Page 23 of Wild Obsession

“Good show tonight,” I say.

“Yeah, you too.”

He brushes past me and goes to his bag. I shift from footto foot, stuff my hands in my pockets, search for anything that might keep me in the room with him. Keannen is infuriatingly calm and indifferent as he packs his bag, but this is our last shot. No more rooming together so Cameron can hang out with his boyfriend, not for several more cities.

When Keannen looks up at me at last, his dark eyes pin me in place like a photograph tacked to a board. I freeze, going hot and cold in confusing flushes as Keannen strides up to me and seizes my chin between his fingers.

“You waiting around for something, Freckles?” he says, low and close.

His voice stirs my gut.

“Maybe.”

“Oh yeah? And what might that be?”

His height forces me to look up at him. I might be bulkier than him, but I feel weightless when he holds me like this, like he could flick his wrist and hurl me across the room.

“I thought maybe you’d want to…” I try. “After last night and everything…”

He scoffs, a razor-sharp smile slicing across his mouth. “Oh? You really thought getting off with you messed up my head that bad? Or maybe you believe your playing tonight was that good. Is that it? Do you feel like you deserve a reward?”

“No,” I say, “not a reward. Just … fun?”

“Fun.” He rolls the word around on his tongue.Keannen leans closer, so close the buzz of his breath hits my lips. “You think this is fun for me? You think you’re worth my time, straight boy?”

Every time he calls me that something curls inside me, something hot and tense and trembling. Something that wants to explode.

“I could try,” I say weakly, caught in his grasp. “I could try to be.”

He doesn’t speak, just gets closer, so close the heat of his lips laps against my mouth. I yearn to break his hold and close the hated space between us, but I’m helpless in his grip.

“Please, Keannen,” I rasp, breathless.

My body blazes as he hesitates. My cock tents the sweatpants I threw on to wear on the bus. My heart flutters like hummingbird wings. But just when I think Keannen might seal his mouth against mine—

He shoves me away.

It’s a simple flick of his wrist, but it leaves me stumbling.

“Nah, Freckles, I’m not making this that easy on you.”

Keannen grabs his bag, brushing past me without another word. I’m left to gather my stuff and try to calm myself on the way to the bus, but the moment I clamber on board, I go right for the bunks. I tell my bandmates I’m exhausted from the show, but even as the bus lurches away from the city of Austin, I lie awake in the dark, my heart stuttering around my chest.

Chapter Twelve

Keannen

WE MANAGE TO ACT normal for the next few tour stops. Being on the road a lot helps. We drum our way across the entire country, hitting the big cities as well as a few more notable towns along the way.

I keep my hands off Tim the whole time.

We don’t room together after that night in Austin. We sleep on the tour buses a lot. This segment of the tour is brutal, with constant stops to perform but no real breaks. We won’t slow down to catch our breath until we reach the East Coast, and maybe by then Tim and I will have forgotten about that one night in the bathroom in Austin.

Yeah, small chance of that. I catch Tim looking at me every chance he gets: when we’re loading and unloading the buses, when we’re setting up and doing sound checks, whenwe’re stuck in hair and makeup at the same time, when I’m onstage performing. He’s certainly living up to the “clueless virgin” thing with all that staring, but I have nothing to offer him that I haven’t already given. It was fun to mess with him during that shower, but if he thinks jerking off together one time undoes our past, he’s wrong.

That’s not to say I’m above having a little fun with this. I’ve got my ex wrapped around my finger, and tormenting him is as easy as yawning and stretching during sound check so my shirt reveals a sliver of bare skin at my waist.

Sure enough, when I relax, Tim is staring at me instead of the sound guy trying to sort out all our equipment. I catch his eyes and smile, and while Tim flinches, he doesn’t look away.

---