“You know I like things both ways. I like being in you, above you, below you.” Adam bit the heel of his hand and Cooper winced. “Behind you, around you…”
Adam trailed his mouth down to Cooper’s wrist and sucked on the thin skin there, and the heat and wetness of the kiss had Cooper’s eyes rolling back in his head.
“How do we decide who does what?” Adam asked, the words hot against Cooper’s skin.
“Whatever feels right.”
Adam continued to work his mouth up the length of Cooper’s arm, pausing in the ditch of his elbow to suck a bruise into the tender erogenous zone. He was clearly regaining his confidence by putting Cooper on the defensive instead of the offensive.
“What feels right now?” Adam whispered.
“The unexpected upper hand has you feeling bold, Adam.”
Adam had gotten closer, kissing his way up to the base of Cooper’s throat. Their bodies were touching in practically every way possible, and Cooper could have cut glass with his erection.
“It feels right to me,” Adam said.
“If this goes wrong again…” Cooper forced the words out just as Adam reached his earlobe. “If this goes wrong because of your own insecurities, Adam…”
“I know.”
“What happens?” he prompted.
“You’re done with me,” Adam rasped, separating his lips from Cooper’s ear and pulling back enough that Cooper could see the earnest expression in his eyes.
“Not because I don’t want you,” he said, cupping Adam’s face in his hands. “I want you so much I can’t breathe sometimes. But it’s because I need to trust you. And if you say you’re trying, I need to trust that you are.”
“Trying doesn’t mean I won’t get nervous.” Adam furrowed his brow.
“Nervous is fine.” Cooper pressed two fingers against the deep groove that had appeared between Adam’s eyes. “But communicate with me, Adam. Not like last time and not like whatever you’ve been doing this week.”
“I should have called you back.”
“Or answered in the first place.”
“I was on with Wyatt.” Adam pursed his lips and gave a small shrug. “I should have called you back, Coop.”
“It’s fine,” he said, dropping his hand down Adam’s chest and settling it between their stomachs, one finger curled behind the waistband of Adam’s slacks. “Starting now is what I’m worried about, okay? Not then.”
“Is this really happening?” Adam’s lashes fluttered and his body swayed like he was under a spell. Cooper pulled his glasses off and dropped them onto the counter before Adam got close enough for their noses to bump.
“Yeah,” Cooper breathed the confirmation against Adam’s lips. “We’re happening.”
Chapter7
Adam
The evening had left Adam hard and wanting, which he imagined was Cooper’s design all along. After a…robust…make-out session against the kitchen counter, Cooper had pushed Adam away, put his glasses back on, and told Adam it was time for him to leave.
Adam tried to not be offended at the dismissal, and the only thing keeping him sane was the undeniable heat he’d seen in Cooper’s eyes as they said goodbye. He didn’t know how they’d gone ten years apart. He didn’t understand how with chemistry like theirs, they’d ever been able to stop the things they’d started. But he also knew he was a stubborn man, and for every time he pictured Cooper’s naked body aligned with his, he re-lived their final fight as well. He knew what he’d said, and worse, what he’d meant. He knew the damage he’d caused. Adam understood the decade of silence, and he understood the work he was going to have to put in to set things right with Cooper.
He brewed himself an extra-large mug of coffee and carried it through his back yard and into Grant’s. Living next door to his best friend had perks, the constant access being one of them. And he appreciated that Grant—for the most part—kept the blinds pulled when he had company over. Sometimes Adam could see shadows, but not much else. While their friend circle played it fast and loose with casual sex, it wasn’t always something Adam wanted to see. Especially whenhehad gone so long without.
Even if that had been of his own doing.
He found Grant inside, brewing himself a mug of coffee with his back to the slider. Adam knocked before grabbing the handle, sloshing coffee over the brim and onto his hand when the door offered him more resistance than he’d expected.
Grant spun to face the door, hair mussed and face beet-red. His eyes widened when he saw Adam there. Adam moved his mug from one hand to the other and shook the hand he’d spilled on, doing his best to get as much of the scalding hot liquid off as he could. He pointed at the door and gave Grant a confused shrug. Normally for both of them, unlocking the back door was one of the first things they did in the morning. They’d gotten accustomed to having access to each other’s spaces. The only time the doors were locked was when…
