Page 52 of Dared

“Really, Leo. I’d never lie to you.” Shifting closer, I placed my finger on his forehead. I’d already said the words, so I might as well commit. He needed to know I was telling the truth. “You’re beautiful from your head.” I trailed my finger downwards, over his nose, onto his lips, where I pressed down lightly. His mouth curved upwards. Shifting farther down the bed, I kept going, over his throat, and onto his torso, all the way to his belly button.I paused, glancing back up at him. He was watching my finger, fascinated, and I smiled. Bypassing his erect cock for now, I continued down his thigh, then onto his leg, finally finishing at his feet. I tapped his big toe.

“To your toes,” I said.

“Finn.” His smile was so wide.

“It’s true. Do you believe me now?”

“No, but I’m working on it.”

“Good. Keep working on it.” Crawling back up the bed, I kissed his smiling mouth. “Ready for more?” My heart was pounding, but I refused to let my nerves overtake me.

In reply, he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me on top of him again, and oh. Topless Leo had been a turn-on, but a completely naked Leo, hard and willing, with the wet tip of his cock rubbing against my skin, was another level.

“Finn.” The way he breathed my name was so fucking addictive. “What do we do now?”

I wanted his hands on me. Badly.

“You said you wanted to touch me earlier. Do you still?—”

“Yes. That. Please.”

“Okay.” I pressed a kiss to his lips, which turned into his tongue sliding against mine, both of us so hard and gasping for breath when we separated. With an effort, I rolled onto my side, gripping his hand and ignoring the shake in both of our fingers as I threaded mine between his.

“I—” he began before cutting himself off, swallowing hard. A determined expression overtook his face. “No. I want this. Just…tell me if I’m doing it wrong.” With those words, he tugged his hand out of mine and placed his palm flat on my chest, carefully sliding it down my torso. When he reached my lower stomach, he glanced back up at me, and then he lifted his hand, carefully wrapping his fingers around the base of my cock. He let out a small gasp that made me smile and turned me on all at the sametime—how the fuck did he always manage to do that to me?—then experimentally stroked his hand upwards.

“So good. A bit tighter. Yeah, that’s it.” I continued to encourage him while trying not to lose my mind over the way he was making me feel. His movements grew more confident, more forceful, just the way I liked it. I groaned, thrusting into his grip, and reached out, getting my hand around his dick. It was easier this time because there were no clothes in the way, and I could properly appreciate the sight of him, naked and flushed and panting, with my hand fisting his cock.

It was like a chain reaction, giving and receiving, and Leo came just seconds before me, my hand covering his when his grip on me loosened. Struggling to regain my breath, I flopped onto my back, glancing down at the mess covering me. Ah, well. Totally worth it.

I twisted my head to press a kiss to Leo’s cheek. “That was so good.”

His lips curved upwards. “I’m glad I got to do that with you.”

I returned his smile. “Me too.”

21

Rubbing my temples, I did my best to ignore my phone as it lit up again. Another message. I knew I needed to reply, but I also needed to get rid of this headache, not to mention the nausea that wouldn’t go away. Everything had seemed so simple, and then it wasn’t.

I’d given Finn Carsley a hand job. I’d actually done it, and he’d reciprocated. I didn’t regret any of it, far from it. What was making my head spin was the fact that Finn had seemed to take it all in his stride, like it was nothing out of the ordinary. I was driving myself mad wondering if he’d really liked what we’d done, if he was just being polite when he said he had, whether he really had liked my body or had just been caught up in the moment…

My overthinking brain was already struggling with all that from the minute I woke up, but then I’d received an email frommy computing lecturer. The nausea was already churning in my stomach from the minute I read the subject line—“important project presentation details”—and only intensified when I read the email itself.

I was expected to do a presentation as part of my group project. I’d already known—and avoided thinking about—that fact, but what I hadn’t known was that I had to do part of it completely on my own. Our group had all been given a different area of the project to focus on for our presentation, based on our strongest skill sets. The presentation would begin with all project partners showcasing our booking website, and then Connor and Niall would take their turns to present their own individual sections. Their individual presentations would be followed by mine. Alone. Worst of all, I had to do it in front of industry professionals.

My feelings were so overwhelming I was struggling to breathe. Feelings of inadequacy, fear of being laughed at, of making a fool of myself, of people judging me behind my back and to my face…it was too much.

I’d thought I’d struggled before my dance showcase, but this was something far, far worse. At least with my dance showcase, when Finn had dared me to do it, I could fool myself into pretending that no one was watching me. The audience was in darkness, silent as they took in the routine, listening to the accompanying music. There would be no way to trick my brain with this. Nowhere to hide. No Finn supporting me in the audience. No Connor and Niall at my side to help me through when I stumbled over my words and my mind went blank.

“Leo?” Connor’s voice came through the door, followed by a knock, and I quickly rubbed my hand across my face, hoping the outside of me was less of a mess than the inside.

“Come in,” I croaked, and the door opened, Connor entering my bedroom, followed by Niall.

“You got the email, too,” Niall said, glancing at my monitor, which still displayed the message from my lecturer. “Can’t believe they’re making us do part of it on our own. How are you feeling, man? Remember what happened last time we did a presentation?”

My stomach sank. Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any worse about it.

“Niall!” Connor smacked his arm, and he grimaced.

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