“Hope you didn’t miss me too much while you waited for me,” he teases, tossing me a sultry grin as he opens the bed of the truck. “What’s that?” He nods toward the bottle in my hand.
“Captain,” I reply as we jump up, situating ourselves at the front near the cab. He has a plethora of blankets and pillows laid down back here, making it quite comfy. “One of Lana’s friends brought it.”
“Give it,” he says, wrapping his fingers around the neck of the bottle and bringing it up to his full, red lips. His throat bobs as he swallows a shot, my own mouth watering. When he hands me back the bottle, he swipes his tongue across his lips, gathering the drop of liquor left behind. My eyes track the movement, and when he catches me looking, he smirks.
Josiah rolls a joint quickly, and we pass that and the bottle back and forth.
“I’m going to Vegas next weekend for Chevy’s birthday,” he admits before taking a swig.
Glancing over at him, I watch his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows. It’s mesmerizing. “I wanna come.”
He chuckles. “You aren’t old enough.”
“Neither are you,” I quip. He had a birthday a few months ago, but he’s still only twenty.
“Fake ID,” he says with a wink that makes my stomach flutter.
“That’ll be fun.” I’m ignoring—or trying to ignore—the way my stomach rolls with something that feels suspiciously like jealousy. Not that he gets to go to Vegas, but that someone like Chevy will get to spend the entire weekend with Josiah, and I won’t.
He nods. “Yeah, it will.” Eyes dipping to my mouth, he watches as I take a drag off the joint. “Would be fun if you could come too.”
There have been a thousand times I’ve considered making a move on him, but I always talk myself out of it. No matter how much I like him, I can’t bring myself to do that to Lana. And no matter how sure I am that he feels the same, that he flirts with me as much as I do him, I still can’t know for sure if he reallydoesfeel the same way. Making a move and beingwrongwould not only be awkward, but I risk losing Josiah… somebody I’ve really grown to need.
But tonight is one of those times where the thought and the urge ring heavy in my mind.
The crickets chirp in the background as tension swirls around us like a moth to a flame. Our eyes locked, all I want to do is lean in and feel his mouth against mine. I know it’d feel good. His cheeks and chin would feel rough against my own, the scratch of his perfectly filled in five o’clock shadow, such a contrast to what I’m used to when kissing Lana.
“You okay?” he asks softly.
“Huh?”
“The back of your neck,” he says. “You’re rubbing it.” Reaching up, he wraps his fingers around my wrist, pulling my arm down. I nearly gasp at the contact, and even more when he doesn’t let go right away.
I didn’t even realize I was doing it. I guess it’s my attempt at keeping my hands to myself. Instead of saying that, I nod. “It’s sore,” I lie. “Must’ve slept on it wrong.”
Josiah’s brows pinch with concern. “Come here.”
“W-what?”
“Get over here.” He spreads his thighs, like I should climb between them. “I’ll rub it for you.”
He’ll… Rub. It. For. Me.
I know what he’s referring to, but fuck if my mind doesn’t go straight to the gutter. I’d like to say I hesitate at his request. That I stop and think that maybe this is weird for us to be doing, that I’ve never done something like this with any other guy I’ve been friends with. But I don’t. As soon as the words were spoken, I knew I would be obliging.
Doing as he asks with no hesitation, loving knowing I’m about to be even closer to him, I situate myself between his thighs, all the blood rushing south. Biting down on my bottom lip, I slam my eyes shut as his hands make contact with my skin. His touch is firm and warm. It’s a zap of fire through my body.
My heart’s beating so hard, I’m positive he can hear it behind me.
Leaning in, he murmurs right in my ear, “Relax, Segan. You’re so tense.”
My fucking gosh, his voice is like sex on a stick. So deep and raspy.
“Sorry,” I reply with an awkward half-chuckle.
This isn’t just friendly.
It can’t be. He can’t be feeling platonic toward me. There’s no way.
