“Right,” I chuckled. “And then I sat on your lap and you complained the whole way there.”
“Because your bony ass was digging into my thighs.”
I smacked Dawson square in the face with one of the throw pillows. I cracked up at the shock on his face, but gave him a clear opening to nail me right on the nose in payback. We grappled for the pillow, yanking it back and forth, but I only ended up pulling Dawson closer.
His eyes were bright with laughter and the air crackled between us. I relinquished my hold on the pillow and we slouched back, still huffing out breathless laughs. I felt the brush of Dawson’s pinky against my own.
“You know what I remember most about that day?” I murmured.
Instead of answering, Dawson stretched out a finger, drawing slow circles on the back of my hand. My skin tingled from the contact and I soaked in the tiny, intimate gesture. He used to do it all the time when we were younger to ground me when I was anxious or upset. The fact he remembered made my throat tighten.
“I remember being so jealous I could barely breathe. McKenna had been flirting with you for weeks and when she sat next to you, I was so pissed. I watched you all day for any sign that you liked her back, terrified that you’d hold her hand or put your arm around her when the lights went out. Especially when I would have given anything for you to hold my hand in that theater instead.”
“You never told me that,” Dawson whispered roughly. I smiled weakly, stroking my little finger against his lightly.
“I’d been hiding how I felt about you for almost two years at that point. If I had let on that I was jealous, you would’ve figured it out. But then a couple months later we got together and it didn’t matter anymore.”
“I never liked her like that. I never liked anyone else before you.”
His voice was low and smooth, like honey poured in my ears. His eyes were molten, heating me from the inside out. My heartbeat thudded a heavy, uneven rhythm I could feel everywhere. Dawson’s pinky ensnared mine and I almost fell to pieces at his feet.
“It’s always been you.”
He’d barely gotten the words out before my lips were on him, devouring him in a slow, desperate kiss. His tongue tentatively slid against mine and a low growl vibrated in my chest. I cupped his jaw, deepening the kiss, chasing his sweet taste that I’d craved for years.
I worried he’d push me away, but Dawson’s fingers tangled in my shirt and he pulled me closer. The kiss grew hungry, leaving me lightheaded as all my blood rushed south to my cock. Dawson leaned back and tugged me down to cover him. Our dicks rubbed together through our sweatpants and I groaned as pleasure shot down my spine. Dawson moaned into mymouth and I swallowed it down greedily, wanting to coax every delicious sound from him I could.
“Fuck Mercury, I missed this…missed you,” I panted, our steady rocking driving me closer to the edge. He let out a pained whimper, rutting against me frantically. He clawed at my back as we chased our releases, trading gasping breaths between us.
“Oh god, Theo,” Dawson cried, his voice wrecked with lust. His head dropped back, eyes clenched shut as I quickened my thrusts.
“That’s it, baby…shit, I’m close.”
Dawson’s body tightened and his eyes shot open. Panic replaced pleasure as he scrambled to push me off him.
“No no, wait. Stop,” he begged.
Immediately I pulled back, even though my dick throbbed with my impending orgasm. My stomach cramped painfully at being denied release, but I ignored it, focusing on the shaken look on Dawson’s face.
“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” I asked in a rush.
Dawson scooted back into the corner, putting as much distance between us as he could manage. It hurt like hell after what we’d just done and I cursed myself for pushing him too far, too fast. He shook his head as he caught his breath, pushing his sweaty hair back with shaking hands.
“You didn’t hurt me,” he replied unsteadily. “I, um, I’m just not ready.”
“I’m so sorry, I thought you wanted it…”
“I did—do want it. What you said…nevermind.”
“No, wait. What did I say?”
Dawson looked uncomfortable, avoiding my gaze. He chewed the inside of his cheek as though debating whether to tell me or not.
“The last thing you said…it was the same thing I overheard the night I found you and Corvin together.”
Guilt rushed to the surface and a chill swept through me. A queasy feeling settled low in my gut, but I knew it wasn’t a fraction as bad as Dawson must have felt. Even thinking of anyone else touching him made me physically ill, and he’d witnessed my shameful moment firsthand.
“I know nothing I say will make it any better or make you hurt less, but I can’t even begin to explain how fucking sorry I am for that night,” I rasped. “God, how can you not hate me for everything I did?”
