Page 38 of Hammer and Hops

“Oh yeah?”

I nodded and bit my bottom lip, feeling a little shy, but wanting this all the same. I held his hand, leading him where I wanted. I positioned him on top of my desk, and then I slid to the floor. Because that was hot. Slowly, I unzipped his pants, watching him watch me the entire time. He lifted his ass to help get them off, so I tugged them along with his boxers down to his knees. His cut cock sprang up, standing straight and pointing like an arrow up his happy trail, a bit darker with a hint of red, that led to his belly button. I stuck my tongue in it before nibbling on those hard abs. Construction had been good for Cameron with his rugged good looks and hard physique. Like him or love him, he was certainly yummy, and I wanted to taste.

A tiny pool of precum lingered at the tip, so I licked it too, the taste slightly salty and bitter but not off-putting at all. I wanted more, so I squeezed the base of his cock, pumping up slowly until he gifted me with another drop. I swiped it with my tongue.

“You having fun down there?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Hell, yeah.”

He grunted when I circled his head with my mouth, taking him inside, rubbing the flat of my tongue over his crown. Then I sucked, and he moaned so loudly that they probably could hear him way down the road at the Foggy Basin Inn. I almost choked myself laughing while trying to blow him, but then he ran his hands through my hair, pushing back my bangs and gently rubbing. It settled me. This felt so right.

It didn’t take long to get down and dirty, slurping and sucking and squeezing that cock, and the sounds he made urged me on.

“Ah…Ever…I’m gonna…” The way he moaned and panted my name had me nearly coming in my pants as I sucked him harder. I stuck the tip of my tongue in his slit, and he exploded. I jumped on it to catch as much with my mouth as I could, but he still jizzed on his stomach. I licked it up. “You’re so fucking sexy like that, Ever. On your knees for me.”

I looked up at him, and the awe on his face spoke volumes. When had anyone treated him for anything, let alone a good blow job? I wanted to change things, to give back what he’d given me. “You deserve it.” Unzipping my pants, I pulled my cock out and stroked twice before shooting off into the garbage can. “Damn. You’re so hot, Cam. Look what you did.”

Chapter thirty-two

At Home Alone – Cameron

Now that the danger was over, I had time to reflect. But maybe I shouldn’t have. I enjoyed the attention and the blow job, but I was still a little sad and hurt that he hadn’t trusted me in the first place. Now that those feelings were creeping up out of their box, I couldn’t shove them back in, and I didn’t know what to do with them.

First, Everett thought I was fucking with him, and second, he never mentioned his fling. The rational part of my brain thought I was being ridiculous about it, but my vulnerable side felt like Everett simply didn’t trust me. Not at all. Not from the start. And that didn’t make a good start to a solid relationship. And was that where we were going? We’d waffled back and forth too much and never defined anything.

I wasn’t ready to talk about it, still so unsure of these overwhelming feelings, so I drove home with the excuse that I had an early morning.

Sure, a big part of me wanted to spend the night with him, love on him some more, and make sure he was alright. But the logical side of my brain took over and started spinning. Where were we going with this? Was I giving up because I had nothing left to prove? What exactly was he expecting now? Was he even attracted to me? Okay, maybe it wasn’t being logical; maybe it was being emotional and more than a little jealous.

I didn’t have enough experience to answer these questions or even know if I was asking the right ones. Dating? It hadn’t ever really happened. I went to the city every now and then for a hookup but that was it. I knew everyone, not only in Foggy Basin, but in the closest towns surrounding it, and in the outlying areas. Hell, I even knew half of Fish Springs. It made dating any of them awkward at best. At worst, it would feel like dating family. Like Brock and Jackie. No, no, no. I couldn’t see myself with anyone I knew. There were some other folks in and around, but they were either too young or too old. Most of the time, I felt fulfilled with friends and found family, so why did I even need a boyfriend?

