Page 9 of One Lovely Lie

“You’re my tree.”

“A fuckingtree?”

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it until my dying day. Forget about all of them because you willalwaysbe my leading man.”

He presses a kiss on my forehead and all I can do is melt. I’m reminded again of why I keep my secret. Because, at the end of the day, it is just us. Best friends forever, the most important person in each other’s lives, the one person we can’t live without.

I’m all his. He’s all mine. It’s always going to be me and him.

Because when he says it like that, why would I need anything more?

Chapter 3

Magnus

Life is so fucking good and I’m living it to the fullest. How can I not? I have a group of friends that I love, I’m captain of the lacrosse team, and I’m currently ass deep in Thaxton Marshall’s tight hole and so close to coming it’s ridiculous.

I grab Thaxton’s hips with a sort of feverish hunger, closing my eyes as he clenches his ass and I see fucking stars.

“Oh, Magnus…” Thaxton moans, gripping the sheets beneath him until his knuckles turn white. I always love it when they beg like this, making me feel like a king whose only job is to give them pleasure, not an ounce of stress in the world.

“You close?” I grunt, trying to hold back my orgasm as I wait for Thaxton to reach his peak. I’m nothing if not a giving lover, and I’ll be damned if he walks away unsatisfied. I reach around him, jacking him roughly like I know he likes until my hand is coated in his cum.

Finally, I let myself go. A few more pumps, my body twitching, my tendons stretching, and I’m done.

I flop beside him on the bed, sweaty and out of breath as I take the condom off and throw it in the trash bin in the corner of the room. I glance at the clock on the nightstand, wondering how much time Carter will give me before he comes back from the library. I check my phone and don’t see any notifications, so I’ll give it another twenty minutes before I get dressed.

“Wow,” Thaxton sighs, chuckling as he turns toward me. “That was great.”

“Yeah, it always is,” I say sweetly, giving his arm a light squeeze as I reach for some wipes for him. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” he says, cleaning himself up.

I expect him to get up and leave, it’s our usual routine, but he stays. I hate to be a jackass and say that I’m disappointed, but I am. Normally, he’ll walk his fine ass out of here as soon as we’re done and that’s perfectly fine with me. He knows the score.

But now he’s staring at me expectantly, rubbing the spot on the bed I just vacated, and I oblige because I’m not a dick.

“Have you heard that Yungblud is going to be in Munich next week?” he asks, curling up into my chest, startling me for a second because this is new. “We can hop on the train and go?”

It’s true that Armory Prep lets seniors leave the campus on the weekends, so long as we return by Monday, ready for class. But that’s not the reason I’m hesitant. I hold in a long sigh because I thought I’d have a couple more weeks with Thaxton before it turned to this.

The sex is great, he keeps me satisfied, and he’s not an asshole, but the second Thaxton suggests making thismore, I know it’s time to bolt.

“Sure, we’ll see,” I say noncommittally, already wondering how I can get him out of my room with the least amount of damage possible. Thaxton continues to make himself comfortable on my bed, clinging to me, and this is always the most awkward fucking part.

I yawn dramatically, stretching my arms over my head. “So, I’m beat.”

Thaxton furrows his brow, confused for a second, but the realization dawns on him a moment later when I don’t invite him to stay the night. His cheeks flush and not because of the fact I just made him come. “Oh, yeah, I should probably go.”

“Probably,” I reply too quickly, and I nearly wince at the way that came out. “I mean, we have class in the morning and all that.”

“For sure, definitely,” he says, stumbling out of bed as he digs through the pile on the floor for his clothes. “You’ll let me know about Yungblud? I can buy the tickets for us?”

“Sure,” I nod, throwing on a pair of boxers as I walk him to the door. “We’ll see.”

I go to kiss his cheek and when I pull back, I can see that he finally realizes what’s happening. The casual fun we were having is done.

He straightens up, and I give him credit for keeping his dignity intact—I can’t say the same for others in the past—and clears his throat.

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