Page 45 of Matched

“Nate.Please.” His hips arched forwards, his erection sliding against mine. This was so different to our stolen kiss in the student union. This time, there was intent, and I had just enough brainpower left to yank both of our shorts down and do exactly what I wanted to do—get my hand around his leaking cock. “Oh, fuck,” he moaned, his head falling back against the lockers as I rolled my hips into his, chasing the friction against my dick as I stroked him hard and fast. The first time I’d ever touched another dick, and it belonged to the one person I couldn’t get out of my mind. It was so good, it felt so right, and it was going to be over all too soon.

“Fuck,” I ground out, licking at the skin of Charlie’s throat before sucking, hard. He gasped and jerked against me, his cock pulsing in my hand, warm and wet as he came between us, soaking my hand with his release. I thrust against him once, twice, then I was coming, too, stars bursting behind my eyelids as all the breath left my lungs.

I slumped forwards, burying my head in the crook of his neck. His hand stroked up my back in a tentative movement.

“That was…unexpected.”

“Yeah,” I said hoarsely as I lifted my head. Unexpected was an understatement. Had we really just done that?

Our eyes met, and my stomach swooped, in total freefall. Fuck. This was worse than I thought.

Then the blood froze in my veins. No.Sophie. How could I have forgotten about Sophie?

I tore myself away from Charlie, frantically fumbling for my clothes. “No.No. What have I done?”

“Stop.” Charlie grabbed my arm, jerking me back into him. “Please. Don’t run away again.”

“Sophie,” was all I managed to say before he clamped his hand over my mouth. The movement was so unexpected that it stopped me in my tracks, my gaze flying to his. When he lifted his hand from my brows, he cocked his head in a clear question, and I took a deep breath before nodding.

“I spoke to her earlier. We’re not— I told her I wasn’t interested in anything more than friendship.”

My heart stuttered.What?

“Okay.” I blew out a heavy breath. “Right. We need to talk. I wasn’t going to run away, I promise.”

His brows rose like he didn’t believe me, but he stepped away from me, tugging his shorts back up before scooping his T-shirt from the floor and gesturing to himself. “I need to clean up.”

“Me too. Meet you outside?”

He nodded, heading over to his gym bag. I watched him go, my gaze drinking him in. He was fucking gorgeous. Once again, I wondered how I could have denied it to myself for so long.

He told Sophie he just wanted to be friends.

“Nate?”

I blinked to find Charlie staring at me with what looked a lot like amusement, although there was a flush high on his cheekbones.

“Mmm?”

“Are you gonna, y’know?” He gestured towards me, and I noted the way his eyes darkened as he took in my body. I was so glad I wasn’t the only one in this situation, that I affected him the way he affected me.I think.

To make sure, I stepped out of my shorts and walked towards him. His mouth fell open, his eyes growing huge as I drew closer. He was so still, I wasn’t even sure he was breathing.

When I reached him, I dipped my head to his ear. “You’re fucking gorgeous,” I breathed, unable to deny the truth, and he shivered, inhaling sharply.

“You’re straight,” he whispered.

“Am I?” I kissed the shell of his ear, relishing the way his body trembled against mine before I stepped away, creating space between us. “I’ll see you outside.”

After another quick shower, I made my way to the training pitch we’d booked. Crossing the AstroTurf, I headed for the chain-link fence that caged the pitch in, and sank down to the ground, dumping my bag at my side and stretching my legs out. The sun’s rays threw patterned shadows across my body, and I closed my eyes, soaking in the warmth.

When I opened them again, Charlie was sitting next to me with his knees drawn up, leaning against the fence as he stared out across the pitch. His hair was damp from his own shower, and he had his lip tugged between his teeth again. He remained silent, and I knew it was up to me to start this conversation. I was the one who’d asked him to come here to talk.

“My head is so messed up,” I confessed, clenching and unclenching my fists at my sides as I tried to release some of the tension that was locking up all my muscles.

“That makes two of us.” He looked at me then. “Were you lying before when you said you were straight?”

Rubbing my hand over my mouth, I thought about where to begin. “No, I wasn’t lying,” I said. “Or I was, but I was lying to myself.” I explained the same things I’d spoken about with Jonas, and by the time I’d run out of words, I realised our hands were resting next to each other, and he was carefully stroking his little finger over mine in a wordless gesture of comfort.

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