Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Sterling
Graham parked my car alongside the curb in front of his mom’s house.
We’d considered driving his car since he was more comfortable with it and we both knew I wasn’t going to drive, but he needed an oil change and a new tire on his car since the tread on one of his was pretty low.
I’d already texted Mom about it as soon as he mentioned it this morning, so I knew by the time we got back to campus, both things would be taken care of for him.
She was always taking care of little things like that for him so he could focus on school.
Whenever he told her she didn’t need to, she just came back with, “Well, it’s on my insurance, and I’d rather my rate not go up if you have an accident so I can spend extra money on margaritas on the weekends. ” And he’d shut right up.
The front door opened, and both of our moms rushed out of the house. I laughed and quickly got out, shutting the door behind me. Mom catapulted herself into my arms, and I quickly caught her, squeezing her to me.
She cupped my cheeks when I set her on her feet.
“Oh, my boy, you are positively glowing!” she squealed.
She hugged me again, pressing a kiss to my cheek.
I didn’t even need a mirror to know she’d left red lipstick on my skin.
It was her signature color. If it wasn’t a blood-red shade, it was the wrong color.
“I’m so glad you’re happy,” she told me.
I smiled at her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I missed you, Mom.”
She squeezed my cheeks together before releasing me and rushing at Graham.
Mrs. Hurley smiled at me but didn’t come near me.
I was comfortable with both her and Mr. Hurley, but I still didn’t feel safe enough with them to allow touching.
And thankfully, neither of them had ever been offended by that.
They just nodded, welcomed me into their home, and respected the boundaries I had clearly laid out for them.
It was easy to see why Graham was so amazing. His parents had raised him well. Raised him into a kind and compassionate young man who cared about others and empathized deeply.
“Your father ordered pizza,” Mom told me as she ushered us toward the house. Graham reached out and grabbed my hand, and both of our moms beamed at us as if we were the greatest things on Earth. “It’s a chill-out night since we’re doing so much cooking and eating tomorrow.”
“We?” I teased.
Mom waved me off. “Don’t you dare come near that kitchen, Sterling.”
I snickered. I was hopeless in the kitchen, despite my mother’s numerous efforts to teach me how to cook.
I got distracted too easily and also had a bad habit of never hearing the timer.
I did the same thing with microwaved food.
The timer would go off, but by the time I remembered I needed to eat, it was cold and I had to reheat it again. It was a never-ending cycle.
Dad nodded at me when we walked into the house. “Come get some food, boys. We’re just getting ready to watch the hockey game we missed watching last weekend.”
Since Graham and I had become roomies freshman year, Dad had made it a point to watch every single game in support of Graham.
And then he and Mr. Hurley would get together and talk about it.
It was kind of awesome how well our families got along even before we started dating.
It was like the universe’s way of saying we belonged together.
And damn if that didn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I took a seat on the couch, and Graham sat beside me. Dad handed us a plate of pizza each. Graham’s had three slices and mine had one. “I wasn’t sure how your appetite was after the drive,” Dad explained as if I might be upset that he gave Graham more.
I waved him off. “This is great, Dad. Thanks. If I want more, I can get it.”
Graham and I were shoulder to shoulder, eating pizza. His eyes were focused on his game, and every once in a while, he would comment about where he messed up or another teammate did. Dad and Mr. Hurley were adding things, too, and suggesting tips to improve.
I just relaxed back into my seat and enjoyed my pizza since I’d already seen the game and had done my fair share of yelling until my throat hurt. It took me a good twenty-four hours for my throat to recover.
My cheeks colored through when the camera panned to me wearing Graham’s jersey.
Mom happened to be coming into the living room, and she shrieked when she saw it.
“You two are so adorable!” she exclaimed.
She pressed a kiss to the top of both of our heads.
“You make my romantic heart so happy,” she gushed.
Graham grinned at me, feeding off my mom’s praise of us. “You do look adorable in my jersey, babe.”
I rolled my eyes at him, but my stomach erupted in butterflies at his words.
I liked that I looked good in his jersey. All his little groupies could kindly fuck off now.
