Page 92 of High Notes & Hail Marys

You need to slow down if you aren’t going to come soon. But the signals his body gives you tell youharder, faster. You just know it, the way that you know the sun will rise in a few hours and the way you know your own name. He’s almost there.

“Getting so close,” you rasp. “Gonna come so hard. Gonna put my fucking babies inside you.”

Sterling gulps and sputters. Gasps and tightens up head-to-toe. Orgasms. Untouched, he cums on his belly. It pulses and pulses, rope after rope. He closes his eyes tight. Tears rolls down his cheeks.

It’s too much. Exhausted, high, a little drunk, and completely over-stimulated, you grab his legs hard enough to bruise and explode inside him as you chant his name like a prayer.

Chapter Twenty-Two

@graylinggab:This is it, guys. The Goalposts Tour is over. How many shows did you make it to? Final count on friendship bracelets? Pics of your best tour outfits? We’re not ready to let go! Spam ALL the pics with the hashtag #farewellgoalposts and let’s soak in the magic a little longer.

@bronwyn491:STER’S LAST SHOW! I WAS THERE, AND I’LL NEVER FORGET IT! Did anyone else see the Train in VIP? Watching SG during “keening?” (which we ALL know is the definitive Trainspotter anthem??) ALL THE HEART EYES. He’s just crazy over him, and you love to see it. #farewellgoalposts

@betterthanjake6:FUCK THE POLIS AT THE HAYMARKET RAILWAY STATION LAST NIGHT! Buncha happy, crying Graylings having a singalong on the platform, minding our own business, and we were told to move along! Don’t they know what night it was??? Sterling Grayson closing Goalposts in Edinburgh was one for the history books.

***

You sleep until three in the afternoon.

Sterling’s actually up before you. You find him on the balcony, watching the activity on the street below. He’s showered and is wrapped in a silk robe with tigers on it. His legs are crossed demurely, and he’s sipping a steaming mug of herbal tea.

Compared to him, you feel like a lumbering Neanderthal. Your breath tastes like something died in your mouth, and your head is killing you. You grabbed your pants from the night before but didn’t bother with a shirt. All of Kensington can see you bare-chested and stumbling around, but you don’t even care.

“How are you?” you ask anxiously.

He looks at you, bemused. “A lot better than you, from the looks of it.” He pats the lounger beside him. “Sit down. I called Maeve, and she’s telling anyone that matters not to even bother trying to reach us for the rest of the day.”

You shove the heel of your hand into your eye socket, trying to wipe away the fatigue. All it does is hurt. “You been up long?”

“Maybe an hour?” He shrugs. “I was going to order some food. You want Atis? I am dying for something green. Somethinghealthyand green.” His laughter is light. He picks up his phone.

“About that.” Of course, London had to pick this one day for the sun to come out for probably the only time all year. It’s personally oppressing you. You wish you had sunglasses, but you want to get this out. “Last night…”

Sterling raises an eyebrow. Puts his phone down as quickly as he picked it up. “Is this about to be a bad conversation?”

“No!” you say hurriedly. “I don’t think so? I just… wanted to make sure it was all okay. It was… a lot, you know?”

“Yes, it was.” Thoughtfully, he blows on his tea and takes a careful sip. “I feel like I owe you an apology. That’s twice in a few weeks that I let myself get out of hand.”

“No,” you repeat. “I feel likeIneed to apologize. I shouldn’t have…”

“Let me seduce you?” He snorts a little. “Not trying to play a game of leapfrogging guilt here, but you did say no. I shouldn’t have pushed.”

“I was only worried about you regretting it,” you say softly. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to.”

Sterling sets his tea down beside his phone. Reaches for your hands, enfolding them in his. “Kaius. Look at me.”

You do.

“I’m bad at drinking and getting high,” he says. “It’s just that being with you makes me feel so safe that I want to try things that I normally wouldn’t do. The alcohol and ediblesandeverything that came after. I regret nothing, unless it made you feel uncomfortable.”

You nuzzle your joined hands with your head. “Here I was thinking you just liked being a damsel in distress.”

His fingers squeeze yours. “Pretty sure that, after last night and my birthday, I’m back to sobriety for a long time.”

“I like you when you’re a mess,” you laugh. “You’re, like, the most in-control person I know. And that all goes out the window. It’s not a bad look from time to time.”

“I love you,” he says. “Did you know that?”

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