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I tried to laugh, but I was too drained. “Well? How’d it taste?”
He leaned over me. Pulling my chin down with his thumb, he slid his tongue into my mouth and let me decide for myself. Never really wanted to taste cum, especially my own, but if he was offering it on the silver platter of his tongue, I’d take it. Salty and warm, we kissed until my cock softened, and I tugged him onto my lap to straddle me.
“I burned my mouth with coffee yesterday,” he whispered, hands linking with mine again. “So I didn’t really taste it. Guess I’ll have to try again tomorrow.”
I’d always loved Xavi, but the warmth in my chest and the way he never dropped my hands made the love feel better. Different. Newer.
“Maybe I’ll ride your dick tomorrow,” I countered, riling him again.
“I amthe bottom,” Xavi insisted. “I live and breathe bottom.”
I laughed against his cheek and brought our hands between our abs. “I love that you’re just owning it even though you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Story of our lives, Nate.”
I smiled at everything but nothing in particular. Sinking into the moment, hands linked, bodies connected while my dick softened andTeen Wolfkept playing in the background, I figured I could get used to this. Xavi was right when he said it was still the same friendship but with more. Before, we’d be on this couch, half-ass paying attention to the TV while either eating snacks or bullshitting about the show. I liked this version better. The one where we got to touch and not feel weird about it.
I dropped my eyes, taking in the sight of him on top of me. It was perfect. Until I saw my own toes and had to tuck them in tighter.
Fucking feet.
CHAPTER14
XAVI
I hadthe worst case of blue balls, but I kind of liked it. It made me edgy, and the buzz that came with that edginess was making me productive. I finished three jobs at the shop, went through all the reservations and contacted the customers, and now I was on my way to pick up a boat from another marina. Which was a sketchy job because Nate’s truck was barely reliable, but it was what it was. Someday, we’d be able to afford a better truck.
“I think it likes to be sweet-talked,” Karen said, running her dirty hands over the hood after closing it. “Because there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. It’s just… finicky.”
I winked at her, nodding to the passenger seat to tell her to get in. “Gotta double slam it.” I pointed at her door that didn’t latch. “She is finicky. But I’ve always got on well with her.”
Karen buckled in, putting on a pair of sunglasses that matched my lime green slides. “My uncle used to teach me about engines.”
“Car guy, was he?” I pulled out of the parking lot.
“Car thief, yeah.” Karen nodded, smiling at nothing. “He’s in prison now.”
“Am I allowed to ask what you got in trouble for?” I looked at her, trying to see her face through the frizzy nest of her hair. “Don’t tell me it was some peaceful protest about protecting the wildlife or something. That does nothing for your street cred around here.”
“See?” She slapped her thighs. “Just because my name is Karen, you think I’m all uppity about the birds and the bees.”
“Well, your hair is like a bird sanctuary, so I drew my conclusions from that, but go on. Prove me wrong.”
She rolled her eyes as we drove out of the lot. “My mom divorced my dad because he’s… well, he’s just a bad dad and husband. He’s an addict, too. I felt bad for him, so to help him get by, I’d steal things for him. I got caught a few times because I sucked at it, and the last time I got caught, I had something more valuable than I knew. Technically, it was theft over five thousand, breaking and entering, and resisting arrest because I ran. So, I spent a few months in a girls’ juvenile centre, and now I have to stay at this house for a few months.” She shrugged. “My mom visits the odd time, but she thinks it’s better I stay there instead of going home.”
Shit. “Why?”
“Because she thinks I’ll fall into old habits and help my dad again.”
God, I’d been in that situation with my mom for most of my life. Still kind of was. A lot of situations like that with my dad, too. I understood Karen a lot better now. “You’re fifteen and the kid—his kid. It’s his job to look out for you.”
Karen levelled me with a ‘yeah-right’ kind of look, and I had to laugh at that because it was so true. Shit didn’t work out that way in the lives we came from. “I know. I’ve learned that he’s not worth my freedom, though. I don’t want to go back to that place. I feel like I’ve missed so much already.”
Okay, I was about to say the most mature thing I’d ever said. I took a deep breath. Let it out. Breathed in again. Stalled. Almost lost my train of thought, and then said, “You can still check in on him and care about him without risking yourself to do it. But you gotta decide if he’d do the same for you, you know? At some point, you have to weigh the pros and cons. Is it worth your worry, or are you missing out on life by worrying about something you can’t change?”
Karen looked at her hands, nodding. “I know. You’re right. I still miss things about him, though.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
