Page 28 of Up In Flames
“Like I choked on the whole cow.” My throat hurt and my voice came out raspy, which might have been sexy if it hadn’t been so traumatizing.
“But you’re okay? Right?”
I took a deep breath, slowly, just in case it triggered more coughing. But other than my sore throat, I seemed to be fine.
“Yeah. I think I’m okay.”
“Good.”
His gaze held mine and it was like I could see him think. Like his eyes were windows into what was going on inside him. Gears turned as his mind whirred at a million miles an hour.
His hands moved to my face. His fingers slid through my hair, thumbs against my cheekbones, and then his mouth was on mine. Soft, but urgent, like he needed to kiss me but feared breaking me… or feared doing it wrong.
He didn’t have to worry about that. Nothing had ever felt so right. I only realized that I hadn’t kissed him back when he pulled away. His eyes were wide, but he didn’t let go of me.
“Oh—” A sound of wonder puffed out of him.
Oren was straight, but that didn’t stop me from closing the distance between us and kissing him like he wasn’t. I slanted my mouth over his, relishing the way his breathing hitched, the way his fingers twitched in my hair, the way he gave himself over to the kiss. Our tongues twined together, tentatively exploring. Savoring.
If nearly dying got me a kiss from Oren, I’d go through it a million times. It was worth it.
CHAPTER 13
Oren
I’d never thought of myself as anything but straight before. To be honest, I hadn’t thought about my sexuality at all. Even as a teenager I’d been driven and hadn’t made a lot of time for dating. When I did, I usually ended up with the women who pursued me. And then I went to law school, and I put school above everything. With Byron and Rita around, I was never lonely enough to worry about trying to fill the romantic void in my life.
Logically, I knew that a car accident couldn’t make someone change something as fundamental as their sexuality, but it had changed something. A lot of things. My worldview for one. My perspective on my relationships and how I held myself apart from a lot of people. Even ones I was supposed to be close to, like Liam.
I hadn’t been able to hold myself apart from Will the way I did with everyone else. Even if he hadn't been there that night, I think I’d have noticed him anyway. Will Dorsey was sunshine. A refreshing breeze. Fresh air. His presence calmed me. I felt more myself around him than I’d felt in a long time.
I thought about him all day long. Every day. Far more than I’d ever thought about Byron when he was alive. More than I’dthought about anyone. The highlights of my days were his calls and his text messages. I liked it best when we managed to hang out in person, like tonight.
He was a little quiet all day, and I hadn’t expected him to come over. Let alone with a fucking gourmet meal. And then he’d choked. And I’d fucking saved him. And it felt like a sign from the universe, a warning or something. I knew all too well how easy it was to lose someone, but the stark reminder of how fragile life was compelled me to act.
Up until I kissed him, I didn’t realize how badly I’d wanted to. His mouth was soft but immobile in his surprise. I’d pulled away, but in the length of a blink he chased me down. The only thing better than kissing Will was being kissed by Will.
I hadn’t kissed anyone in so long that I really had no frame of reference, only that it was the best kiss of my life. It still would have been if I’d kissed a thousand people before him. In reality, there was only a handful, but there might as well have been none.
I’d never questioned my sexuality before. Then I’d kissed him, and he’d kissed me back and my cock was harder than granite. His lips were firm, his mouth hot, the grip he had on me was tight as if he was afraid I’d vanish into thin air. The tighter he held me, the harder I got.
Nothing mattered. Not my sexuality or the way I thought I’d die if he stopped kissing me. The past was gone. The future didn’t exist. For a brief moment, everything was blessedly silent in my brain. It was like static, the way the world sounds when you’re underwater and all you hear is your pulse roaring in your ears.
Will was the first to pull away, but he didn’t let go.
He didn’t let go and neither did I. I thought I might fall apart if I did.
“That was…” Will trailed off
His voice still sounded ruined, and I wondered if he was really okay after what had happened. I meant to ask, but my brain kept short-circuiting.
“Incredible.” I finished the sentence for him. His grip tightened ever so slightly. If I wasn’t aware of every atom where his body touched mine, I might have missed it.
“Oren…” He took a breath and shut his eyes.
I loved the way he said my name.
“Will, I?—”
