Page 36 of Defensive Zone

He hums again, dipping his head so his dark hair creates a curtain around his face as it dampens.

“Tell me if you get dizzy, okay? I know sometimes the heat can make you lightheaded.”

He doesn’t answer, but he nods softly.

I move around to his front, gliding my hands over his sculpted chest, over his biceps, and under his arms. When I reach his stomach, I kneel between his parted legs, squirting more shower gel into my hands. My boxers are soaked right through. There’s no doubt he can see the outline of my half-hard cock, but when I look up at his face, his eyes are closed. He looks exhausted. Like the last few days have really taken their toll on him.

I run my hands along his thighs, admiring the colorful tattoos lining his strong legs as they peek through the bubbles.

“Can I have some body wash?” he asks quietly, his voice barely audible over the spray of the shower.

“Yeah.”

I pick up the bottle from where I tossed it on the shower floor and pour some into his hand. I’m unable to do anything but sitback on my haunches and watch as he washes between his legs, his fingers and palm coasting over his soft cock and balls and as far back as he can reach.

My cheeks heat. Showering together is strangely… intimate, but in a tender way. I’m glad I’m the one helping him. Being here for him through all of this because the thought of someone else doing it makes me insanely jealous.

I’ve been a terrible friend over the years. Completely oblivious to his feelings and my own, really, but I’m going to make it right.

I would do anything for Zach Reid, but I haven’t realizedwhyuntil recently.

I’ve been in love with him all this time. I just wasn’t ready to acknowledge it.

Reaching up, I comb my fingers through his hair, tucking the wet strands behind his ears, his shuddering breath coasting over the inside of my wrists. He chews on his bottom lip, watching me so intently with those icy blue eyes. The need to kiss him is visceral. Every fiber of my being wants to lean up and take his mouth with mine. To let him know that this is us.

It will always beus.

“Carter…”

It’s those two whispered syllables falling from his lips that make me move.

With my hands resting on his knees, I lean up and press my lips to his. They’re soft and wet, and kissing him is even better than I imagined it to be. A couple of seconds go by where he doesn’t move, but then he lifts his left hand and cups the side of my face before sinking into the kiss.

There’s nothing frantic about it. It’s tender, slow. Like we’re savoring the feel of our mouths fitting together so fucking perfectly.

I tentatively swipe my tongue across the seam of his lips, not wanting to be pushy and go faster than what he’s comfortable with, but I’m desperate to taste him.

A low whimper escapes me as he welcomes my tongue, and my cock throbs when his tongue meets mine. My body is tingling like a live wire, only intensifying with the gentle scrape of his beard against my skin, sending shivers from my head all the way down to my toes.

I’m kissing my best friend.

Should I be freaking out over this? I’ve never kissed a man before, and I’m aware I’m having some kind of monumental sexual awakening moment while my tongue is in my best friend’s mouth, but all I keep thinking is… How can a kiss feel so right?

All of my previous relationships seem so miniscule now, because nothing,nothing, could compare to how fucking perfect this is.

How perfect Zach is.

We lose ourselves in each other, tasting and exploring each other’s mouths. When the water begins to cool, he slowly pulls away just a fraction. I open my eyes, and my heart swells in my chest at the blissed-out expression on his face. KnowingIput it there.

“What was that for?” he asks.

“I wanted to. It’s something we should’ve been doing all along.”

His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows roughly. There’s apprehension in his eyes, which I understand. I know I’m going to have some explaining to do. But I’ll show him that, if he wants this, I’m all in.

“Really?”

I nod, then a full-body shiver rakes through me as the water turns cold.

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