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Ellie’s mom, Vivienne, spotted me hovering in the kitchen doorway. “Ash! There you are. Have you been hiding from me, young man? It’s been too long.”

I smiled sheepishly, the way I knew she wanted me to. “Sorry, Vivienne, I’ve been really busy at work.”

Vivienne’s smile brightened. She directed me to a stool at the kitchen counter and poured me a glass of something dry and fizzy. “And how’s that going? Do you like it?”

“It’s, um, good. Thanks.”

“Have you thought any more about going to school?”

I shot a discreet glare at Ellie. She flashed me gleeful wink and ducked out of the kitchen, leaving me at her mother’s mercy. I forced a patient smile. “Yeah, and the answer is still no. Even if you pay for it, I don’t want to go.”

Vivienne clicked her tongue at my standard answer. The mannerism reminded me of Maggie, but though Vivienne was always nice to me, she lacked the warmth Maggie just couldn’t hide. “Very well,” she said. “You’re a stubborn boy.”

She let it drop as Ellie’s father, David, appeared in the kitchen and pulled up a stool opposite me. Vivienne set a dish down on the counter and came to stand behind him. She wound her arms around his waist and put her chin on his shoulder. “Ellie said your roommate was going to stop by later. She seems quite taken with him. What’s he like?”

“Pete?”

Vivienne smiled, her eyes amused as she peeked over David’s shoulder. “Yes, Pete. Ellie says he’s Italian. Does he have brown eyes?”

I swallowed. “Um, yeah.”

David let out a short laugh and abruptly got to his feet. “Vivienne, leave the boy alone. It’s no wonder he’s hardly ever here. Just be thankful he’s found a decent roommate. Ellie wasn’t so lucky.”

Vivienne sighed as he stepped away from her and opened the refrigerator. “Yes, I know. I still think we should look into buying the place next door. There’s no reason to keep her somewhere she’s not happy.”

I watched from my seat at the counter as they continued to dance around each other. Their relationship puzzled me; it always had. Ellie said they’d been high school sweethearts, but despite Vivienne’s best efforts, David always seemed detached, like he’d rather be anywhere but with the woman he was supposed to love.

Weird.

A little while later, Charlie wandered into the kitchen and slid into the stool beside me. “How’s dinner coming, Mom? I’m starving.”

Vivienne slapped his hand away from the food on the counter. “It won’t be long. Why don’t you show Ash the monstrosity on your arm? Perhaps he can help you do something about it.”

Her gaze was steel, and it was an expression I’d seen before when irate parents brought their badly tattooed teenagers into the shop to get fixed. “You got ink?”

“Not really.”

Vivienne dropped a dish on the granite counter with a clatter. “You have something permanently engraved on your skin, Charlie. That’s a tattoo.”

Charlie turned his back on her and discreetly rolled his eyes. “It’s not a tattoo. Trust me, if I wanted one, I would have come to you.”

It was sweet of him to say, but I doubted it was true. There was no way Charlie would ever get a tattoo—he wasn’t the type. Pete said he was “preppy.” Curious, I gestured to his arm. “Show me.”

Charlie shot a backward glance at Vivienne. “Not here.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Come with me.”

I followed him out of the kitchen and into the massive hallway. He led me to the darkest corner before he finally rolled up his sleeve. I squinted in the poor light and gestured for him to hold his arm up so I could see the badly etched number four on the inside of his wrist. “Why did you get that done?”

Charlie snickered. “I didn’t, man. I just went to some banging party on the South Side. Next morning, I woke up in the chick’s bed with this on my arm.”

I whistled. “How much did you drink?”

“A
lot
, but I can’t tell my mom that. She needs to think I actually wanted it.”

I looked again at the crude, poorly applied ink. It
was
pretty awful; it looked like it had been done with a crayon. “How are you going to convince her of that?”

Charlie shrugged, but whatever he was going to say was interrupted as his sister Megan appeared in the doorway behind him.

“Oh, please. Don’t tell me you’re fawning over Ash too. The way Ellie moons over him is bad enough.”

Her aggression rolled over me, but Charlie whirled around. “Get lost, Meg.”

Megan sneered. “I’m going. I wouldn’t want Ash to think we all wanted to fuck him.”

Her boots clipped on the marble hallway as she stalked away. Charlie was pretty mad, but I didn’t care. Megan’s words never hurt me. She was probably the only person I’d ever met who was as miserable as I was.

