“Be safe, boys,” Mom called out when we were almost by the car.
“Oh, we will,” I shouted back without taking my eyes off River, whose face reddened again.
“I’m gonna kill you,” he whispered over the roof of my car.
“As long as you do it with your dick, we’re good.”
I got in the driver’s seat and purposefully didn’t look at him.
“How are you so okay with this?” he asked.
“Fake it ’til you make it?” I shrugged.
“I’m serious. I?—”
I reached over and placed my hand on his leg. “I know what I want, River. If you need some convincing, I’m happy to show you as soon as we’re indoors.”
He groaned but didn’t say anything for the rest of the drive.
When the door to his place swung shut behind us, River’s hands were on me instantly, his fingers threading through my hair as he pulled me into him. My back hit the wall with a soft thud, and I was suddenly acutely aware of every place where our bodies touched. The warmth of his palms seeped through the fabric of my shirt, heating my already scorched skin.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” he murmured against my ear.
I wanted to laugh, to tell him my entire being was screaming yes, but words seemed inadequate. Instead, I let my body speak for me, pressing into his. He couldn’t deny an erection, could he?
In response, River’s mouth captured mine. I surrendered to the kiss like prey willingly walking into the predator’s lair.
“You drive me fucking insane, Adam.” He ran his teeth over my jaw and my whole body trembled. “Do you have any idea of how much I want you?”
“We could have gotten here earlier if you’d helped in the kitchen.”
He pressed me harder against the wall. “You think you’re funny. Let’s see if you’re such a smartass when you’re naked with another man.”
“You say that like I don’t know exactly who I’m going to be naked with, which brings me to the point. I need us to be wearing less clothes. A lot less clothes.”
River’s fingers entwined with mine as he dragged me down the hallway. Our socked feet were slippery on the hardwood floor. I laughed as River nearly slipped before the same thing happened to me.
Lightness. My whole life was about words, and that one was all I could feel. Even as I crossed the bridge into a new me, I was light, so when the scent of his cologne and body wash assaulted my senses as he opened the door, my belly tightened and my chest expanded.
“We’ll take it slow, okay?” he said softly as he led me to the edge of his bed.
I nodded, my throat closing up all of a sudden. God, I wanted this so much. His hands on me, his mouth on me. I wanted to feel the weight of his body on top of mine. I wanted everything but didn’t know how to ask for it.
“Is…is it possible to feel so much that you freeze?” I asked, finding my voice.
River pulled my hands to ask me to sit down and then knelt between my thighs, his eyes never leaving mine. I opened my legs to accommodate him.
“I am very familiar with the concept.”
He grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head. His mouth pressed against my sternum with a soft kiss. More followed as he peppered my chest with kisses, leaving a trail of fire with each one.
“That feels good.”
I reached for his shirt and he leaned back, removing it for me. My mouth watered at the sight of his chest, the tattoos, the chest hair that was darker than the hair on his head.
“You’re so beautiful, River. I love your tattoos.”
His gaze met mine and he shook his head like he didn’t believe the words out of my mouth.
