Page 59 of Bruised

I drive us up a hilltop road surrounded by forest, with a view over the city.

“Oh,” Lane says. “This place is nice.”

I park the car, itching to get my hands on him, but I suppose we can chat a bit first. “Yeah. I used to drink here sometimes with friends.”

“Where are they now?”

I shrug. “Off to college.”

Lane fidgets with his shirt, getting that dejected look in his eyes again. “Oliver’s going, too. And I’ll be alone.”

My first instinct is to downplay the situation, to joke about it—how Oliver’s boring anyway, that he’ll be better off without him, that sort of thing. A few weeks ago, I would have. But not now.

“Yeah, I get it. It sucks.”

It feels weird to be genuine and serious for once. I’m not used to it. I have to force the words out. Maybe it’s because it looks a lot like being vulnerable, and I’m not about being vulnerable. Sarcasm and teasing come easily to me, and they mean nothing; they’re safe. I’ve rarely found it worth my time to act differently.

With Tess, I can be less of an ass and more my true self, and maybe Lane has the same effect on me—at least he could have if I were to let go a little more. What’s the point, though? Tess is my friend; she’ll always be there, but Lane is supposed to be a summer fling, and what do I do with summer flings?

Seduce them, fuck them, discard them, and move on to the next.

Can I really do the same with Lane? Right now, it feels like I never want to let him go. I can barely go an hour without touching him. I can’t even wait until tonight to get my fill of his sweet gasps and his half-lidded eyes looking up at me with unrestrained want.

“Come with me.” I open the car door and slide into the back seat.

Lane enters the back seat on the opposite side, and he barely has time to slam the door shut before I’m all over him, pushing him onto his back on the seat.

“Oh,” he says, as if he wasn’t aware of my intentions, just following my instructions without question, which is a huge fucking turn-on. Granted, everything about him is a huge fucking turn-on. “You want to…”

“Don’t you?” I murmur against his mouth.

He nods, Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows. “Yeah, but I’ve never done it in a car before.”

“Don’t worry. Just follow my lead.”

He nods faster, more eagerly. “Okay.”

“You like doing that, don’t you? Following my lead.”

His cheeks flush. “Yeah. A lot.”

I smile. “Then just lie back and let me undress you.”

I reach for the buckle of his jeans, feeling his heat and his eager little gasps as I start tearing at his clothes, and my eyes roll back in relief when I get my hands on his bare skin.

“Fuck, puppy,” I groan. “Why does this feel so good?”

I don’t mean to say all these things—they just spill out of me without warning. There’s something inevitable about it, something dangerous, but there’s no way I’m stopping now.

Soon enough, our naked bodies roll and writhe together, and Lane grips my cock again like he did last night, eyes bright with desire as he looks up at me.

“You want it?” I hump his hand, groaning at the soft skin of his palm rolling over my length.

“Do we have lube?”

I fumble for my discarded pants and find my wallet, where I always store a sachet of lube and a condom. Never know when you’ll need them.

Lane shakes his head when I rip open the condom packet. “No, let’s do it without.”