He didn’t have a boyfriend, though. At least, not as far asIknew.
Arnie didn’t, I mean, not the professor.
I had no idea if the professor had a boyfriend or not.
Ugh, I didn’t even know ifIhad a boyfriend or not.
And yes, fine, true, I could just ask Gage whether I did or he was or he wanted us to be or whatever, but then again, wouldn’t he have already said so if we were? It wasn’t like he was shy about telling me what he wanted, after all. Besides, what if I asked and he told me weweren’t? And then what if this whole...thing... between us fell apart because I’d pushed it like that?
Because what if Gage wanted all the other stuff that we had between us now, but not… notthat?
I mean, all the other stuff we did kind ofwasthat though, right? Or at least it felt like it was, but if Gage didn’t want tosayit was, then… then...
“Aaaaarghhhhhh,” I screamed, throwing my phone at Gage’s bed in frustration.
Our dorm neighbor immediately thumped on the wall, shouting something I couldn’t quite make out over the Ska.
I blushed, my face going hot as sin. Even without being able to hear exactly what they’d said, I could probably figure it out given how many times they’d thumped on the wall over the last few weeks while I was busy… um, when Gage and I were both here and we’d been… I mean, theremayhave been an occasion or two when things had gotten a little loud, so our neighbor probably assumed…
Okay, forget them. I wasn’t going to think about them, or about Arnie’s string of emojis, or about the merits versus dangers of codependency, or about why it mattered whether or not someone used the word “boyfriend” if everything else was perfect, and that someone alwayssaidthings were perfect, thatyouwere perfect, so… so the actual label or total lack of a labeldidn’tmatter, I guess.
Okay, settled, and since it didn’t matter, I wasn’t going to think about it anymore.
I was going to do my homework.
For real this time.
Starting now.
* * *
“Doyou think my parents are right?” I blurted out the minute Gage got back to the dorm room.
He raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth lifting in an omgsosexy little half smile. “No.”
I rolled my eyes. “You don’t even know what it is that I’m asking if they’re rightaboutyet, G.”
He unzipped his hoodie and tossed it onto his bed, then crossed the room and lifted me right out of my chair.
“Doesn’t matter,” he said, taking the seat he’d just made me vacate and then pulling me down on his lap and nuzzling against my neck like… like…unnnnnnnnnnghhhh.“My answer stands, babe. No, I don’t think they’re right.”
“What?” I asked breathlessly, tipping my head to the side to give him better access. He wasn’t kissing me, but he was… was smelling me or something. Rubbing his nose and lips against me and breathing and just… just…God. It was this thing he did all the time now, and it felt amazing and wascloseto kissing and it… it always made me feelcherished.
Then I remembered what I’d actually asked, and since I really did want to know his opinion, I made myselfnotmelt into a puddle of pure lustful goo and start begging for his cock, and squirmed around to face him instead.
“They think we’re codependent. It wasn’t just my grades they were worried about. They think… they think I won’t be able to master the whole adulting thing as long as we’re still rooming together.”
Gage frowned, which always had the effect of making him look even hotter for some reason, and then shook his head. “Well, damn. Okay. I guess I was wrong. Maybe I do agree with them on this one?” Then he grinned, which also made him look hotter. It was a paradox, and yet still true. “Yeah, Noe, we’re definitely codependent.”
Hot or not, though, it was my turn to frown. “We are? That’s a bad thing, though, right?”
Gage shrugged, leaning back in the chair and adjusting me on his lap so I didn’t fall off when he shifted positions. (Off topic, but just for the record, I totally adored sitting on his lap… and having him manhandle me in general… and having inherited my mother’s small-person genes that made all of that possible.)
“I mean, it works for us, so why stress about it, you know?” Gage said, doing that half-smile thing again but then giving me an uncharacteristically cautious look as he asked, “What’s all this about? You still happy being mine, babe, or are you planning on going rogue and getting all independent on me now?”
I bit my tongue. I mean, literally. I wanted to say no, because that was actually the answer: no, Ididn’twant to be independent, thank you very much. I wanted almost exactly what we had (not thinking the B-word… not thinking the B-word… not… thinking… the...B-word…), but I was pretty sure I was supposed towantto be independent, right? And was it even fair to Gage for me not to be? I mean, he did everything for me. Helped me focus and settle down and get off and notworry. He protected me and looked out for me and took care of me. And I… I… I…
Oshit. I didn’t really do much of anything forhimat all, did I? I mean, other than sucking hisunnnnnnnnnnghhhhutterly perfect cock on command, of course. Which I was finally getting pretty good at, even if I did still gag sometimes and, fine, also hadn’t really mastered how to let him use my throat the way I’d like him to yet because of the whole necessity-of-breathing thing, but… but thepointwas—
