Page 69 of Cherry on Top

Will didn’t know what else to say, twisting the corner of the sheet even tighter in his fist. Joy was right. He’d gotten carried away, one hundred percent. And then convinced Enzo to get carried away alongside him. Part of him had hoped, maybe, that if he pushed it, Enzo would break down and say fuck it. And kiss him for real.

But Enzo wouldn’t, Will was beginning to realize. Because he’d said on their first date he didn’t want to cross that line, and Enzo was clearly going to respect it, no matter how much it sucked.

Right now, Will’s blood was pumping so hot and insistent under his skin he nearly turned to Enzo and said, “Let’s do this for real.” But he didn’t. Because the second he thought it, he also thought of how much more he’d like Enzo if they did. If they kept doing it, and kept hanging out, and then in a few weeks, Enzo left.

Would it break his heart? Maybe not entirely, but enough that it was worth being smart about this.

No matter how much Will wanted to throw thinking out the window.

“So, what now?” Enzo asked, voice quiet.

Will was acutely aware of his still-subsiding erection. The desire still raging through him. And his unclothed state.

“I . . .uh . . .should get dressed,” Will said.

This time it was Enzo’s turn to flush, and he whipped around so fast he looked unsteady. “Oh yeah, of course,” Enzo said.

“I was thinking . . .” Will let the sheet drop and picked up his boxer briefs and shirt, putting them on, but when he got to his jeans, he set them on a chair next to the dresser. He trailed off, because now that he’d started to say it, wouldn’t this just be more torture? And didn’t he want it—didn’t he need it—to end?

And don’t you want to finally be alone and wrap your hand around your cock? Get yourself off?

Oh, he did.

No. What he wanted was for Enzo to do it. His own hand could only provide a very temporary respite.

“Yeah?” Enzo’s voice cracked. Like maybe he was thinking about Will getting dressed.

“Would you really go back to your place tonight? If we were . . .” Will swallowed hard. When they’d started this, when he’d suggested it, he’d never imagined it would feel like this. One breath away from the lie falling apart into tatters. “Falling for each other, would you really leave?”

Enzo turned around. His fists were clenched tightly. “I wouldn’t let you out of my sight,” he said seriously.

“Exactly.” Will swallowed hard. What are you doing? “You should stay here. You wouldn’t ever leave me. Not after . . .uh . . .”

Enzo’s face creased into a fleeting grin. “Our bedroom gymnastics?”

“Yeah. And uh, after just one round,” Will added.

Enzo’s grin returned, much wider this time. “Oh yeah. That’s what I’m talking about.”

“If you don’t want to . . .” Will trailed off.

“We said we’d do this, and we’re doing it,” Enzo said with determination.

Well, shit.

He’d wanted Enzo to leave, but he’d wanted him to stay, even more. Even if it meant lying next to him, without touching him the way he craved, deep down.

“Alright. I’m . . .uh . . .gonna get ready for bed.” It was only just past nine, but they both got up early for work. Will, because there was always too much to do, and Enzo because he wanted to get as much work in before the heat of the day.

“Sure. I’ll just be out here, doing the same.” Enzo waved around him. Then his face split into a knowing smile. “Take your time.”

Will was bright red by the time he made it into the bathroom, because of course Enzo had figured out what he was going to do. He was probably going to do the same.

That was all it took to make him hard as a rock again.

He shed his boxer briefs again, wrapped his hand around his dick, and thought of how Enzo moaned. His face as he’d fallen against the door. The tension in his face and body as he’d vibrated with desire. But what really pushed him over the edge was that knowing smile as Will had shut the door.

And what he was almost certainly doing on the other side of it.

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