Chapter 22
I t's the day before Christmas break, and I'm happier than I remember being in a long time. I’m looking forward to a few days off that I can spend with Ethan, Elle, Mitch, Crystal, and Ryder, talking and getting to know each other better, building a stronger friendship between us all. I have Ethan’s gift ready and I’ve even managed to avoid Dawn for the past few days.
It looks like she’s stopped pestering us, even though she still gives me the stink eye when I pass her in the halls.
For the first time in a long time, everything feels right.
Ethan doesn’t have practice today, since it’s early dismissal, so our little crew meets at the diner Ethan took me to for breakfast a few weeks ago.
We sit around for a few hours, talking and laughing.
It’s one of the most fun days I’ve had in… maybe ever.
I’ve never had this before. I think the last time I spoke to anyone other than Crystal was when we were in kindergarten.
Back before I got painfully shy, I would talk to anyone.
I didn’t know how much I needed this type of interaction until I got it.
Now, I don’t know if I can go back to not being this open with the people that have worked their way into my trust circle.
Today is one of the best days of my life.
Until it isn’t.
After we get back to Ethan’s house, we head straight to his room. His parents will be back at a reasonable time tonight, since they want to spend some time with Ethan before the holidays swamp them with work.
With that in mind, we go to his room, and his mouth is on mine and his hands are down my pants almost immediately. I groan into his mouth, loving when he touches me.
Pulling my mouth from his, I shimmy out of my jeans and pull my shirt over my head quickly before he reclaims my mouth with a rough kiss.
My clumsy fingers work his pants open and I shakily grab on to his rigid length, jerking him slowly.
When he snatches his lips from mine, I drop to my knees and suck him down my throat before he can stop me.
I take him deep, holding him inside for a few beats before I pull back, circling my tongue around his cockhead.
“Ah, fuck,” Ethan groans, a hand on the back of my head. He’s not thrusting into my mouth, just holding me and stroking my scalp. I chance a glance up at him, wanting to see his face while I’m pleasing him. His head is thrown back and his chest is heaving with the quick breaths he’s taking.
I drop my eyes before he catches me and refocus on what I’m doing.
I flatten my tongue and glide it over the underside of his shaft.
When I get to his crown, I draw him in, moaning when the warm weight of his cock settles on my tongue.
“Goddamn, Koby. I’m close,” Ethan groans, then starts to thrust into my mouth.
“You’re so good at this. Your mouth…oh, fuck.
” He snatches his cock from my lips and jerks himself off, coming on my chest without much warning.
One of these days, I’m going to swallow everything he has to give me.
Ethan slides his hands under my arms and pulls me up for a kiss, his tongue taking ownership of my mouth.
I moan and grip his shoulders, wanting him closer, but not wanting to rub his come on his shirt.
Ethan obviously doesn’t give a fuck, because he pulls my chest to his and holds me close.
I melt into him like I usually do, loving how his strong arms feel around me.
Walking me back to the bed, he sits me on the edge and drops to his knees, pulling my underwear down and diving onto my dick without hesitation.
My toes curl when I feel his warm, wet mouth engulfing me, his tongue doing filthy things that I didn’t know he was capable of.
I moan loudly, glad his parents aren’t home.
Ethan jerks me as he bobs up and down, spreading the wetness of his spit down my shaft. Then, surprising me, he pops off my dick and pulls my balls into his mouth.
“Shit, babe. Oh, fuck,” I whisper, loving the new sensation of my balls being tongued. The soft suction of his wet mouth is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. He continues to jerk me and I feel my orgasm rising.
“Mmm…I’m going to come. Ethan, babe…”
He surprises me again by letting my sack drop from his mouth and covering my cockhead with his moist mouth.
I try to move back so I don’t explode down his throat, but Ethan holds me fast and does something with his tongue that makes me lose my mind, and I come on a deep shudder.
The feeling of him swallowing while I come has me babbling and saying God knows what.
