Page 27 of Hard to Pretend

He groaned and ground against me harder. I thought I heard my name on his breath. I felt precum pool on my thigh, and holy shit it was hot. I needed him to wake up. I nudged his shoulder, and his eyes fluttered open. He ground against me one more time before he realized what he was doing.

“Fuck,” he groaned, rolling over on his back. His dick stood proud, tenting the blanket. Even in the dim light, I could see the color flood his cheeks. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I reached for his hand and brought it to my own hard dick. “It was kind of hot. What were you dreaming about?”

He squeezed my dick before giving it a tentative stroke. “You.”

“What about me?”

My hand found his dick under the covers, and I gave him a short stroke. He let out a shaky exhale. “I was thinking about the first night we spent together,” he answered. “After Goliath. One of the hottest nights of my life.”

“Same. We’ll have to repeat it sometime.”

I knew we could have repeated it right then, but it didn’t feel like the right time. It would have been the right time the night before, when we were losing ourselves in each other’s bodies. Now? Well, my stomach was growling. I didn’t want this to be quick and sloppy. I wanted to take my time with him, take him apart, make him beg for my cock.

It was one of my favorite things to do with a partner.

I pulled him closer to me. He rolled over and faced me. He was so pliable. I aligned our dicks and wrapped my hand around us both. His hand circled mine. We kissed as we fucked into the tunnel of our hands, precum slicking the glide until we exploded all over ourselves. Then we took a shower, cleaning off the remnants of our morning.

My stomach was screaming in hunger.

“I’d offer to make you breakfast, but I haven’t gone shopping,” Seb confessed as he pulled a shirt over his head. I found my shirt from the previous night andstarted to put it on before he passed me one of his. “I want that back.”

I looked down at the shirt. It was fairly nondescript—just a plain black shirt. From what I could see of his dresser, he had more than one. It was a little snug, especially around my arms, but I didn’t mind. Judging by the look on Seb’s face when I pulled it on, neither did he. “You know, if that’s a thinly veiled excuse to see me shirtless again, you can just ask,” I teased.

He laughed. “It’s not a thinly veiled excuse for anything. I just like that shirt.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “I know. It looks like a generic black shirt, but they discontinued that brand, and it was my favorite.”

I fingered at the hem of the shirt. “Should I trade it for a different one?”

His eyes moved over my body, and he shook his head. “No way. That shirt looks hot on you.”

“Okay, if you keep looking at me like that, we’re never leaving this apartment,” I warned him. My stomach grumbled again. “Dana’s?”

We finished getting dressed and left the apartment. It took longer than it should have, because Seb kept stopping to steal kisses.

We finally got to Dana’s Diner, one of my favorite spots in King’s Bay. It was a small family diner, opentwenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Some towns had Waffle House as the harbinger of doom, the caution light warning that something was very wrong when it closed. We had Dana’s Diner. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen it closed, and I’d lived in King’s Bay my entire life.

It was decorated in a vintage style: black and white tile floors and white tables. There were red chairs around the white tables in the middle of the floor, and the booths were upholstered with the same red vinyl. We were seated in a corner booth, and we made quick work ordering food from our server. Our meals came out quickly, and before long, the growling beast in my stomach had been sated.

I’d like to say we had good conversation over coffee and pancakes, but that would be a lie. I was so hungry that I couldn’t focus on our conversation. It was always a struggle, but that was something Seb would learn about me in time. At least, I hoped it was something that he’d learn about me in time.

I’d just flagged down our server for the check when I heard the bell ring over the front door. I watched as Mason and Vince stepped into the door, followed by River and Luce. Mason’s eyes lit up as he noticed me and Seb, and my friends descended on our table.

My shoulder’s tensed.

Seb’s eyes flared in alarm as he took in the expression on my face. He started to turn around to find the reason, but Mason’s booming voice stopped him.

“Chris, Seb!” he called out as they landed beside our booth. He looked at Seb and then at me, a knowing smile on his lips. “So, is this why we couldn’t get ahold of you this morning?”

“Huh?” I asked. I hadn’t heard my phone ring. Of course, I hadn’t checked my phone since I picked up Seb the night before for our date. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone that long without looking at my phone. I pulled it out now and hit the side button to wake it up. It was a brick, completely dead and unresponsive. “Guess it died.”

“When was the last timeyoulet your phone die?” Luce questioned, raising her eyebrow.

“I don’t think our Christopher went home last night,” Mason teased. “Overnight visit with the boyfriend?”

I rolled my eyes.

“So it’s getting serious?” River questioned, their forest green eyes darting between us.

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