Chapter 11 River #2
My friend’s eyes softened with a frown. I fully expected him to press me for more information since he usually had a way of getting details out of me. But this time, similar to when he woke me up from nightmares, he wanted me to decide to share.
He tossed a handful of chips into his mouth. “What do you want me to make?”
“Fettuccine Alfredo,” I answered.
“Why Alfredo?”
“Because it’s his favorite.” At least, it used to be.
Nodding, he told me, “You’re lucky you’re my brother.”
“The luckiest in the world.”
Carson immediately began searching the cabinets for ingredients. Of the two of us, he was by far the better cook, which is why I asked him to do it. Burnt pasta wouldn’t be the best gift for Alex.
“Also, could you do me a favor and call Loretta back?” Carson shut the cabinet door. “You’ve been dodging her calls so much that she is getting on me for it instead.”
Suddenly feeling tight in the chest, I coughed. “I’m not dodging her calls.”
“When’s the last time you talked to her?”
I thought about it. “I’m not sure.”
Carson’s jaw dropped. “Dude.”
“I know it’s bad. I don’t need you to make me feel worse,” I groaned.
“Look, man. I totally understand why you’re avoiding her, but that is unfair to her.” Putting a comforting hand on my shoulder, he sighed. “Call your momma, River.”
Carson was right. He was always right.
While he got to work on dinner, I sent Alex the address. He replied within five seconds with a thumbs up, which gave me no clue when he was planning on showing up. Awesome.
I passed the time playing FIFA because it was the only game that would distract me. It wasn’t much longer before I heard a knock on the door, completely catching me off guard. I ended the game and rushed to the front door, but not before I took a moment to calm myself.
“Hi,” he almost beamed.
“Hey.” I returned the grin.
And then silence.
Alex wore a gray hoodie—my gray hoodie I lent him days ago—and basketball shorts. It made me smirk. Seeing him in my hoodie that was so big it reached his thighs made something spark inside me.
“Can I come in, or…?”
I took one big step to the left to let him pass me. He waltzed in like he’d been here before, but the way he took in every inch of the room proved he hadn’t.
“Nice place,” he complimented.
“Thanks.”
More silence. Since when was I one to act so awkwardly?
“Sorry, I’m wearing your sweatshirt. I washed it so I could bring it back to you, but it got cold on the way here.” Alex chuckled as he wrapped his arms around his torso. “So, what exactly did you want help with?”
Shit, I already forgot about that.
“Oh, uh,” I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly, “let’s go to my room and get my laptop.”
He took in the decorations and layout of my place as I led him to my bedroom.
It wasn’t much, just some old posters from my bedroom in my parents’ house and a random vase my mom gifted me.
Once inside, I pulled up an extra chair next to my desk and had Alex sit.
After opening my laptop, I pulled up the websites I had saved and planned to use for the project, but had not truly read or analyzed.
I faced the computer in his direction. “So basically these are the articles I have.”
“Okay.” Alex blinked, his thigh brushing against mine. “What about them?”
I tapped my finger on the desk repeatedly. “I’m having trouble deciding if these articles are, uh…”
“Relevant and accurate?” Alex finished for me.
“Yes!” I said with a snap. “Exactly. You’ve been here two seconds, and you’re already helping.”
Alex let out a breathy laugh, a strand of hair flying up when he did. He took hold of my laptop and began reading through the articles, highlighting details and taking notes—more work than I’d ever done.
I rested my elbow on the desk and lay my chin in my hand as I watched Alex work. Watching him chew on his lip as he focused so intently on the articles was way better than scrolling aimlessly through my phone while waiting for him to finish.
Not only that, but I got to admire how handsome he looked with his glasses on. He never liked them as a kid, so much so that he started wearing contacts in the fourth grade, and he still does so today, but he had them on now. I didn’t know why, but I wasn’t complaining.
“This article is great. It has tons of good points and covers every topic you need.” He clicked to the next article. “This one is actual gibberish. It’s a waste of time to try to use anything from it.”
“Yes, sir.” I saluted him. “What would I do without you?”
He wore a smile that reached his eyes. “You could have just sent me these to read, you know.”
“Yeah, I guess I could’ve.”
His tongue glided against his bottom lip. “Why didn’t you?”
He was doing it again—licking his lips as his eyes begged me to make a move. My hand rested on his thigh, causing Alex to stiffen, but he didn’t push me away. Instead, his eyes searched mine as if he was unsure if he was reading them correctly.
Slowly, my hand trailed up his thigh. I was waiting for him to tell me to stop. That we didn’t need to do this again because it would only make life more complicated.
But when my hand reached his groin, he didn’t stop me. Instead, Alex caressed my jaw with his gaze focused on my lips. It was only another second before he leaned in and initiated a soft kiss.
The kiss felt exactly like him, so much so that I practically melted into his mouth. It was gentle, delicate, and addictive. So Alex.
There wasn’t a force powerful enough in the world to make me stop this.
My hand squeezed his crotch, eliciting a low grunt from Alex. I could feel his hardness through his shorts and in my hand. My pants felt like they were shrinking on me, too, and the soft sounds he moaned into my mouth didn’t help.
“Tell me you want this,” I muttered through his lips.
His hands roamed around my chest as he mumbled an incoherent response.
