“I like to think that time at lunch when you gave me your extra pudding cup after I forgot my lunch bag on the bus was what really sealed the deal.”
“Of course I did. Your stomach rumbling could’ve woken up a dead man.”
He let out a soft snort. “I was a growing boy. Sue me.”
Smiling, I said, “Yeah. Now I can barely lift you.”
His eyes widened when I scooped him up from under his armpits and hauled him off of the floor, dragging him into my lap. Once my arms were better secured around his body, I flopped back down onto my bed, taking him with me and letting us both collapse into a heap.
Brandon’s startled grunt was the only sound he made, and aside from the slight adjustment he made in order to shove his hand under my back, he laid still against me.
I liked us like this. Pressed together with nothing but our thin layer of clothing separating us.
I wasn’t sure when my mind had made the switch from not wanting anyone to touch me or touch in reciprocation to exclusively needing to have my hands all over Brandon as much as possible. It’d come on so suddenly and with such a strong sense of conviction that ignoring it was near impossible.
Regardless, it felt right.This... This felt right.
“Bran,” I mumbled against his temple, glossing my lips along the hard ridge of his forehead.
“What?”
My stomach squeezed, my self-consciousness suddenly kicking in.
He could be humoring me with all of this. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time I’d pushed him into doing something he wasn’t exactly 100% on board with. Fuck knew I had plenty of crazy schemes in the past that I’d somehow roped him into without fail by simple batting my eyes at him and promising to give it a rest for a while after the fact.
I wanted to believe this wasn’t one of those times. That Brandon was also genuine in the obvious chemistry and budding feelings between us and wasn’t simply doing any of this out of a past-filled obligation he thought he owed me.
I wasn’t exactly in-tune with who I was becoming, or what path I’d choose at the end, but what I did know was that I wanted Brandon.
I needed him.
Seeing him on that stupid date had done something to me—changed a part of my brain that I was never going to be able to undo, regardless of how hard I tried to ignore the pangs ofjealousy that choked me every time I thought about that man’s hands on him.
He wasmine.
“Avery...”
I loosened my arms when he moved to sit up, planting both of his hands on either side of my head while leaning over me.
He had a brow raised. “You got quiet on me.”
Smiling slightly, I apologized. “Sorry. In my head.”
“I could tell. Penny for your thoughts?”
“You’ll end up having to give me many more pennies if you want to know all of them,” I countered.
His brows pulled together. “Good or bad?”
I laughed. Leave it to Brandon to always prepare himself for the worst. Here I was contemplating how to tell him that I wasn’t about to let him go so he could run off and start dating again while he was worried I’d... what, tell him I was done with this?
Absolutely not. Not when we were this deep.
I lifted a hand to tuck a few strands of his hair behind his ear, letting my fingers linger along the shell of it and then dragged my digits down to trace his jaw. “All good. No worries,” I murmured.
He sighed softly, but looked a little more relieved. “I know you’re worried about this Ana thing.”
The reminder had me groaning. “I need to figure out how to prove all of this is false.”
