Page 96 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 1

I gave him my cockiest smirk and scooted against him. “Watch and learn, kiddo.”

He snorted and crossed his arms on his chest. The sweet scent of his cologne lingered in the air where he had just stood, and I lost all focus. He was everything I thought of, though my muscle memory served me well when I began playing. The commands were a little slow to react with the machine’s age, but I’d gotten used to it when I first started playing against Sebastian.

I scored double the points Noah had and was still well below the record a mystery legend had set on the machine an unknown number of years ago. “We have this thing going. Whoever beats the record becomes the king of the house that semester. There was no king in the history of the house.”

Noah laughed at that. “I guess living with a crowd of people you like has its positive side, too.”

I shrugged. “The privacy of the room you get to decorate just how you like isn’t all that bad.” I looked into his eyes and watched how his lips worked when he spoke next.

“That’s true. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But you guys are a team. Believe it or not, I actually watched the game tonight. You’re all so…I don’t know. Team-like. Like brothers or old-timey comrades. It was really cool.” His lips stretched into a smile, and the tip of his tongue crossed them.

“Christ, you’re so beautiful,” I whispered, leaping toward him. For a moment, I thought I was about to scare him with such an abrupt move, but he stood still and welcomed me, sliding his arms under mine and wrapping them around my upper back.

Our lips pressed together, and my chest tightened. No. It wasn’t exactly like that. It was more like whatever filled my body grew so big that I couldn’t contain it. It wanted to burst out of me and keep growing, rising, expanding until it enveloped every trace of us. It was so powerful that it scared me, but I pushed that fear aside and focused on the sweetness of his lips and the warmth of his tongue as it slipped into my mouth.

I clutched his light spring jacket and pushed his tongue back with mine, exploring his mouth like I had countless times before, but I was never bored of trying it again. “You brought us a victory,” I said, pulling back just enough to speak. We both moved enough apart so that I could yank his jacket down his arms and then throw my own on the floor. “I knew you would.”

“Oh, fuck,” he grumbled, pulling me back against his body. “I’ll have to come to all your games, now, won’t I?”

“Every. Single. One.” My grin split my face, and I leaned in, kissing him despite my stretched lips. I kissed him harder as he laughed softly over my lips. God. He really was amazing just the way he was. He really was everything I could wish for. I prayed he would never change. Doubtless, he would outgrow me and his first little fling someday, but that wouldn’t dim the joy I felt when I was near him. And it wasn’t going to slow me down now.

I touched the small of his back, pushing our bodies tightly. He moaned as my crotch pressed against his, my hard abs rubbing against his flat stomach. As my hands traveled lower, I took a moment to appreciate his sweet, round butt and give it a firm squeeze.

The gesture must have pleased him. He bit my lower lip and growled against my mouth in reply, then kissed me smoothly. He was getting so damn good at this. Not that I minded him clumsily bumping his teeth into mine or overthinking every move he made. I liked him no matter what. I liked his growing confidence as he dragged his hands down the sides of my torso and to my hips. He clutched them, pulling me in, rubbing his front against mine. Despite the denim pants we both wore, there was no mistaking his excitement. He was hard and ready to play. And tonight, I wanted to do things a little differently.

But one step at a time, I reminded myself.

Slowly, gently, I navigated us around so that he leaned against the edge of the pinball machine in standby mode. When he was there, I leaned into him harder, sure he wouldn’t topple down under the pressure. Just the proximity to him excited me enough to be hard as all hell, but kissing and touching him, knowing I was the only one who’d ever done it, made him all the more special. He was mine, and nobody else’s. There was something magical about knowing that.

He was like a treat everyone else missed out on, unaware he was the sweetest kind.

Mine.

The possessiveness soared through me.

Mine, mine, mine.

To play with.

To take care of.

To pleasure and torment and make happy. Every experience under the sun was new to him, and I could paint a whole damn canvas of them just for him. I could show him everything there was. I could teach him never to be ashamed of himself or his kinks and interests. I could make him fly high and dive low. Ah, so many things I wanted to do to him.

But first, I pulled the hem of his T-shirt over his head. He was so in sync with me that his arms shot up the moment he realized what I was doing, and the T-shirt was gone. His fine, slim torso made my mouth water. His small, light brown nipples were hard, skin prickling around them, and his chest shuddered as he inhaled.

I took my T-shirt off next, then let him take a nice, long look. He never seemed to get bored of that. Sunday mornings, after sleeping naked in his bed all night, he repeatedly dragged his fingertips all over me, feeling me and forcing me into his memory. I knew that was what he was doing. I was doing it, too. Someday, I would think of him, and he would be happy with someone who was more like him and more deserving of his company. And I would be happy for him, but happier still for the memories.

I stepped forward, letting our bodies melt into one another’s, welded by the heat we both radiated. A little shiver accompanied each breath he drew, and every contact of my fingertips against his skin made his muscles flinch. I adored how sensitive he was. It made even the slightest little caress feel like a tremendous gesture. He wasn’t desensitized to the proximity of another human being. He wasn’t so used to the touch of someone’s hand that it meant nothing to him. He was so damn innocent and pure. It made me feel purer just to be near him.

Our brows touched. The tip of my nose brushed against his. My stomach pressed against his. “I want to do something to you,” I whispered. “I think you’re going to like it.”

He didn’t open his eyes. He didn’t even flinch. “Anything.”

I kissed him, undoing the button and zipper of his jeans and then letting them slide down his legs. They remained tangled around his knees, but I didn’t worry. I would get there soon enough. For now, I kissed him as deeply and intimately as I knew how.

And when his head dropped back, and he let a moan drag out of his body, I descended to my knees. There was so much I wanted to do with him, but time was on our side. Two sophomores living so close to one another, we had plenty of opportunity to explore the heights and the depths of physical pleasures. Right now, I wanted to explore a very specific sort. Right now, I wanted to give him the absolute best I knew how.

On my knees, I pulled his pants down to his ankles and paused while he kicked his shoes off and stepped out of his jeans. His boxer briefs had little carrots printed all over them, and I chuckled. We’d gone through all the fruits and vegetables I could think of. He’d worn eggplants and cucumbers and bananas and zucchinis. Each time I saw him, he wore a new innuendo.