I wasn’t shy, I wasselective. The only people I wanted interacting with me were the three people I currently lived with.
Outside of my parents, they were the only three people who mattered to me. Rico, Soul and Harlow knew me inside and out.
They loved me when I went quiet and escaped inside my head, always making sure I knew I’d have a safe place to land.
They were my safe place to land.
And as someone who was a creature of habit, I didn’t see that changing. Ever. Why would I try to go elsewhere when I already had that?
Yet, as true as all that was, somethingwaschanging. Or maybe the better word was shifting.
I didn’t know how else to explain why I suddenly loved having Rico Donovan’s eyes on me when I was having sex.
Nothing I did could shake the memory of the hunger in his eyes when he looked at me on Sunday.
And I thought about him having that thong more than I thought about anything in the four days since.
It was an accidental discovery, one I tried to write off for a sum total of twenty hours before I tested my luck again.
I knew what I was doing when I climbed into bed with him and Harlow.
That moment of hesitation—that pause before I entered her—was me trying to talk myself out of exactly what I wanted. I wanted Harlow. And I wanted Rico to see me have her.
And fuck, I came hard when I got both.
We hadn’t done anything but cuddle since that morning. All of us were too tired with our hectic schedules, but I woke up in Rico’s bed this morning with Harlow and Soul long gone.
Just me and the man whose attention I desperately craved in new ways.
Rico was awake, scrolling through his phone with one hand propped behind his head.
He slid a brief glance in my direction and smiled when he felt the bed dip.
“Morning, Chris.”
“H-hey. Where’s Harlow? Soul?” It was Juneteenth, so I knew Soul had the day off. Harlow was supposed to help her mom set up the event, but I didn’t know she’d leave this early. It was barely eight o’clock, so why were their spots on the bed cold?
I knew I wasn’t Superman, but I still wanted to go help Harlow and her mom even though I got home well past three this morning.
Rico lowered his phone to his stomach and looked at me. “Soul is with his parents. He’s gonna meet us at the festival. Harlow just left but I told her we’d take all the heavy shit she loaded in my jeep out to them in a couple hours when you woke up.”
Nodding, I yawned at the new information.
Rico had designed this room around his massive Alaskan King bed. Because of that, there was enough space between us to fit two bodies, but his eyes made me feel like we were only a breath apart.
Rico turned on his side and studied me with a faint smile. “Go back to sleep. We have time and you got home late.”
“Ok.” I nodded again, my lids heavy when I looked at him.
“You want coffee when you wake up?”
“Nah.” I wiped a hand over my eyes. “I’ma just drink all day at the festival.”
He chuckled. “Bet.”
“Rico…”
“Yeah?”
