Fever Pitch (3 page)

“I got this, birthday boy. Stand down.”

Warmth flooded the hollow place inside Aaron. “Thanks. You're…really nice.”

Giles flashed him a smile that made everything inside Aaron hum, but when Aaron smiled back, Giles looked away.

He ordered Aaron a full meal: burger, fries, Frosty and bottle of water, getting himself a pop. “I got a large order of fries, figuring we could split it. Sound okay?”

“Yeah.” Aaron took a bite of his burger and felt his soul realign. “Oh my God, thank you so much. You're saving my life.”

“Pretty easy save, and at value meal prices.” Giles sipped his drink and grabbed a fry as he navigated onto the road. “Where to now? You want to head home or cruise around?”

“I don't want to go home.” Aaron scowled at the streets of Anoka. “Not like there's anywhere else to go, though.”

“Sure there is. I'd say we could get pizza, but we bought all this food. You're a bit drunk to bowl, and there's no way either of us can get in a bar, but a few of the parks are still open. Plus there's always the lake. We could midnight picnic.”

A midnight picnic sounded fun, especially with Giles. “Are you sure you don't care? I don't want to keep you.”

“What is it, exactly, you think you're keeping me from?”

Aaron shrugged. “I don't know. Stuff?”

“In Oak Grove?” Giles sighed as he headed north. “Honest to God, college has got to improve things. My friend Mina is going to Saint Timothy too. She says it's going to be the same, and oh my fucking God,
no
.”

“I hadn't thought that far ahead. College seems so scary.”

“Why? What's to be scared of?”

“Everything.” Aaron felt the burger leak around his lips and fumbled for a napkin. “Tomorrow my dad's coming, and I have to have a college and a reason for picking it. A reason he'll accept. Otherwise he'll choose for me, and I'm sure to hate it.”

“So pick one first. Grab one at random, see what they're known for, find the thing that will make your dad happy and tell him that's the reason you chose it. Rush out your app, and boom, you're done.”

Could it actually be so simple? “Is this friend of yours from A-H, the one who's going with you?”

“Yeah, we're being lame and using the buddy system. So I guess I am scared enough to take my BFF security blanket with me. But mostly it worked out. She's going to be pre-med, and they have a great program. Pre-med, pre-law and music. That's Timothy.”

“Has to be nice, though, having her along.”

Giles waggled his eyebrow. “You could go to Mankato with Colton.” He laughed when Aaron groaned. “Still blows my mind that you don't like him. Why do you hang out so much if you can't stand him?”

Aaron tried to swallow the truth with his fries, but he and alcohol didn't make much for censorship. “He was the only one who showed interest in being my friend when I moved here. So I went with it.”

Giles looked at him as if he'd grown an extra head. “Shut up. No way.”

“No way what?”

“No way everyone else at A-H snubbed you.”

Was this a trick question? Aaron eyed Giles carefully. “Um, yeah. Nobody talked to me.”

“You hang out with the pack of popular kids. You've dated half the girls from their herd. Pull the other one, buddy.”

“What?” Aaron put down his Frosty, Giles's angry tone making him uneasy. He wanted to argue he'd gone out with
two
girls, and both instances had been such disasters he'd quit dating full stop. But this confession invited a question as to
why
they'd been so awful, so he only shook his head. “Whatever. It's over. You're right, college has to be better.”

Giles was pissed now for some reason. “What do you mean,
whatever
? You telling me you
didn't
hang out with those guys or date those hookers, it was an optical illusion?”

Aaron's stomach hollowed out. “Why are you so mad at me?”

Giles deflated. “I don't know.” He let his hands slide to the sides of the wheel. “Let's say in my experience, guys who hang out with your people, then seek me out are a particular class. I wouldn't have pegged you for that.”

“They're not my people. I hung out with them because I was lonely. I went out with the girls because they asked me.” The last comment made Giles glance sideways at him, and Aaron had about had it with these weird looks. “
What
?”

Giles said nothing for several minutes. Aaron ate, but the food was now ash in his mouth. He had the vague sense he'd fucked things up, but he couldn't figure out how.

Well, at least everything was normal.

