Chapter 4 Walker #4
Oh Lord, this was not the time to notice that his front was just as stacked as his back.
His stomach was just as flat, the dark red hair dripping with water, and his waist had the same mess of scars as his back.
I had to work to keep my eyes on his face rather than drifting south.
I had glimpsed enough, though, to remember that even soft Cade had enough to bounce heavily just below my line of sight.
Wait—
I squinted at him. “From the start? Just how long were you listening?”
The anger on his face disappeared in a flash, replaced by a sheepish look. “Uh…long enough?”
I cocked my head. “And just why would you stand there listening to the whole thing?”
Now he was definitely embarrassed, looking away just long enough that temptation won out and I glanced down.
It wasn’t as if it was my first time seeing his dick, but considering how hard I had worked at not noticing it in the past, it still had an effect on me.
He might have been soft, but I noticed he’d trimmed himself since the last time I saw him, not that surprising considering we weren’t out in the field anymore and grooming supplies were more readily available.
I didn’t know whether he was a growing or showing type, but if he was the former, he still put on a good accidental show, and I wondered how much growing there was left to do with how much was already showing.
Great, here I was standing in my underwear, getting hard from the reminder that Cade was still gorgeous, definitely hung, and that the scars he had accumulated since the last time I’d seen his naked body only added to his appeal.
Perfect.
“I mean,” he said, and I was grateful he was too embarrassed and too straight to realize I was filling out my underwear a lot more than before.
“I just…I knew Logan was, ya know…into guys. I mean, he wasn’t really tryin’ anything like Clay said he’d tried with Isaac, so I thought he was… okay. I didn’t wanna—”
“Ah,” I said in a flash of understanding, ducking my head. “You were listening in out of concern, but you didn’t want to get in the way if I decided Logan’s offer was appealing.”
He grunted. “Yeah.”
“I should have let you be my wingman,” I told him with a smirk. “You’re clearly willing to play the part.”
He glanced at me, wary but hopeful. “I could.”
“Not that I don’t appreciate the offer or the intent, because I do, but I don’t need you to wingman for me,” I told him with a chuckle. “And that still goes for you coming to my defense, by the way. I don’t need that either.”
“Yeah, I know…sorry.”
“I thought you weren’t going to apologize for it?”
“Well…I am.”
“Don’t be; it’s been a while since I had someone I could trust to have my back completely.”
He smiled at that, and for a moment, I could forget that both of our lives had gone to hell in the past few years.
There was just him and me standing there, the same old Cade with his dopey but endearing smile, as happy to receive praise as he was to hear a good joke.
Trust was scarce for people like us, and even harder to give to someone else.
He knew better than most how valuable and rare it was for me to hand out trust for something like monitoring my six.
“And I’m sorry I was such a dick,” I said with a sigh.
Cade’s smile disappeared under a grimace. “Ya weren’t wrong though. I been thinkin’ about it, and you’re right. I dunno what to do about it, but…you were right.”
“Maybe I was,” I said, choosing to ignore his nakedness as I reached out and touched his chest gently, also having to ignore the feel of his hard muscle and the brush of his chest hair against my fingers.
“But I didn’t need to be such a dick. You don’t need someone riding your ass; you deserve to have a friend. ”
“Eh, friends can be rough with each other when they need to be,” he said with a laugh that I could feel rumbling in his chest. He reached up and rapped his knuckles against his head. “I can be hard-headed sometimes, I know. It can be the only way to get me to listen.”
“Well, next time I need you to listen, I’ll be nicer about it first,” I told him, pulling my hand away because despite the change in tone, my dick was still not behaving, and I needed to put some space between us so it stopped trying to show off.
“Yeah, sure,” he said with a snort. “But I’m gonna be honest, you were always the one I could trust to say what needed to be said, and not always gently And ya know how it goes, ya listen to the guy who keeps your inside bits on the inside.”
“Speaking of bits,” I said, glancing down. “Yours are out and they’re…distracting.”
He looked down in surprise, missing my horror as I realized I’d just thrown out all the work keeping my feelings to myself with that one comment.
He looked at me, eyes wide, and stopped before he said whatever had been bubbling up.
It was then I realized, much to my continually growing horror and embarrassment, that he had noticed my… predicament.
“Oh, uh,” he said, but it was too late. I could see his eyes darting to the front of my underwear before he locked onto my face. “Right, uh, sorry about that. I didn’t realize that, uh—”
“You’re naked? Or that although I know you’re straight and we’re friends, my body is still going to react to seeing a naked, wet, hot guy standing in front of me?
” I asked dryly because, fuck it, I’d already told on myself.
Trying to soften the truth was going to be as effective as trying to soften my dick while I could still see Cade’s.
“Right,” he said slowly, and then shook his head. “I’m gonna go finish my shower. Well, get my towel anyway. I already showered like twenty minutes ago. But I’ll get my stuff so I can dry off and you can shower.”
“Sure,” I said with a casualness that I definitely wasn’t feeling. “I can wait for you to get out.”
“I wasn’t sayin’ ya had to…” He stopped himself, looked confused, and then sighed. “Alright, sure.”
He walked away, and this time I could hear his leg thump softly.
All was forgiven for my harsh words, but somehow, I didn’t think he was going to forget that I’d not only told him I was attracted to him, but his eyes had given him all the proof he needed.
I didn’t think he would avoid me after something like that, but if he did, I wouldn’t blame him.
“Smooth, Walker,” I muttered as I stripped my underwear off and threw it into the dirty laundry sack in the locker, grabbing my towel to wrap around my waist. “Real smooth.”