Page 38 of Complications

“I knew it was an accident. It wasn’t the cut that pissed me off anyway.”

“What was it then?”

“That you were ashamed of being with someone like me.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Even in the dark, I saw him pull back so he could look me in the eyes.

“Everybody knew my dad was a rat, and everyone knew how important yours was. Your dad might have gotten over you being gay, but he sure as shit wouldn’t have gotten over you being with me.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong. He only pretended to be okay with me being gay after Matteo came out, and then it was fine because he couldn’t say shit about it. He was never fine with having a gay kid.”

Frankie paused, taking a shuddering breath. Somehow, in that moment, the rest of the world faded to black, and it was just the two of us. There was no other reason for us to be confessing our goddamn secrets.

I felt so fucking stupid—and never more safe.

In this little room in the middle of nowhere, there were no prying eyes or questions and no reason to not taste what I’d been missing. I snaked my good arm around Frankie’s neck and pulled him closer. When our mouths touched, it was tentative and unsure for what must have been less than half a second before Frankie took control.

Frankie’s hand moved up and gripped the back of my skull, his fingertips pressing firmly against my skin. Waves of white washed over me, and I couldn’t remember a single reason I’d ever given myself to fight this.

Then Frankie’s tongue slid into my mouth, exploring every inch of it. His soft lips pressed against mine over and over as he tasted me, and if I could’ve died right there on the spot, I would’ve gone as a pretty fucking happy man.

“Babe, we gotta watch your shoulder,” Frankie whispered when he finally drew back.

“Fuck my arm. It’s fine,” I answered roughly and tried to pull his mouth back to mine, but he stiffened and held himself up.

“I’m not going to be the reason you get hurt more,” Frankie answered firmly. My body betrayed me because my dick got hard at his tone. I had no idea a Daddy kink was on my radar, but damned if I didn’t like it.

I didn’t have time to think about any of that because his fingers moved lower, tracing over the ridged muscles of my stomach before nudging beneath the waistband of my sleep pants and circling my cock.

Whatever embarrassment I felt about being overeager disappeared when his long fingers wrapped around me. His thumb brushed over the slit at the spongy head, collecting the bead of precum gathered there. My entire body shuddered as he traced around the head and then found the sensitive nerves beneath it.

A thick vein ran along the underside. He followed it with his fingers before cupping my balls and squeezing gently while I panted against his ear.

“Fuck, that feels good.”

I completely pushed aside the ache radiating down my arm.

“Is your shoulder okay?” Frankie asked softly.

Each word was punctuated by a slow stroke along my cock. I pushed my hips toward his palm, hoping for more friction, but when I didn’t answer right away, he backed off.

I groaned harshly and tried to pull him back to me, but he stiffened. Moving him was like trying to relocate a mountain.

“If you want more, you’re gonna need to answer me,” Frankie murmured against my throat. My hips jerked forward in a desperate attempt to get any relief, but he kept his lower body pulled away from mine. I was left with nothing but air.

“Fuck. It’s fine. I’m fine. Just put your hands on my cock.”

His fingers on me had broken something inside, and if it took begging to get it back, then fuck it. Call me a dog. Where the desperation came from didn’t matter because unless he gave me some relief, there was a very real possibility I wouldn’t make it through the night.

“Give me an answer.”

“It doesn’t hurt that bad. It’s fine.”

“So that means it does hurt,” he said blandly.

Like he’d promised, after I answered the question, he dropped slightly. This asshole was holding a plank over me just to prove a goddamn point, but I was getting the tiniest bit of friction back, so I kept my mouth shut about how that was some bullshit.

“Fine. Technically, it hurts,” I ground out.