Page 45 of Filthy Sweet

“Yeah. When’s good for you?” I answer. “We’ve got that concert with Reggie on Friday.”

Owen licks his bottom lip, and up close, I see that there’s still a little cum dried in his beard. “Right. But let’s not hook up on Friday, okay?”

“Definitely,” I agree. “Nothing can happen when we’re chilling with Reggie. We’ll be strictly friends on Friday.”

Giving Owen some temporary privacy is one thing, but actively deceiving my best friend would be next level. I’m not crossing that line.

“Friends on Friday, and maybe on Sunday, we can be a little more?”

I push his hair back. “Sunday,” I agree.

“Good,” Owen says, then crawls off my lap. “That gives me a few days to figure out how I’m going to blow your mind.”

Chapter Fifteen

Owen

“Earth to Owen,”Robin says. “Owen, are you there?”

It’s Friday afternoon, and we’re enjoying a work date at Robin’s university library. I’ve got a stack of research materials in front of me, articles on the rufous hummingbird and gray whales, and across the table, Robin sits at her laptop, the sleeves of her teal suit jacket rolled up.

“What’s that?”

“I asked if you want to grab dinner.”

“Oh.” I push aside the article I was holding without reading. “Right. Sorry. I’m having trouble focusing.”

“It takes a lot of energy,” Robin says with a knowing nod, “compartmentalizing your sex life like that.”

I laugh, then lower my voice. “You’re the one that schedules sex on your Apple watch.”

“Time zones are tricky,” Robin points out, then grins and taps her watch. “Plus, it’s kind of fun. I get turned on whenever I look at my calendar now.”

“Honestly, I’m just impressed you’re making the distance work.”

Robin shrugs. “Thank you, but compliments won’t save you from my nosy questions. What were you thinking about, Owen?”

I sigh. “I’m not compartmentalizing,” I say, countering her earlier claim. “It’s just that sex is the one thing I can sort of get my head around right now. I feel so, so good when I’m with Fox, like there’s this new version of Owen erupting from inside me.” I shake my head. “That sounds cheesy.”

“It’s cute.”

I take in a deep breath through my nose. “When I just focus on us having sex, and seeing what weird places we’ll go together, my whole body tingles. It feels good and right. But then Fox shared all this stuff with me, how alone he’s been, and the things he’s had to sacrifice…” I trail off, not sure what I can talk about without betraying his confidence. “He’s so good, actually. And brave. I spent years in the closet, but Fox was never afraid to be himself, even though it cost him so much…” I trail off. “He’s always had to take care of himself. I just want him to be happy.”

“Do you want some advice?”

I glance around, making sure there’s no one nearby. “Absolutely.”

“You can think with your cock all you want. Your heart is always going to be louder in the end,” Robin says seriously.

I laugh. “Is that your new bumper sticker?”

“Really,” she says. “Even if you’re able to logic everything out now, reason won’t work forever. Eventually, you’re going to have to face how you feel about Fox.”

My heart pounds. “Not yet,” I tell her. “That’s why I want to plan something exciting for him Sunday night. I don’t know how much longer we’ll be hooking up, and I really, really just need to make tomorrow night count.”

It hurts to admit that this could end at any moment, but I’m a practical person, and I know that hiding from the truth is just going to hurt worse in the end.

Robin reaches across the table and takes my hand. “Okay,” she says, accepting my rambling nonsense, although I can see she doesn’t totally buy it. “So, doing something special for Fox. Has he told you what he likes in bed?”

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