I quietly opened the bathroom door in the hallway, being careful not to alert any of our parents that we were in the bathroom together. I mean, we were sharing a bed, but being naked in the shower together was harder to explain away.
I could see Graham on the other side of the clear shower curtain, his cock in his hand as he slowly stroked himself.
Mine plumped in my sweats, and I stepped in, quietly shutting the door back behind me.
Graham’s eyes were closed, no doubt picturing me as he got off.
It was something he’d confided in me during a stupid game of twenty truths we’d been playing a couple of weeks ago when the power went out on campus during a particularly bad storm.
I dropped my sweats to the floor and tiptoed to the shower curtain, slowly peeling it back and stepping into the tub. Graham still had his eyes closed, and he groaned, squeezing the base of his shaft.
Quickly, I gripped his shoulders and pressed the front of his body against the wall.
“Sterling, what the—oh fuck yes,” he hissed when I slipped two fingers inside of him.
He was still slick from when we’d had sex before making the drive here, and my fingers easily sank inside.
When he moaned, I shoved two fingers of my other hand into his mouth, gagging him.
His cock pulsed precum, and his tongue swirled around my fingers.
“Bend over just a little,” I whispered.
He immediately moved into position, and I gripped my shaft, pressing against his hole. He bore down, and I sank inside, gritting my teeth and holding my breath so I wouldn’t make a sound and alert our parents that we were currently fucking in the shower. Getting caught would be so embarrassing.
He resumed stroking himself as I quickly worked my cock in and out of him. We didn’t have time to linger, not if we didn’t want one of our moms coming to bang on the door and shout about hot water. And man, my mom having to take a cold shower? The house would become a war zone.
Having grown up poor, my mom couldn’t stand being uncomfortable. Too hot? Too cold? Clothes not fitting right? She couldn’t stand it. It was one of the reasons she had been so accommodating when it came to my trauma. She understood.
Graham gagged on my fingers when I shoved them further down his throat, and I grinned manically, quickening my pace to chase my orgasm. He bit down on my fingers when he came, and I sank my teeth into his shoulder as I spilled inside of him so I wouldn’t make a sound.
“Fuck,” Graham panted when I dropped my fingers from his mouth. Gripping his hips, I gently eased out of him, watching as my cum immediately ran down his thighs. “That was hot.”
I chuckled. “If you’re done, I need to quickly shower before my mom comes up here to embarrass us.”
Graham snorted and grasped the side of my neck, pulling me into a tender kiss. “I’ll see you in bed, babe.”
He stepped out of the shower and began drying off. Somehow, I managed to rip my eyes off his toned, strong physique and lather shampoo into my hair. I was done in about three minutes and quickly got out, drying off and wrapping a towel around my waist since I forgot to bring clean clothes with me.
“Sterling,” Mom whisper-shouted when I stepped out of the bathroom.
I flinched and quickly stepped back from her, my heart hammering against my breastbone at not only being frightened by her sudden appearance but also because she had used that voice on me.
She didn’t move though—just stayed where she was.
“You can’t just walk around someone else’s house with only a towel, hun. ”
“Just need to get dressed,” I mumbled, trying to swallow down the panic attack that was looming over my head.
Her face suddenly softened, and she backed up two steps, giving me even more space.
I quickly rushed into Graham’s room and sank back against the door, swallowing thickly to get rid of the icky feeling in my throat.
My heart was racing to the point it hurt.
All she’d done was say my name in that scolding manner, but I’d already felt too vulnerable by being out in the open like that without clothes, and it’d nearly sent me over the edge.
Graham was suddenly cupping my face in his hands, his eyes boring into mine. “Breathe, Sterling,” he gently commanded. He stroked his thumbs over my cheeks. “Just breathe. You’re safe. I’m here.”
I wrapped my trembling arms around him and clutched him to me, releasing a shaky breath. He combed his fingers through my hair before slowly leading me to bed. We tumbled down together, the towel coming loose. But he just tugged the blanket over us and continued holding me.
“Just stay here with me,” he coaxed. “It’ll pass.”
