Page 22 of One Lovely Lie

I panic. I throw myself in front of Avery with my hands held up to his chest. “Um, wait.”

It’s not unusual for Magnus to come over, and it’s not unusual for Avery to see him in my bed, but he’s never been half-naked passed out in my bed.

Avery tilts his head to the side, studying me before pinching his eyebrows together. “What did you do?”

I know that I said I wanted to keep this to myself, but there’s no way Avery won’t find out. We live together. He knows how I feel about Magnus. For someone so strange and seemingly self-involved, he’s actually quite astute. It’s only a matter of time before I slip or he catches on.

Plus, it would be nice to be able to talk to somebody about this.

I pace in front of him with my hands in my hair as all my doubts resurface. “I feel so stupid.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Avery hums, bringing me into a dirty hug as he pats the top of my head. “You can tell me.”

I pull back. “Swear you’re going to keep it a secret?” When he nods, I take a deep breath and go for it. “Magnus and I hooked up.”

“That’s awesome, man!” Avery nearly shouts, shaking my shoulders with too much enthusiasm, his eyes lit up as if Bunny returned to him. “I knew it would just take one time for him to wake the fuck up.”

“No, that’s not it,” I say sheepishly, mustering up the courage to speak. “He’s just helping me out with sex stuff.”

Avery takes a step back and wrinkles his nose. “Helping you with sex stuff?”

“Yeah, like a sex tutor,” I explain lamely.

“You realize how crazy that sounds…” Shaking his head at me. “Even to me.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “You’re not crazy, Avery.”

“Sure I am. It’s my thing. Back to you and Magnus. What exactly do you mean by sex tutor?”

“I mean, we’ll just be friends that occasionally mess around.”

“Oh, Daniel…” He brings me back into a hug, and I try not to be repulsed by the pity in his touch. And also, all the dirt. “I really hope you know what you’re doing.”

I don’t. Not at all. Not even a little bit. But I also can’t find the will to put an end to this before it breaks my heart.

Chapter 7

Magnus

“Please, don’t stop doing that…”

I smile around Daniel’s cock.

Once again, this is the perfect distraction from everything going on in my life. After another excruciating and embarrassing phone call from my dad, this is just what I needed. I can escape to a place where my only job is to please my best friend. He hasn’t reciprocated yet, but I don’t mind. The last thing I want to do is rush him. I can tell he’s still skittish and unsure about what we’re doing, even thoughI’mabsolutely into it.

All my life, it’s been Daniel. Daniel as my safe haven. Daniel as the one person that knows me the best. Daniel as the one I can tell anything to.

With his cock in my mouth, his balls in my hand, and his precum sliding down my throat, this is just another way I can have him. Another—very sexy—step in our friendship.

“You going to come for me, baby?” I tease, licking a stripe up his cock.

“Fuck, you’re so cocky,” he breathes. His hands are cradling my face, helping me up and down his cock, his thumb brushing the corner of my lip. “I’m gonna come.”

With a few more uncoordinated thrusts of his hips, he’s coming in my mouth and I’m swallowing it all down. I lick the remnants off my lips and then crawl over his exhausted, limp body, stopping at his lips so he can taste himself on my tongue.

“Mmm,” he hums, his tongue stroking mine as he runs his hand through my hair. “So good.”

“I’ll take every compliment I can get,” I laugh, kissing his cheek and plopping down onto the bed beside him. I look over and see that he has another nervous look in his eyes, something far away that doesn’t sit well with me.

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