Thank you for bringing me here. For showing me this part of you.”
“Better to know what you’re getting yourself into now.”
“Trust me, I’m not complaining. Not even close.” Reid bit down on the inside of his cheek and seemed to debate with himself. “What if…I wanted more? Would that be okay?”
Fuck yes, I wanted to say, but I forced myself to temper my reaction. “I think I could handle that.”
“Yeah?” He moved his hand over my shoulder, up my neck, and then back down, but this time he trailed his fingers down my chest. I took in a shaky breath as my stomach tightened beneath his touch, and when he reached the edge of my shirt, his eyes flicked up to mine.
“May I?” he asked.
When I nodded, his hand disappeared beneath the fabric, and my skin tingled where his fingers skimmed over my abs and the space between my pecs. Then his thumb brushed across my hardened nipple, and I sucked in a breath and had to bite down on my lip to keep from moaning.
He scooted closer, until our bodies were aligned, and then pushed his knee between my thighs, opening them so our legs tangled and he could wrap his arm around my waist. As I sealed our lips together, his hips began to rock against mine, and the friction of our pants rubbing against our erections, the feel of his moving with mine, and the knowledge that it was me and my body that had caused this reaction in Reid…
I wanted to fucking explode. I couldn’t get enough, and I knew I wouldn’t last long if we kept going.
Reid was the first to break away, breathing hard, and though I didn’t want to stop, I also didn’t want his first experience with me to be on a patch of dirt. I wanted us to be able to take our time, and I wanted to lick and suck and kiss every inch of his lean body—
“Ollie.” Reid’s voice was husky and filled with need. “Can we…”
“Yes?”
“Can we go back to your place?” I didn’t miss the way his hips shifted as he laid out his request, or the way my heart rate went up another notch. “I want to…”
Oh fuck. As his hand squeezed my ass, pressing us closer, Reid didn’t even have to finish his sentence.
I could feel his pulse beneath my fingers, racing as fast as mine.
I knew exactly what he wanted. What I wanted, too.
How the hell I was supposed to drive us home with the raging erection I was now sporting, I didn’t know, because I was harder than I’d ever been, and it was all for him.
“Yes,” I whispered, then kissed him again, deep and eager, letting him know I was up—in more ways than one—for whatever he wanted to do.
After we untwined ourselves from each other and got to our feet, Reid helped me throw everything in the backpack, and when I saw the evidence of his arousal pressed firmly against his pants, I had to tell myself to stop and think of something, anything else before I blew my load in my jeans without him even touching me.
And…shit. He wanted to touch me. The same way I wanted to touch him. I could see it in his stare and feel it in the vibration between us.
I only prayed I could get us home before combusting.