Eventually Giles spoke. “Mina says I'm too harsh and judgmental. I decide who people are before I get the truth.”

The statement felt important, but Aaron couldn't unpack it. He ate his Frosty in silence.

Giles continued. “In my defense, every time I
don't
do that, if I let my guard down, I get burned.”

Aaron still had no idea how this had anything to do with who he'd hung out with in high school. “Okay.”

Giles's gaze was heavy with meaning, but Aaron still didn't have a clue about what was going on.

Averting his gaze, Aaron stared at the road. “I try not to be in a situation where I have to guard at all. I hunker down.”

Giles's expression was softer now. “So you're a full-on shy boy. Huh. Would never have guessed. I figured you were bored with A-H, or pissed at it.”

Aaron frowned at his food. “I'm not.”

“I'm starting to understand that.”

Giles turned onto an access road. Aaron held on to the door with one hand and tried to stabilize his food with the other as the car went over some serious ruts. “Where are we going?”

“Side way into Hickey Lake.”

Aaron grinned. “Seriously? I always wanted to check that place out.”

“Well, now you can. This isn't the main recreation area, but it's got a nice view. Also no one will come down this road.”

Aaron braced himself against another rut. “I'm not entirely convinced this
is
a road.”

Giles shot him a quick glance and a grin. “You seem to be doing better. Food helping?”

“
Company more than anything.
”
He hadn't meant to say that out loud. “Sorry. When I'm drunk, I talk too much.”

“Alcoholic truth serum? Yeah. Probably why I don't drink often. That and nowhere to drink. And no way to get it.”

“I think I drink for the wrong reasons. Usually it's like tonight, when I want to shut the world off.”

“Happen often?”

“I can't think of a time I
didn't
want to shut the world off.”
Except for right now.
He shoved his mouth full of fries, really stuffed it so he couldn't speak. When he'd swallowed and made sure he had his sappy self muzzled, he continued. “Colton tries to get me out every weekend, but I can only take so much of him.”

Giles laughed, a tinkling nasal cascade. Aaron loved the sound. He finished off his burger and digested Giles's observation along with it. “So you must have thought I was a jerk like Colton.”

Giles hesitated before confessing, “Pretty much.”

A lake appeared before them, framed by trees and moonlight. Giles pulled over into a dirt patch that would have been muddy had it rained more. Killing the engine, Giles gestured at the water. “Behold. Hickey Lake.”

Aaron grinned, the tension between them falling away. “How the hell did it get named, anyway? Too many teenagers in the '50s?”

“Would have been named in the 1850s. Probably somebody's last name, but I suspect plenty of hickeys are given here. Who could resist?”

And
the tension returned.

Giles cleared his throat. “So. You want to sit here in the car, park our butts on a blanket or keep driving?”

One hell of an invitation lurked inside Giles's list of choices. This was the drunken dance with Tanner all over again. Without the alcohol, Aaron probably would have gone into cardiac arrest trying to work out what to do. But he had alcohol—lots of nice, swimmy beer. The pretty, blue-black lake lay invitingly before him.

The soft, spicy scent of Giles, his smile and his laugh, which somehow aligned Aaron's spiritual spine, allowed him to calm down. In so many ways it was a choice more nightmarish than which college to go to—and yet at the same time it was the easiest decision of all.

“Blanket sounds good.”

Taking a deep breath, Aaron told himself everything would be okay, then waited to see if he was right.

C
hapter Three

G
iles had no idea what he was doing with Aaron.

He dug in the trunk of the car for the winter emergency blanket he thought he remembered seeing back there, though he told himself if he didn't find it, it was a sign from God he should get in the car and drive Aaron Seavers the hell to his house, where he belonged. He had no idea what it meant when he found the blanket immediately, neatly folded on top of the spare tire. Somehow he doubted it was a thumbs-up from the Almighty to get laid.

Was he actually going to sit on the beach of Hickey Lake and deep throat the guy he'd had a crush on since the moment he'd first seen those baby blues peeking beneath dark, shaggy bangs? When he shut the trunk, he saw Aaron standing beside the car, hands tucked in the front pockets of his jeans, shoulders hunched, with a hungry, terrified expression on his face.

