He took my face in his hands, his rough fingers landing on my cheeks. I gasped as we met, and my tongue traced over the familiar curves of his lips. His beard rubbed hot against my stubble, and when Rip wrapped his arms around my shoulder, my entire body trembled against his.
Fucking electric. Just like always.
He pulled his lips back, then stood in front of me, his hands on my shoulders. “I’m in love with you, Mars.”
I coughed out a breath, then turned my eyes away. His expression was just so clear, so open and strong, it was almost painful to look into. “What, you think we’re going to be boyfriends or something?” I took in a shaky breath, then released it. “Yeah right. You know I’m no good for that.”
“Then fuck other people, if that’s what you have to do,” he said. “I don’t give a shit, just as long as you take care of yourself. I don’t care about any of that bullshit. All I care about is being with you.”
I tightened my arms across my chest, then looked up to him. “This is the one way to fuck everything up,” I said. “This is the number one guaranteed way to make sure you and I never talk to each other again. Because you show me one god damn person I’ve cared about who has treated me right.” I gritted my teeth and blinked away the tears that were burning in my eyes. “You’re not going to fuck me over like everyone else has, Rip Cirillo.”
Rip leaned forward, then pressed his forehead against mine.
The fucking one thing. The thing that always makes me feel like I’m his.
My hands shot up, stroking the side of his cheek and then clasping together behind his neck. “Don’t make me lose you, Rip.”
“You won’t,” he said. “Never.”
I pressed my lips against his, then pulled them back. “Fuck you, Rip Cirillo,” I said. I clawed my hands into his hair, then kissed him again, burying my lips against his, then pulling them apart again with a snap. “I love you, Rip,” I said. “I mean, come on… I’ve always loved you.”
Rip threw his arms around my shoulders, then wrestled me backward. Our bodies rolled together across the hard ridges of the truck bed, and I pushed aside a few stray sticks as Rip took his position above me, straddling my hips and leaning his face down close to mine. “I love you,” he said again, then dove in for another kiss.
Questions surged through my body, but Rip’s touch extinguished them. He just kept telling me that he loved me as he removed my clothes and planted soft, teasing kisses along my skin.
My hips jerked as Rip pulled my pants off, exposing my hard cock to the evening air. “Clark,” I managed to whisper, my mouth barely working. “What about Clark?”
Rip pressed his face against my thigh, then took in a deep breath. “I want to see Clark again,” he said. “But I want us to see him together.”
“Together,” I said, tasting the word on my lips.
Rip finished undressing me, then unrolled the sleeping bag and set to working me over right there. Even in the evening chill, our bodies steamed together, and I could have sworn the back of the truck was an oven the two of us had lit.
Rip’s hands caressed me, and his lips opened me to him. Now that he had said it, the truth of our love seemed as clear as the night sky above us. I moaned as he entered me and hollered his name across the forests, as loudly as I could, as we found release after explosive release together.
Until the whole fucking universe was lit up like a firework, and everyone knew: I was Rip’s guy.
