Hostile(61)

The words are barely choked out, and his voice breaks on the last part. “So do you.”

My eyes open, and I see he’s closed his. “Maybe it isn’t worth the cost anymore.”

His eyes open slowly and meet mine as he pulls back just a little, but I can’t ask him to do that. To give it all up for me. “Maybe it is. I know how important it is to you. I get it, Grayson.”

“But that’s it for us.”

I nod, even though it wasn’t a question. “Yeah. We knew that though.” I try like hell to put the wall back up, to be strong, “We’re eighteen. This is only the beginning of our lives, you know? You’re going to college, and I’m going to stay here and work my ass off. Then you’ll get your company.”

I roll onto my back and pull him with me, so his head rests on my chest. “In like thirty years.”

For the first time, I hear just how tired he is. How exhausting it must be to live for someone else. I want to tell him he doesn’t have to do this. That he can be himself and be loved, but I don’t think it’s my place.

I think he has to figure that out for himself. I can’t beg him to stay any more than he can beg me to come with him. We’re too young. Too unsure. Too fucking everything. And even if I do think I may be in love with him, I don’t believe in love being enough. Everything else needs to fall in place too, and it’s just not.

Not at all.

“Enough of this shit.” I kiss the top of his head and then roll away to climb off the bed in all my naked glory. “We need a shower. We need blowjobs and all the orgasms we can fit in. We need to go for a hike, and we need to go jump in that warm lake, now that our balls won’t fall off from the cold. We have a week together. Let’s not waste it on shit we can’t control.”

He grins at that—thankfully—and climbs over to my side of the bed, pulling me to him by my hips and kissing me fiercely, making me forget about every sad thing I couldn’t stop thinking about only moments ago. “I like that plan.”

I grin, dragging my hand over his ridiculously sculpted chest and abs. “Me too.”

I wrap my hand around his cock that seems to really, really like my plan and stroke him slowly as I kiss the hell out of him.

I don’t want to think about anything else for now.





FORTY





I leave tomorrow. We clear out of the cabin early tomorrow morning, and then, I go to the airport and leave. I have no idea how the time flew so damn fast this summer , but I’d give anything to have more time.

Rhett’s hands move to my shoulders, pulling me from my dazed thoughts just before he shoves me under the water of the lake. I don’t sputter despite being surprised, I only grab him around the waist and pull him under with me.

It’s dark out, but the sun only set a little while ago, and it was hot as hell today. The water feels incredible as we wrestle under it and then both pop back up for air.

Soon it’s less playing around and more kissing and groping, like we’re unable to get enough of each other. We make it to the dock where he helps me up and then pulls my body on top of his. This is where I want to be.

Not just now, but forever.

I lean down and kiss him softly, memorizing every moan, gasp, and the feel of him sucking on my tongue and then me doing the same to him. Always fighting for dominance. Both of us getting it somehow.

His fingers slide through my wet hair, and as we grind our covered cocks against each other, his body writhes under mine as I thrust against him, desperately wanting the release but not wanting it to be over either.

“You know, it’s pretty secluded out here, but maybe we should go inside,” he says against my lips.

I grin and goad him, “Chicken.”

He laughs, nipping at my bottom lip. “No. I want to get you naked and don’t want anyone else to see.”

He says it as a joke, but damn, if it doesn’t stab me directly in the chest. I don’t want anyone else seeing him naked either, dammit. I stand and grab his hand, pulling him up before shoving him playfully. “Whoever makes it back first bottoms!”

I yell and hear his laughter right before he pushes past me and runs for the cabin. Okay, then.

I don’t intend to let him win, though, running through the grass that’s dry from lack of rain and crunches under my bare feet. But he just barely makes it to the front door before I do. He pulls it open, and I follow him inside before he grabs the back of my head and pulls me in for a searing kiss. “Guess I win.”

I smile, the thrill of being inside him sending a rush of pleasure through my entire body. We kiss all the way to the stairs and barely pull away long enough to climb them before landing on the bed. Pushing our trunks off and tossing them across the floor, our kissing only turns more desperate.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without this,” I say against his lips. I’m not talking about sex, not only sex anyway.

“I’m sure you’ll make do,” he tries to play it off, but I see his pain, even with the moonlight barely illuminating the room.

He rolls to his back, pulling my body fully on top of him and down to him, kissing me more firmly and not letting me talk anymore. It’s probably smart. No good can come from talking. We’ve already discussed everything.

I can’t ask him to go with me and hide who we are to each other, and he can’t ask me to stay and give up my lifelong dreams.