Page 92 of Gunner

“Tested?” I whipped my head around. The heat in his eyes made my mouth dry.

“I want to fuck you raw, Ben. Came pretty close a few times.”

“Oh.” I knew my status. I hadn’t been with anyone since Mason and had been tested when we broke up, but sleeping bareback with Gunner was risky. He was promiscuous. Could I trust him to touch only me?

“Well?”

“I did one after my last breakup. Haven’t slept with anyone until you made me.”

“I made you? Be honest. You’ve been curious about it for a while. Didn’t take much for you to spread them cheeks.”

“Now that I think about it, the attraction has been there all along. I just couldn’t stand the sight of you, so I didn’t even think about it. You were rather ballsy when we first met.”

“What can I say? When I saw you, I knew your place immediately.”

“Very funny.”

Gunner placed a hand on my bare thigh and stroked me. “I’ll do the test tomorrow. Although I’ve fucked around, I never do so without a condom. Things are different with you. I don’t want anything standing between you and me in bed.”

“You’ll go on PrEP too, right?”

“What’s that?”

“Medication. You take it daily, and it reduces the likelihood of contracting HIV. Or you could opt for an injection.”

“I’m not going to fuck anyone else, Ben.”

Damn, the air between us had gone tense again, but I held my ground. No more backing down. This was what he’d said he wanted, wasn’t it? For me to have a backbone.

“How badly do you want to fuck me raw?” I asked.

He was silent for a couple of seconds, then groaned. “Fine.”

“I don’t want you to do it just because I said so. When you get your tests done, talk to your doctor about it and understand what it’s really about.”

“I don’t have a problem taking the pills. It’s knowing you don’t trust me that’s the problem.”

“We have a complicated history, okay? I may not trust you in everything. Give me time, and show me I can depend on you.”

“Can I depend on you? No more of that bullshit today?”

“I’ll work on it, but you can’t interfere with my job, Gunner.”

He grunted. “I’ll work on it.”

I glared at him.

“What? Isn’t that what you just said?”

“Now you’re just being an ass.”

“What? Am I not agreeing here?”

“I don’t want to argue. I should go home.”

“Wait, aren’t you staying?”

I hopped off the bed and grabbed my pants off the floor. “We both need time to process all this. It’s better if we sleep apart.”

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