Page 70 of The Quarterback
“Yeah.” Justin frowned at his phone. “Dad’s not answering. That’s so weird.”
“Well, itisFriday night.” Wes winked, glancing at Justin before turning his attention back to the road. They’d finally hit an area of the interstate where there was cell signal, at least for the next few minutes. “Maybe he’s out.”
“He doesn’t go out. He’s Dad.”
Wes laughed. “I’m sure he’s fine. If there was something wrong, we would have heard. We would have gotten a text or a voicemail as soon as we got reception. Nothing like that, right?”
“No. He hasn’t responded to my texts.” Justin sighed and slouched against the bench seat. His lips twisted, and he glared at the ribbon of asphalt rolling before Wes’s headlights.
“It’s going to be a slightly bigger surprise for him than we thought, that’s all.” Wes grabbed Justin’s hand and pulled it into his lap. “I’m sure your dad is fine.”
“Yeah.” Justin slipped his phone into his jeans pocket and squeezed Wes’s hand. “Has it felt… weird to you, though?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like Dad’s been a little distant?” Justin shrugged. “I dunno, it’s just felt… different.”
“I think that’s what happens when you’re away from someone for a while. We saw your dad almost every day before the summer. Then we didn’t. I think that can sometimes change things.” He kissed the back of Justin’s hand. “It’s why I don’t want to spend a day without you, ever.”
Justin melted, sliding sideways against the bench seat and laying his cheek against Wes’s muscled shoulder. Wes squeezed his hand and then wrapped his arm around him, pulling him closer. “There you go, cowboy, saying those sweet things to me again.”
“Gotta keep saying things that will make you smile.” He kissed the top of Justin’s head as he steered one-handed. “I need your smile in my life every day.”
“Oh, cowboy. Il n’y a que toi qui me fait sourire.”
“J’allais dire la même chose, mon amour.”
“How long until we get there?”
“We left late, so we won’t get in until the middle of the night.”
“At least I’ve got a key.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
He and Nicklay curled toward each other with their hands interlocked, thighs threaded, ankles hooked around each other’s calves. Their foreheads and noses and lips were touching, and they traded kisses in between shattered, shaking breaths. Eventually, Colton’s blinks grew longer and he lost his battle against sleep. His eyes closed with his lips nestled against Nick’s.
They woke after midnight, bodies rocking, hands and lips gliding over each other. Colton spread his legs and welcomed Nick back inside him, arching his neck and groaning as Nick bit his jaw. Nick pinned Colton’s hands over his head and kissed Colton slowly as they made love in slow, gentle thrusts and grinds. He spilled inside Colton with a whisper, Colton’s name on his lips like a prayer.
Sometime after four a.m., they woke again, coming together with sighs and tender caresses. Colton lay on his belly, and Nick covered him, papering his back and his neck and his shoulders with gentle kisses as he laced his hands through Colton’s and wrapped him in his arms. “Nick,” Colton groaned as Nick came inside him for the third time. “I…” He bit his lip. Squeezed his eyes shut.
Nick kissed him, and kept kissing him, until sleep took him over once more.
He woke in the morning pillowed on Nick’s chest, Nick’s heart beating a steady rhythm in his ear. Nick was still snoring, soft snorts and muffled inhales, the sounds he made only when he was sleeping hard.
Colton rested his chin on his folded arms and watched Nick sleep.
Nick’s eyes fluttered open before long. Maybe Colton’s stare lured him awake, or maybe they were connected in some deep, primal way now. He could still feel Nick inside him, the shape of his body where Nick had carved a place for himself. And he could feel Nick’s seed, still there, between his ass cheeks. That had to mean something, right?
“Good morning,” Colton breathed.
Nick smiled, soft and slow. “Good morning.”
“Last night was…” He had no idea how to describe it.
“Amazing?” Nick’s eyebrows quirked. “Wonderful? The best sex ever in the history of time?”
“All that.” He grinned.
