Chapter 16 #2
Maybe Spencer wasn’t the only one who’d been teased too long.
“Well,” Ash drawled eventually. “I call dibs on first shower.”
It was maybe an eternity later when Ryder felt a soft brush of a hand against his shoulder, then heard Ash rise from their floor bed and leave the room, the bathroom door closing moments later.
A shower was a great idea, or at least it would have been, if Ryder had possessed even the slightest urge to move.
For now, he lifted his head from where he had it buried in Spencer’s neck.
Spencer was grinning absently up at the ceiling, but Ryder noted it wasn’t only sweat drying on the other alpha’s face but telltale tear tracks.
It had to have happened sometime during his orgasm—Ryder would have noticed it before then.
Ryder brushed at the trail with his thumb. “Of course you cry during sex.” The words came out more tender than he’d intended.
Spencer shrugged. “Usually only during my ruts.” His grin turned sly. “What can I say? You gave it to me good.”
Ryder rolled off him and onto his side, if only to let Spencer take a full breath without Ryder’s weight crushing his chest. He took the condom off his softening cock and tied it off but stayed close, tucking a leg over Spencer’s hips, keeping him right where he was.
Maybe Ash was allowed to run off and get some space after what they’d all just shared, but Spencer clearly needed something different.
“You’re sensitive,” Ryder commented mildly.
“Nah.” Spencer laughed, his gaze still locked on the ceiling. “If I was really sensitive, I wouldn’t be so annoying. Sensitive people are supposed to be self-aware or whatever.”
Ryder propped his head in his hand. “You really think you’re that annoying?”
“I know I bug people.”
“Yeah. You bug people because you’re a little self-centered and in-your-face and you’re hot as fucking hell. They’re also banging down your door to fuck you. I get it.”
Ryder really did get it. He was all for letting people make their own choices, but he had a feeling if Spencer had tried to end things here and pretend this was all nothing more than one long, extended hookup, Ryder would end up at Spencer’s house, throwing the alpha over his shoulder and taking him back to him and Ash.
It was a slightly disconcerting thought.
Spencer shot Ryder a sneaky glance. “You liked fucking an alpha?”
Ryder cocked a brow. “You’re really asking? Yeah, I liked it. Could do that every day. What’s not to like? You’re tight and hot and you moan like—”
“A slut?” Spencer offered happily.
Ryder gave him a glare. “Like you love it.”
Spencer’s cheeks went pink. Ryder pressed on. “You know, all those things you think make you hard to handle … I can handle them. So can Ash.”
Maybe Ash would get pissed at Ryder later for putting things so bluntly when he had his long, drawn-out seduction plan, but Ryder could deal with Ash’s ire. Maybe Spencer needed to hear some things. And for that matter, maybe Ryder needed to say them.
“Do you know why Ash and I were never officially together?” Ryder asked.
Spencer turned his head fully to face Ryder, clearly intrigued. “I thought the undesignated thing, maybe. Or you’re just like, too cool for labels.”
“We know how we feel, so yeah, there’s that, but also, I’m …
intense.” Ryder cleared his throat. He’d forgotten that words didn’t come any more naturally to him than to Ash.
“I like to … provide, maybe. And possess. I like taking control. And Ash likes the same things sometimes. He wants to care for someone just as much—maybe more—as he wants to be cared for. It’s part of why the omega thing freaks him out.
He doesn’t want to be some alpha’s omega. Or that’s not all he wants.”
“But you love each other.” Spencer said it with such conviction, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“I’m just saying.” Ryder paused to gather his thoughts. “I know what it’s like to be too much. So does Ash. So you’re not going to scare us out of the cabin.”
Spencer stared at Ryder, something bright and vulnerable in his eyes.
Ryder held his breath. Maybe—just maybe—something Ryder had said had finally gotten through that thick skull Spencer toted around. Maybe he was going to start realizing this was more than new friendship and unexpected heats.
And then, just as quickly, those blue eyes shuttered. “You’re lucky,” Spencer said lightly, turning his gaze back to the ceiling. “You both are. And you should go official when Ash presents. The world should know you belong to each other. ’Cause—’cause you deserve each other.”
Ryder was struck with the unfamiliar urge to bang his head against the floor repeatedly. Maybe Ash was right about words being useless, if Spencer was always going to be so good at ignoring the meaning behind them.
Spencer pointed a finger in Ryder’s face. “See? That eye twitch right there—I know it well. Bugging.” He smacked his lips together and sat upright, propping himself onto his hands behind him. “Can we have burritos now? I’m starved.”
Ryder let out a sigh and sat up. “Sure. Why the fuck not?”