Chapter 27

Andrew

“ I s everything okay with you and Brandon?”

My neck prickled at the question. Nathan sat across from me, patiently waiting, hands wrapped around his coffee cup.

“It’s fine.”

The way my friend raised his eyebrows meant he wasn’t buying what I was selling.

“So, you’re still going to let us all believe the leaky sink story?”

I sagged in my seat. The story had been flimsy, and I hated continuing the lie. There wasn’t a reason to. The longer we didn’t tell people what was going on, the worse I felt about the situation.

“It’s the story I have to give for now.” I picked up my drink, turning away from my friend to take a sip. The look of disappointment on his face was almost enough to make me crack and tell him everything.

“Whatever. Listen, you know you can always talk to me, right?”

Nathan was one of the best people I knew. He’d partied hard when we first started college, but had opened up fairly quickly about the boy he’d left behind. There were times that our friends questioned his admitting to being bisexual because, while he showed an interest in guys, he never went after them. Eventually, I started to believe the guy at the beach wasn’t a real person until we actually got to meet him.

Chase was the light of Nathan’s life. The two completed each other, just like I felt Brandon completed me.

I sighed, setting my cup back down and looking at my friend. “Trust me, if I had something to say, I would tell you.”

The sick feeling from the lie settled in deeper. How mad was everyone going to be when they found out? Maybe we weren’t fooling anyone.

We finished our coffee and got up to leave the café. As soon as we were outside, I slowed my pace, wanting to give Nathan a crumb about what was going on.

“We’re moving in together.”

Nathan stopped walking, turning to stare at me.

“That’s only just now happening?”

I laughed and rubbed at my neck, looking up at the sky. Dark clouds rolled in, and it looked as if it was going to rain, which was typical for this time of the year.

“Yes. I don’t know. Something about it not always being a good idea to live with your friends. Besides, you know how jealous his exes have been about me.”

Nathan said nothing, just quirked an eyebrow.

There was no way our friends didn’t know .

Once Nathan and I were side by side again, we continued our walk. After a few minutes, he finally spoke up. “It’s true that sometimes it’s not best to mix friendship with certain things. Money, politics, living arrangements... but I think you two are different.”

I shrugged as we kept going down the sidewalk. The longer we remained on the topic, the more uncomfortable I got. It was on the tip of my tongue to spill my guts. That Brandon and I had become so much more than friends and had probably been long before we made things official.

“Anyway, man, I gotta get home. There’s this killer project at work and the coding is fucking confusing. I love the challenge, but I might have to go into the office to get help with it and Chase keeps distracting me.”

I laughed at my friend as we waved goodbye. His retreating back did nothing to settle my anxiety. Telling him about moving in should have made me feel better, but somehow it didn’t.

“ S o then Mom said it was totally fine. Andrew? Are you even listening?”

My head snapped up, and I looked over at Brandon, who was stirring a pot of soup at the stove. At some point, I’d tuned out what he was saying and now I wanted to know what his mom was fine with.

“Uh...”

Brandon dropped the spoon on the stove, flipped off the burner, and was across the kitchen, pressing his hand to my forehead in less than a second.

“Are you feeling okay?”

I playfully shoved his hand away, grabbing it to pull him closer and place a kiss against his lips. A grin plastered itself across his face as he sat on the stool across from me.

“I’m fine.” I wasn’t. “Just thinking about talking to Nathan today.”

Brandon tilted his head to the side. He was always so adorable when he did that, his eyes wide behind his glasses, like a puppy begging for attention.

“What did you guys talk about?”

“Moving in.”

That smile spread further. “So funny. We both talked to someone about it to someone then? Mom’s excited, by the way...” he was up and moving back to the stove. I had my answer to what he’d been talking about. I needed to focus better when I was here with him, but at least this was becoming a permanent thing.

