Chapter 10
TEN
SUTTON
Watching the movie had been the most delicious torture I’d ever experienced. Between overhearing Jayden talking to his dick—this was Jayden so I had no doubts that’s what he’d been chatting to—and him cuddling up to me, ending up rubbing against my cock, and I was a walking, grunting ball of need.
I wanted him so badly my nerve endings were alive and pulsing with desire.
Every touch, look, and word we shared buzzed with awareness all night. It had been developing for a few days, something I was viscerally conscious of.
Tonight a change had happened. While I didn’t understand fully why that was, if Jayden indicated he wanted more from me, I wouldn’t hold back. Couldn’t if my life depended on it.
But it had to be him.
Being in love with the guy meant I had no choice but to hold back. This had to be his decision. Only then could I truly be all in.
His words from when we were in the outback taunted me. He’d said the same things. “All in” then was bullshit. We’d both known it. There was only one version of “all in” that existed.
Heart, body, mind, and soul.
I wanted to give him it all. So ready that my body vibrated.
Already in bed, I tried to relax and not act as if this could be it. The moment he asked me for more. Despite my efforts, my muscles were tight.
More than aware he could exit the bathroom, give me his usual sweet kiss—one of my favorite parts of the day—and turn his back to me, I closed my eyes and counted to ten.
Then to twenty.
Moving on to thirty, I heard the soft click of the door opening. I had no choice but to look.
I soaked him in, drank in the light splattering of hair on his chest, the way his muscles dipped and curved. Reaching his stomach, I didn’t dare go any further, my gaze snapping to his.
Moving toward the bed, he seemed in control, unperturbed by the invisible current zapping between us. Before he got into bed, he faltered. The first tell his nerves were close to the surface.
“Jay.” I stopped there, not sure what else to say.
But he knew. He had to.
The man at my side, now under the covers, his head on the pillow, his whole body facing me, knew me. And I was tired, oh so tired of the wall I’d erected, the barrier I’d felt like I had no choice but to build to protect my heart from my friend.
Jayden would never hurt me deliberately. The certainty of that was as clear as the open expression on his face.
With parted lips, his eyes wide, Jayden’s stare remained unwavering.
I lowered beside him, head on my pillow, aware of every inch of space between us.
Warmth spread between us, and the slow movement of his hand caught my attention.
I held my breath. Waiting, needing, wanting.
And then his palm touched my cheek, fingers dancing over my skin.
The gentlest touch I’d ever experienced.
It surprised me, the tenderness of the exploration. Jayden often dived in headfirst, usually without a first and never with a second look. But here he was, his gaze and fingers wandering, as if discovering the man beyond the friendship for the first time.
I expected him to speak, assumed he would say something cocky to cut through the tension.
I was wrong.
He leaned in, his stare on mine, his breathing uneven. Watching, waiting, perhaps assuming I’d stop him.
He should have known better.
Unable to wait, I closed the gap, my lips pressing against his, and then our mouths joined, moving, exploring, tongues probing. One of us groaned, maybe both of us, and Jayden wasted no time in plastering himself against my body.
When his thigh brushed against my cock, my gasp was guttural and needy. Then he was there, his cock against mine. Two thin barriers between us.
I clamped down on him, wrapping my arms around him as our kiss continued, desire and rightness demanding attention, demanding more from me.
He gasped, disconnecting from the kiss. My eyes jolted open, a tremble of anxiety brushing across my skin. Only heat and wonder reflected in the depth of his oaky eyes. A lazy smile followed, the reaction everything I needed for the trembles to stop.
He wasn’t backing away.
He wanted this.
Wanted me.
“I know we said first base only.” His quiet words pressed against me. My cock twitched, earning me a quirked brow. “How set on that rule are we?”
Darting my gaze around his face, looking for anything hinting at uncertainty, I exhaled lightly, not seeing any. “You want to do more?”
He pushed his hips against mine, his pupils dilating. My groin tightened at the contact, and I bit my bottom lip. The movement pulled his attention to my mouth. When he leaned in and pressed a light kiss and a slight lick against my bottom lip, I released it.
“I really want to do more.”
I didn’t need to ask if he was sure. I had to believe that what was happening—or at least his awareness of me—had been building for a while. That this wasn’t one of the times Jayden simply reacted. And even if it was, the Jayden I knew never had regrets. Ever. Period.
