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“Can I call you that now?” he asks, misinterpreting my silence.

“I—if, um, is that something you’d call a FWB partner?”

A slow grin spreads over his lips. “FWB?”

“Yeah. That is the acronym you used before.”

He laughs, and I can’t help but smile with him. “Yeah, it is. And we are making up our own rules, so do you think I can call you brainy bear?”

I’m nodding before I fully think it through. I’m almost positive that nicknames aren’t part of friends with benefits, but he’s right, we are making our own rules up. “You can.”

His smile gets bigger, if that’s possible, and I’m glad I said he could.

“Okay.” He grabs his phone off the nightstand, scrolling with his thumb. He does a search and brings up the bus ticketing site. I watch as he clicks through and buys tickets. “Bus leaves the station at six-forty a.m. We have to be there by six-fifteen, and I have to send a picture to my mom. Or she will start texting me like I died in a ditch on the way. It’s about five hours up, give or take a rest stop. We will get into Traverse City at almost noon, and she will pick us up. Or my dad will, if my mom is already in a pie crisis.”

“Pie crisis.”

“It’s a real thing in my house.” He glances at me. “We will stay until the twenty-seventh, because I have practices that start back up on the twenty-eighth. But we can celebrate the New Year together. Is that enough information for you?”

He starts kissing my neck, and I can barely process what he just said. “Wait⁠—”

He hums against my throat, nipping my pulse point. “Hmmm.”

“I didn’t pack.”

“I’ll help you.” His mouth moves lower. “After.”

“Daniel. The list. Gloves. Socks. I need⁠—”

“Seven pairs of socks, the same for everyday clothes.” Another kiss, this one near my nipple. “A thick winter jacket. A beanie.” Kiss. Kiss. “Gloves.”

“But the travel,” I gasp.

“You can have the window seat. We can sit in the back.” He moves lower, trailing kisses along my navel. “Now let me pay you back before you start packing and I lose my chance.”

I should make him finish the list first. That was the whole point of saying no. But his mouth is distracting. He takes me into his mouth ,and I stop thinking about anything. He knows what he’s doing, unlike me.

He grips my shaft and twists on the way up, sucking my head into his mouth. His tongue curves over it, dipping into the slit. He pushes me back onto my back and then sinks down on me, until his nose hits my pelvis, swallowing around me. A spark of lightning shoots all the way to my toes and they curl. My hand fists his hair because I have to have something to hold onto.

“Daniel—”

He hums, pleased with himself, and does it again. Slow on the way up. Then all the way down again. He keeps one hand on my hip, pinning me down and keeping me from jerking up into his mouth. He does it again and again until I’m squirming beneath him.

“Oh—”

I can feel my balls tighten up into my body. And then I see stars.

“I’m coming.”

He doesn’t pull off. He swallows around me, squeezing my crown with his throat. I whimper, cutting it off with my wrist. He slowly releases me with a content sigh. He kisses the inside of my thigh and looks up at me like he deserves a gold star. And he does. He deserves all the stars.

“Packing,” I say, my voice cracking.

He chuckles. “You really do have a one track mind, brain.” He rolls off the bed and pulls out his duffle. “What are you waiting for?” He lifts an eyebrow with a little smirk.

I scramble off the bed and pull my bag out. After pulling on a pair of sweats, I start to pack.

FORTY-THREE