After several seconds, he slowly releases my dick from between his lips and looks at me. I feel my cheeks heat, but I don’t drop my gaze. I can’t. I can’t stop looking at him. Ethan’s lips are puffy, coated with my cum. He looks dazed, his pupils blown wide and his cheeks flushed.
I open my mouth to speak, but I can’t get words out. It takes several tries—and a sexy smirk from Ethan—for me to get words to move up my throat and out of my mouth. “Why…how…what?”
He chuckles and climbs on the bed beside me. He wipes his mouth and kisses my cheek. I try to kiss his lips, but he won’t let me. “Let me rinse my mouth first.”
Quietly, I tell him, “You don’t have to.”
“No?”
I shake my head. Why would he? It’s just…me.
He tentatively presses his lips to mine. I take control this time and put one hand on the back of his head, sliding my tongue inside. I circle around his mouth and don’t mind the taste of myself—salty and tart, but not terrible.
“You…swallowed,” I say when we break the kiss.
“Mhm.” His answer is coupled with a smug smile because he knows that I loved it.
“You didn’t let me…” I trail off, being kind of pouty. I wanted to taste him, too.
The surprise on his face takes me off guard. “You wanted to?” I nod and fight not to drop my eyes. “Okay, creep. Next time, I promise.”
Ethan kisses my nose and gets out of bed. He holds his hand out to me and I take it, letting him pull me up, and head to the shower. We kiss for a long time under the spray, Ethan’s hands exploring my body while I hold on to him for dear life.
After we have our fill of each other’s mouths, we clean up and climb out. Ethan tosses me a pair of his shorts that I have to cinch up tight, and one of his team shirts that practically swallows me. I lay in his bed and curl up into him when he climbs in after me.
He tucks his arm under my head and kisses my forehead. “You gonna come over on Christmas?” he asks me.
“Yeah,” I nod. “If you don’t mind.”
“I never mind you being here with me, creep. Just let me know when you’re ready and I’ll come get you.”
Nodding, I throw a leg over him and tuck my head under his neck. It doesn’t take me long to fall asleep, happy and content.
My ringing phone wakes me up and shatters my world.
I pull myself from my slumber but miss the call. I decide to call whoever it was back later, but before I can get comfortable again, my phone rings again. I groan and reach over Ethan to grab it. I see that it’s Crystal, so I answer her happily. “Hey, bestie.”
“Koby?” The shaky way she says my name makes me sit up straight.
“What’s wrong?” Ethan stirs beside me. I turn away from him and try to keep my voice down. “You okay?”
“Where are you? You need to come home, now.”
The urgency in her voice makes me climb over Ethan and hurry out of the room to the guest room. I shove my legs into the first pair of pants that I see. I leave Ethan’s shirt on and find my coat, since the temperature has finally dropped.
I turn around to wake Ethan, but he’s standing behind me. He grabs my arm to steady me and gives me a quizzical look. I shrug.
“Crys, what is it? What’s going on?” I hear yelling in the background but can’t make out what it is.
“Just come, Koby. Hurry.”
I don’t need to hear more. I hang up and look at Ethan. “I need you to take me home. Now.”
He doesn’t hesitate, he simply hurries to his room. I wait by the front door, fidgeting from one foot to the other, antsy and ready to leave. I don’t know what I’m going to find when I get there, but my heart is pounding.
When he’s ready, we hurry to his car. He pulls out quickly, but not recklessly, which I greatly appreciate, even though I want him to drive faster. My knee is bouncing and I’m rubbing my hands together repeatedly. I feel like I’m going to jump out of my skin.
Although my parents aren’t the best, I don’t want anything to happen to them. I still love them. Even my mother. She could still change, still somehow be the mother I want her to be. If something happened to her, I’d never have that.
And my father. I barely know him, but I want the chance to try to mend our relationship.
Sweat beads on my forehead as we turn onto my street. I don’t see any ambulances or cop cars, so I breathe a quick sigh of relief. Then I see why Crystal sounded the way she did.
