10. Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Tyler
W hen he woke up the following day, the first thing Tyler noticed was how hot he was. The next thing he noticed was the strong, tattooed arm draped over him possessively.
His sleep-sluggish mind quickly kicked into gear.
Julien had rolled over in the night and accidentally ended up cuddling him. Which was mortifying, but Tyler hadn’t been the one to octopus all over the other man. At least he could rest easy knowing that the mortification was not to be his. He did not claim it.
“Jules?” Tyler tried to move out of the tight grip. But the more he moved, the tighter Julien’s hold became. He felt Julien’s face nuzzle into the back of his neck, and Tyler tried to suppress a shiver at the scrape of facial hair against his nape. It sent warm waves of heat down his spine, coiling low in his belly .
He shifted to try and find some way to escape. His back pressed up against Julien, and he could feel the very distinct press of something thick and hard against his ass.
“Julien,” he hissed, louder this time. He patted Julien’s arm to try to get out of this. He was starting to claim some mortification, if only because his stiff dick throbbed hopefully between his legs.
Julien smelled intoxicating, like smoke, leather, and the soft scent of sleep. His body was warm, and the veins on his forearms and the swirls of black ink over his tanned skin made Tyler’s mouth water. His teeth ached with the insane desire to bite him.
I have to get out of here.
“Fuck. Five more minutes,” Julien finally mumbled. He pulled Tyler even closer, nuzzling him again.
Tyler was almost sure he felt a distinct movement in Julien’s hip as he pressed tighter against his ass. His cock twitched with a traitorous excitement.
Tyler decided that if he died, at least this was an excellent way to go, and his body relaxed into it. Then, Julien shifted behind him, and the strong arm pulled away as the other man rolled onto his back.
“Sorry,” he groaned and rubbed his eyes.
Tyler sat up so fast that the pillow shot off the bed. “I did not take you for a cuddler,” he said, hoping to diffuse awkwardness. His face was warm, and he probably resembled a strawberry.
Play it cool.
“I didn’t know I was either,” Julien admitted. “Sorry,” He repeated and sat up, resting his elbows on bent knees.
Tyler looked at the door to his bathroom and wondered if his morning wood would be unbelievably noticeable on the walk there or if he could manage to hide it. It wasn’t like it had anything to do with Julien, and he wouldn’t think it did, would he?
Julien was obviously in the same position. Tyler could still feel the way his dick had pressed against his back, and he had to fight the memory away so he could make rational decisions.
“It’s fine. I didn’t mind,” Tyler admitted. He mustered the courage to rise from bed and shuffle to the bathroom. If Julien had noticed the situation, he was kind enough not to mention it.
Tyler took his time in the bathroom and washed his face with cold water to eliminate the shocking thoughts running through his mind.
Today would be the first full day of fake boyfriend activities, and if they didn’t get this right, things would crumble beneath his feet. He couldn’t be sitting there trying not to pop a boner if Julien looked at him.
He definitely wished Cameron was here now. At least there would have been no chance of Tyler feeling attracted to Cam.
Julien wasn’t even his type. Tyler had always preferred bigger guys. That was true. Anyone with eyes could see how gorgeous Julien was. But he wasn’t the typical clean-shaven, clean-cut sort of guy Tyler had hooked up with in college.
They hadn’t been anything special, though. In fact, the select few he had gotten even a little serious about had been too concerned with keeping things secret from their politician fathers or more worried about Tyler’s GPA than he was.
Julien was the polar opposite of anyone he had ever been with. Except Tyler had to remind himself that he wasn’t with Julien. He was pretending he was with Julien, and Julien was pretending he was the sort of guy that Tyler would date.
He couldn’t let himself have a crush on his fake boyfriend.
Tyler was no longer standing at attention when he came out of the bathroom, but his mind was all over the place. One night in bed with an objectively attractive guy, Tyler had gone full simp.
Julien was outside on the roof, having another cigarette. Tyler panicked for a moment until he heard the sounds of breakfast being made. No one would be outside looking at the roof.
Tyler pulled on his robe and waited for Julien to return and use the bathroom.
