Page 14 of A Voice In Chains
Arkin meets my gaze, and a grunt rips from my lips. It pisses me off how good it feels. Let’s face it: my hand never feels this amazing when I’m alone.
“Shit,” I groan, dropping my chin to my chest as ropes of cum erupt. “Fuck.”
A shudder runs through me while I milk the last of my release. That was beyond intense. Scary intense.
I keep stroking until my balls are empty and my heart has finally returned to a normal rhythm. When I look up, Arkin is gone.
There’s no reason for me to feel this bothered. I taunted him on purpose, after all, because I was angry and defiant. But now my chest tightens with shame as I turn off the shower and ram my fist into the tiles. Water drips from my nose, and I drag my fingers through my soaked hair. Fuck it all to hell.
CHAPTER FOUR
On Saturday evening, Mum knocks on our bedroom door and pops her head inside. She sees me on the bed with my phone and enters the room. “Where’s Arkin?” she asks.
“Bathroom,” I reply without looking up from the screen. We won Friday’s game, and my teammates are still on a high.
Mum sits on the edge of my bed and puts her hand on my knee. “I’ve been thinking that it’s probably a good idea if you take Arkin to meet your friends. You should bring him with you tonight.”
I pause typing. “Excuse me?”
“He’s been cooped up in here a lot. He starts college soon, and making friends could benefit him.”
“They’remyfriends.”
Can’t he make his own friends? Why steal mine?
“Yes, but…” She drifts off, glancing at the bathroom door when the shower turns off. She looks at me, and I throw my phone down. “Please, Zachary. It could be good for him to socialize.”
I gnash my teeth, watching Mum stare at me with her notorious pleading look—the one that would make Dad leavethe house in a fucking snowstorm late at night, during a zombie apocalypse, to buy her doughnuts if she asked for some.
“Please.”
“Fuck, fine.” I sigh.
The door to the bathroom opens. Arkin exits and stops in his tracks when he sees Mum.
At least he’s fully dressed for once and not in a towel that’s barely clinging to him.
He walks over to his side of the room and grabs his spray-on deodorant. Over the last few days, I’ve avoided him as much as possible by staying out late and finding excuses not to be home. Though, of course, Mum had to intervene with my master plan.
He reaches beneath his T-shirt and sprays his armpits.
Mum smiles at me as she squeezes my thigh. Then she stands up and offers the same gentle smile to Arkin, but he isn’t looking at her because his attention is on me.
Always on fucking me if we’re in the same room.
I can’t breathe.
When she finally walks out, I flop back down on my bed and dig my fingers into my eyeballs. The room smells of his Lynx Africa deodorant and minty shampoo, and I try not to notice it, but it’s impossible not to. I can’tnotnotice him when he’s around, and it’s messing with my head.
Sitting back up, I swing my legs over the side of the bed and rest my elbows on my thighs. “You’re coming with me today to meet my friends.”
Arkin shifts in my periphery, but I don’t look at him. Instead, I stand up and stretch my arms overhead, stifling a yawn. “Be ready in ten, or I’m leaving without you.”
Twenty minutes later, we’re in the car on our way to my teammate’s house. Darkness has settled, and the lights on the dashboard provide the sole illumination inside the vehicle out here on the country road.
I turn on the full beams after an oncoming car drives past and glance sideways at Arkin. He stares at the dark road ahead but peers at me when he senses my attention on him, and I quickly look back out the windscreen before clearing my throat.
I do that a lot when he’s around.
