Around us, crickets chirped, and every now and then, a bird called out, cawing through the evening. Shawn toed his sneaker into the grass and held my gaze. His skin looked soft, and again, I wanted to reach out and touch him.
Reasons to stop myself started rising up. I thought about Leo, telling me to keep my hands off his brother before I had truly considered it myself. I thought about the fact that I was straight. Even in my fantasies, I usually didn’t get much further than touching Shawn’s body, or tracing my hand down the curve of his backside. If I did make a move on him, I’d have no idea what I was doing, anyway.
I’d be lost. But then again, there was something exciting about that, too.
My heartbeat kicked up, and before I could doubt myself, I finished my drink and tossed the bottle to the ground. I took one step forward, then another. Shawn’s eyes lit up, still captured in my gaze, and his tongue darted across his lips. He turned toward the telescope. “Should we look at something else?” he asked nervously, and when he turned back, I had closed the distance between us, leaving only a couple of inches of cool night air.
“Cass,” Shawn whispered.
I raised an eyebrow, then grinned down. Energy sparked between us, and Shawn bounced on the back of his heels, practically vibrating with an energy so hot and raw I could taste it on my lips and feel it on the tips of my fingers. “Did you like what you saw today?” I asked, dropping my voice into a low rumble.
Shawn gasped and finally broke my eye contact, turning to the trees. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, then stumbled backward.
My heart tore open. I had meant to tease him, to lure him out of his shell, but the look of pain I had briefly glimpsed told a different story.
I wanted to kick myself. Of course he would be anxious about something like that. He probably worried that I was angry or that I would tell his brother.
Shit.
When I noticed the tremble in his shoulders, I finally did what I had been thinking about since high school. I stepped forward, wrapped my arms around Shawn, and pulled him into a full, tight embrace.
He gasped. I held him just like that, tight and warm, and a second later, I felt his body relax against mine. He was soft and tender in all the right ways, and I knew that holding him was the right choice.
Shawn’s face found a crook in my neck, his arms wrapped around my side, and the sweet, floral scent of his shampoo flooded my nose. I squeezed tighter, then whispered his name.
“Shawn.”
Chapter Nine
Shawn
Cass’s voicerumbled in his chest as he spoke my name. I squeezed tighter, scared that if I let go, I’d never feel that pleasure again.
I didn’t know why he grabbed me like that or why he had been so nice after he caught me watching from the trees. Hell, he was nicer to me than I had ever been to myself. And the feel of his arms around my shoulders and his meaty thighs pressed to mine felt just as good as I imagined it would.
Charged, and somehow exactly right.
His familiar scent filled my nose, like mint tea and fresh rain and musk. It was a drug, and it sent me reeling even harder. From deep inside, every cell in my body responded, craving more as the stubble on his neck scraped against my cheek. It burned to my core, and my cock stiffened between our bodies.
I gasped. Cass rewarded me with a soft groan, rumbling from an even deeper place. His hand found the back of my head, and his fingers carded through my hair. The tug sent a shiver down my spine as I thought of his callused hands and the day he had spent drumming at the studio.
“Cass,” I finally managed to say, my voice lost in his neck.
“It’s okay,” he said, still holding me tight. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not upset.”
Hearing him say it, I could finally believe that was true. Cass wasn’t angry; he was holding me, lifting me with each breath so my feet barely touched the ground.
My heart thudded against my ribs, then again. Cass loosened his embrace, but we didn’t let go. Instead, he spread his legs slightly, and I found myself straddling his thigh.
Fuck, he could probably feel my cock throbbing. But when I shifted my weight, I felt him, just as thick and hard against my hip.
“I can’t blame you for watching,” he said, his hand still in my hair. “I might have done the same if it were you.”
I swallowed, and when I talked again, my lips danced across the curve of his neck. “You would have?” Cass was straight, and he’d always been straight. If he were going to fall for some guy, why wouldn’t it be someone like Leo, someone who was all muscly and hot like Cass was?
Why would he want to see me?
He stroked the back of my head, and like it was outside of my control, I started writhing up against his thigh, matching the motion. “Yeah,” he answered. “I’m starting to think I would.”
