Page 51 of Dare to be Different

Even though we just jerked off together, my cheeks still flush at the things we said. Maybe this is enough self-discovery for one night.

“Well, let's not say any more shit until we think it through,” I say, laughing. “Put on a movie or something so we can’t talk.”

Zahn laughs, but he does it.

Feels kind of nice to feel his body next to mine as we drift in and out of the movie, eventually falling asleep.

A gentle voice rouses me from sleep. “Zahn. Remy. Wake up, babies.” Rayne shuts the TV off and smiles at the two of us as we groan. “You have to be at the airfield in an hour.”

Okay, maybe we aren’t as adult as we think if his mom is still waking us up to get to our responsibilities.

When Zahn complains, his foot kicks me in the thigh, making me very aware of the boner hiding behind my boxers and under the blanket. Shit. Rayne better not notice.

“We don’t have to leave until ten,” Zahn grumbles.

“It’s nine.”

Jesus. My eyes open to study Zahn. He never sleeps past the sun. I don’t know what his deal is, but judging by the shocked look on his face, neither does he. “Nine? Me?”

Rayne laughs. “Come on. Get some breakfast before the dipshits eat it all.” She leaves us alone with the smell of bacon drifting down the stairs.

“It has to be the basement,” Zahn starts reasoning for his sleep-in. “Has to be.”

I’m not as concerned about his sleep as I am about my dick. “Your mom just saw my boner.”

“Mom has an uncanny ability to see boners as invisible. Poor Dad,” Zahn laughs.

Yeah, there are enough dicks getting hard in this house for her to ignore, one more won’t break her. “Get out so I can deal with this before I go up there.” I motion to my crotch.

“Shy now?” He smirks at me, climbing off the couch. “Night and day, Rem.” He leaves me alone, heading upstairs in nothing but his underwear, and I’m pretty sure there is cum on them.

After a shower and a release, I take a whole-ass minute to worry about my fire situation at home, decide there’s no time to do anything about it, and grab a to-go breakfast from Rayne as the rest of the Dares banter and bicker and fight over bacon and toast.

We make it to the airfield in time to meet the cargo plane and offload our supplies. Just based on our flights today, we won’t be back at the same time, and I won’t get to see Zahn again until tomorrow. That’s pretty typical, so I’m not sure why I’m hiding the weird look on my face from Zahn, facing into the wind just to give my cheeks a reason to be red.

“See ya tomorrow?” I ask him, cracking hand warmers to put inside my gloves. “We should find something fun to get up to this weekend.”

“We’ll have a planning session tomorrow.” He laughs like this is some big organization, when we both know winging it is more our style. “Hey, Rem?” he calls, using the question as the typical start to something ridiculous.

I face him, and he takes me completely by surprise. Zahn pushes on my chest until my back hits my plane, his green eyes lighting up like devilish emeralds, and then he fucking kisses me. Kisses me. Right in the open airfield, in broad daylight. I’m shocked by it, but I’m succumbing to it. It’s a gentle, subtle kiss full of fire and cold lips. I don’t know if he opens his mouth or if I do, but our tongues meet, and the contrast between hot and cold is enough to make me hold my breath. When he pulls back, grinning against my mouth, he laughs.

“What the fuck was that for?” I ask, not sure if I’m glancing around for someplace to do something dirty or if I’m acting like a filthy criminal.

“I just needed to know if it was all the heat of the moment.” His voice is pure gravel edged in playfulness, and my chest tightens up at the timbre of it.

“And?” I ask, desperate to know.

He smooths the front of my coat down before backing away. “It wasn’t.” With another grin, he climbs into his aircraft and puts on his headset.

It wasn’t.

Home alone, my fire is roaring, the TV is on, I’m eating awesome takeout food, and… it sucks. I’ve craved a night of doing nothing, but now that I’m doing it, I realize that I craved a night of doing nothing with Zahn. Which is making me feel all weirdly codependent, and I’m wracking my brain to find the source of when and where that became a thing.

I’m just about to start on my second slice of pizza when my phone goes off and the doorbell rings at the same time. I grab my phone as I stand, glancing at the preview of Zahn’s message.

Co-Pilot: Thank me later *devil emoji*

The fuck does that mean?

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