16
Sleepy morning sex had to be Linc’s second favorite thing ever. He woke up to Avery making happy little humming noises while he teased Linc’s nipples with his lips and teeth, before he moved lower to take Linc’s swelling cock in his mouth.
He didn’t miss Avery’s soft grunt, mid-blow job, as one of Linc’s fingers strayed to his asshole.
Avery said he might hurt in the morning, and Linc wouldn’t be surprised if he did. Working him open the night before had been an epic task, and Linc had been ready to burst by the time he was inside him. “You okay?”
Avery buzzed around his dick with a noise which might have been agreement or could just as likely have been encouragement at the way Linc’s hips rocked up while Avery’s tongue swirled around him.
“Red?”
Avery’s head popped up and swung around to glare at him. “Am I doing something wrong?” One finger slipped between Linc’s thighs to stroke his taint.
“No.”
“Then don’t worry about me and worry about coming instead.”
Linc bit down a laugh that became a groan when Avery slipped back over him. These little bossy moments, coupled with Avery’s relative inexperience, were such a turn-on for him.
Afterward, Linc lay on his back with Avery pressed against his chest, and Linc could probably have died right here and everything would be fine.
But that wasn’t how it worked.
“When did you figure it out? About Abe?”
Avery rolled his face into Linc’s pecs, but his words weren’t too muffled. “Only the day before yesterday.”
Was that good or bad? “What gave it away?”
“You weren’t talking to me. And he wasn’t online either. And then—I don’t know—Abraham Lincoln? And your roommate with the noisy sex life? It kind of clicked into place. I’m a little embarrassed it took as long as it did.”
Hewas embarrassed? Linc was the one who had kissed him, promised to stick around, and then ghosted him for a week, only to have his hormones take over at the first opportunity. Nothing he had done lately was a model of good behavior.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I should have told you from the beginning, but every time I tried, something came up, and...” Anything he would say next would be feeble at best.
Avery shifted, sliding over the mattress to create space between them. Linc was left feeling exposed.
“When do you think you would have told me?” Hurt flickered in his eyes for a split second before he hid it, but the flash was long enough to make Linc’s insides seize.
He let out a long sigh. “The first time we played, you were just a guy with a microwave fire. And I thought...You were safe, online. Someone I didn’t know and would probably never know and I could relax for a minute. And after that...I waited too long to make telling you easy.” But how hard had he tried, really? Telling the truth would have been so simple. Three little words.Avery, it’s Linc.He’d been afraid, and now he was embarrassed at being caught out, so what had he saved himself, really?
“I’ve been let down a lot in my life.” Avery dragged his knuckles over the sheets, gaze fixed on a spot between them. “People who were supposed to be there for me weren’t. People who could have been my friends laughed at me instead.”
Linc lay frozen, letting Avery’s words batter him. He deserved this. “I know.”
“So if this is going to work—friends, more than friends, whatever—I need to know you’ll at least be honest with me. Did you think I’d be angry? Over a game where we’re all pretending to be someone else? I’m not actually a warrior. I wouldn’t have been mad. I’m madder you didn’t say anything.”
The gap between them got bigger as dread tried to suck Linc down. How could he be there for Avery? How could he be what Avery needed? All he knew to do was run and dodge his sisters’ phone calls. He was an expert at sharing only the details that suited him. What could he possibly give Avery?
He folded one arm behind his head and sighed heavily as he stared at the ceiling. He had one thing to give. “I’m gay.” Another two little words he’d never said before. “But I’m not out.”
Avery’s hand froze on the sheet. “Not to anyone?”
To Mickey, once upon a time. No one since. “When I was nineteen, my boyfriend and I bought some fake IDs, took a bus to Raleigh, and went to a gay bar.”
Avery tilted his chin up. “Which one? I’ve been to a couple of the bars in Raleigh. There’s this one—”
Linc put a finger to Avery’s lips, and he stilled.
