Hurting him was not an option. It would never be an option.
Reaching between us, I stroked the length of his cock in time to my movements, knowing that I couldn’t possibly last much longer. “I can’t…Shane…I’m…oh fuck…”
His cock swelled in my hand and my orgasm ripped through me. “Dylan,” he shouted my name as the first jets of his orgasm landed on his stomach. Wide-eyed and out of breath we simply stared at each other.
There were no words and it seemed as if none were necessary. Anything that needed to be said could just be felt.
My arms were shaking and I could barely keep myself up. Shane’s fingers dug into my biceps as he pulled me to him. We rolled to our sides, our breathing finally calming down enough to make speech possible.
I ran my hand through his hair, stroked my fingers along his jawline, and stared into his eyes. He leaned into my touch as a contented sigh escaped his lips.
“Thank you,” I whispered, afraid that any words spoken at a normal volume would somehow break the moment.
Shane’s fingers stilled on my chest. “For what?” he asked, genuinely confused, or offended; I couldn’t tell.
I swiped my thumb across his lower lip, which was swollen from our hard kisses. “For you. For everything. For this.”
His lips pulled up into that smile that I knew was reserved just for me. “I’ve been waiting forthisforever. So, thank you.” He brushed his lips against mine.
We laid there for a few minutes before getting up to clean up. The rest of the night passed in pretty much the same way that many of our nights as friends had passed as well. We ordered a pizza, watched a ball game, talked about nothing and everything.
But in the most amazing way possible, the one major difference in the night, in my life, was falling asleep in Shane’s arms.
I spooned up behind him and he brought our joined hands flush against his chest. My bed faced the one window in the room and we looked out at the stars flickering in the sky.
Their glow was just for us that night.
The next morning, I caught a glimpse of the clock flashing next to John’s bed. The sun was only partially up in the sky and it was mostly still dark. Shane snored lightly next to me, barely moving as I brushed some hair out of his face.
As the sun lit the room, I trailed my fingers lazily up and down his back. Anger boiled inside of me when I saw a deep purple bruise on his lower back. Looking at it more closely, I could see the yellow and faded marks of a few other bruises. It was in the perfect spot for me to have missed yesterday, but I still couldn’t believe he didn’t mention anything about it afterward.
Shane stirred at my side; the shift in my mood must have been obvious even though he slept soundly no more than a minute ago. He rolled over and faced me, a sleepy grin lazily spreading across his relaxed face.
“Morning,” he yawned as he stretched his arms above his head.
“What happened?” My words were clipped, angry. Not at him. At his asshole father. God, what I wouldn’t give to beat the crap out of that man.
It took him a minute to realize what I was talking about. He sat up, pulled the blanket over his lap, and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Look, can we not talk about this?” He made no effort to hide his frustration.
“No. I’m done ignoring this. He’s abusing you. He’sbeenabusing you and Reid for years. It’s wrong, so fucking wrong, Shane.” I was begging for him to talk to me about it. He had to see it in my eyes, hear it in my voice.
“Fine. Then what do you want to know?” He folded his arms across his chest, glaring at me.
“Why?” I knew there was no logical explanation, no excusable reason for anyone to lay their hands on another person, especially a parent, but I had to know what happened.
“You really want to know?” There was an edge of meanness to that question, one that I chose to ignore. I nodded, wordlessly telling him to continue.
“Because of you,” he said as his face morphed into a twisted, shameful look.
All the air in my lungs was gone. “How?”
“I waited until the last minute to spring this trip on him. I knew he’d want to come and meet the coach or some shit like that. So I said it was an impromptu thing and that I’d just crash with you.” His earlier frustration now shifted into sorrow. “He said he had some suspicions about you. Called you some choice words.” Shane’s tone was so full of apology. My heart sank knowing he’d suffered because he’d defended me. “I tried to shut him up. It was the first time in my entire life that I ever fought back, but I wasn’t strong enough, or fast enough. He knocked me down to the floor and shoved his knee in my back. He made his feelings perfectly clear, so as far as he’s concerned, I’m staying with another guy on the team. I’m actually surprised he didn’t call the coach and drive me here himself.”
I sat there listening to that whole story with my mouth open in disbelief. He’d actually defended me. No wonder coming out was never going to be an option to him. Suddenly, all of his fears from when we were sneaking around before I left for school came barreling into me, made me feel like an asshole for even trying to push him into something for which he wasn’t ready.
“Come here.” I tugged his hand until he scooted next to me. “Please tell me from now on. I know you feel powerless, but maybe talking about it will help. I wish you’d tell someone, but I won’t push you. Just know that I’m here.” We exchanged a sad smile before he agreed to call me if things got too out of control.
I wanted to ask him about why he had gotten so thin, why he looked so haggard, but after that story, the answer was pretty clear.