“You should put your sweater on. Those tattoos are—a lot.” They were a lot; Tyler couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to run his tongue over them and memorize the pattern with his mouth. But his mother would go nuts if she saw them, and he could only imagine how that lecture would sound. It would ruin Christmas.
Julien sighed but put his cardigan on. “Nice robe.” He reached over to tug on the lapels of Tyler’s robe, causing him to stumble forward.
Tyler swatted his hand away. “Thanks. Maybe I’ll get you one for Christmas,” he retorted.
“Cash is fine.” He leaned in close enough that Tyler could make out how long his eyelashes were before he let go. Soon after, they went downstairs.
Cece and the kids made eggs and pancakes while Dad sat at the table in his robe, reading the paper. His mother sipped tea and stared at her laptop, her glasses perched on her nose as she scrolled.
Hailey made hot chocolate while Walter hovered nearby, looking like a lovestruck puppy. It was as if his only personality trait was Hailey’s fiancé at this point.
“Morning,” Tyler said, and he was met with a chorus of decaffeinated good mornings.
“Julien, hot chocolate or coffee?” Hailey asked from the stove, where she gently stirred milk.
“Uh, do you have an energy drink or something?” Julien asked.
Every eye in the house looked to Julien, Tyler’s included. Julien’s dark eyes landed on him, and Tyler gave a slight grimace and a shrug. His family was a pure, non-soda household unless it was a flavored seltzer. His mom hadn’t let them have much sugar growing up, and soda and energy drinks were as bad as the devil in her eyes.
Of course, Tyler and Hailey both had an unhinged love of sweets. There was no way to escape their chronic need for hot chocolate now that they were adults.
“That stuff is pure poison,” Cece said, scandalized, breaking the tense silence over the room. “It literally eats your body from the inside.”
Brad groaned. “Jesus, Cee. No, they don’t. Don’t be so dramatic.”
Cece put down the whisk and gave her husband such a severe look that Tyler winced for Brad.
“Studies have been done about this, Bradley. I don’t know why you think I make things up. I do research.”
“Coffee is fine, then,” Julien jumped in, cutting Cece and Brad off before they could start a fight.
“Cream and sugar?” Walter asked as he poured Julien a cup.
Tyler waited for the hot chocolate. Hailey knew what his choice would be.
“Just sugar.” Jules went over to the fridge once Walter delivered the mug to him. He looked at the refrigerator and ran his fingers over the traditional Ashford family Christmas card held up with a wreath-shaped magnet before he shoved his hand under the ice maker and grabbed a handful of ice.
Everyone went quiet and watched Julien move across the room, a pile of ice in his bare hand, before he sat next to Tyler. Julien carefully plopped the ice into his coffee and stirred.
“What’s that about?” Tyler asked once his family returned to their sluggish morning conversation. His mother told Brad about local headlines while Cece continued piling platters with her pancakes and eggs.
“I don’t like hot drinks,” Julien explained. “This is fine, though.”
Tyler filed that one away for his notes and thanked Hailey for his hot chocolate, which was covered in whipped cream and looked way too sugary for them to have been criticizing energy drinks just moments before. Julien would probably think he was a hypocrite now, too. Perfect.
He took a long sip. When he looked up, Julien was staring at him.
“What?” he asked.
Julien gave him a soft smile. “You have a little whipped cream, just… right here.” Julien reached over and ran his thumb over Tyler’s upper lip. The finger was calloused, rough against the sensitive skin of his lip, and Tyler almost moaned.
Thankfully, he didn’t moan, but what he did instead was much more insane. He leaned in and sucked it off Julien’s thumb.
The sweet cream mingled on his tongue with the slight saltiness of Julien’s finger. His skin was cold from the ice he had just held, and Tyler ran his tongue over it before his mind caught up with what he was doing. He leaned back as fast as he had leaned forward. “Hailey, can you get me a napkin,” he practically yelled, hopping out of his chair to join his sister.
He looked around the room, sure that everyone was staring at them, at him , and wondered what the fuck he had just done. No one was. Julien was back to stirring his coffee like nothing had happened, though a smirk played on his lips.