Page 125 of Stop and Seek
The club pulsed behind them. A girl yelling. A guy laughing. Lights behind Noah’s head—white, purple, gold.
“Say it,” Noah snapped. It cut through Theo’s fog, sharp and demanding.
Theo’s lips parted. He could feel the heat of Noah’s breath on his mouth, bitter and jealous. Citrus and pepper cologne everywhere and nowhere at once, stuck to Noah like a second skin.
Saying it didn’t mean shit.Theo wanted to feel it. He wanted it to matter. His pulse skittered and caught in his throat. Something inside him cracked open.
“Prove it,” Theo whispered.
It came out quieter than he meant it to, but it was real.
Noah’s eyes went wide, and Theo didn’t give him a chance to respond.
He kissedhim.
Sloppy. Too fast. His tongue dragged over Noah’s bottom lip, savoring the way his mouth tasted like soft fear. But Theo wasn’t soft right now. He wasn’t careful.
He bit down.
Hard.
Metal bloomed across his tongue—hot and coppery—and Theo felt Noah’s body jerk beneath his hands. That was real.Wayreal. For a second, Theo didn’t know whether to cry or laugh or beg him to do it back.
Instead, he spun away, heart still thrashing in his chest. His grin split wide, bloody and breathless, fingers closing around Noah’s wrist.
Theo dragged him through the chaos. Past strangers with too many limbs and drinks that smelled like sugary death. Past flashes of blue and red and green light that left afterimages when he blinked. Everything was melting. Everything was buzzing. But Noah was a fixed point.
The booth wasn’t empty. Half-drained drinks, crumpled receipts. A graveyard of someone else’s night.
Too bad. So sad.
He shoved Noah down into the sticky vinyl and climbed into his lap. Looping his arms around Noah’s neck, he held on. Sweat glued his shirt to his back. The lights were too much. The noise was worse. But when Theo leaned in, nose brushing Noah’s, mouths inches apart, it was almost quiet again.
“Did you screw him to get high?” Noah asked, his voice hoarse. Dangerous.
Theo shook his head too hard and his vision tilted.
“No. I got it from Alyssa,” he sang, voice thin and sing-song and strange in his own ears. Noah’s hand slid up his back, cool against overheated skin.
“One crisis averted,” Noah said, and the vibration of it ran down Theo’s spine, sparking a twitch in his hips he couldn’t control. His nails scraped over Noah’s scalp, through gel and wax, down to the base of his neck.
“You don’t gotta climb me,” Noah added with an easy laugh. “Swear I’m not going anywhere.”
Too late.
Theo’s whole body was quivering, pressure building with nowhere to go. He dragged his nails lower, over Noah’s shoulders, down the sharp planes of his chest as he rolled his hips forward, grinding down just to feel the friction.
“I want you,” Theo whispered, and—thank god—it sounded like his own voice again. “So bad. Don’t be nice.”
There was that look again: raised eyebrows and huge eyes. The one that made Noah looklessNoah—less terrifying, less big, muscular jock—and more oversized Golden Retriever.
Noah exhaled quietly, warm against his cheek, and it sent tingles down Theo’s spine so fast he actually shivered. “Stay very,veryquiet for me, baby. I’m the only one that gets to hear you.”
Then Noah’s hand slid down—down—pressing over his chest, over his ribs, and—
Theo whimpered.
Humiliating as fuck.Loudas fuck. His body sagged against Noah, breath coming in fast and hot.