Dinner passed without further incident. I kept my head down and ate everything Vivienne put in front of me. Conversations continued to pass me by, and my mind couldn’t help wandering to the previous evening, which I’d spent with Pete and Maggie. She’d made meatballs and spaghetti that we ate off her ancient, cracked dishes. It was probably the nicest thing I’d ever eaten, and aside from lying in bed with Pete, it was the most content I’d ever felt. Sitting in this mansion with fine china plates, I just didn’t fit. I was only there for Ellie, because without her I’d still be scribbling on the sidewalk.

I slipped further into myself as the evening wore on. By dessert, I had the fix for Charlie’s crappy tattoo figured out, and by the time Vivienne brought out the coffee, I had three other jobs done too. With my imagination in overdrive, my fingers began to itch for my pencil. When I got a sketch in my head, I couldn’t rest until I’d put it on paper, and I got antsy if I had to wait. I began to watch the clock, drumming my fingers on my thigh. When ten o’clock rolled by and there was no sign of Pete, I called it a night and headed home. I said good-bye to Vivienne and Ellie and slipped out of the side gate. I lit a cigarette and paused a moment to stare up at the stars. I was blowing smoke at the moon when I heard Pete’s dry chuckle.

“Dude, that shit’s going to kill you.”

P
ETE
tumbled us both onto the bed. I laughed and let him drag me on top of him. He’d pounced on me the moment I’d kicked the front door shut and made short work of getting me naked.

The walk home had been… interesting. I could only grin when I’d seen his amused, tired eyes gleaming at me from behind his hood. I’d been so pleased to see him. He’d seemed happy to see me too. He produced a bottle of Jim Beam from his bag, and we’d decided to forgo the L and make the three-mile trek home on foot.

He was quiet for a while, at least until the whiskey perked him up. I didn’t ask why he had a bottle of hard liquor stashed in his bag. I didn’t have to. His job was a roller coaster; a bad shift for him could be something truly awful. I didn’t blame him for needing a drink. Hell, after a night in with Ellie’s family, I needed one too. The whiskey making him horny was just an unexpected bonus.

My clothes littered a path to the bedroom. I tore Pete’s from his body, flipping us as the last item hit the floor. Pete laughed and ground his hips into me. His dick rubbed mine, distracting me, and just like that, he rolled us again.

We broke apart for some much needed air. Pete pulled the covers up over my shoulders.

“Cold?”

“Hell, no,” he said huskily. “I’ve just spent two days wishing I was in bed with you. Indulge me.”

He didn’t have to ask twice. All thoughts of Thanksgiving, work, and just about anything that had ever crossed my mind evaporated as I took advantage of his position beneath me. I explored every inch of him, his chest, his belly, and lower still until he let out a frustrated groan and yanked me back up the bed.

Usually, Pete had more patience than me. He was the ultimate tease, but the combination of the alcohol and whatever he wasn’t telling me had left him urgent and needy. He smashed our lips together. The kiss was rough, almost frantic. He pulled on my hair. His stubble scratched my cheek.

I needed to breathe. I pulled away and found his eyes. “You said you’ve been thinking about this all day. What were we doing?”

He flexed his hips a tiny fraction. “This.”

I mirrored the movement, and a shudder rippled through me. My dick was so hard it hurt. “Just this?”

“What else have you got?”

I bent my head and left a trail of kisses up his chest to his neck, stopping only to graze his throbbing pulse with my teeth. “What do you want?”

Pete wove his hand into the hair at the base of my neck and pushed gently so our faces were just inches apart. “I want you to fuck me.”

It shouldn’t have, but his blunt statement caught me off guard. I swallowed heavily. “Are you sure?”

He held my gaze, watching me, seeing everything. “Yes,” he said. “But only if you want to. It’s okay if—”

“I want to.”

My heart beat wildly as we stared at each other. The words tumbled out and cut him off before I could stop them, but I meant them. There was nothing I wanted more, nothing I’d
ever
wanted more.

Pete released my face and ran his hands over my shoulders. I closed my eyes, letting sensation take over as he pushed my hair away from my face and brushed his lips over my cheek.

“Ash, I want you, you want me. We’ll figure it out.”

