He groans. Miles did want to show Calvin his new works, but he didn’t expect him to actually come over to this apartment—to see his mess of a studio. At least not right away. “This is really embarrassing.”
Calvin chuckles and turns to him, expression all fond and soft.
And—Miles can’t take it. His heart’s close to bursting. It’s as if he’s eaten five bags of gummy worms with all the pent-up energy in him. Miles could paint an entire gallery right now, but he’d much rather put his hands all over every inch of Calvin’s skin.
Calvin takes a step until he’s in Miles’s space. Rattled by the sudden closeness, Miles’s heart skips a beat—with Calvin this near, he can practically feel his warm skin, and he smells so nice. There’s a hand on his cheek, gently nudging him, and Miles tilts his head. He leans in and kisses Calvin softly.
“Hi,” Miles says.
He squeezes Calvin’s hips, then trails his hands upward and winds it in his hair. God, he can’t breathe. Kissing Calvin is everything to him. Calvin makes a soft sound when Miles bites at his lip, then he tugs at the bottom of Miles’s shirt—a question.
Miles can’t take his mouth off him as he leads him to the bedroom, his hands in Calvin’s hair as he walks him backward. He nudges his bedroom door open with a foot and Calvin makes a surprised sound when he pushes him back gently against the bed.
“You drive me insane,” Miles says, too genuinely, putting his elbows on either side of Calvin’s head and pressing their foreheadstogether. Calvin’s breath is warm on his lips, his chest expanding against Miles’s with every breath. “All I think about is you, it’s absurd. Those days I was at the inn without you? I couldn’t do anything because of you.”
“Yeah, and whose fault is that?”
Miles kisses him hard. He trails his mouth on where his shoulder meets his neck, runs his hand across his chest, and grips his hip to keep him from moving. He pops open Calvin’s button, pulls the zipper down, and Calvin looks at him with wild eyes when he tugs his pants off, along with his boxers.
A hand tugs at his hair. “Miles,” Calvin breathes.
Miles holds his gaze. “I want you.”
Swallowing, Calvin nods.
Miles puts his mouth all over him, licks his skin, runs his nails against his tattoos. Then it’s skin against skin, and Miles kisses him desperately as he puts his full weight on him. They go slow and take their time, their foreheads knocked together, and Miles listens to every single sound Calvin makes, and watches the way he trembles when he comes.
***
A barrage of beeping noises wakes Miles up, and he groans and squints at the light coming in from the window.
“Calvin, your phone,” Miles whines and presses a pillow over his head. Calvin sits on the edge of the bed, phone in his hand. “It’s too early for this.”
“It’s almost noon.”
Surprised, Miles sits up. He throws the thick, warm, comfortable blanket off himself. Like Calvin said, the clock on his nightstand says it’s past eleven a.m.
“You haven’t been sleeping well?”
Miles shakes his head. It’s the first time he has slept soundly in days, and he knows it’s mostly to do with Calvin—Calvin, whose hair is damp from a shower, and is wearing one of Miles’s old shirts. He looks absurdly hot in it. It’s unfair.
“Chase has been texting and calling me nonstop, wanting to know if I’m okay,” Calvin mumbles as he types a response to his friend. “Derrick’s back to figuring out how to split royalties and everything, and the PR disaster this is going to be, and Gil’s sending… videos of up-and-coming singers from TikTok?”
Miles yawns. “Why?”
“He says… it’s proof that there’s no shortage of great singers out there.”
“He’s right. You’re the best, though. Fucking extraordinary.”
Calvin blushes. “Stop that.”
Grinning, Miles gets up and pulls on his boxers. He heads to the bathroom to freshen up and doesn’t miss the way Calvin’s stare lingers on his body. It’s a boost of confidence is what it is, makes him want to puff out his chest.
While in the bathroom, he checks his phone. His mom sent him a picture of the flight tickets Miles bought for her. Last night, Calvin had talked him into it, saying that his mom would love the surprise. After a quick call to let Gabby know that he’d be surprising Momwith a vacation, she promised she had everything at the inn under control, and Miles booked the tickets.
Miles clutches at his chest and dramatically sniffs. “Everything’s good, Dad,” he says softly.
He peeks out of the bathroom. Calvin’s still there, of course. Miles stares at his tattoos and his unkempt hair. He can’t believe he’s got this man in his apartment, on his bed, right now.
