“S’okay.” But kept his focus on the passenger window, away from me.
We drifted back into silence for a moment before he spoke again. “When the talk with my mom went south, I headed to David’s house to pack up my clothes. He was in the middle of his shift, so I thought I had plenty of time. What I didn't kn-” Avery sniffled and wiped at his eyes with his fingertips. “What I didn't know was that he’d gotten a hold of the correspondence records from the prison.” Avery scoffed and a choked chuckled escaped. “He found out who you were before I did.”
Guilt ripped through me like a razor blade, and I stopped myself from reaching across the console to touch him. “Avery I’m so sorry. I never meant to lie or be deceitful with you. I swear, I had every intention of telling you who I was the very first time I walked into June’s. I just saw you, and you… you were more beautiful than I had ever imagined, and I-I got scared, Avery.”
Avery unbuckled his seat belt, allowing him to turn in his seat to face me, “James, please don’t apologize. I can’t take it. If one of us should be apologizing for lying, it should be me. I lied to you for years! I betrayed you. I promised you I’d wait, and I didn’t. I don’t know why I ever agreed to even go out with David, let alone to marry him. Look at the mess we’re in now. I wasselfish and worried about losing my family, and look what happened. I’m so stupid, James.”
“You did what you thought you had to do to survive. I wasn’t here to protect you. To save you from ever even meeting that fuck!” I did my best to keep my voice low and calm. I was upset, but the last thing I wanted to do was make Avery flinch again. It hurt too much to see it the first time.
I didn’t plant that fear inside of him, but, goddammit, I was gonna extract it, or spend the rest of my life trying.
I slowly reached my hand out and Avery glanced between it and my face before slowly lacing his fingers with mine. I brought his hand up to my mouth and kissed his knuckles. “What matters is that we’re together now, my love. And I won’t let anything separate us ever again.”
“Promise?”
“Pinky swear.”
***
After digging the extra quilt out of the hallway closet, I went back into my room to grab one of the two pillows from the bed.
“I, um… used your toothbrush,” he said. “Sorry, that’s probably gross, but I wasn’t sure what else to do.”
His confession caught me off-guard, rendering meuseless to stifle the laugh. “That’s… oddly sexy in a very intimate kind of way, Avery.”
Avery’s blush began with the tips of his ears and then dappled his cheeks in red before blooming deliciously down the sides of his neck. As Avery turned bashful, he dropped his gaze to the floor and shifted his weight from side-to-side.
I dug my teeth into the side of my cheek to keep myself grounded and under control. Seeing Avery standing in my bedroom looking likethat,and wearing my clothes no less, was quickly spiraling into more than my resolve could handle. He’d just been through a terrible and traumatic day, and the last thing I wanted to do was put any pressure on him for any reason.
“I just gotta grab some shorts, and I’ll get outta your hair and give you some space,” I told him.
“Oh,” he replied, glancing up before lowering his eyes again. “We’re doing that thing now where we’re totally honest, right?”
His voice was hushed, and I struggled to hear him at first. “You can tell me anything, baby.” I took a step closer, and he looked up. His eyes were a little glassy, and his pupils were so big, I could barely see his iris.
“Space is the absolute last thing I want from you, tonight,” he said.
I dropped the comforter and pillow I’d been holding as I closed the distance between us.
I slowly,slowlyraised my hand to the unbruised side of Avery’s face. He closed his eyes and leaned in, nuzzling his cheek against my palm. “I’ll never hurt you, Avery,” I swore.
“I know,” he replied, barely above a whisper.
Leaning down, I covered his lips with mine. Avery made the sweetest little sound as his body melted against me. He parted his lips and I slipped my tongue between them, tasting hints of my toothpaste.
“Mmm, minty fresh,” I muttered against his lips. I broke our kiss long enough to secure my hands underneath the mounds of his ass so I could hoist him up and over to the bed.
Avery let out a surprised yelp and then laughed as I turned us around and lowered him onto the mattress. Still on my feet, I took the opportunity to really soak in the sight before me.
There, onmybed, was the most beautiful boy in the world. Splayed out, with his legs slightly bent as if he was just waiting for me to slide between them. His head was tilted back on the mattress, his hair mussed. His pupils were blown, and I could see the bulge between his legs tenting the loose material of my gym shorts. Oh, my god. I wasn’t the smartest man, but I could read his body language loud and clear:he wanted me.
“Look how fucking beautiful you are, Avery. Do youknow how sexy you are?” I spread my legs a bit and propped one knee up on the bed. I reached down, gently took Avery’s wrist, and brought his hand up to my crotch. Avery palmed my straining dick through my pants as I rutted against him. “Do you feel how hard you make me, Avery? Do you understand how much I need you?”
Avery sat up to bring his other hand to the button on my waistband and made quick work of getting the zipper down. I shimmied my hips a bit to help him slide my jeans over my thighs, my constrained cock throbbing against my boxers.
With delicate fingers, Avery opened the slit in the front of the underwear and threaded my throbbing dick through the hole. I looked down in time to see Avery’s eyes widen.
“You’re really big,” Avery breathed as his pink tongue darted out to slick his bottom lip.
