“It was, but also, looking back, I’m so glad it happened that way. Obviously, I knew I was gay the moment my mom would walk us past the underwear section in JCPenney, and I would always stop us because my ‘feet hurt’—mind you, we had just parked and walked in from the parking lot. But it would give me a few extra seconds of checking out the packages. Literally and figuratively.”
“Good strategy, honestly,” I said. Hishand was under the water and resting on my thigh, his thumb rubbing small circles against my skin. My cock pushed up against my briefs only a couple of inches away from his fingers. God, did he know how badly I wanted him right now? Did he know that I couldn’t stop picturing him hanging off the edge of the hot tub, his shorts pulled down and his delicious ass on my face, my tongue working his hole and getting him ready for my thick, throbbing cock?
Probably not.
“Thanks. Now I just open my phone and pull up all the packages I want to see, but it was a little trickier back then.” My cock throbbed at his words.Fuuuck.“Coming out the way I did kept the pressure and the fear off. It was a ‘fuck it’ moment. And, to be fair, both my parents work in healthcare, graduated from Cornell, and had even marched in a couple Pride parades, so, like, come on. But still, I’d been worried about it leading up to that moment.” Eli shrugged and gave a happy, golden-retriever kind of smile. “Worked out, though.”
“It did,” I said, feeling happy for him.
“Of course, I had to come out a few more times. I was in a junior hockey team at the time and told my coach first. A few months later, I told my best friend. Then people just slowly started finding out. It helped once I got my first boyfriend and made it social media official. Everyone close to me knew, and if they didn’t, then the pictures of me holding another guy’s hand would give them a huge hint.”
It was a cute moment, picturing a puppy-lovestruck Eli dating for the first time. Some coming-out stories weren’t as positive. Eli deserved it.
It also made my heart skip a beat with irrational jealousy. I couldn’t help it. Fated mate or not, I was becoming very protective of Eli, and the thought of him with anyoneelse—even years ago—made me want to bare my teeth and growl.
We weren’t even together. I wasn’t even publicly out. And here was Eli, telling me stories of his bravery and showing how happy he’d been with his decision.
I snuffed out the wicked emotions and focused on the here and now instead. I lifted an arm out of the water and rested it on Eli’s shoulders. He inched closer to me, his hand moving a little higher up my thigh. I spread my legs, a jet massaging my lower back, pushing me upward. Eli’s hand naturally fell lower, grazing the head of my dick.
My instincts howled at me to lean in and devour him. I wanted to cage him in my arms and kiss him until we both came hands-free.
“Anyways, back to the whole werewol—were thing.” He said, grinning. “Why the hell are there so many on the team?”
I had a good laugh at that. “We don’t exactly know. A druid said there was a nexus under the Bobcats Arena that attracts shifters, and for some reason we really like hockey.”
“Huh… a druid?”
“Yeah,” I said, waving it off. “Humans with an intense connection to nature. They can grow plants with a flick of the wrist, talk to animals, things like that.”
“Excuse me—what?”
“We can save that for another day,” I said, shifting so that I was even closer to him. Water droplets sparkled around his collarbone, making his tan skin glitter. His muscular chest was making me want to turn this hottub into a damn motor boat. “Back to you.”
“What about me?” He cocked his head, a brown curl falling onto his forehead.
“You inspire me, Eli.”
“Oh yeah? I do?” He slanted his lips. “Is that the only thing I do to you?”
His hand moved higher. He gripped my stiff dick from the outside of my far-too-tight briefs. I sucked in a lungful of chilly winter air and warm misting steam. “You do some other things to me.”
“Like?”
“You make me smile.”
His grip tightened. “And?”
“You make me intrigued.” I held his gaze with mine. My cock pulsed into his palm. He bit his lower lip.
“And?”
“You make me the most primal, lustful, horned-up man walking this Earth.”
“Huh, really?”
“Yes.” I rocked my hips up and rubbed myself against his hand.
“Funny, because you do all those same things to me.”
