Page 21 of Fear of Flying

Zach groaned and rolled his eyes even as he laughed lightly. “You know what I mean.”

Drew’s expression sobered again, and like he’d been doing all day, he seemed to search Zach’s face, studying it as though it was something wonderful and precious to behold. His hand came up to touch Zach’s cheek, and he drew him down for a kiss. And just like it’d been all night so far, it was magical and breathtaking and made Zach feel so many powerful emotions he thought his heart might burst with joy.

When Drew pulled away, Zach followed, chasing after Drew’s lips for one more kiss, and then rested his forehead against Drew’s. There in that small space between them seemed to be this almost tangible thing, and Zach wasn’t entirely sure what it was other than something that made his heart flutter wildly.

Chapter Nine

Drew

Except for his uncomfortably tight jeans, Drew didn’t want to change a thing about this moment. Even his jeans, he didn’t want to change just yet, loathe to do anything right now but bask in this feeling of... rightness. It was a feeling that had no business being here, especially given he and Zach had known each other for less than six hours. No one fell in love that fast, and certainly not him. Not when he’d felt literally nothing for anyone ever before—not like or lust, and certainly not love.

And so Drew didn’t want to change any of it right now. It was too perfect and too magical, and he didn’t want to risk that it might somehow disappear. He longed to grab hold of it and call it real, name it out loud, but even that was too much of a change to bargain with. Even though it sure seemed like it, he couldn’t be certain Zach was feeling the same way.

He smoothed his thumb across Zach’s cheek, letting himself get lost in Zach’s eyes yet again. “You’re so gorgeous,” Drew said, which only made Zach look more gorgeous as his bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle and his smile slowly grew broader.

“If you’re not careful,” Zach started with an almost sultry tone, “we’ll end up right back where we were... Um, well... okay, so we’re still where we were—are—physically.” Zach gently pressed down against Drew, making him moan. “But I meant if you keep saying things like that, then I’ll start kissing you again, and then... I-I lost my train of thought.”

Drew grinned, entranced by the man sitting astride his hips. The pressure on his straining erection was intense and heady, and damn, it was difficult to breathe normally, to talk. But gently teasing Zach was quickly becoming one of his new favorite things. So he managed. “Where’d it go? Your train?”

“I think I lost it somewhere in those damn eyes of yours,” Zach said mock-accusingly.

Drew laughed lightly—god, he loved this—and he could feel the heat rising up in his cheeks and something else tingling and tugging in his chest. “I guess we both seem to have a problem with that.”

Zach laughed too, the slight motion against Drew’s erection doing nothing to alleviate the problem of his tight jeans. In fact, it was pretty much doing the opposite. As much as he hated to move Zach from his spot, he needed to change. Though... shit, he didn’t have anything to change into, unless he wanted to be walking around the hotel room in his boxer briefs. Damn. He blew out a short breath as he imagined both of them there, in a greater state of undress, and his dick pulsed with interest.

“I, uh, I guess...” Drew ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I really don’t want you to move, but the, uh, problem is only going to get worse.”

Zach nodded with understanding, dipping down to give Drew one more kiss. Fuck, it was deep and passionate, and he wanted to fall into it with Zach, hold him and kiss him forever. But Zach pulled away too soon and then moved off of Drew’s lap. He whimpered at the loss of pressure against his rock-hard erection, and he had the urge to just pull Zach back over and—

He winced slightly, his own train of thought starting to derail into dangerous territory. Stopping sucked, but it was still a relief.

“Hey,” Zach said softly, getting his attention. “I can, um, if it’s not too weird for you... I have a clean pair of pajama pants in my duffle bag if you want to borrow them?”

Drew blew out a deep breath. “That would be amazing, thank you.”

“Of course,” Zach said with a warm smile. “I guess, I kinda want to change too,” he added, gesturing at his cargo pants. “They’re not jeans, but, uh, they’re a bit uncomfortable too.” He touched Drew’s thigh briefly before he got up and went to the front entryway, where they’d left their bags.

Zach’s admission made Drew flush once more with heat and desire. Not that Zach’s hard-on had been a secret, but Drew hadn’t exactly had full contact with it—nothing close to the same as having Zach on top of his throbbing erection, providing blissfully sweet pressure and friction.

Damn, he wanted that feeling again. Just not in jeans. Thankfully, Zach was already walking back toward the couch with a pair of pajama pants in each hand, and he tossed a solid black pair at Drew.

He caught it and smiled. “Thank you, you’re a lifesaver!” Jumping up from the couch, he threw an “I’ll be right back” over his shoulder as he headed to the bathroom near the entryway.

After shutting the door behind him, he quickly but carefully removed his jeans, letting out a huge groan and sigh of relief at the freedom he felt, even with his briefs still on. Then he put on Zach’s pajama pants, which were slightly too big but would do the job. There was a strange feeling of... intimacy, maybe, in wearing Zach’s pants. But considering where Zach had just been sitting, maybe sharing pants wasn’t all that intimate.

He smiled, chuckling at himself, his heart feeling lighter and more carefree than it had in a really long time, and there was this sort of low-level energy or excitement, something running through his veins and inside his chest. Like butterflies and magic.

Back out in the main living area, Drew found Zach standing somewhat awkwardly near the couch, frowning. Drew lifted his head in question. “What’s up?”

Zach’s brow furrowed, and he gestured at the two large but uncomfortable-looking armchairs that were directly opposite a massive TV. “It feels like no one who actually watches TV or movies designed this room. The furniture layout makes absolutely no sense.” He laughed lightly. “I mean, why not put one of the couches there? Drew, there are three couches in this gigantic hotel suite and not one of them is in front of that huge-ass TV!”

God, that little zap of warmth and delight he got when Zach had said his name was amazing. And Zach’s adorable rambling? Drew was having a hard time fighting the grin spreading across his face. His cheeks were starting to hurt from all the grinning he’d done already today.

“What?” Zach said, letting out a little self-conscious laugh.

Drew shook his head. “It’s nothing.” He padded barefoot across the carpet with slow steps and then stopped in front of Zach and brought his hand up to run the back of his fingers along Zach’s cheek. There was this inexplicable pang of want in his chest, a ridiculously illogical thing telling him how happy he would be to spend every day of the rest of his life seeing that smile and those eyes, hearing that rambling and Zach saying his name, feeling the magic and the desire and the belonging when they kissed.

Drew inhaled sharply, overwhelmed and almost frightened by the intensity of the feelings threading through him and threatening to become part of him. He leaned in to press a gentle kiss to Zach’s lips, lingering only a moment before pulling back and then clearing his throat lightly. “So, um, I take it you wanted to watch something?”