Silently, because we weren’t a couple of teenagers, Major and I raced each other to put on our clothes. Thirty seconds later, we walked out of the guest room and closed the door on the evidence.
Major followed me with his hand on my ass, and I didn’t hate it. “Shit,” he whispered as we walked down the stairs. “Your shirt’s on inside out.”
I flipped it right side out and put it back on. By the time we reached the kitchen, we looked decently put together. Or at least we didn’t look like we’d just broken a bed while fucking like animals.
That said, Leo often saw things that other people didn’t. Thankfully, he was also eighteen and ravenous. He hadn’t waited for us and was already tearing into his sandwich like a man who hadn’t seen food in three days. We grabbed our selections and joined him at the table.
Major took his first sip of coffee. “So, Leo, since this is an unusual type of tank assembly, what steps do we need to take for this fix?”
Leo listed off the steps while scarfing down his sandwich. Major’s eyes slid to mine, sparkling with amusement. I silently gestured to his hair, which he patted down before Leo looked up again.
After we finished our lunches, they went back upstairs and fixed the toilet while I cleaned the kitchen. When Leo took their tools and remaining supplies out to the truck, Major lingered with me. As soon as the front door closed, he moved me away from the window, then pressed me up against the wall before pulling me into a deep, searching kiss.
“We are way too good in bed together,” he said, kissing my hairline. “Please don’t tell me that this was our last time. Also, I owe you a bed frame.”
“Perhaps it’s safer if we ditch the frame, college style,” I said as I gasped for breath, loving the way he pressed against me like he knew I needed it.
“Another good option.” He brushed his nose against mine, then rolled his hips. “Just so you know, I take Friday afternoons off.”
“What a coincidence. So do I.” I usually stuck around after class and got caught up on my grading, but there was no way in hell I’d refuse an offer like that.
He grabbed my hand, squeezing it lightly. “No pressure, no strings. Just us making each other feel good. That all right?”
I let out a sigh of relief, grateful I didn’t have to be the one to say it. “That’s exactly what I’m looking for.”
He let his eyes drift from the top of my head down to my toes, then sent me a wink. “See you on Friday.”
“Count on it.”
I could imagine the urn smirking at me and reminding me that Robert had been the best lover I’d ever had.
I grimaced at that characterization. Robert had, indeed, been the best lover I’d ever had. Past tense. But I wasn’t going to be the one to update the scoreboard.
CHAPTER 9
major
The doorbell rang as I exited the shower, sending my grin off the charts. Ren was early. He and I had been going back and forth between each other’s houses—depending on which location was less likely to get us discovered—every Friday for a month now, and it had been amazing. He was so responsive, and even though he wouldn’t say it out loud, he seemed to enjoy it when I took charge.
Taking a quick second to wipe the droplets of water from my body, I slipped into my robe, tying it as I went down the stairs, intensely grateful that Leo had headed out early to spend time with Lovett.
Ren and I had missed our usual Friday linkup yesterday because I’d been knee-deep in a renovation project that had run over, and then we’d had the opening of Kiyana’s to attend. With Leo gone for the weekend, I’d suggested that we could spend the entire day in bed. Ren had jumped at the chance, saying he couldn’t wait for me to crush him into the mattress.
I had to laugh at his enthusiasm. In accepting my queerness, I’d learned to take full advantage of my bear identity. The last several years of hookups had proved to me that, while bearsweren’t for everybody, those who did like big guysreallyliked them.
And Ren? He loved bears more than anyone I’d ever met. I’d swear that he was even more excited about my body than I was.
Jules had once told me that she had a cousin who loved bears, not realizing that he and his husband were already on my regular rotation. Roly Martinez was loud about his appreciation for bears, but he had nothing on Ren’s quiet devotion.
I crossed the living room at a jog and eagerly opened the front door.
“Oh. Sawyer.” I clutched my robe.
“Were you expecting someone else?” he asked, his eyes falling to my clumsily tied sash. Rich, given his own dishevelment.
“No,” I lied, clenching my jaw.
He turned to go. “I’ll come back.”
