Thirteen
Phoenix
My hopes for things to be smooth sailing after the drive down are quickly snuffed out once Kason and Holden found out they’d be—quite literally—bunking together.
I swear, Holden is going out of his way in retaliation for it, and by day two of this messed-up vacation I’ve found myself on, my frustration is at an all-time high.
I don’t even feel at home at my own vacation house, and it’s got everything to do with all those damn football players currently taking over the condo.
Well, four of them are fine. It’s mostly their quarterback I’m taking issue with.
I glance off the back balcony of my room—the master my parents usually take—and down at the idiots in the pool below.
Luca and Harrison are playing some weird version of chicken against Kason and Wyatt while Noah and Theo act as referees. Meanwhile, Holden is perched on the giant flamingo float my little sister loves, drink in hand, without a care in the world.
Fuck, I can’t stand him.
What’s more, I can’t stand the way my body wants him.
Craves him after that stunt I pulled in his bedroom.
The feeling’s only gotten worse over the past few days, too.
One, because I keep catching his gaze or find him watching me when I look his way.
And two, because he’s always half-naked, making it impossible to ignore him and all his sinful glory.
Like right now.
My eyes trace over his shirtless form sprawled over the inflatable.
Even in a pair of fucking light pink trunks with bananas all over them—a level of ridiculous that should make him look idiotic, not sexier—he nearly reaches God-like perfection.
Especially the way they hang low on his hips, drawing my eyes down the smooth, lean muscles of his abdomen to focus on a sinful V carved from stone.
And soon enough, my mind starts thinking about him. Recalling memories it has no right to. About him and how it felt to be inside him, his skin hot against mine as his ass clenches—
Shit.
The frustration I’ve already been feeling only grows into self-loathing when I glance down, noting the way my cock is straining against the zipper of my shorts.
Of course, the asshole only amps up my irritation when he catches me staring down at the pool and raises a hand to his head, giving me a mock salute.
A growl rumbles from my chest as I storm back inside, letting the screen door slam closed behind me.
I’m so sick of him and his constant presence. Of the reminders of that night in May, which never ceases when he’s around. Especially with his body on display.
It’s infuriating. He’s infuriating.
I need to release some of this tension coiled up inside me like a snake. If I don’t, who knows what I’ll be liable to do. Which is why I find myself stripping out of my board shorts and sprawling over the king-size bed before taking my aching cock in hand.
It’s just a fantasy. No one has to know.
The mantra bounces around in my head as I do the very thing I’ve prevented since finding out Kason was interested in Holden.
I open the box in my head where I’ve locked away those stolen moments with the campus playboy…
and I let the memories of our night together in the Kappa Sig house take hold of me.
The heat of his breath against my skin as it skimmed over my pecs and down my stomach. The swirl of his tongue around my cock before he took me deep to the back of his throat. His soft groans and pants as I fucked him—hard and ruthlessly—like he was the only thing grounding me to Earth.
And God, the way his ass clamped around my length as he came, long and hard, with a moan that will remain ingrained in my brain for the rest of my life.
Every one of those moments is a mini highlight reel in my mind, and I mentally shuffle through each clip as my hand moves over my shaft. Reliving them one by one as I bring myself closer to release.
The pressure in my balls has built to a cataclysmic level, and if I don’t come soon, spontaneous combustion might be my demise. My movements become quicker and more sporadic as I chase my climax toward the cliff. I’m almost there, ready to hurdle myself over the edge and—
“Well, if this isn’t a sight.”
My eyes fly open the second his voice registers, but not even hearing his voice could prepare me for Holden standing in the open doorway—half-naked and blond hair still dripping wet from the pool—while I’ve got my cock in my hand.
“What the hell are you doing?” I snap, pulling myself up into a sitting position against the headboard, and grab the sheet in a sorry attempt to hide the evidence of what I was doing.
I don’t know why I bother since he already got an eyeful.
And God only knows how long he was standing in the doorway, watching me before he even spoke up.
His brow kicks up and he nods toward me. “I could ask you the same thing.”
“I meant, what the hell are you doing in my room, uninvited.”
“Oh,” he says, stepping through the threshold and closing the door behind him. “I just wanted to see where you were off pouting.”
“I’m not pouting.”
