Page 68 of That One Moment

Jamie

“Oh God, I should have knocked.” My mother’s horrified voice pulls me from a really lovely dream. Cold air hits my side as the warm body next to me shoots up. Opening my eyes, I take in my mum, wide eyed and staring at Caiden, who is blushing fiercely.

Fuck.

“Mum,” I groan. “You can’t just barge in like this! Go, please.” I pull the duvet higher up and over my head, then grab Caiden’s leg and pull him down and under the blanket with me. His warm, naked skin presses to mine, and I bury my nose in his neck. He smells like warmth, and sleep, and me.

“Sorry. Shit. I just wanted to ask if you’d seen Caiden. Which clearly, you have,” she rambles. “Duncan will be home in a couple of hours, and I wanted to tell him that. If you could pass on the message. Shit, fuck, this is awkward.”

“Mum, you’re not making it less awkward. He got the message, please go,” I say. Caiden is looking at me with wide eyes, hisbrows drawn together and bottom lip trapped between his teeth. With my thumb, I pull his lip free then lean in and kiss it.

“Okay, I’m going. Maybe use a sock on the door next time? Or no, okay, I’ll just knock in future. Um, Jamie?”

I smile at Caiden as I answer my mum, grateful for the large duvet keeping us hidden.

“Yes, Mum?”

“This isn’t a new thing, is it? Don’t answer that! I’m being nosy. Sorry, really am going this time.”

When the door closes, Caiden throws the blanket off of us and sits up, his body tense as he watches the space where my mother was standing a few seconds ago.

“I’m sorry, I should have gone back to my room.”

“Why are you sorry?” I kiss his cheek then push him onto his side so I can position him with his back against my chest.

“Because you didn’t want them to know about us. I mean, I’m not saying there’s an us but you know what I mean.”

I chuckle, nibbling at the soft spot at the base of his neck. I love the way his body trembles when I suck and bite him there, so I do it again, leaving behind more love bites, until he’s whimpering and pushing against me. Rolling Caiden onto his back, I lie with my head on his stomach and play with his belly button, tracing the tattoo that wraps around it while looking into his sapphire blue eyes.

“I don’t care who knows but we should probably discuss what exactly all this means and what we want. I’d like for whatever this is to be about more than just sex.”

Caiden’s lip twitch into a smile. “I’d really fucking like that too.”

“Good,” I nuzzle his stomach, then kiss lower until I’m parting his legs and running my lips over the skin of his inner thighs.

“These are new,” I say, kissing around a particularly red scab as his muscles tighten under my touch. I wish I could take allhis pain away but I know that's not how healing works. Healing doesn't happen overnight and it's not fixed by a few weeks of therapy or the affection and attention of another person. It's something only he can control and I want to hold his hand for as long as it takes.

“I know,” he says softly, voice barely audible. “I’m trying, but sometimes, it’s still all that helps.”

Giving his thighs one last kiss, I rest my head on the pillow next to him and he turns so we’re nose to nose. “You don’t need to explain anything to me,” I say. “But promise me, if you need to talk to someone, you will. I’ll be happy to listen if you want to talk to me. I need you to be okay, Caiden. I know that's selfish but I can’t….”I can't lose you too.“I want you to be happy and safe.”

He nods and his hands find my hips.

“Did you really have a date planned last night?” Caiden asks, taking his turn to suck marks into the skin on my throat.

“Maybe. Or maybe I wanted to mess with you and make you so angry you felt compelled to kiss me.” Caiden laughs with his lips still on my skin, then slaps my stomach.

“Asshole.” He pulls back, a slow gentle grin growing on his face.

“I was angry at you, remember? It seemed justified at the time.” He dives on top of me and I get lost in his laughter. It’s sweet like honey and warm like a summer breeze. It’s a treasure that very few get to see and I want to soak it up for as long as I can.

When he stops laughing, his blue eyes are bright and sparkling. My heart somersaults, making butterflies take flight in my chest.

Caiden rests his forehead against mine.

“Do you think we could be something good?”

I kiss him. Hard. Hoping the kiss is enough to tell him just how good I think we can be.

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