His touch was gentle at first, but eventually, the combination of his magic hands and the burning desire for something more took over. Heat built until we both trembled with need. Pete fumbled somewhere behind him. He pulled out a bottle of lube and a condom. He pushed them into my hand, his gaze steady and sure, and the trust in his eyes stunned me. For a moment, I forgot everything I’d ever done before, as if he was the first man I’d ever touched. Pete was so strong, but as I moved down his body with my fingers and tongue, I was more aware than ever that he was just a man, like me, and he was as fragile as I was.

It didn’t take long for him to be ready for me. He shifted impatiently as his hips began to counter my hand. “Now, Ash, I’m ready.”

I sat up and straddled him. He tore open the condom and tossed the wrapper aside. I gripped the headboard tightly as he rolled it onto me. The wood creaked and my head spun. Pete dropped his hands, but it took me a moment to move.

My heart thudded as I settled between his legs and aligned our bodies, and my hands shook. I pushed slowly into him and red-hot heat enveloped me. He let out a long breath and a whispered oath.

“Fuck, you feel so damn good.”

His dark eyes blazed as he held my gaze. He was right; it did feel good, really good. I felt like I was drowning in him. My vision blurred, and suddenly it was all too much.

Pete caught me as I reared up to pull away. He circled my hips with his leg and wrapped his arms around me, just tight enough to hold me together and coax me back down. “Easy. It’s okay.”

I dropped my head to his shoulder, hiding my face in his neck as I fought for breath. “I’m sorry.”

Pete rubbed my back, slowing the tattoo of my heart with just the palm of his hand. “Don’t be. Just breathe, you’re okay.”

He shifted slightly, the movement reminding me that we were still connected. Alarmed, I raised my head. “Am I hurting you?”

Pete rotated his hips the merest fraction, and his eyes briefly fluttered closed. “No. Don’t ever worry about that. I’d never let you hurt me.”

“I don’t want to stop,” I said, “I just….”

He quieted me with a soft kiss. “Too much, huh?”

“I….” I couldn’t find the words to explain myself. Sex had always been a quick, blank release, but the sensation of Pete’s body accepting me was mind-blowing, like nothing I’d ever felt before.

Beneath me, he moved again. I groaned and dropped my head back to his shoulder as my hips rolled instinctively to counter him. “
Damn.
”

Pete let his strong hands roam over my body as he kissed my neck. He worked his mouth along my jaw until he reached my ear. “That’s it, babe. Just let it happen.”

It didn’t take me long to find my way. Pete was the most intuitive person I’d ever known, and he was a patient guide. I found my rhythm and he was there to meet me with every movement. I reached between us and wrapped my hand around his cock. He gripped the bedframe and arched his back. His breathless moan rumbled through me, and I rose up on my hands to drive a little deeper into his body.

I felt a strange stirring in my belly as warmth began to build at the base of my spine. Pete replaced my hand on his dick with his own, and I watched with wide eyes as he moved faster and faster. I watched his face too. His face was incredible; his brown skin was flushed and his dark eyes glowed. I fought to keep my own eyes open as I dug my fingers into the mattress. Sweat ran down my back. The night was cool, but there was nothing in the air but heat… nothing but him.

Pete gasped. “Shit, not… close….”

I felt him jerk as he brought his free hand up and yanked my head down. Our lips came together and my body began to lock and shake. I fought my release, trying to wait for him. I didn’t have to wait long. Seconds later, he went rigid and his jaw fell slack. I wanted to watch him, but as he groaned and spilled onto his belly my whole world went white.

Pete caught me as I collapsed onto him, and we were still for a moment. Residual shudders ran through me as I listened to his heart begin to slow. His chest heaved. For a moment, I was worried. I raised my head and tried to speak, but nothing but a strangled noise came out.

His eyes fluttered open, glazed and content. “Hmm?”

I took a deep breath and tried to put my words together. “It feels like the first time.”

It wasn’t quite what I meant, but understanding flickered across his face and he shook his head with a wry grin. “Ash, the shit you do to me. One day I’m going to combust.”

I pressed a kiss to his lips, his jaw, and his cheek before I pulled out and rolled off him. I settled beside him, but he didn’t move at all as I traced experimental patterns across his chest. “Are you okay?”

“I’m good.”

I put my chin on his shoulder and stared at him, fascinated by his calm, blissed-out serenity. It was weird to be beside someone after I’d fucked them. Usually, I’d be pulling my pants up and heading for the door. But Pete had taught me that sometimes weird was good, and as I cleaned up and crawled back into bed, I knew there was nowhere else I’d ever want to be.