Yep. Getting laid was definitely on the table.

The thing he didn't know, the thing making Giles's brain run around like a squirrel in a cage as he spread the blanket on the most level spot he could find, was whether this was another case of closeted “straight” boy or if this was Aaron coming out to him. Normally Giles didn't ask. As much as he hated these hookups after, as much as it made him
batshit
the only action he ever got was with recoil-fucks—well, Giles had a hard time looking gift sex in the mouth. He told himself it was his sweet revenge, a power trip, but if he were honest, mostly it was because he was lonely.

In short, at the bottom of his barrel he was alarmingly pathetic.

He wanted to find out if this was another shame-and-blame or…something different. Dumb, because it wasn't like this could go anywhere. Aaron was gone tomorrow, and come this fall Giles would be too. At best they would maybe hook up on breaks, but if Aaron
was
about to come out, Giles would never bag him again. Aaron was Grade A Prime for whatever gender he chose to take to bed. Giles was lucky to be a C+ on a good day. Too skinny, too geeky, too awkward. No way Giles could ever score an Aaron for real.

Yet here he was, spreading a blanket and settling down on it beside Aaron, who sat a hell of a lot closer than a straight boy would. Looking a lot more eager and vulnerable than Giles's hookups usually did. None of this was on the scripts Giles knew.

Whatever was going on, Giles doubted if he resisted he'd think back on this moment and admire his own nobility.

“Good thing it hasn't rained much, or we'd already be half-devoured by mosquitoes.” Giles kicked off his shoes and wiggled his stocking-footed toes in the blanket's nap. “Nice summer so far, actually. Not too hot, not too wet.”

“It has been nice.” Aaron didn't sound like he wanted to talk about the weather, but it was equally clear he didn't know what to do next, wound so tight that if Giles wasn't careful, the guy would
sproing
right into the lake.

Yeah, well, baby, follow my lead. Boy do I know this dance.
Giles eased onto his elbows and let his legs fall open. Ostensibly he stared at the water, but mostly he allowed Aaron to admire the way he filled out his jeans, an invitation his companion took. It was a subtle peek, but it was there. Giles wasn't a Jon Hamm or anything, but he had a decent package.

Before his dick saw any action, though, Aaron needed more idle conversation to loosen him up. “Eden Prairie, you said. Did you grow up there?”

“Yeah. Well—mostly. I was actually born in California—Oakland—but we moved when I was four. I have vague memories of the house we lived in there, and maybe the bridge and a house on a big hill with an orange flowerpot on a stoop, but that's it.”

“Does your dad live in the house in Eden Prairie where you grew up?”

“No, Mom sold it when we moved. He lives in a condo. Though he's always spent a lot of time in his law firm's California office. Especially so lately.”

Aaron had more regular breathing now. Time for phase two.

Giles let his knee brush Aaron's arm a few times, and when Aaron didn't withdraw, he let it linger ever so lightly. “We're in the same place as we've always lived, but we did a big remodel last year. I'm the last one in the nest.”

Aaron's knee pressed tentatively into Giles's. “You have brothers and sisters?”

“One of each. Both married and moved into the Cities. Hannah lives in Linden Hills. Mark's in St. Paul and just had his first kid. What about you—are you an only?”

“Yeah.” On the blanket, Aaron mimicked Giles's position. His hand brushed Giles's, but instead of pulling away he let it linger. When Aaron spoke next, his voice shook. “Probably a good thing I'm an only child. My parents are awful together. They shouldn't have had me.”

“Well, that'd be a shame, because we wouldn't be here right now.” The line was a bit cheesy, but the knee beside Giles's became more sure of itself, the fingers lacing more deliberately, so hooray for dairy products. Pressing his whole thigh closer, Giles captured Aaron's hand. “So, birthday boy. Did you get all the presents you wanted?” Aaron pressed their legs together, gaze drifting to Giles's crotch. Giles bit back a smile. “Or maybe…something is missing?”

Aaron's breath caught, pupils dilated, lips parted. He looked Giles dead in the eye, all his longing and desire naked between them.