Unsatisfied, I gripped his chin and pulled back. My eyes scanned his intensely, while his puppy-dog eyes glistened in the light. Alex’s navy blue glasses hugged his face, and seeing them again made me want to have my way with him this very second.
“Tell me you want this,” I rasped.
“I want this,” he whispered, eyes never wavering from mine.
Fuck, so do I.
Alex pressed his lips against mine, now climbing onto and straddling my lap. Holding his waist, I grunted at the unexpected friction, and my hips bucked up to keep it going. Last time, we both came from friction alone, so I could only imagine how fucking amazing it would feel to be inside of him.
I had never been with a guy before, so I wasn’t exactly sure how sex worked. I shouldn’t have even been thinking about sex with Alex because we should never have kissed. Honestly, though, how could I not when I had him sitting perfectly on my lip, whimpering softly as he rode my clothed dick?
“I want to do something,” he breathed. “Can I?”
I ran my hands through his hair. “You can do anything you want to.”
That got a smile out of him. I helped him climb off my lap and watched him lower himself onto his knees, the mere sight threatening to send me over the edge. Everything Alex did had me feeling like I was fourteen again, hot and horny.
Alex unzipped my pants and tugged down a little before letting his fingers graze the waistband of my boxers. He slipped his fingers inside and wrapped his hand around my cock before pulling it out, slow and deliberate. I watched his swallow at the sight, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You okay?” I asked as my fingers continued to scratch his head.
“Yeah.” He peered up at me, his hand sliding up and down my penis. “I got it.”
Focusing on the task at hand, he licked my pink tip.
My breath hitched; the small action sent a shiver down my spine that could have paralyzed me.
Alex, with a touch of apprehension, took the head into his mouth.
His lips fit perfectly around my cock, suctioning me wetly like it was made for his mouth.
Alex slid his mouth down my dick, allowing time for his throat to adjust to it. I thought it would be too much, especially with how apprehensive he was in the beginning, but he worked my dick down his throat like his life depended on it.
The walls of his throat clenched around me, and I moaned. His fingers dug into my thighs, and his eyes were already watering, but he began bobbing his head up and down, until I stopped him.
My hand cupped his chin, and I tilted it upward. “Look at me.”
His glassy eyes met mine, and he tried to speak, but my cock was too far down there for him to get it out. I had to hold myself from bucking into his mouth when the vibrations of his voice went around me.
I gripped his soft brown hair and gently started bobbing his head repeatedly. “You have to look at me, bunny. Okay?”
Alex’s eyes flashed with something I couldn’t figure out, and then he nodded. He let me guide his head up and down my cock as I stared into his beautiful green eyes, quickly bringing me to my long-awaited climax. A single tear fell down his cheek, but instead of stopping, he picked up the pace.
My dick pulsed so intensely I could feel it all over my body. “Fuckkk, Alex. You look so sexy with your slutty little glasses, you know that?”
Alex’s pink cheeks and perfect lips looked so perfect wrapped fully around my dick. Each thrust hit the back of his throat, sending more tears to his eyes, but he wasn’t in pain. He was sucking me off like my dick was made for his mouth and his mouth only.
“Shit—Alex,” I warned, attempting to pull back, but he wouldn’t let me. “I’m…”
In the next second, all my muscles tensed together as I released down his throat. Alex held steady while my cum filled his mouth, continuing to bob his head until I finished.
Not only did he take it, but he swallowed every last drop like it was juice. All while staring longingly into my eyes.
“Alex,” I breathed.
I felt a sharp pain as his fingernails dug into my skin again, squeezing me as he came from only watching me. This boy was full of so many surprises.
“Are you okay?” I asked gently.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Do you know who I am?”
Thrown off by the sudden question and my mind still spinning from post-orgasm, I paused. Alex watched me intently, his eyes filled with determination that told me he wasn’t letting this question go.
Stupidly, I asked, “What?”
Alex licked his lips vulnerably. “Have we met before?”
“Alex—”
“River,” he stressed. “Do you remember me?”
Dammit, why now? Any other time than now.
Fuck… could I even be angry? I just used the nickname I gave him in second grade without even realizing it. If he wasn’t sure I was lying before, he was now.
Yes. The confirmation tried to come out of my mouth, but it couldn’t. It wouldn’t.
I told myself over and over that it was out of protection. I kept up the facade solely because it was better for both of us, and not because I was too cowardly to explain to him why I did what I did all those years ago.
Here I was intertwining myself with Alex Pierce’s life when the best option was to stay away.
How could I say I was pretending not to remember his beautiful face for the better, but allow myself to let our relationship become a complicated mess?
If it was going to be a mess, then he needed the truth.
But what if my explanation wasn’t good enough for him? What if he decided he was better off not being around someone as cowardly as me? Someone who was always at fault, especially when it came to Alex.
My lips parted to speak, but no sound came out. Alex waited. He waited so damn long for me to admit that I had never forgotten my best friend and had been lying to him for over a month.
I couldn’t say it.
The sadness behind his eyes made my heart clench, but it still wasn’t enough for me to say it. Alex pushed himself up, his jaw clenched not in anger, but in a mix of hurt and disappointment. He tugged the hoodie over his head and tossed it onto my bed, his eyes looking everywhere but at me.
“I’ll let myself out.”
Alex left before I could chase after him, but it wasn’t like I tried to.