He screwed up? He owned it.
“Me too,” I answered breathily.
There was nothing tentative about his touch. His fingers traced my skin, my chest, swept over my nipples. I shuddered at the contact. He smirked, but rather than teasing, his mouth connected once more with mine.
By the time he reached the material of my boxers, the cotton tight to my skin, I fought hard to not writhe on the bed. I bit back the plea on my lips, begging him to put his hands beneath the elastic waistband.
It turned out I didn’t need to worry. Jayden went for it, his hand dipping in, fingers immediately touching the hot skin of my cock.
He caught my gasp with his mouth, but I angled away, needing the space to concentrate on getting my hand in his boxers.
A light chuckle escaped him at my urgency. The sound relaxed me, offering me that perfect reminder of who exactly this man pressed against me was.
His laughter broke off when I grasped him, feeling the full effect of the weight of his erection and the heat of his flesh. Once in hand, I returned my gaze to his, pumping, focusing on the sensations rippling through me, committing to memory his soft gasps, the light groans, and his shot pupils.
The grip on my cock was steady, just the right side of firm, and when he swept his thumb over the end, spreading the satin smoothness of my precum, I groaned. I chased his kisses, my hand picking up speed, his own mirroring mine.
This was too much. Not enough. Everything, and so much more than I’d dared hope for.
“Fuck,” he grunted out against my mouth when my fingers dipped and caressed his balls. “Do that again.”
Through my lust, I managed to smile, lips barely connected. Jayden smiled back and shivered when I made good on his request. His hand faltered on my cock, and I fucking prayed that meant he was close. The stars appearing in my peripheral vision were closing in. My balls drew tight.
“I’m gonna…,” I said against his mouth.
His nod was the only indication he’d heard me.
And then I was flying, soaring in the blinding tingles sweeping through me. My body jerked, my hand squeezing, and thank fuck when I felt him coat my hand.
We both came down, panting. My mouth found its way to his neck. I pressed my lips against his sweaty skin, once, twice, before angling away. I released him, not caring my hand was sticky, not minding one bit about the mess we made.
A loud huff of breath, along with a chuckle I knew so well, escaped from Jayden as he angled back. Our eyes connected. I didn’t even have to wait for a beat before I was smiling back, and when he leaned in for a quick press of lips against mine, my muscles became like jelly.
Contentment rolled down my spine, reaching every finger and toe.
“We need a shower.” He raised one brow.
“We need clean sheets.”
“It’s a good job I know where they are then,” he responded, squeezing my ass before throwing the sheets back.
I remained where I was, sticky, my sweat drying, and my gaze glued to his movements. When he peered over his shoulder, both his brows shot up. “You coming? The shower is plenty big enough.”
He didn’t have to ask me twice. With a swiftness that had Jayden snorting out a laugh, I made it to the bathroom ahead of him, turning on the tap and checking the heat. And then I hesitated, hands on my boxers.
“You going shy on me even though I’ve still got your cum on my hand, Sutton?”
A glance revealed Jayden in the doorway. Once he’d captured my gaze, he tugged down his boxers. Not wanting to miss a thing, I followed the movement, staying on his half-hard cock.
My eyes flared, cock twitched, and the tip of my tongue dipped out, wetting my bottom lip. Jayden held on to his junk and squeezed. My brows shot high, opposite to my attention that quickly lowered.
“You know that just gives me ideas, right?”
“That right?” I asked, my voice gruff.
“Oh yeah. That water good?”
I reached out blindly to check it. “Yeah.”
As he stepped toward me, I got into the shower, happily watching the show. Once he was before me, he moved into my space. We were almost at eye level, me having just an inch on him. It felt right, being here like this with him.
With so much having happened, he was going to hate me for asking, but I needed to know. “Why aren’t you freaking out?”
He tilted his head, gaze searching mine. “Why aren’t you freaking out?” he shot back.
I rolled my eyes and leaned into the spray. It gave me a few seconds to get my thoughts together. A mighty feat considering the orgasm he’d torn from me had left me shaken and weak.
“Seriously, man, why?”
He sighed, nudging me so he could get some of the spray. “You making me talk about feelings and shit, Sutton?”
“Maybe… are you saying there are feelings to discuss?” My chest tightened, certain he could read the edge of desperation in my tone.
