Page 51 of Finding You

Dallas wanted to tell him not to thank him because it felt more selfish than anything, but he also understood this wasn’t just about him. So he was going to check his shit at the door and be there for Kylen in ways that the people in his life currently refused to be.

Kylen wasn’t crying when he let Dallas in, but his face was splotchy, and his eyes were red-rimmed. He was wearing a thin sweater with sleeves that fell past his fingers and tight jogging pants that hugged his ass in all the right places. Dallas went a little hot around the collar at the sight of him, which warred with his desire to pull him close and wrap him tight until he forgot how much pain he was in.

He settled for pressing a soft kiss to Kylen’s cheek as he passed him in the foyer.

Neither of them said a word as Kylen led the way to his living room, and Dallas opened his arms up when Kylen perched on the edge of the couch cushion, looking uncertain. There was a beat of stillness, and then Kylen collapsed back against Dallas’s chest and gave a happy hum when Dallas dragged fingernails lightly over his scalp.

“Sorry for being needy,” Kylen said after several minutes of silence.

Dallas shook his head. “Please don’t be. You’re allowed to call your friends when you need them.”

Kylen let out a watery laugh and hunched into himself. “Yeah, that’s kind of the thing though. Tonight, when I realized how much everything sucked, I also realized I had, like, no friends.”

“So that makes me what?”

Kylen rolled his eyes up toward Dallas. “Something else.”

Dallas wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing. All he knew was that they were standing in front of a line, and his next move could either send him reeling back or pushing forward. He licked his lips, then swallowed, and he watched Kylen’s gaze track his Adam’s apple as it bobbed along the front of his throat.

“You’re not alone,” he finally said.

Kylen’s eyes closed. “Yeah. I know.”

Dallas wasn’t sure Kylen believed himself. He used the tip of his finger to trace a line down his jaw. His face was covered in rough stubble, like he couldn’t bring himself to shave, and Dallas liked the sensation against his skin.

Kylen leaned into it like a man touch-starved, and Dallas knew all too well what that was like. He added another finger, pressing harder, watching Kylen react to it. His body was humming with desire. He wanted more. And he knew he could probably have it, but would that be taking advantage of Kylen in his current state?

“Dallas,” Kylen whispered after a long beat.

“Ky?”

His eyes opened, and his cheeks dimpled with his half grin. “I normally hate when people shorten my name, but it sounds nice when you do it.”

“You might be biased,” Dallas told him.

Kylen pulled out of his grasp, but he didn’t pull away. He shifted his body and kept himself close enough that Dallas could feel the warmth of his body. “I know I’m biased. You’re different from most people.”

Normally, Dallas wouldn’t take that as a compliment. All he’d ever wanted to be was the same as everyone else. He was tired of being the weirdo. But when Kylen said it, the words notched themselves between his ribs and clung there, becoming part of him. He was different.

And Kylen liked him because of that.

“I know you’re…that you don’t like me, like me. But was kissing me awful?”

Dallas blinked at him. “Did it seem like I didn’t enjoy it?”

“I couldn’t tell. It was your first, right?”

Dallas took a breath, then nodded. “It was my first. Not ever, but?—”

“Yeah, no. I know. Your first real kiss with a man.” Kylen blew out a puff of air. “Seven out of ten?”

Dallas flushed hard. He’d been joking. He was trying to lighten the mood because he was a little afraid he’d over-stepped. But maybe his words had hurt Kylen. He did that sometimes, too, in his attempts to make things better.

“It was a ten out of ten,” Dallas murmured. “Just didn’t want you getting an ego.”

Kylen blinked, then burst into laughter. “Oh my God, you are so weird. I love it.”

Dallas bit his lower lip and watched the way Kylen’s smile transformed his face. He still looked beaten down and exhausted. Dallas could still tell the man had been crying all day. But when he laughed, there was a brightness about him that Dallas hadn’t seen on anyone else.

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