Here we go.

Giles kissed him softly—a lover's kiss, which he never did with tricks. With Aaron he wanted to kiss, though. He teased the sweet, pink flesh until it plumped, coaxing him open but not letting himself inside. He drugged them both with long, sexy sips for a minute, nuzzling Aaron's cheek. “This okay?”

Aaron's shuddering breath sent excitement along Giles's spine, awakening the urge to pin Aaron down, drive him over the edge. Giles held himself in check, waiting.

It was
very
important Aaron say yes.

Aaron drew a deep breath. “I—I don't know.” When Giles lifted his head though, Aaron's hand shot out and clamped on Giles's biceps, keeping him from retreating. “I…” Blue eyes fluttered open, regarding Giles with lust and fear.

Giles let him fumble for a moment, but the guy was drowning, going down by his own struggles. “Hon, have you done this before? With a guy?”

Aaron nodded woodenly. “Once. A…little.”

Giles didn't have the heart to push him, though it angered him too. Why the hell were they always so ashamed? Except whatever tortured Aaron moved even Giles's hardened heart. He stroked Aaron's dark hair, brushed his thumb along a perfect cheekbone. “Hey. It's okay. I promise.”

Aaron clearly expected to be tarred and feathered any second.

Giles kept touching him, trying to calm him down and not just so he could get back to kissing him. “Seriously, it's only the two of us here, and I don't kiss and tell. If this is something you want, you can have it. If not, it's okay, because I—”

He couldn't say anything after that, because his mouth was full of Aaron.

As hesitant and sweet as the first one had been, this kiss was raw and wild, curling Giles's toes. This wasn't some fumbly
gosh-I-never
kiss. This was someone who knew exactly what he wanted. Gone was the slick, sarcastic guy from the laundry room—this Aaron was sweet, slightly clumsy and ready to go. They rolled across the blanket, tearing at each other, dueling with their tongues and teeth.

Giles landed firmly on top and pinned Aaron with his thighs, cupping Aaron's face and diving deep into that hot mouth.

With a shiver and a soft cry, Aaron stopped fighting, digging his fingers into Giles's back as he let his legs fall open.

God yes.
Taking firm grip of Aaron's hair, Giles thrust harder.

They were so hot and fast they almost came like that, Aaron gasping as he pushed up and up and
up
. Giles worried he was too rough, but the more he tugged that pretty hair, the more Aaron came apart.

I want him in my mouth.

Breaking the kiss, Giles nipped his way down Aaron's chin and neck, dragging his mouth over to the pert nipple and lightly taking it between his teeth through the fabric.

Aaron cried out, arched and crushed Giles's face tighter to him.

Giles nursed through the shirt until the fabric was hot and soaked with saliva, until the nipple was a hypersensitized rock and Aaron was so far gone he'd have spread himself for the football team. His whole body flooding with the rush of power he'd stumbled into, Giles pushed up Aaron's shirt and kissed his way down the center of Aaron's body, lingering over the quivering belly, smiling as he undid the fastening of Aaron's jeans before tugging the denim over those slender hips to reveal his prize.

Aaron's cock thrust at Giles's neck as he nuzzled it and lifted his head to take inventory: cut, nice-sized, not too big, not too little, not too long. He teased the tip, running his tongue along the slit and chuckling as Aaron yelped and jerked against him.

“S-sorry.”

“Don't be.” Giles drew the whole glans into his mouth before licking the thick vein. He smiled around his mouthful as he watched Aaron buckle off his elbows, gasping and trying to part knees trapped by his jeans.

“
Ohgod.
” Aaron gasped as Giles sucked him deep and slid those jeans all the way down to his ankles. The next time Aaron opened his legs, his knees fell easily apart.

Giles knelt between them, hefting Aaron's slightly furry ass in his hands, nuzzling the hot cleft with his thumbs as he parted it. So responsive. So much so Giles's conscience began to prick at him, reminding him it wasn't usual for his straight-boy tricks to let him push the tip of his thumb into their asses.

Lifting off Aaron's cock, he gazed across the heaving body he pleasured. “Are you too drunk? Should I not be doing this?”

