“Say it.”
“I want my dick in your mouth.”
That was all it took.
He leaned forward, and suddenly the world shrank to the wet heat of his mouth.
12
Keaton
A monthand a half after my dad died, I started my senior year of high school.
From the outside, everything probably appeared the same as it always had. Rowan still hung out with the popular kids, the athletes, and the people who always seemed to know where the next party was going to be. I still spent lunch with my friends on the benches near the library, dressed mostly in black and avoiding anyone who looked too eager to make small talk.
It was obvious word had spread about my father’s death because, during the first few weeks, teachers gave me concerned looks when they called on me in class, as if they worried I might break if they pushed too hard. Homework deadlines suddenly had more flexibility, and the office staff offered awkward smiles when I passed them in the halls.
It didn’t last long.
By the middle of September, school had returned to how it always was. Teachers stopped looking at me like I was fragile. Deadlines were set in stone, and the office staff went back tothreatening me with Saturday school if I didn’t get to class on time.
The only thing that still felt different was home.
During the first week after my dad died, my mom hardly left her room. Eventually, she started coming out again, and not long after, she returned to work. She’d picked up part-time jobs here and there as I was growing up, but nothing steady. Now she was working more hours at the grocery store a few miles away, complaining about standing on her feet all day or getting home too late.
I overheard her talking to someone on the phone one evening about bills and mortgage payments. Although she tried to keep her voice low, I still heard enough to know she’d already burned through most of the life insurance money. It turned out the policy my dad had through his job was even smaller than we expected.
So I started picking up extra shifts at Sal’s Pizza.
At first, I told myself it was just to help out, which wasn’t exactly a lie. But that wasn’t the only reason. Ever since Rowan told me he wanted me in his life after high school, I couldn’t stop thinking about what that might actually look like.
The Air Force wasn’t just a vague plan he’d mentioned because his dad expected it. He was actively working toward it. If I wanted any shot at going wherever he ended up, I knew I’d need more money. More than I’d already saved from deliveries, tips, and whatever cash I could scrape together. I needed enough to get out of this house and set myself up somewhere new. I didn’t want to leave my mom in a bind, but I couldn’t plan my future around her. No matter what, I would need to get out on my own one day.
So I worked a lot, and when I wasn’t working, I was usually with Rowan.
Just like now.
His bedroom door was closed, but that didn’t stop either of us from listening for sounds from the rest of the house. His parents were in the living room watching TV, and even though they liked me and I’d spent more time in their home than mine over the years, that didn’t change the fact that getting caught half-dressed with their son would be a disaster.
I lay on my back across his bed while he hovered over me, one hand braced beside my head and the other sliding under the hem of my shirt. His mouth moved from mine to my jaw, then lower to my neck.
“This is torture,” I muttered.
He chuckled softly against my skin. “That’s what I was going for.”
I laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”
He pushed up a little and smirked. “Maybe. But it’s one of the things you like about me.”
That smirk made me want to kiss him again right away, so I did. Rowan shifted lower, pressing more fully against me, and every nerve in my body lit up at once.
Then the floor creaked somewhere outside his room.
We froze.
Rowan pulled back first, and both of us listened.
Nothing happened.
