“I would never do that, Noah.Never,” Kaj said, intertwining their fingers. “I’ve heard what they say about me—playboy, womanizer—but I’m not.”
After Kaj broke up with Anna, rumors spread like wildfire. He was called a cheater, and Emma was labeled a traitorous slut. However, Noah was aware it was all misstated gossip because they hadn’t started dating until a month later. Was it too soon? Maybe. But they never flirted before Kaj set the record straight with his first girlfriend.
Kaj was messy, but he was faithful and loyal to the bone. Yet Noah couldn’t shake off the sensation that Kaj might get tired of him sooner or later, and instead of telling him to avoid that awkward conversation, he’d go behind his back. Noah wouldn’t survive such a blow.
Also, he was the worst friend for thinking that.
“I know, but…”
“But what?”
“You’ve only been with girls up until now, and they’re delicate, and feminine, and pretty. And I’m a nerd.”
“And funny, smart, generous, caring, talented, creative, and so,sostupidly handsome with your dark eyes and silky hair.” Kaj squeezed Noah’s fingers a little between his own. “Do you want me to continue? Because I could go on forever.”
Noah felt a flutter in his chest, and his naïve heart skipped a beat, disregarding the questions that had bothered him the most from the start—thenwhy can’t we tell Val and Theo? Why are we hiding like we’re doing something wrong?
“It’s fine.” He sheepishly smiled.
“I like girls and boys, apparently. But I don’t do the wholefriends-with-benefitsthing. And I like you, Noah. I wouldn’t like seeing you kissing someone else, and I’m not gonna do that to you.”
“Okay. Cool. So, that means we’re... boyfriends?”
“I kissed you, so you don’t have a choice now.”
Noah gulped, fighting the urge to grin like a loon. They were boyfriends.Boyfriends. Just the word made him giddy.
“You thought I was playing you or something?” Kaj asked.
“No, I just—I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to go around kissing others.”
Kaj put a palm over Noah’s chest and nuzzled his neck. “You’re the only one I want.”
Seven
It was a coldFriday afternoon. They were sitting on a bench behind the leafy viewpoint near the cliff, kissing like they hadn’t seen each other in weeks. Though they had been doing exactly this yesterday, just in the last row of the cinema.
Maybe they were idiots, or too horny to think with the heads above their shoulders, or both. There was no other explanation for them to be here in the winter, making out. Well, there was—Trine and her new open-door policy. It was like she was trying to force them to expose themselves. She hadn’t done anything like that, ever. But she also didn’t have a teenage boy before, so who knew?
“I wish we could be home,” Kaj mumbled. He was panting, fingers digging into Noah’s ass cheeks over the annoyingly thick denim fabric. Their lips were purple, either from the cold or the bruising passion, but he didn’t seem to care.
“Yeah, me too.” Noah groaned without stopping the slow, tantalizing grind on his lap.
“Maybe in a few weeks when Dad and Katja fly to New York?”
“But Jesper will be around.”
“He already knows and doesn’t care.”
“Right.”
They still hadn’t told anyone, but after Jesper had barged into Kaj’s room without knocking and caught them kissing once, there was no way they could deny it. He was completely fine with it, though, and said he would keep their secret, that it wasn’t his story to tell. So far, he’d been true to his word. He had even covered for them a couple of times when they’d snuck out in the middle of the night to go to the docks.
“Besides, he’s out almost every day with his friends, so we’d have the entire house to ourselves.”
Noah grinned against Kaj’s mouth. “Sounds like a plan.” His breathing turned ragged, and he kissed him with all he had.
The thought of lying with Kaj, skin on skin, was enough to send him to the stratosphere. This guy,his boyfriend, was so beautiful, it was overwhelming. He couldn’t keep his hands off him whenever they were alone. So much so that seeing him naked every once in a blue moon was becoming painful. The last time had been fourteen days ago, on Valentine’s Day, when Nik and Katja had gone out on a date. Before that, it was during the most amazing weeks of his entire life—Christmas break.