What did I see in Everett anyway? He was a grumpy jerk most of the time. He hadn’t trusted me. He didn’t listen. He was headstrong, but that was a good thing most of the time. He was eager to succeed in his chosen business and took it personally when he didn’t. I actually admired him. He knew what he wanted and went after it full force. Unlike me. I dilly-dallied. I railed against the machine. I didn’t want responsibilities that pulled me down, anchoring me to one particular future. That’s why I picked up short-term jobs, knocked them out, and moved to the next. I probably could open my own business, but I didn’t want to be in charge of paying people. This carefree attitude had always done me good.

But alone in my room, I was actually sad and lonely. I could admit, sitting there in the dark, that I was missing something. It might have been companionship or conversation. It could have been a lover. But with Everett on the back burner, it felt worse, like an empty hole in the center of my being. I didn’t like that feeling. It was so different than anything else I’d known in my life. Well, that was a lie. It was like something else, something I didn’t want to think about. Cassidy.

I snuggled under my blanket, wondering what the hell I was going to do. I sure didn’t know. It would be easy to pick up where we’d left off, except we hadn’t actually left off of anything. People were already calling us boyfriends. The rambling of my brain had me tossing and turning all night until I heard Bill Gearhardt’s rooster crowing from down the road.

Even though it was still dark out, I got up and got ready with a shower, dressing, and breakfast. I had a job site to go to, and maybe if I got to work, I could ignore the rest of my life. At least for a little while.

On the way to the site, I called Noel and got on a crew he had going out toward Fish Springs. They were building a large apartment complex between there and Foggy Basin, and it would be months’ worth of work or maybe longer. They’d be starting soon, and it would keep me out of town and away from Everett.

Chapter thirty-three

Gotta Get Back on Track – Everett

I wasn’t stupid. I knew something was wrong, and it wasn’t hard to figure out. Cameron’s feelings were hurt. And I was the stupid one who hadn’t trusted him. I hadn’t actually let go of that little doubt until I caught Mitchel red-handed.

It was hard to trust though, with people like Mitchel Harlen walking around. The problem was that I never saw them coming since I was too busy with my work. I’d always been an overachiever, the old nose to the grindstone and all that bullshit. Making my parents proud was a huge motivator for me as an only child to highly successful educators who made me feel like I could never do enough. I didn’t go into education. I chose agriculture instead, which didn’t go over well with them at all. They thought I should teach science, but that was never my thing. I wanted to get my hands dirty. Maybe if my brewery was successful enough, they’d try a little harder to understand.

I felt ungrateful even thinking that. My childhood wasn’t bad. In fact, I’d say I was kind of spoiled in a lot of ways. I was allowed to do whatever I wanted most of the time, which included a lot of gardening and reading, and not enough getting into mischief with other kids my age. I was nerdy and didn’t have many friends, which was precisely why when I got into college, I ran into all that trouble I’d missed out on in my younger years. Meeting new people was great, but it also gave them an opportunity to take advantage of my naivete, particularly with lovers.

But Cameron wasn’t like that. In fact, he seemed the opposite, wanting nothing more than to make me happy, to help me out, and be sure I was safe. He put himself at risk for me, and I did what? Shit on him? Thanked him with a blow job? Well, that was fun, but it left me feeling cheap, so I could only imagine what he thought.

I needed to show him that I wanted more for us. I was all in for whatever this relationship was. It could work out. We could be good together. I had to believe that, or else everything he’d done so far meant nothing, and that wasn’t the case at all. He was a good friend to me, and even if he wasn’t interested in me romantically, he still would have helped and cared. That’s who he was. But for me, it meant more than friendship, and I thought it did with him as well.

Hell, when we were together, the chemistry was undeniable. The rocky start could be overcome. But what could I do to make that happen?

The first thing was a quick stop at Pints ‘n Pool on the way home to double-check the last delivery and that the tap was still working. I had to get the brewery going again, regardless of whatever else was going on.