Chapter 24
Marty
I really thought Miles was about to make a huge mistake.
With how angry Ryan looked, I figured he might wind up with his own court-ordered community service or jail time, but it did feel nice that he gave that many shits about me to stick up for me like that.
“You know you’re more than that to me, right?”
I do because he means more to me than any of the stuff we’ve done.
If anything, I feel like I’ve been the frathole for all the assumptions I made about him over the years.
Yeah, he can be rude, inconsiderate, and stubborn, but he can also be kind, caring, and if you’re on his good side, apparently, protective as fuck.
I only wish I’d seen it before the end of our senior year.
Fortunately, the anxiety Miles worked up eases as we get back to work, and a few hours into the job, we take a break and enjoy the sandwiches and drinks supplied for volunteers.
Ryan and I sit with our crew, and I notice Miles off near the woods at the end of the yard with two other Omega Psis.
Seems like he’s calmed down since our confrontation.
Troy talks to a group of volunteers, then approaches us.
“Thanks again for coming out today. Something I’m mentioning every weekend, we’re always short during the summer.
I know most of you will be heading home to your families, but if anyone’s interested in sticking around and helping out, we could really use the help. ”
My gaze shifts to Ryan so fast, I don’t even think my brain has caught up with why until we just sit there staring at each other.
Maybe this doesn’t have to be over in a couple of weeks, after all.
What am I saying? He probably has plans for the summer. I can’t expect him to make time to stay here and fuck around with me.
“I’m down,” Dax says—it doesn’t seem like he’s even thought twice about it. “And I’m getting my own place, if any of you want to stay with me.”
Most of the people I know who aren’t seniors will be staying with their families over the summer, but knowing Dax and the fun he likes to get up to, I imagine that’s a lot easier to manage when you’re not trying to screw around in your childhood bedroom.
And if he’s staying, I guess I could…
“I can see if I could be free,” Ryan suddenly tells Troy.
Is this really happening?
I try to play it cool as I add, “Yeah, I think I might be able to help out for at least part of the summer.”
What am I doing?
Troy’s brows pop up, obviously pleasantly surprised by his luck in finding volunteers. “Thanks, guys. Dax and Marty, we’d really appreciate it. And, Ryan, if you want, I can get you extra hours at the shop.”
“That’d be great, actually. Perfect.”
When Troy heads off, I glance around, waiting to see if anyone might suspect why I jumped in after Ryan agreed to help, but everyone gets back to their conversations.
And why the hell would they suspect anything, given how we were at each other’s throats when the Sigma Alphas first came to stay at Alpha Theta Mu.
After we wrap up for the day, I drive Ryan, Keeg, and Dax back to the frat in my car. “You sure you don’t want to join in?” Dax asks Keegan.
“Can’t. My family takes a vacation together every summer.”
“Ah, too bad,” Dax says. “I’m actually glad the opportunity came up. I was thinking I’d be the whole summer without all my guys, but guess Ryan, Marty, and me will have to create our own little frat in my house.”
“I figured you’d want to keep the place all to yourself to enjoy all the action you’ll be getting,” Ryan says from the passenger seat.
“Eh, I don’t think it’ll be too different than it is now. It works that it’s you two since you already know how to coordinate messing around with people. And don’t worry, Marty, if he gets greedy again, we can kick him to the curb.”
“I’ll do my best not to be too greedy,” Ryan says.
Don’t look at me. Don’t look at me.
With everything in me, I know he’s about to shoot a look my way, and I can’t help feeling we’re gonna give ourselves away if we’re not more careful.
As he sneaks me a glance, my cheeks warm.
Dax chats some more about the apartment he’s getting over where Atlas and Troy and Brenner and Taylor live, talking up the pool and the fitness center. Meanwhile, Ryan and I are unusually quiet.
When we get back to my room, Ryan’s grinning ear to ear.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
“You like me too.”
“Huh?”
“When I said I could stay over the summer, you got all excited at the idea of me fucking you for a few more weeks, and that’s why you volunteered too.”
Why are my cheeks so damn hot?
I know the answer.
Because he’s right.
“You were looking right at me,” I say. “Don’t act like that’s not what you were thinking.”
He shrugs. “Okay, I admit it. Now you have to admit you like me.”
“You already know I like you. We covered that.”
