“Well, there's a lot we still have to learn about one another,” I pointed out. Luckily, so far, there wasn't anything we had admitted to one another that had pushed any boundaries, but I knew that eventually one of us would force the other out of our comfort zones.
Matt closed his eyes but didn’t let go of my hand. My plans to tease him were abandoned as he drifted off to sleep. While I’d been enjoying one last family dinner before heading back to Annandale, he’d been busting his ass to finish the list of repairs that seemed to grow every day while he was home. I’d offered to bail on my family so I could help, but he’d insisted he could get through it. When I showed up after eleven, he looked ready to fall over.
He’d been way too quiet this morning when his mom woke us for breakfast. There hadn’t been a dry eye in the house when she’d hugged both of us and reminded us to call home from time to time. She’d always called me her bonus son, and when she’d hugged me tighter, she’d asked me to take good care of him for her.
That was a promise that was easy to make. I left them to say their goodbyes while I loaded Matt’s bags in the trunk. When he came out, I held him and rubbed his back, reminding him it was okay to cry. He nodded with his face buried against my neck, and we didn’t move until he broke away.
It would be weird for most people, but it was in that moment I knew without a doubt that he was it for me. I’d loved him since before I knew what love was, even if I hadn’t realized the depth of my feelings. As I watched him sleep while I drove, I knew I’d do anything to make him happy every fucking day.
He didn’t wake up until we crossed into Annandale city limits. He blinked a few times and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Fuck. I didn’t mean to be a shitty road trip buddy.”
“You obviously needed the sleep.” I reached over and smoothed a hand over his hair. “I used the time to catch up on my podcasts without you bitching.”
“I wouldn’t complain if they weren’t so damned boring,” he teased. For as much as he complained, I knew he laid on his bed listening along while he pretended to be asleep.
“The beauty of the world is we can all like different things,” I reminded him. It was something his mom always pointed out when we bickered as kids. He smiled softly, bending over the console to kiss my shoulder.
“Have you talked to the guys since we left?” I knew what Matt was really asking. And yes, I had talked to everybody to make sure we'd have the suite to ourselves for the night. That was one luxury we hadn't been afforded so far. There had been a few nights when Kim had been at work but, even then, both of us were on edge waiting for her to come home. Tonight, Matt could be as loud as he wanted. And I intended to have him begging and screaming until he was hoarse.
“Don't worry, Matt. The suite is all ours for tonight. Daniel said he’s picking up Zach at the airport about six tomorrow night, and who knows when Jayden will show up.” When we’d talked, Jayden swore he was desperate to get out from under his mom’s scrutiny, but we both knew he was full of shit. He and Matt were a lot alike that way. They worried about their moms being on their own.
“And Jayden is at his mom’s, right?” I rolled my eyes. Logically, I knew he was a fiend for Jayden's mom's sweets because I wasn't a huge fan of baking, but there was an irrational annoyance, too. He rarely got excited about anything I made for him the way he did whenever Jayden came home from a weekend at his mom's house with plastic containers filled with sugary treats.
“Yes, and he promised to bring home some treats for you.” I flipped on my turn signal to take the next exit. “That doesn't mean you get to accost him the second he walks through the door.”
“I won't,” Matt promised. I quirked an eyebrow. “Okay, I'lltryto give them time to unpack first but it's not my fault if I'm excited to see him.”
“We all know damn well it's not Jayden you miss,” I scoffed. “You aren't going to eat everything he brings at once this time, right?”
“Again, I'd like to point out it's not my fault Gen is an amazing baker,” he protested.
“Matthew,” I said, drawing his name out a few extra syllables. He hated it when I used his full name, but I needed him to understand I was serious. After Thanksgiving, Matt had been sick for days because he’d overdosed on sugar. Making matters worse, every time his stomach settled enough for him to crash, he’d get a second wind. By the time we left for classes the following Monday morning, I think everyone had been ready to duct tape him to the bed if he didn’t calm down. “You’ll accept what he gives you and you willaskbefore you pig out.”
“Fine.” Matt glared at me. “You’re evil. I can’t believe you’d try to deny me.”
“Oh really?” Matt swallowed hard when I quirked an eyebrow. “Babe, you don’t know the half of how evil I can be if I put my mind to it.”
Matt was out of the car before I even had the ignition turned off. He hefted his backpack over one shoulder and mine over the other. When I tried taking mine back, he feinted away from me. It was clear he was trying to get on my good side, so I’d forget about the various punishments he’d earned. Now that we were home and had the suite to ourselves, it was time to cash in.
* * *
Matt didn't even flinchwhen I rolled his body off of mine the following morning. I never thought I’d say this, but I missed the hell out of Matt's bedroom at his mom’s house. I didn't care about the damp, musty smell, mixed with the floral chemical sent Kim tried using to mask what was a completely normal basement stink. I would've gladly tripped over Matt's dirty clothes and shoes if it meant not having two grown men crammed into one twin size bed.
This was going to be the longest semester ever because, apparently, my boyfriend was incapable of being still, even when he was sound asleep. I quickly checked for bruises when I used the bathroom because I’d been woken numerous times to a knee or elbow jabbing into my body. At one point, I’d tried escaping to my own bed, but Matt woke and yanked me back into his arms. After that, he’d tightened his grip around my torso, mumbling about me being his teddy bear as he passed out again.
It was too damn quiet in the suite. I wandered around, trying to make sure everything was clean before the guys descended later today. There was a fine layer of dust over everything from the room being vacant for almost a month—not that you could really tell no one had been here since there was still clutter all over the place. My roommates liked to tease me for being the mother hen of the group, but someone had to be. If I wasn't around, Jayden was probably the only one who would make sure everything was taken care of.
I did a quick check of the cupboards before sitting down at the table to make a shopping list. After breakfast, we’d head to the store so that everything was stocked before we all got busy with classes. Matt was going to hate that, but shopping was one of those things that needed to be done. Zach and Daniel would happily live off ramen, and Matt on peanut butter and jelly, if someone wasn't forcing them to eat like grown-ups.
As I was looking over the list one last time, I heard shuffling feet down the hall. I couldn't help but laugh when Matt came into view, waddling like a penguin.
“Something wrong, babe?” I hooked my foot around the leg of the chair next to mine, pulling it out for him. Matt grimaced as his butt made contact with the seat. I didn’t feeltoobad about his pain. He’dpleadedforme to show him what a good spanking felt like, and we’d both been a bit frenzied over the fact we didn’t have to rush through sex or be quiet. It felt like we were both trying to get as much as we could to sustain us until the next time we had the suite to ourselves.
“What the hell did you do to me last night?” I left Matt grumbling at the table so I could get him something to eat. He muttered something about not needing a keeper, but his shy smile said he liked me taking care of him. “Why don’t I smell coffee? I need my coffee if you’re going to keep me up half the night.”
“I have no clue what you mean,” I teased. I knew exactly what he meant. Between his tender cheeks from the spanking he'd begged for and the multiple rounds of rough sex, Matt was probably going to be tender for the next couple days. I debated toying with him, telling him coffee was off-limits now, but that might be his line in the sand. Yes, he drank too much of the stuff, but it was how he jump-started his day. And I wasn’t a total asshole, so I ignored the question as I poured the one cup he’d be allowed before shopping. Any more and he’d be bouncing off the walls.
“You do realize that if you break me, you're not gonna be able to play with me, right?”
