Page 81 of Unforgivable

“Eh, it was about what you'd expect. A drunken, dumbass bet my freshman year.” He giggled sweetly and the sound washed over me, my smile widening. “Yeah, Griff and I had been running our mouths about some shit or other, and he bet me that I couldn't get my dick pierced. I told him if I went through with it that he'd have to eat a California Reaper pepper and that fucker agreed. It hurt like a bitch, but it was worth it to see Griffin cry and chug a half gallon of milk to kill the heat. Even funnier that it didn't really work.”

Rhys' laughter vibrated through me and I squeezed him to me tighter. “I think I'd crap my dang pants if I had a needle shoved through my penis,” he mused aloud. His word choice had me curious about something I'd wondered about for a while.

“Hey, can I ask you why you hardly curse?”

“I curse…sometimes. Pretty sure I dropped a couple F-bombs while you were boinking my brains out,” Rhys muttered shyly.

“Oh, I'm well aware,” I chortled. “But outside of the bedroom, I've only heard you do it a couple of times. I was just wondering if there was a reason for it.” He stiffened mildly in my embrace and I stroked his arm to relax him again.

“It's because of my mom,” he admitted quietly. “My dad had a pretty bad habit of cussing when they were dating, and my mom made him stop when I was born. She didn't want me raised around it, I guess. Of course he messed up a lot until one day she told him that for every curse he let slip, he owed her twenty bucks that she would put toward a shopping spree for herself.”

“Did it work?” I asked, thinking of how much I would have liked his parents.

“After a $240 shopping trip, he never cursed around me again. It then became a game with them to come up with creative curses, especially on car rides,” he shared, his voice sad but fond.

“Like calling me a son of a hobbled goat? Don't think I didn't catch that one,” I teased. He dug his elbow back into my side, drawing a grunt from me.

“Quiet, guttersnipe,” he retorted, chuckling softly. “I mean, I don't mind cursing or anything, but…in a silly way it makes me feel a little more connected to my mom and dad.”

My chest pinched at the note of pain I heard in his voice. I hated that he carried the same wounds I did, those orphan scars that never fully healed. It didn't matter that my father was actually alive. Growing up, that wasn't my reality and the loss hit me all the same. But as horrible as it sounded, I was also relieved to have someone who understood how I felt, whose hurt mirrored mine. It made me feel less alone.

And for that, I owed him as much happiness as I could give him now that he'd let me.

Something occurred to me that brought me up short. “Um, when is your Gran getting home? Shit, she didn't come home during us fucking, did she? Holy fuck, she's going to poison my coffee, isn't she?”

Rhys laughed at the panic in my voice. “Gran isn't coming home tonight. She told me she was staying the night at Joann's. She also told me something else when she saw Connor talking to us.”

I bristled, worried that she'd told Rhys to give him a chance or to invite him over this week. I was sure she probably loved him when he and Rhys were friends, so it made sense.

“What did she say?” I grumbled, hating that thinking about him was bringing down my elated mood.

Rhys wiggled free of my grasp, turning in my arms until we were nose to nose. With his skin rosy, his eyes sparkling, and a light sheen ofsweat across his forehead, he looked beautifully debauched. Corrupted with my cum and marked as mine, just as he was meant to be.

“She reminded me that Connor was my past and I needed to think about what I wanted my future to look like. She told me that I should be with someone who would work hard to be worthy of me. Someone who was my match in every way, but would push me out of my comfort zone and make me stronger for it. That was never Connor.”

My breathing became shallow, heart thudding an unsteady beat. He smoothed back my hair and kissed me lightly.

“You are my match, Cal. Not him. You consume every part of me and I am a better person now for having met you.”

I captured his lips in a slow, passionate kiss. I poured everything I was feeling for him into our kiss, hoping he'd sense everything I couldn't yet say. We came up for air and I cuddled him to my naked chest. There was nothing that could rival the feel of having him in my arms, knowing he was finally mine.

“Are we really gonna do this, Rhys?” I whispered, that last speck of fear flickering in my head.

He nuzzled his face right above my heart, hands clutching at my back. “Yeah, we are. I'm yours, Cal, always have been. I just needed to slow down and let you catch me.”

His words extinguished any fear remaining and I relaxed into the bed, holding him to me before we had to clean ourselves up.

“Oh, and Cal?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for my Christmas present. It was perfect…and the boxset is pretty awesome too.”

24

CALLUM

“Now you both drive safe and let me know when you get there. Also I expect better updates from y'all than to only let me know you're still suckin' down oxygen. I want details and quality, you hear me? Just nothin' about your hanky panky. I'm too old for that,” Gran chided as we walked our stuff out to the car.

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