Page 28 of Topped

Milo

Can’t wait

Chapter Ten

Rupert

“You know, I should report you to someone for torturing me,” Milo said as soon as he saw me the following afternoon, his plush mouth twisted into a pout. It was something I’d once found annoying, but now it was more amusing. Knowing how easily he folded into a petulant, sulking, brat could make things deliciously interesting.

“Oh? And just whom are you going to report me to? I don’t think there’s a brat hotline you can call, and somehow I don’t think your friends would be sympathetic to your plight,” I said, shooting him a teasing smirk of my own.

“They should be! I’ve been so sympathetic to them.”

“Have you?”

“Sort of,” he said. We began walking down the alley next to Lick It!, my hand reaching out to take his, sliding our fingers together like it was the most natural thing in the world. He didn’t pull away. Instead, he squeezed my hand and shrugged, mischief dancing in his stormy eyes. The longer I looked, the deeper I sank into them, pulled under the surface until I was completely engulfed.

It would be dangerous if I wasn’t willingly throwing myself in.

“What does ‘sort of’ mean?” I asked as we turned onto Saltgate and headed towards the front, the cobbled stones pressing into the soles of my shoes.

“I’ve been as sympathetic as they deserve, but I have my limits and I’m not going to let them ruin their lives. Or let anyone else ruin theirs. But I’m always encouraging when it comes to them getting laid. Like when Darcy and Owen first hooked up! I didn’t know if they’d have any supplies, so I knocked on the door and gave them some. It was very altruistic of me.”

“Did they see it that way?”

“I assume so, given that I had to dig my big headphones out so I didn’t have to hear Darcy screaming.” He chuckled and shook his head fondly. “I love him but fuck he’s loud! I need Owen to buy him a gag.”

I stared at him, not completely sure how to process what he’d said. He saw the expression on my face, felt the way my feet slowed, and gently squeezed my hand, pulling me back into step with him. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell them anything about us if you don’t want me to. I can tease Darcy because we’ve known each other for so long, plus he lives above me so he can’t exactly hide it—not that he chooses to—so I can get away with ribbing him.”

“Thank you. I guess, I’ve always been quite private, and I don’t tend to talk about my personal life with people. Not that I really have people to tell… maybe if I had close friends like yours it would be different.” It sounded a little sad to say out loud, but I was more worried he’d judge me for my lack of friends than I was upset about my dearth of social connections.

There were times when I wanted a bigger social circle—not a huge one, but a couple of friends to talk to regularly and spend some time with might be nice. But that meant putting myself out there and being open with people, which was the thing I struggled with.

“Well, if you want some friends, I’ll introduce you to mine. They’d love you,” Milo said casually, like it was no big deal at all. “Obviously, you’ve met them briefly, but like, if it ever gets to the point you want to hang out, we can do that. I think you and Jonathan would get on well—he’s a sweet bean. Very stylish too.”

“T-Thank you, I’ll think about it,” I said, trying hard not to stumble over the words. I didn’t know if he realised how much it meant to me. We didn’t exactly have the best history, and we hadn’t talked about what this new thing we were doing was, but he was still willing to open his life up to me, showing me off to his friends like I meant something.

He grinned. “Good! By the way, you still haven’t apologised for torturing me.”

“Am I supposed to?”

“Yes! Obviously!” He pouted and threw his other hand up dramatically.

I pulled the two of us to a stop, my free hand reaching out to caress his jaw, drawing it up to mine. “Why should I apologise?” I asked, a soft, warning edge to my tone. “You haven’t been very polite at all. I really do need to teach you some manners.”

Milo swallowed, a broken groan echoing from his throat. “Please.”

“Please what?”

“Please, teach me.”

I smirked, leaning down to brush my lips against him. “I’m not convinced. Let’s get inside, then you can try again.”

His eyes widened, the storm inside them surging as his desire flared. He was so beautiful like this, and I wondered if he realised how expressive his face was. I was intrigued to see what other pictures his emotions would paint across his features by the end of the night, but I already knew each of them would be utterly entrancing.

“Yeah, let’s go. Or I won’t be held responsible for my actions,” he said, stepping back and starting to drag me down the road. Laughter bubbled out of me, the sound catching on the breeze and dancing away, sharing it with the people strolling along the beach as if the world wanted everyone to know how happy I was.

It didn’t take us long to get back to my flat, the pair of us rushing up the stairs like we were being timed.