Chapter 11 #2
Even though all of the guys in the pool were more than distracted by the sideline T lips that were both soft and firm, tender and demanding.
He didn’t say anything, just nodded subtly at me.
“Hey, man,” Reid slurred as Shane approached.
Shane rubbed a hand over his face and through his hair. Frustrated, he stared Reid down before puffing out a soft chuckle. “Dude, you’re such a fucking handful.” Reid shot him a dumbfounded look as if being drunk beyond all recognition shouldn’t be that big of a deal.
Shane and I looped our arms around Reid’s waist and helped him out to Shane’s car.
Once we dumped him into the backseat, he fell over and passed out.
“Well, at least he’s on his side. He won’t gag on his own vomit,” Shane joked, but I knew there was real concern there.
Whether it was concern over his brother being way too drunk for his own good, or concern about what their father would do once they got home, I wasn’t sure.
But I did know for certain that I couldn’t let Shane deal with it alone.
Whether he wanted to admit it or not, things changed back in that pool house.
I changed and feelings I once thought would never come to the surface were right in front of me, staring me right in the eyes, making it impossible to ignore them anymore.
I had to do my best to protect Shane, and apparently getting Reid home safely was now part of that deal. “Why don’t you guys stay at my house tonight?” Shane kept his eyes on the road, ignoring my question; I’m sure it made him a little uneasy.
“We can sneak Reid into the basement. By the time he wakes up, my parents won’t even know he was drunk. We won’t have to explain anything to them and it’ll save you from having to deal with your dad.” An angry silence filled the cabin of the car.
“What the fuck do you know about my father?” Shane gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.
“Seriously?” I twisted in my seat, facing him and meeting his angry stare.
When he didn’t say anything, I puffed a sarcastic breath.
“I’ve been your best friend for fucking years; I’ve seen him in action.
You’ve told me enough, too. I’ve seen the black eyes and I’ve heard the fights.
You can try to cover it up all you want, but I know he’ll lose his shit on both of you if you bring Reid home like this.
” I tipped my head to the backseat where Reid was snoring like a beast. A palpable tension settled in between us.
Taking a chance, I reached out and laced our fingers together, terrified that he’d pull away.
But he didn’t.
“Okay,” he said as he squeezed my hand in return, “thanks.”
We kept our hands together for the rest of the ten-minute ride back to my house. It was never uncomfortable or weird. To me it felt perfect and I could only assume since he didn’t pull away either, that it felt the same to him as well.
Somehow, we both managed to wake Reid up enough to get him into the basement through the side entrance without making too much noise.
After he flopped down on the couch, I grabbed a bucket from the laundry room and put it next to the couch.
“I’m just gonna go let my parents know I’m home and that you guys are with me.
I’ll be right back.” Shane sank onto the small sofa as I made my way up stairs.
When I came back down, he was sitting there in the darkened silence, his elbows resting on his thighs, hanging his head in his hands. Shoving my hands into my back pockets, I rocked on my heels, totally unsure of what to say.
“Listen, about before,” I said, awkwardly trying to start the conversation.
Shane leaned back on the couch, folding his arms behind his head. My eyes were drawn to his biceps and shoulders, the muscles bunching slightly under the short sleeves of his T-shirt. “Yeah, about that,” he added quietly as he focused his eyes on mine.
I sat next to him, folding one leg under my body, turning toward him. “I don’t regret it. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time now,” I admitted. He sat there like a statue, before his eyes starting searching my face for more.
“I don’t know what the fuck to think. This is all so fucking confusing.” Shane’s voice wavered with heavy emotion, but he was careful not to wake Reid. Even though he said he was confused, that he wasn’t sure what to think, his eyes kept darting back to my lips.
I inched closer to him, my knee gently brushing against his thigh.
Taking a deep breath, I reached up and cupped his jaw, running my thumb against the scratchy stubble there.
He closed his eyes as a shaky breath escaped past his slightly parted lips.
“Then don’t think. Just feel.” I swallowed hard, a world of new feelings swirling around me like some crazy-ass kaleidoscope of endless possibilities.
I pulled his face to mine and he leaned into me willingly.
With our lips barely touching, I whispered, “Just feel this. We’ll worry about the other shit later.
” He leaned his forehead against mine and I felt his hot breath wash over my lips.
He licked at his bottom lip and my heart beat a frenetic tattoo in my chest forcing my blood to thrum wildly in my veins.
I couldn’t hear anything except the loud rush of blood pounding in my ears and the frenzied breathlessness of our ragged desire.
We were all lips and tongues – tasting, devouring each other.
Unfolding my leg from underneath me, I twisted us so that Shane’s back rested against the arm of the couch.
With our bodies aligned, I could feel every single inch of him beneath me.
Instinctually, my hips rocked against his, grinding against his rigid hardness.
Shane groaned into my mouth and I pulsed painfully behind the zipper of my jeans.
His back arched off the couch as he pushed back against me, revealing a small sliver of his tight stomach.
Keeping one hand on his jaw, I reached down with the other, ran it across his hot skin and up under his shirt, across his chest. We didn’t say anything, didn’t need to.
Words weren’t needed to communicate what was going on between us.
When I strummed my thumb over the flat disc of his nipple, his hips lifted off the couch once more and he coiled his arm around my waist, pulling my body tightly to his.
“Dylan,” he panted, the pause allowing me to kiss a heated path from his lips, to his jaw and down his neck.
My response was a simple “hmm” against his skin.
“I don’t…I mean…I can’t…” I heard the nervousness mingled with his desire. I heard the trepidation at moving forward, laced together with the excitement. But I wanted him to want it as much as I did, so rather than pushing forward, I pulled away.
We both rolled to our sides, facing each other on the couch. Gently, I ran my fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes at my touch and I noticed the faint yellow outline of his most recent black eye. My stomach churned with anger at the thought of anyone hurting him, much less his own father.
“We don’t have to do anything. Just relax and we’ll talk in the morning,” I said as I continued to stoke his hair, a more-than-satisfied smile pulling at my mouth.
Shane fell asleep in my arms and I watched the worry wash away from his ruggedly handsome face.
The tension that usually creased the corners of his eyes smoothed as he drifted peacefully into a world where fathers didn’t beat their children and where thoughts about who you were didn’t plague your consciousness.
I slipped out from his side and pulled a blanket over him, knowing it wouldn’t do well for any of us if Reid woke up and saw us curled together on the couch. After one last kiss to his forehead, I laid back in the recliner next Shane, letting the sounds of his light snoring lull me to sleep.