“I don’t usually make out with guys and kiss their faces off while we jack each other off to the point my eyes roll back inside my head.”
My mouth twitched at the visual. There may have been a little bit of cockiness morphing, too, knowing I’d done that to him. Alongside that was a reality of the man I knew who went through stages of sleeping around with League groupies. Not that I’d been that different, in the early days especially.
“What?” The concern in his tone was clear.
“Just thinking about groupies…” I trailed off, expecting the direction of my thoughts were clear, though already wishing I could take the words back.
When the hell did I become this person? This fucking man?
Butt naked in the shower, and here I was asking my best friend if what we’d just done meant something to him.
If it was more than a quick jack-off session.
I straightened my back, tension rippling through me, feeling like a dickhead. “Forget I said anything.”
Reaching out for the shower gel, I turned my back on him, focusing on washing down and getting out of there as quickly as possible. If not, there was a chance I could humiliate myself even more.
I barely even recognized myself anymore. This, whoever this version of me was, was no one I recognized. If this was what it was like being in love and being on the verge of possibility, having hope so close to my grasp I could taste it, I wasn’t sure I was cut out for it.
“Sutton.”
I scrubbed my face under the water.
“Gale.”
Goose bumps appeared at the sound of my name and the tone of his voice. I could tell with just one word that whatever he planned to say was serious.
“Just look at me, man.”
I turned to face him, humiliation heating my skin. Not sure what to expect when I saw him, my breath was all but knocked from my lungs when he immediately reached out and cupped both sides of my face.
“To be absolutely crystal fucking clear, League groupies were great for a quick fuck”—my eye twitched, but he didn’t stop—“and a good time. No way I would risk doing anything with you, stepping over any boundary, not like this unless I meant it and wanted more. Which I do. With you. Don’t even begin to ask me how or why or even knowing that just the thought of sucking on your dick makes me hard, because it just does.
” He brushed his thumb against my cheek, the movement so tender, a lump formed in my throat.
“And while I will always try my fucking hardest to be honest with you, actually talking about my feelings and that damn muscle in my chest that keeps going crazy when I see you is not my favorite thing to do in the world.”
I grinned, unable to hold back the rush of feelings for this man. “That muscle in your chest been getting a workout recently or something?”
He snorted. “Or something.” He dropped his hands and placed them around my waist. “Do you have any idea what we’re doing?”
I shook my head. “Not really.”
He laughed. “Gale Sutton clueless and without a plan. Has hell frozen over?”
Feeling bold and remembering precisely who this man was to me, I reached around and clamped my hands on his ass.
His grin stretched even wider. “You know, you always say you’re useless at talking and dealing with feelings.
I think it’s about time I told you that’s absolutely bullshit. You let all your emotions pour out.”
Narrowing his eyes at me, he scowled. “Take that back.”
“Now why would I want to do a thing like that?”
“Because it’s all lies. I don’t do feelings.”
“Uh-huh. The man doth protest too much, methinks.”
“Don’t you get quoting Hamlet to me.”
When my brows shot high, his palm landed on my ass with a loud smack.
“Ow,” I said with laughter. “What the fuck, Moore?”
“I know shit. Totally watched that Mel Gibson movie rather than reading the play at high school.”
“Of course you did.”
“You’ve known for a while I’m crazy cultured.”
“Perhaps drop one of those adjectives,” I fired back.
“Stop with all of the grammar shit.” He pushed his hips against me. “You see, you’ve made me go soft. Grammar’s not sexy.”
“Take that back,” I said.
“Or what?”
“I won’t be able to show you the hundreds of verbs out there relating to jacking off.
” I licked a column up his throat, more than happy to put further discussion on the back burner.
“Or maybe even sucking,” I whispered, pressing kisses along his collarbone.
Distracting him from my overreaction was my best idea ever.
“Yeah?” He sagged against me, angling to give me better access. My mouth returned to his neck. “What else?”
“At some point, I’m sure we’ll reach the stage of fucking.” I swallowed down his groan with a kiss, feeling empowered by his reaction, bolder than I had ever felt before.
As I devoured his mouth, I wrapped my hand around his no longer flagging cock. If he was up for it, working up to sucking and fucking was totally going on my plan. And with the way Jayden moaned my name and cussed up a storm, I imagined it wouldn’t take too long at all.