It takes a few minutes, but eventually, he either begins to relax in my hold or he loses the will to fight. My thigh is draped across one of his, interlocking our legs. Wrapping my arms around him, I pull his chest tighter against me.
“D, for the love of God, man, what is going on? Please don’t make me ask again. I’m fucking tired of begging.”
He’s silent for a minute, but the air is electric, like he’s gearing up to finally admit what’s been bothering him.
“I…” He trails off, and for a second, I think he’s not going to answer me, but he starts again a few seconds later. “Vox…I didn’t like it when he kissed you.”
I laugh at Damon’s protectiveness becausethat’swhat this is about? “Oh man, that was nothing. Actually, it’s pretty cool to be able to say I’m hot enough for Vox Montgomery, you know?” Then another thought occurs to me. “Wait, you kissed me because you were, what? Reclaiming your territory?”
After my thoughts about what it would be like if Damon started seriously dating someone, I guess I can understand that.
“No,” he grits out.
“Then what?” I press, rubbing a hand up and down his thigh, trying to warm his skin faster.
“Please stop doing that,” he says instead of giving me an explanation.
“WHY?” I finally bellow.
“I LOVE YOU, OKAY?” he shouts, matching my tone.
Confused as hell, I say it back because, well,duh.
“I love you, too. Why are we being weird about it all of a sudden?”
“Jesus Christ, Liam,” he says in an exasperated tone, scrubbing both hands down his face. “I’minlove with you,” he clarifies, shocking the ever-loving shit out of me before trying to push me away and climb out of his bed.
But I don’t let him. He’s a danger to himself right now.
“Hey,shhh. Calm the fuck down, D.”
Still, he wiggles and writhes in my arms, so I do the only thing I can think of to incapacitate him. I roll him onto his back and smother him with my body, using my mass to keep him in place. I pin his arms above his head because that’s the hardest position for his shoulders to gain leverage—a little fact he taught me long ago—and I bear down on him with my hips so he can’t gain any momentum to buck me off.
He lets out a groan that almost hasmydick reacting.
“Fucking hell, D.Relax.”
It’s like the floodgates of his mouth open as his eyes slam shut.
“I can’t. Not when you’re so close to me, and definitely not when you’re on top of me like this. I want you so fucking much, it hurts,” he whines as he rolls his hips up into mine. “It’s been torture pretending like every touch doesn’t light me on fire, and when I saw Vox kiss you, I almost tore his soul from his body for taking what should have been mine.”
His admission has me looking at him, likereallylooking at him for the first time.
Honestly? He’s a hot mess.
But heishot. Something I’ve noticed more recently.
“How long have you felt like this?” I ask, unsure if knowing the answer will make the current situation better or worse.
“Thirteen years,” he answers immediately, finally done keeping things from me.Thank fuck.All the stress lines on his forehead have disappeared with his admission, as have the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. He’s too young for those kinds of wrinkles anyway.
“That feels oddly specific,” I joke lightheartedly. “Was there something I did that made you realize what was going on?” I ask, curious about howanyoneknows they’re in love with someone, but definitely curious about how Damon knows.
“When we were freshmen, we went on that field trip to that stupid ropes course, and they wouldn’t let me sit it out even though they knew about my fear of heights,” he says, reminding me of the team building excursion.
I thought Damon was going to shit himself.
“Yeah, I remember,” I finally answer.
