Page 41 of The Good Boys Club

Hot Diggity Dog

Present Day

Cian

“There’ll be no hoity-toity handshaking here. We’re huggers.”

That’s what Rita had said to me yesterday. Now the words played over and over in my brain as her grandson big-spooned me in what had to be the comfiest bed I’d ever lain in.

According to Mash, it had been too hot for him to wear PJs, or even a T-shirt, so he’d consequently climbed under the covers in only his boxers and with the promise to firmly stick to his side of the mattress. He had not kept his promise, and was now holding me like a teddy bear—an arm draped over me, a leg hooked over mine, his front flush to the length of my back. He snored loudly into my hair. In fact, it was the snoring that had woken me.

I’d had enough foresight to wear a tee and a pair of cotton pyjama pants to bed, but since my T-shirt had ridden up over my hips and parts of Mash’s anatomy were sandwiched between us, it felt like it had all been a waste of time. Mash’s morning erection pressedveryinsistently against my spine.

The crisp early breeze flitted through the open window, making the gauzy inner curtains slap gently against the wall. Outside, there was nothing but birdsong. From the reflection of the sun on the ceiling, I guessed it was about seven, but my arm was in too awkward a position to look at my smart watch without disturbing Mash.

I was torn between waking him and telling him to remove his cock from my back, and lying here in his embrace . . . feigning sleep, breathing in the scent of us, being held by the man I loved. How long would it take Mash to wake naturally? He was often a late sleeper. I could be here for a while yet.

A few minutes passed. I tried to drift back into slumber, but Mash’s snoring was too loud, I needed to pee, and I was beginning to develop pins and needles in my arm.

I straightened it, and Mash choked on a snore. Groaned. For a second I thought he might be waking, but he pulled me tighter to his chest, and slipped his leg farther over mine. His snoring ceased its revving-chainsaw sounds and became simple loud breathing.

My body melted into his, giving up any kind of fight or hesitance. I’d have two months of this. Two months of waking up in his arms. I didn’t resist the smile that crept over my face.

That was, until Mash groaned again, and began not so subtly humping me.

He made a throaty noise and snapped his hips upwards. The only reason I knew he was still asleep was because it was me. He wouldn’t be dry humping me if he remembered where we were and who he’d gone to bed with.

“Baby,” he whimpered, making my insides dissolve into nothing but aches.

“Okay, big boy, time to wake up now and stop sleep-shagging your best friend.” I pulled his arm off me, turned to him, and put distance between us.

Mash reached out towards me sleepily as he peeled his eyelids open. His gaze landed on my face and for a second a sloppy, dopey smile stretched his mouth. But the next moment, all the puzzle pieces must have clicked together because his eyes went wide.

“Bangers!” he said, and toppled backwards out of bed, tugging the flimsy bedsheet down with him. The heavy shag of the rug muffled the crash of his enormous body.

His face found his splayed palms, and he pillowed his forehead on the edge of the mattress.

“I think I already know the answer, but was I trying to sleep-fuck you?” he said, his voice about ten octaves higher that it ordinarily sounded.

“Yeah,” I replied. There was no way to assuage his feelings. “Yeah, you were.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry, man.” He groaned again. “I thought you were—”

“A woman, yeah.”

“No, I thought you were . . . never mind.”

Finish your thought!my brain screamed. But at the same time, I never wanted to hear who he imagined he was with. Who his dream-self craved. I wasn’t sure my heart could ever handle it.

What if he pictured he was lying with Dylan?

Mash was quiet for a few seconds. My heartbeat skittered all over the place.

Eventually, he looked up from his palms. “You know this already, but I’ve got a killer boner. I’m just gonna sit down here until it goes away enough for me to take a piss.” The old Mash was back. The moment of vulnerability too fleeting.

It was a little annoying that there were three empty bedrooms in Mash’s house, but it would have looked weird if mates didn’t sleep in the same bed. I wondered if werewolves ever had the complex partnerships humans sometimes had. Or poly relationships. Were there poly wolves? I expected so. Humans didn’t claim dominance in the ability to decode their base needs and work around them.

But I guessed, at least for the next two months, I had no choice. These were the cards Mash chose to play, and I was just the guy in the back of the room looking over everyone’s shoulders and making cryptic hand gestures. I would help him win, even if it was detrimental to me.

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