Page 13 of Until We Kiss

“Sure. Eat. I got you a donut. And then we’ll go find D n’ R.” He stands, stepping forward until he’s hovering over the couch, tremendous and ninety percent skin and smelling faintly of sunblock. “Hit the beach, yeah?”

“Okay.” I’m looking up at him, and… I don’t know… this light flits through his eyes. There one minute, gone the next. What does that mean? What’s he thinking?

He grabs the blue pastry bag and holds it out to me. “Pebble up, bro. The world awaits.”

I’m… lost. My breath sticks in my lungs, my thoughts churning.

He grins and tosses the bag in my lap, right over my aching dick, like it’s a fucking ring toss.

Then he laughs and heads toward the door, launching into some made-up song about penguins and pebbles, and I’m just sitting there, donut on my dick and so much on my brain that it hurts.

But I guess he’s right. The world awaits. And I really need to find it again, findmeagain.

So… I don’t know how to pick up a guy.

Rory throws me the football, and I catch his uneven spiral.

And I especially can’t figure out how to do this while hitting the beach with the guys.

To make it worse, Carter’s yellow banana shortshughis ass. Tight around the muscular curve of his cheeks, digging a touch into his crack—enough that he has to adjust occasionally—and coming down to about mid thigh. The waistband lies just underneath that dusting of odd hair.

And why am I noticing thatnow? We’ve been friends since freshman year. And I’ve fantasized about sucking a cock long before that. The first time I got the dildo was in high school.

I mean, I like Carter. I really do. But we’re friends.

I throw the ball a little harder than I should. Rory catches it with a grunt, then rubs at his chest.

“Sorry,” I call. I don’t look at Carter.

I already know what I’ll see.

He’s down the beach from us, a girl in a yellow bikini sitting on his shoulders, her slim legs hanging down his chest, her dark hair tumbling over his face in thick curls every time she looks down to talk to him.

It’s some weird-ass game of volleyball that he’s playing with Dorian—all these girls on the guys’ shoulders, everyone laughing like it’s the best time in the fucking world. Carter holds her knees to balance her when he runs for the ball, her thighs tightening against the sides of his neck.

He’s laughing too. Loud and happy.

My stomach tightens like a hard-shelled acorn is right in the middle of my abdomen. I guess that’s called a pit in the stomach.

I catch the ball, palming it with both hands. My fingertips slip along the laces before I toss it back.

Carter high-fives Dorian after they score a point, and I try not to roll my eyes. He’s so damn?—

A flash of brown zooms past. I stretch out, but the ball grazes my fingertips. My foot slips, a grunt shooting out as I slam, stomach first, into the sand.

Fuck. I push to my hands, then get to my feet, my knee screaming as I dust my legs off.

“You okay?” Rory jogs over, scanning me.

“Yeah.” I scoop to grab the ball, rolling my thumb over a gap in the stitching before tossing it back to him. “I think I’m gonna grab a drink.”

White temporary tents line the walkway on the far side of the beach. College kids are everywhere, going in and out, moving around. Hopefully, it’s far enough from the beach that if I talk with anyone, I’m not in full view. Maybe I can figure out how to?—

“I’ll go with you.” Rory tosses the ball on our towels.

Okay… so… plan failed.

But I’m glad as Rory and I fall into step next to each other, chatting about an editing job offer he got for after graduation in New York. Dorian’s heading back to California to work in his family’s flower shop. Carter’s looking for a teaching job.

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