Aaron gave him a crazed, furious glance and rammed his cock into Giles's cheek.

Laughing, Giles went to work, though now he only teased the shaft, licking and sucking at the side, measuring the weight of the balls in his hand as he pushed those pretty thighs wide and licked the crease of Aaron's leg. Aaron began speaking in tongues.

“Please,
ohgodplease
.”

When Giles took those sweet sacs in his mouth, first one, then the other, then both at once, rolling his tongue around them, Aaron's sigh became a discordant, frustrated aria.

Against Giles's thumb, Aaron's hole flexed, hot and pleading.

Groaning, Giles pushed him sideways, licking his way down Aaron's taint, the tendons in his chest tightening as he shut down the whisper saying this was way, way too much too fast. Holy shit, did he want to do this. He'd rimmed just once, that guy at all-state orchestra his junior year. The openly gay, deep-voiced bassist had been quite emphatic about how much he enjoyed rimming. Giles hadn't minded it either.

He should not rim Aaron Seavers, the not-so-straight boy, Aaron Seavers who had at best done
a little
with a guy prior to their current foray. Giles should not risk taking advantage of a sexy but confused young man who might have had a bit too much to drink and wouldn't normally let him do this.

Giles shouldn't, no—but he did.

When Giles's tongue first stole across that puckered skin, Aaron yelped, but on the second pass he stilled—all but his hole, which flexed and begged for more. Giles circled flicks of tongue before giving insistent pressure at the ring, knocking at the door, asking if his tongue could come in and fuck. Somehow they ended up with Aaron on his knees with his face pressed into the blanket, almost sobbing as Giles sucked and licked at him.

Giles shook with the fever of what he did, of what Aaron let him do. He whispered over the trembling flesh, urged those cheeks wider with his palms and slicked Aaron's entrance with his spit, wearing down those terrified, needy muscles until at last they yielded to him, until when his tongue pushed forward it nudged inside.

Aaron's whimpered arpeggio made Giles's cock throb in his pants. “
Ohgod.
” A sob wracked Aaron. “Giles—Giles, I'm gonna come.”

Giles gave his target one last lick and flipped Aaron onto his back. Kneeling over Aaron, Giles fumbled with his jeans, freeing his dick before descending, shaking, on top of the pliant boy beneath him.

“Tell me you want this,” Giles whispered at Aaron's neck as he tentatively held their cocks together in his grip. “Tell me this is okay.”

“
Please.
” Aaron's breath blew hot on Giles's cheek as he thrust.

Giles pulled away to look Aaron in the eye. “I'm serious. Say it. Tell me you're not too drunk, that you actually want this when you haven't had four beers and not enough food.”

“I want this.” Aaron stared up at him with bright, focused eyes, his hips still trying to reclaim the friction. “I'm scared to death, but I want this so bad I feel like I might blow up if it doesn't happen.”

“Good enough.” Giles caught Aaron's mouth, tightened his grip on their cocks and started to fuck.

It was the most wicked, delightful sex of his life—the pretty, popular boy coming apart in his arms, Giles's nose full of musk and his tongue still remembering the feel of that hot, tight muscle spasming around it. Aaron greedily sucked off the last of the taste from Giles's mouth and thrust his cock between their bodies. Giles reveled in the knowledge he could do
anything
to Aaron right now. If he'd had condoms, he could have gone inside that tight ass, and Aaron would have helped guide him in.

As they chased release together, as Aaron wrapped his legs around Giles's back, Giles let himself unlock a quiet fantasy that this
wouldn't
be a shame-and-blame trick, that when he dropped Aaron off, they'd exchange numbers and talk about doing this again sometime. As they fought to reclaim their breaths, sweaty chests pressed together, throbbing cocks deflating amidst a tangle of cooling spunk, Giles let himself imagine how he'd go down to Eden Prairie for the Fourth of July. How they'd snuggle on a blanket together and hold hands. He allowed himself the fantasy of heading off to Saint Timothy, planning when he'd be able to have a weekend with his boyfriend. His boyfriend Aaron Seavers, who loved to be rimmed by the lake.