“We shouldn’t,” Rusty said. “I don’t want this to be any harder than it needs to be.”
Blake swallowed again, not sure he could trust his voice. Instead, he nodded and took another step back.
Rusty joined him on the sidewalk after a moment, falling into step beside him again as they started heading for home.
Well, not home. It wasn’teitherof their homes. But it was the closest thing Blake had right now.
He’d forgotten what it felt like to belong somewhere. He’d spent so long in the wrong place that he’d gotten used to the wrongness.
And now everything was a mess, and he was clinging to Rusty like an idiot.
“I’m sorry,” he said after a moment.
“Nothing to apologize for,” Rusty said. “You didn’t even bite me.”
“You like being bitten,” Blake said, remembering the way Rusty had encouraged him once they’d gotten comfortable with each other.
“I do,” Rusty agreed. His voice made it sound like he was smiling.
Blake really didn’t need to think about sex with Rusty. He was still nursing a rejection, and while he understood that it wasn’t really personal, that it wasn’t abouthim, it still stung.
An owl called out in the distance, punctuating the silence between them.
This was fine. Blake understood that it was over, and that wallowing in what might have been was pointless. What they’d had was magical because of the way it had happened.
Out of context, the magic was gone. He knew that.
So why didn’t it feel that way?