“Clearly not,” he says, nodding to where my aching cock is still pitching a tent below the sheets. “Need some help with that?”
My jaw ticks as my temper flares. “Are you being fucking serious right now?”
He shrugs and leans back against the closed door, but I don’t miss the heat in his eyes as he stares at me. “Just making an offer.”
“The fact that you even offered only serves to prove my point,” I snap, grabbing a pillow to cover myself completely. “You’re just looking to get laid. It doesn’t matter with who.”
“Hmm,” he hums, arms crossed over his chest. “Too bad. Because if there’s one good thing that comes outta being a man-whore, it’s knowing how to give.”
“Can you just get out of here?”
A wicked smile curves his mouth. “But where’s the fun in that, Nix?”
“The fun is me having some peace and quiet away from you.”
“You’re the one who left the door unlocked,” he says, and instead of moving to leave, he takes a step further into the room. “Maybe you were hoping for the guy you’re thinking about to join you.”
I’m fully aware he thinks I was just jerking it to Kason, but knowing it was him— us— only makes his statement all the more horrifying.
“Get out. I’m not asking this time.”
“Or maybe you were hoping I’d return the favor from the night back in my room.” The smile on his sinful lips turns into an ear-to-ear grin as he pulls the pillow out of my grip to reveal my erection still tenting the sheet.
I’m both slightly impressed at my cock still being harder than granite despite Holden’s interruption and mortified about him being the reason it’s like this in the first place. But if he wants to believe it’s because of Kason, that’s fine. It’s better than him knowing the reality.
His eyes don’t leave mine as he peels the sheet back, letting it pool at my knees, before taking a seat on the edge of the mattress.
I can feel his body heat radiating against my bare skin, and the second his eyes finally drop down to where my cock salutes him, I might as well be doused in lighter fluid and set ablaze.
I’m consumed in white-hot desire.
My gaze lifts to his, watching his expression as he takes me in, and it’s immediately apparent that he’s as affected as I am. I just don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing.
Regardless, I’ll chalk it up to him being sex-starved due to our little wager, and not because he actually wants—
Don’t go there.
“What’re you doing?” I whisper, and I hate how breathy and turned-on it sounds. But he’s so close, mere inches away, and the scent of sunscreen and what must be his body wash wafts over me as the breeze blows through the open window.
Why does he have to smell as good as he looks? It should be a sin against humanity.
“You left me hard, naked, and handcuffed to my bed for my roommates to find,” he murmurs. “I think it’s about time we were even.”
Panic sets in, not entirely sure what he’s planning in retaliation here. But beneath the worry, I realize there is a fair amount of anticipation too, which only means I’m as fucked in the head as I am stupid.
“You brought the handcuffs, did you?”
A sharp gasp leaves my lips as he runs his thumb from the base of my shaft up to the head. My cock twitches as he rubs the sensitive underside just below the tip, and the pressure is just enough to have my balls drawing up, ready for release once again.
“Nah,” he whispers. “I just want to fuck with your head as much as you’ve been fucking with mine lately.”
My breath hitches as he continues massaging that singular spot, simultaneously building my pleasure and dragging it out of me in soft pants and moans.
It’s the strangest juxtaposition I’ve ever felt.
And if this is what he can do with two fingers, I can only imagine what he can do with—
“Do you want to come?” he whispers, breaking through my thoughts.
I hadn’t realized I’d closed my eyes, letting go and simply allowing myself to feel. But when my lids lift, and I catch Holden staring at me, I’m left breathless.
His eyes are locked on my face, watching and gauging my every reaction as he touches me. Two plush lips are slightly parted and glistening, like he’s recently wet them, and the idiotic, self-destructive side of me wants nothing more than to lean in and take them as mine.
A part of me almost wins out until he speaks again.
“Are you going to answer me, Nix? Or are you content to just stare at my pretty face?”
“Repeat the question,” I utter softly.
The corner of his mouth curls into the tiniest, yet sexiest, smirk I’ve seen yet. “I asked if you wanted to come.”
God, yes.
I want it more than anything. I need this release more than I need food, water, oxygen. There’s a possibility I might die without it—or worse, my dick could fall right off from the worst case of blue balls in history.
Yet I can’t bring myself to answer him.