12. Ryan #2
I had no fucking clue what he meant by that. “You think I’m having fun, Dom? You show up whenever you feel like it, mess with my brain, confuse the fuck out of me, then give me the cold shoulder. That’s not fun, Dom. It’s fucked up.”
I didn’t look up as I spoke, so when his hand touched the back of my neck, it was completely unexpected. I jumped again, but thankfully my chair stayed in place this time.
“Maybe fun’s the wrong word,” Dominic breathed in my ear. God, he was so close. Why the fuck was he this close? “But it’s certainly intriguing, wouldn’t you agree?”
I closed my eyes, counting backwards from ten before replying. “You should go home.”
“I’m good here.”
I ground my teeth together. Why was Dominic making this so hard?
And why is it making me hard?
I shifted my chair closer to the desk to hide the bizarre effect this encounter was having on me. “I’m busy.”
“Looks it.” His arm brushed against my shoulder as he leaned over me, tapping my sketchpad. “What are you working on?”
An idea popped into my brain. An idea so genius, so conniving, that it had to be Dominic’s influence. “Actually, you can help me with this.”
For the first time since he’d entered, there was a note of wariness in his response. “You’re the artist, Shadow, not me. I don’t think my stick figures are going to get you a good grade on your final portfolio.”
I swivelled my chair to face him. Our knees brushed together, but neither of us moved back.
Out of stubbornness. That was why.
“How do you know about my portfolio?”
Dominic stared down at me. He usually towered over me anyway, but with me seated and him standing, it was more pronounced.
I hated how much I liked it.
I also hated that I couldn’t help but notice how close his cock was.
It wasn’t like I could ignore it, given how it was pushing against the denim of his jeans, which were still fucking unbuttoned.
I could lean forward and nuzzle it with my face.
Maybe take it into my mouth again, just like Dominic had suggested.
Just like I’d imagined so many times while I was alone in here.
And that’s where it’s going to stay—in your imagination.
Dominic’s finger trailed up the side of my neck. “I pay attention, Shadow. Maybe you should do the same.”
His voice was too hoarse, his stare too intense. And the way he was fucking touching me…
I couldn’t handle it. I needed him gone. Luckily, I knew just how to do it.
“I need a nude portrait,” I lied. “So if you want to help, you can strip off and lie on my bed.”
The only sign that I’d caught him off guard was his finger freezing where he’d been idly running it along my jawline. “What?”
“It’s a study of the human form. So either strip off, or get out.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re lying. A college wouldn’t ask students to do a nude portrait, for fuck’s sake.”
I smiled innocently. “It’s fine if you’re uncomfortable. I could ask Josh or Craig to pose instead. They don’t seem to have any issues with their bodies. They take their shirts off every time they play footie at lunch.”
Dominic’s fingers moved suddenly until he was gripping my throat, just as I’d done to him earlier. “You look at them?”
I had no idea what game we were playing, only that right now, I was winning. “It’s hard not to, you know? They’re both so…fit.”
I was lying through my teeth. I didn’t watch Josh or Craig at lunch, much less think they were attractive. As much as I fucking hated it, Dominic absorbed so much of my attention and awareness that I rarely even noticed who else was there.
But this was bothering him. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, his grip on my neck almost painful. His nostrils flared. Oh yes, this was pissing him right off. Any second now he was going to storm out and I would’ve won.
“Fine.”
Victory rang through me as he let me go and stepped back. He was leaving. I’d won. I’d fucking won.
But then his hands went to the bottom of his T-shirt.
And I watched, frozen, as he ripped it over his head.
As he dropped it to the floor.
Holy shit. Dominic was fucking ripped. I mean, I knew this. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen him topless before.
But seeing it now was different. It had my blood rushing to places it had no permission to go.
My mouth dried out as my brain short circuited, wondering what to fantasise about first. His tight pecs, which were all but begging for me to squeeze them.
The fuzz of dark hair there that I wanted to bury my nose in.
The dusky nipples I had a sudden urge to lick.
Or maybe his abs, sharply defined, with a deep vee leading to?—
You know where it leads. Don’t think about that. It’ll just make this worse.
That thought led to another realisation. One I’d had a while ago, but buried deep down. There was no way of keeping it contained now as it came screaming to the front of my consciousness.
I’m bisexual.
I couldn’t deal with that right now. Being attracted to men was fine. Grand, even.
Being attracted to Dominic was not.
I wiped my clammy palms on my jeans, desperately trying to get us off this downward spiral I’d set us on. “W-what are you doing?”
He smirked arrogantly as his hands finished what they’d started earlier with his jeans. “Exactly what you asked, Shadow. Why would I make you go to someone else when you’ve got what you need right here?”
He was playing chicken again, just as I had been. A flicker of irritation passed through me, and I grabbed it with both hands. I’d take that over the yawning precipice of uncertainty I’d just been hanging over. “Get on with it, then. I don’t have all night.”
Dominic leaned close, until his lips hovered just a few inches over mine. “That’s a shame, because I’d definitely need all night.”
Before I could decide if he’d actually said that or if my horny brain had made it up, he pulled back abruptly and strode for my bed.
He paused at the corner, shoving his jeans and boxers off in one smooth motion. Well, it wasn’t quite as smooth as I thought he’d intended, his underwear catching on his engorged cock.
My breath caught at the proof that it wasn’t just me getting off on whatever this fucked-up situation was.
We were both in this, for better or worse.
Dominic lay back on my bed, the pillows I slept on propping him up, the duvet I covered myself with now topped by his naked body.
“Well?” He raised a dark brow. “What are you waiting for, Shadow?”
I didn’t miss the challenge, but I also didn’t miss the flicker of uncertainty. The pulse of nerves he was trying to disguise with confidence. The confusion as to what the fuck we were doing.
Yes, we were both in this. And I didn’t think either of us knew where we were heading or why.
Somehow, I wasn’t ready to get off this train. And neither was Dominic.
I picked up my pencil and started to draw.
The lines had never flowed so easily.