Page 62 of Dead Serious with Benefits
“I do know you.”
“You’ve known me a week, that’s my point. Of course, you don’t trust me; you haven’t had the time or the experience with me to trust me. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. “Yes, I suppose that’s true, but...even still. I haven’t gone bareback with someone when I barely know them.”
“Ah, so it feels strange that you’ve done it with me.”
“Yes, I suppose you haven’t had that issue.”
I’d had my own issues, namely that I couldn’t stay in control around him, which was...new. In many ways, I was less in control with him than I had been growing up with my mother at the helm. Of course, the major difference was that he wasn’t a cold-hearted bitch who insisted on controlling every little thing in people’s lives. No, that lack of control was my responsibility, not Arlo’s.
It was also not about me. “I can’t say I’ve had the same self-control as you have.”
He grunted. “It’s...different. It worries me.”
“Candid,” I remarked. “But I appreciate the candor.”
He snorted. “I’m just rambling without thinking. My head is somehow spinning, yet calmer than I’m used to; things are slipping through the cracks.”
“You know, not to be crude, but, uh, speaking of things leaking through cracks,” I said with a grin. “I’m kind of making a mess...it’s a mess you made of me, but now it’s a mess I’m making of the bed.”
“Oh,” he said, raising his head and looking at me. “God, I wasn’t thinking, was I? That’s going to get dry and crusty soon.”
“I was more concerned about your blanket,” I said, looking down to see that his prediction was already coming true. “Ha, coming.”
He looked at me. “What?”
I gestured to my head. “Sorry, thinking to myself, I accidentally made a pun that was too good to ignore. I had to laugh.”
Arlo looked bemused. “Right. Well, the blanket can be washed. I have another one we can use. But we should probably get you cleaned up. Are you staying?”
“Hm?”
“The night...with me.”
It was the second time tonight I saw shyness from him. For all his talk about how confident I appeared, he was not much better. So seeing him unsure or shy about something was strange, but ultimately endearing. Maybe that, along with the barebacking, was a sign of my effect on him. If that was the case, I was more than happy to welcome more.
“Well,” I said, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. “I don’t have a reliable way home, and how would I ever survive something as base as a ride share without someone with intimate knowledge of how to use them?”
“If you were attempting to sound haughty, you missed the mark and landed closer to ridiculous.”
“Mmm, missed my mark but found a perfectly acceptable resting place. I can deal with being ridiculous, I have for years,” I told him as I stood up and stretched.
“You’re not ridiculous...not to me,” he said softly.
I turned and smiled. “You don’t have to take care of my feelings, Arlo. I appreciate it, but I’m not beating myself up and feeling sorry for myself.”
He stared at me for a few heartbeats before looking away. “Sometimes I wonder if you are or aren’t. In any case, let me get you a pair of shorts.”
“I suppose our waist size is close enough,” I said.
“I can’t tell if you’re trying to act as if you’ve never worn anything with elastic other than your underwear,” he said as he opened his closet. “Or if you’re trying to assure me that you can wear my basketball shorts because we’re about the same size.”
“Pick whichever option is the funniest to you,” I said with a snort as I took the shorts he offered.
“You can go clean yourself up first. I won’t take as much time,” he said, gesturing toward the door as he pulled shorts on. “Turn left, it’s the first door on the right...not the second.”
I smirked. “Could you imagine if your brother saw me covered in cum, and wearing a pair of your shorts?”
