Page 32 of Dared

There was a heavy weight on my chest. “Leo.”

Shaking his head, he turned his back to me, climbing onto his bed and curling into a ball facing the wall. Fuck.

“Leo.” I climbed onto the bed next to him, leaning over him in an attempt to see his face. “What’s wrong? What do you think you have to be sorry for? Because I can’t think of one single thing.”

“I’m ruining things for you,” he said, and his voice was so small.

What the fuck?

“Ruining what? Baby, please speak to me. I don’t understand.” It barely even registered that I’d called him “baby”—something I’d never called anyone in my life, but it had just slipped out. I was too worried.

“Things. N-Noah thought we were together, and we’re friends, and I’m stopping you from being able to—to get to know people.”

My mind raced. He couldn’t be saying what I thought he was saying, could he?

“Leo. Please, look at me.”

Finally, he turned, and the distraught expression on his face choked me up. It hurt to breathe.

“Leo, I need you to listen to me. Are you saying that you’re stopping me from being able to…y’know, hook up with girls?”

He nodded, his lip trembling. “Yeah. If people think we’re boyfriends, they won’t bother, and?—”

“No.” I placed a finger to his lips, gently tracing the soft curve of his Cupid’s bow. “First of all, I thought we agreed that whether the things we did, like cuddling and whatever might or might not be weird, we didn’t care. Second, think about tonight.Imade a space for you, andIwas the one to cuddle you…and fuck, to kiss your head or whatever. That was me. Not you. Not like, y’know, I would’ve done it if I thought you were uncomfortable. The point is, that was all me, and I wanted to do it.”

“But what if I’m stopping you from?—”

“Leo. You’re not stopping me from anything. Believe me, if I wanted to go and flirt with girls, I would. Honestly, though, I’d rather hang out with you over anyone else.”

His eyes widened. “But what about y-your needs?” His cheeks flushed redder than I’d ever seen them before, and then he covered his face with his hands. “This is so embarrassing,” he mumbled from behind his palms.

“My needs?” I couldn’t help smiling. “I have a working right hand.”

He groaned. “Finnnn.”

“Leooo.”

Removing his hands, he glared at me, and it was so much better than him being upset that I had to work to bite back my smile. “Even if I don’t feel things the same way as you do, I’m not stupid. We’re spending all our free time together, and when we’re around people, they apparently think we’re boyfriends. So. I’m ruining things for you.”

Okay. He needed me to spell it out for him. I manoeuvred him so he was lying flat on his back, and then I propped myself up on my side, cupping his jaw.

“Leo. You’re my favourite person in the world. You know that, right?” Fucking hell, this was hard to say. “Sex…yeah, it’s fun, but I’ve never had a high sex drive or anything. Not like, uh, Ander or JJ or someone. I mean, before they were coupled up. I don’t wanna think about their sex lives with their boyfriends.”

Shaking my head, I tried to get my thoughts back on track. I had to get these words out, to make him understand. “Honestly,” I continued, “I can take it or leave it. It’s fucking weird for me to be telling you all this, but I’m gonna say it because you need to hear it.Youare the person I want to spend time with the most. I have everything I need, and for anything else, I have my hand and an active imagination.”

He bit down on his lip, and I couldn’t help leaning forwards to press a kiss to the freckles on the tip of his nose. If he needed even more reassurance, I’d give it to him.

“If there was someone I was interested in, and right now, there isn’t, this wouldn’t stop me, so you don’t even need to worry about that. You’re not an obstacle in the way. You’re…Leo. My Leo.”

“Oh.”

“Is that all you have to say?” My brows rose, and this time, I didn’t hide my smile. “I just said all that embarrassing shit to you, and you give me a one-word reply?”

“Shut up,” he mumbled, glaring again, and he really was so fucking cute.

“Leoooo.”

“Fine. I guess I’ll try to believe you. But…will you tell me if I’m too much? Or if…if you want to stop doing what we’ve been doing?”

---