Page 25 of Run to Me
I shake my head quickly, forcing a smile. “No. I’d rather connect riding in a car to you than to him. I don’t want to keep letting his words and memories hold me back from things.”
“I don’t want that for you either. The asshole stole so much from you. Let me help you take it back.” His smile is warm, settling something alight inside me.
We’re mostly quiet on the long drive, listening to music and occasionally singing along to the songs playing. We stop to grab food and I tell him to order me the same as him, but it’s not until the bag is resting in my lap that the scent of curly fries has my stomach rolling. My fists ball around the top of the paper sack, my breaths painful as they push their way past my lips.
“Feed me a fry, will you?” Nate says, but I’m too far into this state of paralysis to fully take in his words, my body stiff against the seat as I clench my teeth.
“Jace?” He shakes my shoulder, pulling into the nearest parking space. “What’s happening? Is it the car? We can get out and walk around for a bit.”
I shake my head frantically, staring down at the food in my lap, needing it away from me as fast as possible but not remembering how to use my hands.
“What is it then?” Panic causes his words to shake. “Tell me what’s wrong, baby.” He pulls at my chin, those blue eyes resembling clouds in a storm.
“The food.”
He takes one look at where my gaze is falling and quickly grabs the bag, tossing it outside, no fucking questions asked. The windows roll down and the air already feels less heavy and thick.
“Better?”
My lips press tightly together and I nod, finally able to breathe solely through my nose, the scent no longer strong enough to make my head spin.
“Want to talk about it? Only if you want.” His fingers are so soft against my cheek. I lean in closer, closing my eyes and allowing myself to land in my safe place. Nate is a fluffy cloud in a world full of sharp knives and teeth. One I’m afraid I’ll end up draining so much, he’ll no longer be able to float.
“I . . . That was a reward.” It’s funny, I didn’t think anything was worse than breaking the rules, until I was reminded of my dad’s rewards when I made him proud.
“A reward?”
“Yeah . . . he never called it that, but I can tell that’s what he meant it as.” One of those good memories I was talking about, until they no longer were. “For after I . . .” I swallow the thickness in my throat. “After someone made it to theirnew home safely. I didn’t know the name of the restaurant, he didn’t tell me. He’d just hand me a plate with the food already unwrapped. But it was the same place, I remember the smell. He was a manager somewhere, that’s all I know, and he’d smell of grease when he got home from work. I think it was his cover job.”
Nate’s eyes sink, misting over. “Oh, Jace. I’m so sorry. If I had known—”
“How could you? Even I forgot. I’ve been trying to shove those days down as far as they’ll go.” Everything forced down is meant to come back up eventually, though.
“I just . . . I hate for this to be linked to today. Maybe we can go home and have a do-over, and I can do better tomorrow. Maybe—”
I press my fingers to his lips, hating that he feels like he’s to blame. “I don’t want a do-over, baby. I want this right here, with you. It’s my favorite way to move forward. You did nothing wrong. I’m the one ruining our day together.”
“No, you’re not. These are just small bumps in the road while we’re moving forward. We can try to make them less rocky, though. How about tacos?”
A smile slowly spreads across my face, and how is he so damn perfect? Because they really are small bumps in the road when he’s traveling with me, and I feel like over time I really could crush them until they disintegrate into nothing.
“Tacos sound perfect.”
The light returns to his eyes and he steps out of the car to throw the food away in the trash can across the way, distancing it from me along with the awful memory of my dad, leaving Nate as the only thing in my periphery.
When he returns, he immediately starts driving again, turning the music back on and holding my hand. I watch his mouth move around each word of every song, taking in the sunshinebouncing off his cheeks and brightening his smile. His hand moves from my hand to my thigh, sliding closer to my groin, and I’m already looking forward to driving more places with him. How can I not if they all lead to this? To his sneaky, flirty glances at me, and to him massaging my cock with promises of what’s to come when we exit this car.
As soon as Nate parks in a discreet area covered by trees, he climbs into my lap, sliding my seat back. Smashing our mouths together, he slips his hands up my shirt, rocking his erection into mine. With drawn-out gasps and pants, we meet each other’s thrusts, rutting against one another like two animals in heat. Our clothes restrict us from going too far, and right when I feel as if I could burst at any moment, Nate frees both of our cocks. His soft skin rubs over mine, tiny shock waves of electricity scattering from his skin to mine. The friction is too much and not enough at the same time. Spitting between us, his fingers hook around us and he bounces in my lap, ducking his head as he tugs us both at the same time.
“Fuck,” he whispers, lowering his face to mine and sliding down my lap. He releases his grip, and as I’m about to ask what he’s doing he presses his head to mine, dragging my foreskin forward. Stretching me around him, he rubs our tips together, and my head spins out of control. The discomfort quickly turns into something world-shattering as he moves his fingers faster, pushing harder into me.
My vision blurs and my balls draw tight. All feeling drains from my legs and arms as I cry out in pleasure. He comes right after me, body convulsing and losing all coordination.
“That was so much better than I thought it would be,” he says between chuckles.
“That . . . I was not expecting that.”
“I . . . I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