He steps toward me, and I retreat until my back’s against the bathroom doorframe.
“Come on,” he says as his arms hook around me. Because of the sweat we worked up, I can smell his musky scent, which doesn’t prick at my nose the way it once did. Now it’s like a drug.
“You can tell me the truth,” he says. “You’re catching the feels.”
“The feels? How old are we?”
“Well, if you’re not catching the feels for me, then I guess I have to be the one to confess I’m catching the feels for you.”
A surge of energy swirls in my belly, like butterflies. There’s that warmth in my cheeks again.
“Can you be more specific?” Of course, I don’t need him to be. I know exactly what he’s saying, and it’s a relief because I feel the same way.
Ryan moves quickly, taking a kiss. His soft lips overtake mine, minty from the Altoids we popped on the way home. His hands slide under the back of my shirt, gliding across my skin as his tongue expertly toys with mine.
He squats down and hoists me up by my thighs.
Pushing me back against the doorframe, he dominates me with kisses, his lips lingering for another moment before he pulls back and gazes at me, those bright blue eyes sparkling.
He waits, as though he’s unwilling to give me what I want until I give him what he wants.
“I’ve caught some feels for you,” I finally admit. “Is that what you want to hear?”
He angles his head. “Only if you really mean it. And don’t worry, I know you do.”
He’s got the cockiest damn expression on his face—the kind I used to want to punch off his face when his team would win a TaskFrat challenge, but now it’s so fucking adorable.
“Can you stop saying feels?” I ask.
“The guys were giving me hell. Said they could tell I had the feels for someone, and I was telling them it wasn’t true. Then that thing happened with Miles…fuck, how I wanted to kick his balls through his jaw.”
“Not sure how that would work, but…”
“The point is that my friends do really know me, and all that made me realize just how right they were. Marty McGovern’s got me feeling all the feels.
” He leans close, licking up my lips before offering another kiss.
“Now let’s get you out of these clothes, and then I’m gonna clean you off and fuck you in the shower,” he whispers against my mouth, and that excitement in my belly bursts into heat throughout my body, stirring a familiar desire I have to sate.
We strip down, and while he grabs a condom and lube from the nightstand, I run the shower water and rinse off.
“Give me that,” he says, snatching the loofah from me.
He lathers more soap onto it and, starting at my chest, cleans me off.
He’s slow and deliberate with his movements, his eyes drinking me in as though he wants to make sure to cover every inch of me.
He moves the loofah in circles around my abdomen, paying extra attention to the dips and grooves.
As he squats down, I reposition so the water slaps against my back as he takes his time on either leg, then once he’s finished, runs his finger between them, wiping across my ass, massaging gently. He offers a low growl, which ignites a fire within me.
I step closer to the showerhead, and Ryan walks on his knees not far behind, until the water is flowing behind us.
Pressing my forearm against the wall, beside the hanging shower caddy, I arch my back, serving my ass up to him.
Ryan eagerly accepts my invitation, pulling my cheeks apart before offering a quick kiss, then a lick up the crease.
It’s such a simple move, but it’s got my body aching for him again.
“Fuck,” I mutter.
He rises to his feet, grabbing the soap and spreading some more across the loofah before scrubbing himself down, the suds sliding across his chest and abs, as he whistles innocently.
“That was mean,” I tell him. “Getting me hungry for it and then abandoning me.” He likes to edge me like this, and I’ve learned I like it too.
“Just trying to make sure you’re nice and horny for when I fuck you,” he says before reaching out and snatching my hard-on, giving it a quick rub.
I grab the soap and collect some in my hand before rubbing down his shaft, stroking to show the same care at cleaning him as he did with me, then move out of the way of the showerhead so he can rinse it off.
When I’m finished, I take the loofah from him and scrub him down, returning the favor, tending to that perfect flesh I’ve become so familiar with since we started fucking around.
While I’m on my knees, covering his legs, with his stiff cock right in front of me, I can’t help myself.
I lean forward, taking him into my mouth.
Because of what he did to me, I’m not as nice as I normally would be—I’m all tease, letting my tongue play on his flesh as water spills over my face, splashing against his cock.
He moans.
“Not so nice when you’re on the receiving end, is it?” I ask as his cock swells.
“Just get up and let me fuck you.”
Relieved my plan worked, I push to my feet.