Briar
Blake holds the door open for me. We walk out onto the crowded sidewalk.
With a hand on the small of my back, he leads me to the side of the building where it’s quieter.
I turn to him, my heart pounding in my chest. I’m still breathing hard from that body shot he licked off me. My skin is hot, and my entire body is buzzing.
That was my first time doing a body shot. It was also one of the hottest things I’ve ever done in my life.
I look up at Blake, feeling a strange mix of arousal and frustration.
I’m still mad at him. But I’m also crazy turned on.
I was pissed when he acted like a jerk to that other guy and made him leave.
But then I was excited. He and I have never argued like that before. Yeah, we’ve playfully argued, like when we’re trying to agree on what episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine to watch, but we’ve never gotten mad at each other.
I’ve never seen Blake like that. So pissed. So possessive. So bossy.
The way he ordered me to lie down and open my mouth…
The way he held my gaze as he ran his tongue over my body…
I shiver. My clit was throbbing. Thank god the music was blasting. I was a whimpering, moaning mess. I would have been so embarrassed if anyone had heard me.
And the way he sucked that lime wedge in my mouth…his lips pressed against mine…his tongue gliding over me…his hot breath scattering across my skin.
It was so dirty.
But now that’s over, and we need to talk. He needs to know exactly how I feel about what he did.
“You hurt my feelings, Blake.”
He blinks, and the sharp look in his crystal blue eyes fades. There’s a flash of pain.
“You left me. You turned me on, you gave me the most insane orgasm of my life, and then you left.” I swallow past the ache in my throat. “And when I tried to reach out to you, you blew me off. Do you know how much that sucked?”
He opens his mouth to speak, but I shake my head.
“No, let me get this out.” My eyes burn with unshed tears as the pain of his rejection hits me head-on. “I’ve been going nuts these past few days, wondering what I did wrong to drive you away. We’re best friends, Blake. We’re supposed to talk to each other about anything and everything.”
I sniffle and take a breath. Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry…
“And then you crawl into bed with me and cuddle me in the middle of the night, and I thought that maybe things were okay again. But then I woke up, and you weren’t there, and didn’t bother to text me for a whole day, but then you did, and I…”
My shoulders sink as I let out a shaky breath.
“I felt like an afterthought. Like I didn’t matter.
I was so confused, but…” I take a second to steady myself.
“Now I realize that it was me. I’m the reason you ran off.
You regret what we did, don’t you? You don’t want to teach me sex anymore, and you don’t know how to break it to me, so you thought that if you just slow-faded out of my life, I’d get the message, and… ”
I trail off when I register the panic in his eyes. “Briar, no. That’s not it all. None of this is your fault. It’s all me. I’m the asshole. I’m the one in the wrong. Not you.”
I stare at him, surprised.
He closes his eyes and takes a breath before looking at me, his gaze pleading.
He steps closer to me. “Briar, you matter so much to me. You’re not an afterthought. Not even close. You’re on my mind. Always.” His gaze turns fiery. “All the fucking time,” he growls.
The air is charged. It feels like an invisible electrical current is running between us.
“I don’t regret what we did. I’ve been thinking about it nonstop. I’ve been thinking about you nonstop.”
I stand there, stunned. “You have?”
“Yes.” He swallows. His throat bobs. I stare at his thick throat, covered in golden stubble.
“If you knew the amount of time I’ve been thinking about you, Briar, you’d freak out.
If you knew how much I’ve been obsessing about you…
how soft your skin is. How sweet you taste.
How hot the noises you make are when you’re turned on. I dream about how hard you came.”
My breath catches. Oh my gosh…
“Wait, are you serious?”
“Dead serious.” He swallows hard. “I’m so, so sorry for the way I left. It had nothing to do with you. And I’m sorry that I went silent on you when you tried to check on me. I just…”
He pins me with his gaze. Gently, he scoops my hand in his.
“I hate myself for hurting you, Briar.”
His face twists like he’s in physical pain. Like he can’t stand the thought of what he did to me.
That wall I put up the moment he marched up to me at the bar starts to crumble.
With his other hand, he swipes my hair out of my face. “It’s okay if you hate me for that. I deserve it.”
The glide of his fingertips over my skin makes me ache. “I don’t hate you, Blake,” I say.
There’s a flicker of hope in his eyes.
“What happened? Why did you leave?”
He’s quiet for a long second. “Do you remember when I asked you what turned you on, and you showed me that social media account?”
I nod. “Yeah. That Shirtless Guy. Did something about that upset you?”
He shakes his head. “No, it’s…that’s my account, Briar. I’m That Shirtless Guy.”
The gears in my brain stop moving instantly. No way…
“What? Wait, that’s you?”
Blake nods.
My mouth falls open. “Oh my god…”
It feels like I stand there for a full minute just staring at him as I process what he just told me.
Blake is That Shirtless Guy. For months, I’ve been lusting after his secret thirst trap account. I’ve been staring at photos of him shirtless. I’ve been drooling over videos of him.
I’ve been looking at those photos, watching those videos, and touching myself…
“Oh my god,” I finally say. “I feel like such a perv.”
He frowns like he’s confused. “Why?”
I step out of his hold, bumping into the brick wall behind me. “For months, I’ve been lusting after you. I’ve been fantasizing about you.”