I nodded and burrowed even further against him, my heart rate calming. When the trembling ceased, I flopped onto my back and blew out a harsh breath. “I forgot clothes, and then Mom said my name in that mom way that moms have,” Graham chuckled, “and I kind of freaked out.”
Graham ran his hand over my chest. “You’re safe here,” he promised me, continuously saying those words because he knew I needed it. “You want to get dressed?”
I nodded and slid off the bed, prowling to my bag we’d brought in earlier.
Once I was dressed in a pair of sweats and a long-sleeve shirt, I crawled back into bed next to Graham.
Immediately, he wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on the top of my head.
“Don’t go to sleep without taking your medicine,” he warned me.
“Took it before the shower,” I quietly informed him. “Now hush and let me sleep.”
Graham laughed softly and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. The soothing, rhythmic stroking of his hand down my spine lulled me to sleep.
Where no monsters could touch me anymore. Instead, my dreams were always filled with Graham.
Because with him, I was always safe.
There was so much food. I had no idea why mom went all out like this every single year, but this year, she’d managed to outdo herself. Every kind of food you could imagine for a Thanksgiving dinner was placed on the counters and the stove and lined up on the kitchen table, too.
“Mom,” I groaned, staring at all the food. “This is a lot.”
“You and Graham can take some back to campus with you,” Mrs. Hurley told me, speaking for her. “Besides, I know my son, and he’s going to eat as much as he can.”
Well, I couldn’t argue with that.
“Your son’s stomach is a parasite.”
Mrs. Hurley laughed, her shoulders shaking. “That’s the best way I’ve heard anyone describe Graham’s eating habits,” she snickered. “Honey, you hear that?” she called to her husband. “Graham’s stomach is a parasite.”
His booming laughter filled the house. Graham stepped into the kitchen, and his mouth dropped open just as the parasite in question began to rumble with hunger. “Oh, this looks good,” he groaned. “Can we eat? I’m starving.”
Mom laughed. “Help yourself, hun,” she told him, handing him a plate.
She handed me one too, and I grabbed a little bit of stuffing, a little bit of turkey and gravy, some mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and a roll.
My boyfriend, however, grabbed one of everything, even going as far as getting a second plate to continue heaping food.
“I don’t know where you put it all,” I told him once we were settled on the floor of the living room with the coffee table in front of us.
He rolled his eyes at me. “I’m a growing boy, Sterling.”
I snorted. “All of that is going to catch up with you when you’re old.”
He winked at me. “As long as you continue to love me, I don’t care.”
I sighed. “I could never stop loving you, Graham,” his eyes got all melty on me, “but I will hound you about your health,” I warned him.
He waved me off. “I can put up with anything as long as you love me,” he reiterated.
“And speaking of love,” he began digging in his pockets, making me frown at him.
Finally, he held up a small ring. It was black with a multi-colored band splitting it.
A soft smile tilted his lips. “I’m not asking you marry me yet because I’ve got goals to reach before then, but I am making you a promise. ”
My eyes welled with tears. Mom had both of her hands over her mouth to hold in her squeal, jumping up and down. Mrs. Hurley was smiling at us. I stared back at Graham, my throat working as I tried to swallow down my tears.
“I love you, Sterling. I love you with every fiber of my being. I want to always be your home. Your safety. I want to always continue being your reason for the rest of our lives. By giving you this ring, I’m promising to always be yours.
To be the support you need. To give you a bright future and always be a safe place for you to land when life gets overwhelming. ”
He drew in a deep breath, his own eyes shimmering with tears, his hand shaking. “So, will you please accept this ring as a symbol of my promise to you?”
Immediately, I nodded. “Yes,” I rasped. “A hundred times fucking yes, Graham.”
He slid the ring on my finger and then kissed me. Mom finally screamed, and I smiled against my boyfriend’s lips. His stomach rumbled again, completely ruining the mood, and I laughed.
He rested our foreheads together, his eyes bright with happiness. “I love you, Sterling.”
“I love you, too, Graham.” I patted his stomach. I roughly cleared my throat, not wanting to burst into tears in front of our parents. “Now eat before that thing starts eating you.”
Dad barked out a laugh from his position on the couch.