There was something funny about Jacob saying that to him while his cock was still inside him. But Felix couldn’t find anything funny right now.
“Knots are a bit tight,” Felix said reluctantly.
Jacob lifted his head to frown at him, like he didn’t know what he was talking about. Then his eyes widened and he rushed to untie Felix.
Felix winced as Jacob pulled out of him. Was this the only time? He should have let it go on longer. He didn’t need his hands.
“I did read a guide on bondage,” Jacob said as he undid the knot around Felix’s wrists. “I just… I forgot. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Felix said, forcing a smile. “I’m pretty distracted.”
Jacob laughed shakily and pulled his shirt free. He examined Felix’s burned hand first, checking around the bandages.
“I’m fine,” Felix assured him. “Quit mother-henning.”
Jacob said nothing. He placed Felix’s hand down gently, checked his shirt, probably calculating how much it was going to cost at the dry cleaners, then dropped it over the side of the bed. He didn’t even look pained about it.
He returned to Felix’s side. He reached for Felix, then paused. “What do you like?” he asked, sounding almost shy.
He meant aftercare. Felix thought about telling him that he rarely did aftercare, even though it left him feeling dejected and weird sometimes. He wanted to tell him he liked it when they stroked his hair and told him he’d done good.
“This,” Felix said instead. “Just… stay like this.”
Jacob nodded. Then he lay down next to him again, scooping him in his arms. Not as tight as before—not as tight as Felixneeded—but close enough.
CHAPTER 16
“We just worry about you,” Jacob’s mother stressed over the phone. “Surelyyou can understand that!”
Jacob held back a sigh and checked the time. Only a few more minutes before he had to leave.
“I know,” Jacob said, dropping his phone back on the bed with the speakerphone on high. “I’m not saying you have to stop. I’m saying I’m twenty years old?—”
“Practically a baby,” his mother scoffed.
Jacob made a face, glad they weren’t FaceTiming. “You were married and pregnant with me at twenty.”
His father took over, yelling from the background: “That isn’t the same and you know it. And since when do you talk back to your mother?”
“Sorry,” Jacob said automatically. It made him wince. He pictured Felix rolling his eyes at him, as he often did when he was gearing himself up to disobey his parents. Which he wouldhaveto do, since they were only ten minutes into a tirade that usually took twenty.
“Hey,” Jacob said, making sure to keep his tone as polite as possible. “I’m really sorry, guys, but I have to go.”
His parents made indignant noises. His father’s voice came through again, closer this time, which meant he had walked away from his ship-in-a-bottle construction table—an event that only happened when he had something serious to say.
“You’re leaving these calls earlier and earlier,” his father said.
“I’m busy,” Jacob said.
“Too busy for your parents?” his mother said, appalled. “Honestly, Jakey. I don’t know if college was the right choice for you. Especially one so far away!”
“That city is a bad influence,” his father said. “What do you have that’s more important than talking to your parents?”
Jacob bit his tongue. The therapy-centered YouTube videos he’d been watching had said that he didn’t need to give a reason. Just draw a boundary and let them live with it. As if Jacob’s parents were going to let that happen.
“I’m going to meet David,” Jacob lied. “We want to be completely sure we would make good roommates.”
“Oh,” his mother said, her disapproving tone vanishing. “That’s good. Have you told him to call us yet? I keep checking my messages, but I haven’t heard anything.”
