Page 115 of Catch Me
Chapter 35
Travis
I felt a sense of accomplishment as I trailed my fingers down Roman’s back. He’d fallen asleep after only a few minutes, and considering how poorly he seemed to sleep every night, I wanted to believe that he felt comfortable with me. Safe, maybe.
Even though I was extremely relaxed like this, I couldn’t doze off. I wasn’t tired, plus I’d been thinking about that look on his face earlier. He’d looked broken, but not in a hopeless sort of way. I thought it might’ve been close to catharsis, but he didn’t know how to feel it because it required him to let everything go. That wasn’t something I’d rush.
It was obviously too soon for what I’d done in the kitchen. Like I’d told him, I wasn’t Kai and I wasn’t a therapist. I didn’t really know how to navigate something like this. Taking things slow just wasn’t something I’d done. I fell fast, I got attached easily, and I was hypersexual. That didn’t mean I couldn’t refrain; I just had to think things through better than I had up to this point so that I didn’t push him too far. That was the last thing I wanted to do.
I thought this was worth it. I wasn’t going to coddle him or treat him like he was fragile, but I had to let him lead more. He’d been with men before. This was different, though, and he had to work through that.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I wondered if it would be wrong to text Sen. Even if I was vague and didn’t name names, it felt like I was betraying Roman’s trust, so I decided not to mention anything that was going on. Instead, I asked him if he’d considered what I said about proposing to Kai. He sent me a picture of a black ring with a meteorite texture. It was stunning.
Apparently, he was going to pop the question this week so that Kai’s parents could celebrate with them afterward. He wasn’t nervous at all, which didn’t surprise me considering how perfectly they fit together. I’d never met anyone who wasn’t nervous when they proposed, but I thought it spoke to their intense connection.
I smiled as I stared at it. I couldn’t wait to see pictures of them once they were engaged.
“That’s cool,” Roman commented groggily.
I turned the phone so he could see it better. “Sen got it for Kai. Don’t spill the beans, though.”
He snorted. “I don’t talk to any of them.”
“Maybe you’d get along. If you weren’t such a dick, that is.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Are you going back to Washington after you graduate?”
“Probably. I don’t want to stay in Chicago, and there’s not really anywhere else I can think of.”
“Never had dreams of distant lands?”
He shifted and softly kissed the side of my neck. My eyes closed, and I fought the urge to turn him onto his back.
Since it was clear that he wouldn’t respond to my question, I returned to my conversation with Sen. I intended to get as many details as I could. Their whole group was paired up, but they’d be the first to become engaged. It was going to be a huge deal.
Roman took the phone and tossed it onto the nightstand. It was loud and made me narrow my eyes at him.
“Is this you telling me that you want attention?”
Apparently committed to a wordless existence, he shrugged and flipped onto his knees. With him above me, I had a hard time convincing myself to be respectful. He was so damn hot, and now that I was allowed to admire him, I took full advantage of that.
In this position, his t-shirt hung away from his skin, and I had a glimpse of his stomach. I touched his abs, which constricted beneath my fingers. A hum came from his pursed lips as I moved my hands around to his back.
“Can we try again?” he asked.
I paused and waited for him to look at me. When he did, there was a hint of trepidation in his eyes.
“Try what?”
His lips pulled to the side, then he sighed. “What we were doing before.”
“You want me to suck your cock, Roman?”
His complexion was dark enough that his blush was barely noticeable.
But I noticed, and it was beautiful.
