“I told you that I only sleep in jocks,” I say.
“Yeah.” His gaze dips to my chest again. “You did.” He shuts the yearbook with a definitive snap, puts it on the bookshelf, and then watches me approach the bed. The way he looks at me is enough to make my blood rush downwards.
I turn the ceiling light off so only the bedside lamp is on, emitting a warm amber glow. Once I get onto the bed, I feel a pulse of uncertainty. How exactly are we supposed to start? How have we done it before? The first time, at Ethan’s party, there were brushing legs and shy compliments. The first time in the storeroom, we silently started kissing. Every other time, we just got to it. But I feel like it’s different now.
I stretch my legs out on the bed, and without any hesitation, Jude pulls himself on top of me so he’s straddling my lap.
Maybe it’s not so different after all.
He splays both hands on my shoulders and drags them over my chest, fingertips soft against my nipples and lower.
I remember my stomach. “I, um. I told you I don’t have abs,” I say apologetically.
Jude puts a finger against my mouth, shushing me. “You’re literally hot as fuck right now. And I don’t curse often, so you know I’m telling the truth.”
I squirm pleasantly. “Yeah, I’ve noticed that. Why don’t you swear?”
His attention returns to my body, touching my tummy like a precious artefact. The closer his hands linger on the hem of my boxer-briefs, the more excited I get. “There are better ways to express yourself. When people swear every second word, it sounds lazy and undignified.” He leans down and presses a wet kiss in the middle of my chest. “Besides, when I was little, I read this study that said if you don’t swear that often, then swearing will provide physical relief. Like, if you stub your toe, swearing will make it feel better. But if you swear all the time, it won’t help.” He gives me another kiss, this time on my left nipple.
How the hell can he talk so casually about an academic study, no less, when he’s touching me like that?
I slide a hand up one leg of his shorts, feeling the firm muscle of his upper thigh. “Take your shirt off,” I say.
“I will.” Another kiss. “I want to look at your body first. This is the first time I’m seeing it like this.” He sits up and squeezes my biceps.
“I want to see yours,” I counter. “You’re killing me here.”
Besides, my body’s boring — I’ve seen it a million times in the bathroom mirror. But Jude’s right on top of me, the heat of his skin noticeable through his clothing, and I’m so hard I could poke a hole through my jocks.
Jude huffs, but the corners of his mouth are lifted, betraying him. He pulls his shirt off in one swift motion.
I stare.
“Okay,” Jude says with a roll of his eyes. “It’s notthatspecial.”
“No, I…” I wet my lips. “I don’t know why I’m so surprised. I knew your body would look something like this, but…”
He has a freckle on his left shoulder, a mole above his belly-button, and a dusting of fine hair trailing down his lower stomach. I reach out and drag a hand over the lines that separate his muscles, then trail my palm down until it’s cupping the bulge in his shorts. The sight of it, of him, straining in thin cotton, is mouth-watering.
“Can I…”
Jude hesitates. “I know it shouldn’t matter because we’ve done this before, but I’m…” he trails off.
“What?”
“Shy,” he finishes, peeking at me through his lashes. “No one’s ever seen me…like that before.”
I nod. I get it, but I also want to see him so much that it’s overshadowing any nervousness I have about exposing myself. “We could do it at the same time?” I pause. “Unless you don’t want to see me naked.”
“No, I do,” Jude says so quickly, I fight back a laugh.
“Alright.” I lift my hips, sliding both thumbs on either side of my boxer briefs. Jude sits up too, so he’s not flattening me, and we both push our underwear halfway down our thighs. Neither of us speak for a second.
Jude’s unexpectedly big. Intellectually, I know he’s probably only average or slightly bigger than average, but he looks larger because of his narrow hips and flat stomach. And god, he’s hard as hell, the foreskin pushed back to reveal the tip, which is flushed a delicious pink.
He’s hard because ofme.
Jude settles his butt back on me, so his cock nudges mine, and it creates a bolt of heat all the way to my balls. “Lube?” he rasps.
