Page 40 of Dirty Love

I look up from my notebook just in time to see Kade checking every aisle on his way through the library, stopping mid step when he sees me sitting here.

“There you are,” he hisses, ignoring the several stares he’s getting for being too loud, quickly checking me for damage as he walks over to my table. “What the fuck are you doing in here?”

“It’s study hall, Kade,” I say slowly. “I’m studying.”

“Study hall ended twenty minutes ago, Nicky,” he grits out, snatching the pen I’m chewing on to toss it into my school bag. “Get up. We’re going to lunch.”

“But I’m not—”

His eyes hit mine and I snap my mouth shut, sighing loudly as I stand up to pack my shit away. Pulling my sleeves down to my knuckles, I shove my hands into my front pocket and follow him out to the hall, side-eyeing him with a small grin when I realize how mad he is.

“You alright, brother?”

His jaw ticks and he carries on walking, waiting to ensure no one hears before he decides to answer. “I swear to god you do this shit to me on purpose.”

“I do not,” I lie, laughing lightly when he turns his head to glare at me. “Okay, maybe.”

He makes a noise and pushes the cafeteria door open, gesturing to one of the few empty tables in the back corner. “What do you want?”

“A little of everything,” I joke, but I don’t think he finds me funny. “Whatever’s fine.”

He goes to wait in line and I shake my head at him, not missing the eyes on my back as I choose a table and drop my ass down. I take my notebook out and finish the paragraph I was writing before I forget it, looking up when I spot Mark, Parker and Austin walking towards me with their trays in their hands.

“Do you ever do anything besides homework and jerk off?” Parker teases, sitting down on the bench seat next to me as Mark and Austin take the one opposite. “In that order, too, am I right?”

I don’t have an answer for that, which is why I close my book and rest my forearms on top of it, lamely playing with my sleeves just so I have something to do with my hands. I don’t mind these boys and the sly digs they throw my way when Kade’s not around—not as much as I used to, at least—but I can’t look them in the eye when they crowd my space like this, too afraid they’ll accuse me of checking them out if I stare for too long.

Kade finally walks over with two plates of pasta and sets one down in front of me, staring blankly at the side of Parker’s face until he takes the hint. Parker rolls his eyes but laughs it off, scooting around to the other side of the table to sit next to Mark. Kade takes his seat beside me and I pick up my fork, smiling to myself while I play with the food on my plate.

“You good?” he asks me, keeping his voice low to ensure the boys don’t hear.

I nod and he licks his lips, discreetly looking over his shoulder to check no one’s watching, then he takes a sip of his water and rests his left hand on my lap. My skin tingles beneath my jeans and I squeeze my legs together, looking down to find him crooking a finger in his direction. Quick to obey my older brother, I clear my throat and scoot a little closer to him, doing my best not to shiver when he spreads his fingers out and digs his nails into my thigh.

“Good boy,” he mouths, and just like that, my dick is hard and my heart is racing with adrenaline.

I fucking love it when he talks to me like that.

He smirks like he knows it and carries on eating, eyes forward as he pretends to listen to whatever Mark is talking about. I copy him and take a bite of my food, shivering for real this time when he moves his hand up a little higher. I look over at him and he circles my outer thigh with his thumb, his touch gentle and soothing as if he’s telling me to keep being good for him.

Jesus, is he rewarding me?

Testing the waters, I scoop up another forkful of pasta and shove it into my mouth, fighting a groan when his hand moves higher again, his long fingers brushing the inside of my thigh this time. He squeezes me there and I almost choke on my own tongue, but I don’t stop eating, afraid he’ll pull away if I don’t give him what he wants. By the time I’ve eaten almost all of it, his hand is just below my dick and I’m so close to going off in my jeans, so close that I have to stop for a second to take a drink, genuinely afraid he’s about to out us in front of the entire school. I risk a glance at him and he slides his hand around to my back, gently tracing the bottom of my spine with his fingertips. He’s still not looking at me, but I don’t miss what he’s trying to tell me without words.

He won’t out us.

He knows my body just as well as he knows his own, and there’s no way he’s about to push me that far, to make me come in front of everyone here.

But fuck, I need to come.

Like now.

“Nicky liked her,” someone says, and I’m suddenly pulled back to the conversation I haven’t been paying attention to, blinking at Austin in confusion.

“I… what?”

“That emo girl I fucked at the cabin,” he explains, wiggling his brows at me. “You liked her, right?”

My cheeks heat with embarrassment and I drop my eyes to my plate, not forgetting the look he gave me when I all but ran away from her the other night. Kade tenses beside me and moves his hand back to where it was before, making me jump a little bit, his touch quickly morphing from teasing to possessive.

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