Scattered across my lawn is all of my stuff, and I mean everything. My bed, dresser, clothes, television, books, posters. Everything. And my mom is on the porch, throwing more of my stuff onto the lawn, hollering about God knows what.
Ethan stops the car and has an angry look on his face, jaw clenched. Slowly, I get out and approach the house and my mother.
When she spots me, she tries to walk down the steps, but it wobbles, and as drunk as she is, she might break her neck.
She’s not too drunk to realize it’s a bad idea, so she stops and leans against one of the beams on the porch.
Her eyes are narrowed and she looks furious, but I’m not sure why.
It’s not like I’ve been in her way since I haven’t been home.
I look around at the lawn, and if I wasn’t so hurt and embarrassed, I would wonder how she managed to get my bed outside with her current state of intoxication.
Everything is strewn about, clothes in muddy spots on the lawn, and school books I didn’t take with me ripped in pieces over the grass, some of the pages blowing down the street.
My mother starts in on me as soon as I bend down to pick up some of my things. “You fucking whore! Been wasting time with some man that ain’t gonna do nothing but use you for your hole and your mouth. No one wants you. Fucking faggot.”
I wince and tears well in my eyes. I push them back with sheer force of will and find a gym bag on the ground I’m sure belongs to my father and stuff some things in it, trying my best to ignore my mother.
She doesn’t like that. “I should have done this years ago. No need to have a filthy queer in my house. You’re no son of mine. No son of mine would like to take dick. You’re not home anyway, running the streets, being a slut. So get your shit and get the fuck out!”
My lip trembles as I grab my belongings from the front yard. Ethan is looking around, probably trying to figure out where to start.
I don’t have much, so I grab whatever will fit in the duffle bag and stuff it inside as quickly as I can. Crystal helps, and so does Isaiah, who I didn’t notice until I saw him moving from the corner of my eye.
I don’t notice I’m crying until Ethan takes the duffle bag from my hands and rubs my cheek. I feel the moisture spread under his thumb, which causes broken sobs to escape my mouth.
I should have expected this. It was only a matter of time before she tossed me out on my ass. I figured I had more time, though.
“I have…nowhere to go…” I say on ragged breaths.
Ethan pulls me to him and puts my head on his chest. “Shh...” He rubs my back and tries to calm me down.
My mother is having absolutely none of that.
“So this must be the reason you’re out whoring in the streets.” I turn around to look at her, not wanting her to sneak up and try to strike me or Ethan.
She pushes off the beam she’s leaning against and tries to make her way down the steps again. It wobbles, so she stops. “He your pimp?” she asks, not worried that she’s super fucking drunk and will damn near hurt herself trying to get to me. “He watch you blow strange men for money?”
I jerk in his arms, seeing the evil grin on her face, like she’s taking pleasure from my pain.
I hear a gasp beside me and see Crystal standing just behind us, a hand over her mouth.
She knew the type of shit my mother’s said, but I’m sure even that’s too much for her.
I’m used to it. Doesn’t make it hurt any less, though.
Fed up with keeping quiet, I guess, Ethan grits out, “You should be ashamed of how you’re treating your only child. You don’t deserve him. You don’t deserve anything good.”
My mother—no, Barbara , since I’m not her son anymore—looks momentarily stunned, like she didn’t think anyone would call her on her shit. She doesn’t get a chance to respond as Ethan pulls me away with my full duffle bag over his other shoulder. “Come on, Koby. We’ll figure it out.”
Just hearing him say that almost threatens the wracking sobs to come back, but I push my pain down, tired of breaking down in front of him. Why does this shit always have to happen to me?
He grasps my hand and leads me to the car, where Crystal and Isaiah have stuffed in some items I couldn’t fit in my duffle bag.
Crystal looks distraught, eyes wide and red, brimming with tears.
I give her a small smile that she barely returns.
She pulls me in for a brief hug, then races away after a sob breaks free.
I hope she doesn’t cry for me for too long.
I’d hate to make her feel sad so close to Christmas.
I take one last look at my mother— Barbara —and the house I’ve called home since I was a child. I never want to come back to this place ever again.