Brandon kept rambling while he cooked, and I got up from my seat. He didn’t seem to notice, and even after thinking that I should pay better attention, I still wasn’t. Maybe I was just tired and needed the escape to clear my head. The bedroom was dark and when I flipped on the light, the sheets were just as we left them this morning. I was always the person who made the bed, but Brandon didn’t always bother. It wasn’t something that was a deal breaker, but it was something I had always noticed about him.

I pulled the sheets back and then made the bed neatly. Although the pillows were overly deflated and would need to be replaced soon, Brandon said he sometimes liked them that way. He said he could fluff them up or stack them to be exactly the way he liked them. There was nothing quite like a new pillow to me, but I hadn’t had a new one in a while. More often than not, when I was here, I woke up with his head on my chest, so it wasn’t like the pillows really mattered, anyway.

“Something is bothering you.”

My heart pounded as I spun to find Brandon in the doorway. He gnawed at his bottom lip while one arm wrapped around his middle.

“I’m just overthinking. It’s okay.”

Brandon came into the room, approaching slowly as if he moved too quickly I’d take off running. I wasn’t afraid of him.

“Do you need help to take your mind off of things?”

Those doe eyes were back, and I knew what he was implying. I gave Brandon a smile, hooking my hand around his elbow and pulling him closer. He gave me a wide grin as my mouth descended on his .

And maybe it was what I needed, because my brain short-circuited at the contact. All I could think about was him and how good he felt. How, even if there were aspects to our relationship that weren’t perfect, he still felt right, this still felt right.

When we tumbled to the mattress, Brandon was on top of me. He bracketed his legs on either side of my hips and sifted his fingers through my hair as we continued to kiss. His tongue pushed between my lips and he took on a forcefulness that was different for him.

Things became heated between us so quickly, never staying tender for long. The second Brandon ground against me, my hands tangled in his hair and I rolled us so he was beneath me. I enjoyed being in charge as much as he liked me that way.

Shirts, pants, and underwear disappeared, leaving us naked and aroused together on the bed. Our heated skin slid together, making me hiss.

Brandon’s chest rose and fell with each labored breath as I kissed and licked my way south. He was so smooth and beautiful, a painting, and a work of art. Mine .

He cried out as my tongue licked a stripe from his balls to the tip of his cock. A liberal dewdrop of pre-cum sat at the tip and I sucked it down like it was my last meal on earth. His flavor exploded over my tastebuds as I sank down around him, supplying suction.

Like we’d perfected this dance our entire lives, Brandon’s hips lifted and canted, giving me access as I bobbed and sucked. My hand stroked his dick where my mouth was covering, and I fumbled for the bottle of lube that now lived on the nightstand instead of the drawer.

My fingers flicked open the cap, and I had to hurry to douse my fingers. My body was on fire, craving to be inside the man who had been with me through everything. Who was my everything, even if he wasn’t making me feel like the greatest person at the moment.

It was messy. So, so messy. More lube probably spilled on the floor than my fingers, but I pressed one slicked-up digit to his entrance.

“Fuck, Andrew. Yes.” Brandon praised as it sank inside.

He was so warm and perfect, squeezing me in just the right way. His body is the perfect mold to hold mine. I rushed to stretch him with a second finger until he was a whimpering and whining mess, thrashing against his sheets.

As I sat at the precipice, the head of my cock notched at his entrance, it all came crashing into me. I felt so bad about hiding things because I loved Brandon Davis. Not just as a friend. I’d always been in love with him, but adding in an actual relationship, even one in hiding, had made those feelings even stronger.

“Andrew...” His hips bucked in impatience as I continued to just sit there.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. When I pulled back, Brandon whined again, but quieted when I shifted him to his hands and knees. I enjoyed looking at him, but there was something intimate about this as well. With his back to me, I could pull him closer.

My cock ached as I pulled him back into position. The tip sank inside, just past the first ring of muscle, causing both of us to curse. The pressure was exquisite, and I wanted to sink in faster, to soak up all of his warmth.