18
Cole
There are times during the movie where Danny seems a bit tense. I assume it’s from nerves and don’t bother mentioning it. I don’t want to part ways after the movie, so I ask him inside, and he doesn’t say no. He nods his head as we reach our floor, and that is all I need. I open my door and gesture him inside as I follow behind him. He makes his way to my couch, and I close the door behind me before joining him. He shuffles closer to me to where our knees are touching.
“The whole deal with me being able to kiss you whenever I feel like it still stands, right?”
His eyes fill with desire.“Yes.”
He is on me fast, pressing his tongue into my mouth as I part my lips, gladly welcoming the intrusion. He crawls into my lap, and my hands move to his back, pulling him in closer to me. He rocks his hips forward and releases a moan into my mouth, sending vibrations throughout my body. Our kisses become desperate, and so do our hands as we run them all over one another’s bodies.
He pulls his shirt off while still kissing me and rocking his body into mine. I undo the button of his pants before slipping my hand inside, expecting to be met with another layer of clothing, but no, he has gone commando. My hand meets his bare skin, making my blood run hot. I caress his erection with my hand as he continues to press into me before whispering in my ear, “Bedroom.”
My eyes make contact with the pools of desire in his. “Are you sure?”
He nods before pulling his body off mine and heading into my bedroom. I follow closely behind him while tugging off my clothes on the way there. His eyes run over my now naked body before pulling off his pants and crawling onto the bed. I crawl onto the bed behind him, crashing my mouth back into his as he pulls my body on top of him, and my cock rubs against his, bringing out a moan from his mouth. Something about this moment feels so familiar. It’s as if we have shared a similar one before, except we haven’t. My mouth moves to his neck, working my way down to his nipples, nipping and sucking at each tiny nub, making him moan again. I continue working my way down his body until I am pressing kisses into his inner thighs. He throws his head back into the bed while sinking his teeth into his bottom lip with only the bottom of his face visible to me.
Then it hits me—something about this moment seems so familiar because it is. His skin is familiar beneath mine, and his kisses were more desperate once we got in the bedroom, and the way he bit his bottom lip. No, it can’t be. There’s no way. He knows who I am—the guy in the mask knows who I am. So, if he’s Danny, he would know it’s me. His eyes meet mine before he presses himself up on his elbows, turning on the lamp beside him. “What’s wrong? Where did you go? Get back up here.”
That smile, those deep brown eyes—I know those eyes. “You. You’re him. It’s been you this whole time, hasn’t it?”
He shifts his body until he is now sitting completely up. “What are you talking about? Been who the whole time?”
I’m having a hard time reading his face in the dim light. Did I get it wrong? No, I couldn’t have. “Did you end up going to Paul’s party that night?”
He lets out a deep breath. “Yeah, I did.”
I climb off the bed with my eyes never leaving him. “What color was your mask that night?”
He scoots down the bed until he is sitting on the edge, looking up at me. “Blue and gold.”
My heart sinks into my stomach. “You knew this whole time? You answered my message.”
He nods. “Yeah, Cole. I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you that it was me, and things were going so well between us that I didn’t want to ruin it. Looks like I did anyway, huh?”
I nod, “You created a fake account and posted those pictures. Why? And who the hell is James Bishop?”
He swallows hard. “It was Vivian who did it. I told her not to, but she was curious about who my mystery guy was, and a part of me was too. Then it was you, and I didn’t know what to do, so I thought it was best to just pretend it never happened. James is my middle name, and Bishop is my mother’s maiden name.”
My eyes fill with fury, and he doesn’t have to see them to know it’s there. I know he can sense the anger rising inside me. “You were just going to keep lying to me about it? I think you should go.”
I move to grab my clothes from the floor. He grabs my arm to stop me. “Please, Cole. I’m sorry. I was an idiot. I didn’t want you to think badly of me before getting to know the real me. How I behaved at the party—that’s not the real me. I didn’t want you to confuse me with someone who wasn’t real.”
I yank my arm from his grasp. “You’re right. He wasn’t real, and neither was this.” I gesture between us. I pull on my boxers and pants as he stands there, watching me with sadness flowing through his watering eyes. Once my shirt is on, I pick his clothes up from the living room and throw them his way. “You need to leave now.”
He quickly dresses with his eyes never leaving mine and then turns and heads for the door without even turning back to look at me, even though a huge part of me wants him to. He lied to me. I can’t trust him anymore. He made me believe our first kisses were just that. They couldn’t have been, though, because we kissed before. We did way more than just that, and he made me believe this whole thing was all new. That he was someone else and not someone I’ve shared such an intimate moment with before. He should have told me when I messaged him. Was he right, though? Would I have seen him differently? I acted out of character at that party myself, so in a way I would have no room to judge him for doing the exact same thing I did, but I might have still done it anyway.
My apartment door shuts loudly behind me with the kick of my foot and I head for my room. I bury my face into the sheets that still smell of him. I can’t believe it took me this long to figure it out. How could I have not seen it before? I grab my phone and shut it off the moment I see an incoming text with his name on it. I don’t want to see what he had to say right now. I need to think about this with a rational brain, and I can’t do that as long as he is around. I need some time without his presence distracting me from forming coherent thoughts. Whenever he’s around, all I think about is needing to touch him and be close enough to breathe in his comforting coconut scent.
