Page 29 of Touch In Excess

“People…people I’ve met…” Rami’s voice cracked a little. “I let a guy—” He made the jack-off gesture with both hands. “He approached me in a store and hit on me. He was nice. He was sweet. He told me nice things when he had my clothes off. But itwas a bet. He knew me from school, and I didn’t recognize him. They all wanted to know what it was like.”

“Who was he?” Skye demanded.

Rami blinked at him.

“I just want to have a little talk with that dickhead.”

Rami burst into laughter and shook his head. ‘No,’ he signed. ‘I’m fine.’

Skye pursed his lips but eventually nodded. ‘Okay. Well, you know that’s not why I wanted to date you, right?’

Rami’s face shifted into something a little sadder. ‘I know. But…how did you…do you like my channel? Do you watch?’

Skye then realized why Rami had panicked. Not that he believed Skye would judge him or that he’d known all along. He was freaked-out because he thought Skye might be into that sort of thing as a fetish.

His whole body relaxed, and he moved to fit his back against the tree next to Rami. Their shoulders touched, and then he carefully reached for Rami’s hand. When he didn’t tense or pull back, Skye kissed his knuckles, then his fingertips, then his palm.

Rami’s body shuddered and went lax, and Skye felt a surge of triumph that he was able to reassure him and calm him down without a word.

“My friend Avan, he found your channel. He showed me one of your videos. I didn’t watch the whole thing. I’m not a subscriber.”

Rami bowed his head, looking like he was taking it all in, and then he glanced up. “Did you like it?”

Skye’s brows flew up, and he reached for Rami’s face, curling a hand around his jaw. “I didn’t feel any type of way about it. You were hot—that much was obvious. And that feeling hasn’t changed since I got to know you. I want you.”

“I know. You were very hard and rubbing on me,” Rami said.

Skye laughed again. “Yes, yes I was. And I was definitely going to come in my pants, which I haven’t done in years.”

Rami’s chin trembled on his exhale. “Me too.”

“I don’t care how many dicks you have. I just like you,” Skye told him. He let his words flow unchecked and honest, the way Rami spoke, and it was oddly freeing.

“Even no dicks?”

“I’m not a person who really gives much of a shit about genitals. I care about how we connect. How a person makes me feel. How I can make them feel.”

Rami studied him for a long moment. “I’m afraid you’re going to hurt me. That it all sounds like the truth when it isn’t.”

Skye leaned over and kissed his temple. “I get that. And we can go as slow as you want. I don’t have the patience for a long con, but I have the patience to prove that I’m into you. For real.Ifyou’d be willing to let me try.”

Rami looked at him, startled. “Why would I need to let you…oh. Because I ran away.” He quickly shook his head. “I didn’t run away fromyou. Sometimes I…I get overwhelmed, and I melt down, and I wasn’t ready for you to see that. People…people call it a tantrum, and I promise it’s not a tantrum. I’m not a child. My body responds to stress that way, and it happens and?—”

“Hey.Hey.” Skye leaned in and pressed a kiss to his jaw. “I understand.”

“Do you?”

“Yes,” Skye murmured. “I’ve been doing a lot of reading about Autism, and I know what a meltdown is. It’s not something you have to worry about with me. I want to get this right. I want you to feel safe, and I don’t want to scare you off. It terrified me when I thought I’d fucked this all up.”

Rami was quiet for a long beat, and then he dropped his legs to the ground and twisted, taking Skye’s hands in his. “Can we start over?”

“Inside?”

“Not-not like before. Um. I think I need some time before we, you know…”

“Yeah,” Skye said gently. “But we still have lunch. Then we can walk around the grounds. Maybe meet some of the guys?”

For a moment, Rami looked panicked, and then he took a deep breath and nodded. “Will they think I’m weird? Did your friend show everyone that video?”

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