“It is,” he says, stepping closer. He pulls me into a tight hug, not giving me a chance to save myself, and kisses the top of my head. “I missed you.”
“So did I, oh my god.” I grip him tighter and spin him around. “What’s going on?”
“I heard you were a little nervous, so I got us a room for tonight and tomorrow.”
“Just like that?” I ask, and he nods, smiling wide. “This means so much to me. Thank you for coming.”
Manners? Found at last.
“Come on, let’s go,” he says, reaching out to relieve me of my gear bag.
We make our way up to our room, and yeah, I’msogloatingabout this to the team—Callum snagged a Deluxe room with a king-sized bed.
As soon as he puts my bag down, he hugs me from behind and shuts my brain off, flooding it with pure affection.
“Have I ever told you that you’re the best?” I murmur into Callum’s bicep. “I’m so freaking lucky to have you.”
He hugs me tighter, resting his head on my shoulder. “You have. But don’t say it again because you’re activating my praise kink.”
Okay, he wants to stay wholesome for now. I bite back the temptation to shower him in compliments—I’m strong enough to hold out. I’ve done that for days, so what’s a few more hours? Or minutes? Hopefully minutes.
I’m a mess.
The tight grip he has on me, coupled with how good he smells, is decimating my resolve. I slide out of his arms and sit on the bed, facing him. “Are you feeling better now? It’s been a week since, uh, that DM.”
He nods once, resting against the wall and crossing his arms. I force my eyes away from his burly forearms and up to his face, which doesn’t change how attracted I am to him.
“I sure am,” he says. “Once I realized that my parents can’t realistically do much, or anything at all, I got over myself super quickly.”
“Still, that must have been scary,” I reply.
“It was.” Callum uncrosses his arms and joins me on the bed, reaching out for my hand. I accept it, placing my fingers over his and sliding them through the gaps, and he squeezes once. “If I want to live my life the way I want to, I have to, you know, actually do that. If I have to do a little faking it ‘till I make it, I'm gonna do that.”
“That's really brave of you,” I say. He sure is one tough cookie. If I was in his shoes, it’d take me ages to get to where he’s at, and I don’t even know the fullest extent of what went down when he was growing up. Hell, he could be holding back ongiving me the dirty, gritty details about his parents, not that I’d blame him, but fuck. “You’ve gotta be the strongest person I know.”
Callum sighs. “I still have so far to go, though. Like, I still get nervous and stuff. That anxiety isn’t gone, but I’m trying to push through it when it’s not based on anything realistic.”
“That’s already so good.” I give him a squeeze back, and he slides our hands down my leg, resting them in my inner thigh. “I’m so proud of you.”
He presses his palm into my thigh, taking my brain where it doesn’t need to go right now.
Then he does it again. Harder.
Fucker. Does he know what he’s doing to me? I will not let my pent-up horny energy ruin this emotional moment. No way?—
He brings his other hand over to cup my semi, chuckling. “Aww, is all this mental health talk turning you on?”
“I haven’t come in four days,” I grumble. “Andyou showed up wearing my favorite outfit, baring your tempting forearms.” I instinctively press up into Callum’s touch. “We were having a moment. I can wait.”
“Four days?” He digs in again, and my vision goes blurry. “That’s not okay.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve had exactly zero privacy. Kinda hard to rub one out with Nick in the room and a glass wall looking into the bathroom.” I have to force my words out past the sheer urgency enveloping my crotch, which is made way worse by those teasing fingers.
Yeah, he’s not helping my situation, not at all, especially when—oh fuck, when he slips under the waistband of my shorts and massages me through my underwear.
“Good thing we’re alone, then.” Callum guides me onto my back and gets on his knees. “I’ve wanted this for ages.”
Alright, this is happening; I’m finally getting relief. He keeps rubbing me, humming contentedly, and I’m already at risk of busting.
