Page 23 of Stay A Little Longer
Shane shook his head, “Stop being weird and come say hello.”
“Nah, I…”
“Jesus Nichols, you got a crush on the superstar or something?”
He barked a laugh that felt loud. Too loud. Too fake. And slightly manic. Because yes, of course he had a crush. He’d had a crush for years. One of those silly, ridiculous celebrity crushes that nothing could ever come of because it was safe. He was never supposed to have met the guy let alone crawled into his lap and sucked on his tongue.
And there his dick went again, twitching with memories.
“I’m… I should go put a shirt on at least. Give me a minute.”
“What?” Shane rolled his eyes, “Fuck. Nichols, don’t be an asshole. He’s not going to jump you because he’s gay and you’re shirtless. You’re not that fucking irresistible.”
Lance tried not to wince at the words. That wasn’t what he’d meant. Hell, he’d been more worried he might jump Trent than the other way around. But Shane thought he was a bastard, just like everyone else in this town, so of course he thought Lance was homophobic enough to want to put on clothes before meeting the gay guy.
“It’s not that I…”
“Sure. Just try to be less of a dick when you meet the guy, okay? Don’t make him uncomfortable.”
Lance snorted, “What about me being uncomfortable?”
“Yeah I could give two shits about that.” Shane grinned at him good-naturedly before turning back to the trailer and raising his voice, “Hey! Lem! Come out here would you?”
He cringed at the request. This was happening. It was really happening and there was no escape. He was half-dressed in a pair of sweatpants that wouldn’t camouflage his reactions at all and he was about to come face to face with the star of his fantasies. The same man that had blown all those fantasies out of the water last night when he read Lance’s mind and gave him exactly what he wanted. Needed. What he’d always craved. And made him want more.
“What? We’re talking!” Lemon’s voice rang back with slight irritation.
“You can talk later. Come outside. I want to introduce Trent to his new neighbor.” Shane growled back.
There was a long moment of silence and Lance caught himself holding his breath. Trent knew Shane meant him. There was nobody else but the four of them for a good half-mile in every direction. What would Trent do? Come outside and pretend he didn’t already know him? Intimately? Or come outside and out him? Lance swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat.
“Trent said he hasn’t even had a shower yet. He’ll meet Nichols later.” Lemon chirped, her head popping out the open door of the trailer.
Shane rolled his eyes at Lance, “What is with you two? It’s not the MTV Music Awards. Just get over here and say hello so we can all go about our day.”
With no escape route in sight, Lance slowly followed Shane back towards the trailer. His heart was racing in his chest, pounding out a beat so hard and fast he thought it might explode. It would be karma if Trent outed him now. For all he’d done and all the people he’d hurt with his lie, Lance deserved this and had known it would come sooner or later.
But even as his head spun and his heart walloped, somewhere deep down, deep in his soul, he knew that Trent wouldn’t out him. Not here and not now. Not like this. Not after what he’d just gone through and not after what they’d shared last night.
A big figure loomed in the doorway of the trailer before heavy steps brought Trent out into the light. Their eyes connected again and that spark of electricity snapped between them. Lance’s entire body shuddered with awareness as the other man stepped down so they were on the same footing. Those beautiful blue eyes were wary but the fire was still there, Lance could see it, and he knew, he just knew, that he wasn’t the only one that felt it.
Whatever had happened between them last night, it had been crazy. Spontaneous. Out of control. It had burned bright and fast but it hadn’t burned out. He still wanted Trent and Trent still wanted him. There was something here, between them, if only Lance had the balls to figure out what it was.
Instead he dropped his gaze. Because he wasn’t strong enough to find out. He couldn’t. Whatever attraction there was between them, it wasn’t worth losing his entire life over.
“Hey.”
Lance swallowed hard… was it?
That deep, velvet voice rolled over his senses and Lance fought another shiver of desire. Memories of that voice, husky with need, made him bite his lip to keep back a moan. God that voice, it was sex and sin and he wanted to hear it whispering against his ear again, telling him what to do.
He forced his eyes back up, “Hey.”
Trent’s blue eyes twinkled with amusement and Lance tried not to fidget. The other man knew he was nervous and he was grinning now. That wide, sparkling white-toothed grin that could’ve sold toothpaste. Somehow, someway, it made Lance want to grin right back at him, as if they had a secret that nobody else was in on… which he supposed they kind of did.
“Well, that was poetic. Really.” Shane snorted, bringing them back to reality, “But let’s try it again, huh? Lance, this is Trent Thorne. You know who he is and why he’s here. Play nice.”
Lance’s smile dimmed and he glared at his supposed friend, “I’m always nice.”