My head spins. He’s going to think I’m a creep.
“That’s okay,” he says, his tone completely unbothered.
“It is?”
He nods. “Briar, I knew what I was doing when I created that account. I knew what a thirst trap it would be. That was kind of the point.”
He pauses and looks around. We’re away from the crowd at the front of the bar. No one can hear us.
“I make money from that account,” he says. “I’ve been saving it for my parents. I wanna pay off their house for them. They spent so much money on me over the years, paying for all my hockey stuff. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for them. I want to do something for them.”
Warmth swoops through my chest. “Blake, that’s amazing. Also, wow. You must be making a lot of money.”
He blushes as he smiles. “Yeah, I get a lot of brand deals. I’m kind of surprised at how much money people are willing to pay a shirtless guy with muscles to pose with their stuff.”
He clears his throat, and he’s serious again. “I’ve had that account for so long. I’ve managed to keep it separate from my real life. So when I saw that you, someone close to me, had found me, I freaked out. I wondered if other people in my life would find it and recognize me. I started panicking.”
“But why? Blake, there’s nothing wrong with you having a private, anonymous account like this.”
He shakes his head. “If the school found out, I could get expelled. I’m pretty sure having a sexy account on social media violates their student code of conduct.”
“Oh. I didn’t even think about that.”
“That’s why I left so abruptly. I was panicking.
My brain was thinking of every worst-case scenario, and I needed to be alone to process it.
What if someone recognized me and reported me?
I’d get kicked out of school. I’d get kicked off the hockey team.
I’d lose my spot on the Nashville Wolves. That would be it. I’d lose everything.”
His face goes pale. He looks off to the side.
“I spent the next few days going over all my posts and videos, making sure there wasn’t anything in them that could identify me. When I wasn’t in class or at practice or traveling for our away game, I was alone, poring over my social media account. I was going crazy.”
My chest aches. Poor Blake. That’s why he was so cold to me when I texted him. He was spiraling.
“When I finally calmed down and could start to think clearly again, I realized what a jerk I was to you.” He grabs my hand again and looks down at our laced fingers for a long moment.
“And I’m sorry I left you the morning after your nightmare.
I had an early practice, and I didn’t want to wake you up.
You were so stressed, and I just wanted you to rest.”
He looks down at our joined hands and shakes his head, his brow furrowed, regret flashing in his eyes.
“When I texted you to check on you, and you didn’t answer, I was so worried.
I figured you were mad at me for how I acted, and you didn’t want to see me anymore.
But I wanted to apologize to you. In person, not over text.
You deserved a face-to-face conversation.
But then you didn’t reply to any of my other texts, and…
I was going crazy. I needed to see you, to talk to you.
And then I saw you at the bar with that guy trying to do a body shot on you, and I just snapped.
I…” He yanks a hand through his hair and huffs out a breath. “I’m so sorry.”
I spend the next few moments quietly processing everything he’s told me. Yeah, the way he handled it was confusing and hurtful, but I understand how he was feeling now that he’s explained it to me. He said he’s sorry, and I believe he means it. I can tell how upset he is.
I look up at him. “It’s okay. I understand why you reacted the way you did.”
He blinks, and the worry in his gaze starts to fade.
“We’re good, Blake.”
“Really?”
I nod and give his hand a soft squeeze. “I won’t tell anyone about your account. Your secret is safe with me. I promise.”
A warm smile pulls at his lips. “I know you won’t.”
I hesitate for a second. “You’re really not weirded out by the fact that I’ve been unknowingly lusting after you all this time?”
His smile grows. “No. I think it’s hot.” Heat flickers in his gaze. The air between us sparks.
“I was scared you’d be freaked out.” I let out a shy laugh.
“I’m relieved, honestly.”
I tilt my head honestly. “Why?”
“Because knowing that you like my sexy account makes me feel better about having a crush on you.”
I blink at him. “You have a crush on me?”
“Since the moment I met you in freshman year of high school.”
My mouth falls open. “You’re kidding.”
He rubs the back of his neck, his face turning red, his smile turning flustered. “I’m serious, Briar. I’ve always liked you.”
“How come you never said anything?”
“I didn’t think you liked me that way, and I didn’t want to make things weird. I didn’t want to lose our friendship.”
My head spins. All this time, we felt the same way about each other.
“I have a crush on you too, Blake.”
“Yeah, I know. That Shirtless Guy.” He grins.
“No, I’ve had a crush on you since freshman year of high school also.”
His smile drops. He looks stunned. “Really?”
“I was too shy to say anything, so I was waiting for you to make a move. And when you never did, I just figured you didn’t like me like that. I assumed you just wanted to be friends, nothing more.”
He stumbles back, shaking his head, like my confession knocked him off balance.
“But you said you think of me like a brother.”
I hesitate for a second, embarrassed. “I only said that to downplay my crush on you. I didn’t want it to be obvious how much I liked you because I didn’t want to make you feel awkward.”
His brow lifts. “Oh. I guess that makes sense.” He’s quiet for a second. “So, just for the record, you don’t think of me as a brother, right?”
I start to smile. “No. I think of you as my best friend. I think of you as the hot guy I’ve wanted since forever.”
He nods, his jaw working as he looks at me. “Good.”
And then he grabs my face and kisses me.