LATER THAT NIGHT, in my dorm room, I was hunched over a textbook when another text came through.
You never answered me, Cupcake. Do I need to come check on you?
Squeezing my eyes closed, I inhaled deeply before slowly letting my breath out. I glanced over to the other side of the room, where Ren was engrossed in typing out some essay.
With the chaos of my impromptu meeting with Faulkner, I’d pushed everything out of my mind, even the pervy text from Caelyx. But with him reminding me of it and forcing me to think about it… I didn’t know how to respond. What he was saying he wanted to do wasn’t something I’d ever let a guy do to me before. Then again, I hadn’t let anyone do what he’d already done.
I had rules with guys. Boundaries. Things I wasn’t willing to compromise on, because I couldn’t stand the idea of being vulnerable like that. And any time I’d ever started considering it, they always ended up ruining it before I could even give them a chance.
But it had been so different with him, immediately different in a way I hadn’t even realized I’d been desperate for until it had happened. But it wasn’t the time to think about that. I didn’t even have the mental processing available even if Iwantedto think about it. And I couldn’t let Caelyx know that I’d let him do something I hadn’t let anyone else do before. That was the last thing I wanted him to find out.
I’m studying for the econ exam, I informed him. It suddenly occurred to me that if he failed any of his classes, especially the ones I was in with him, then his dad would probably blame me, so I sent him another message.You should be studying, too.
You’re not avoiding me, are you?He asked, and a twinge of guilt squirmed in my stomach. I wasn’t avoiding him, exactly…
I’m not. You’ll see me tomorrow in class.
What about after?He insisted. I was pretty sure he knew neither of us were on the schedule at work. I ran my tongue over my teeth, considering.
What about it?I asked, even though I knew what he was suggesting. I wasn’t a moron.
Hang out with me. Let’s do something. You don’t have to come over here if you don’t want to.
And there it was. I didn’t have to come over if I didn’t want to. He wanted to screw around, but he didn’t want me to feel pressured. And he wanted to see me either way. It was hard to blow him off when he wasn’t just being a horny pest.
Groaning lightly, I rubbed my temples. Ren glanced over at me, looking slightly concerned.
“You okay?” He wondered.
“Yeah, I’m just… Brain hurting,” I finished, aware I probably sounded like a caveman barely capable of human speech. But he just nodded, grinning.
“Right there with you,” he agreed, brushing his mop of shaggy black hair off his forehead before returning his attention to his laptop.
Before I could decide what to say back to Caelyx to keep it light and casual, he’d already sent another message.
Please, Cupcake. Don’t deprive me. I miss you.
Pressing my fingers into my closed eyes, I suppressed the urge to hiss.
We’ll do something tomorrow, okay? Don’t be weird about it.
When he sent me a kissy-face emoji in response, followed by a bunch of different colored hearts, I just rolled my eyes to the ceiling and buried my phone under my pillow so I could actually focus on my work.
CAELYX
THE NEXT DAY, after my last class, Aspen stayed true to his word and let me take him on a little walk. Cool weather was definitely starting to roll in, so I wore my Gucci nappa leather bomber jacket. It was one of my favorites. Not that it mattered to Aspen. I was pretty sure he couldn’t tell the difference between leather and pleather.
We didn’t really plan on a destination, so it was chill and casual, just aimless meandering as we talked. We decided to pass on the boardwalk, since when we walked up it was already packed with people, mostly families with shrieking children. Heading past it up to the downtown district near our work, we wandered into a smoothie shop neither of us had ever tried.
Once we’d gotten our orders, we ducked out of the shop and headed off toward a little city walking trail. I let Aspen lead, as he seemed to like to do, until finally he stopped on a large bridge in the middle of the trail. He leaned over the thick wooden railing, peering down into the water for a bit before taking a sip of his smoothie.
“This is pretty good,” he remarked. He’d gotten a semi-healthy one with a lot of fruit, probably because Maddox was in his ear lately about macros or whatever, but I’d indulged and gotten a dessert smoothie, with peanut butter and chocolate mixed into it.
“Mine too,” I said. “Do you want to try it?”
When he nodded, I held out my cup to him, tilting the top toward his mouth. Leaning forward to take a big sip, his gazeflicked up to mine while his lips were still wrapped around my straw. The sight of that alone was enough to have my blood draining down below my waist, but when he let out a sinful little moan at the flavor, my cock jerked up against my zipper.
“Oh, wow,” he commented. “Yoursisgood. I might have to get that one next time. What?” He finally asked, when he noticed my expression.
