CHAPTER 17

Micah

Even though there was a lot that I regretted about the Halloween party (mainly all of it), the one good thing to come out of it was reuniting with Bash. After our mutual breakdowns, it seems we had purged enough of the issues holding us down that we were able to move back into familiar, comfortable territory.

We had reinstated weekly movie nights and even started studying together a few times a week, and I was immensely happy. It was as though we had finally found stable ground as we reinvested in our friendship. We went back to texting every day, and each morning I woke up to his name on my screen, I thanked all the gods there might have been that we had found a way back to each other again. I had known all along that Bash"s friendship was essential to me, but it had been continually proven the last couple of weeks as I slowly started to feel like myself again.

As for Kit, we had gone on a couple of lunch dates together since the party and he didn"t seem put out anymore about how I had abandoned him for Bash. It took me a couple of hours of non-stop texting with him to calm him down the next day and assure him that Bash and I had other issues going on that had nothing to do with him and me. Clearly that was bullshit, but I didn"t want to create an argument and I wasn"t ready yet to throw in the towel with dating Kit. I may have regretted our hookup and he may not have stirred the same feelings in me that my bestie did, but it was still necessary for me to get over Bash eventually. Kit was a decent enough guy that I felt bad for not giving him a full chance, so I was willing to hang in there for a little while longer at least.

Thanksgiving was a week away and though I was supremely thankful for the long break from my grueling classes, I wasn"t exactly looking forward to it this year. My parents had planned to go on a couples retreat with friends a few months ago and it happened to overlap with my break, so I was Little Orphan Annie for the holiday. I knew Bash spent each Thanksgiving with his family back in Dallas, so he wasn"t an option. I made plans to stay holed up in my apartment, order in Chinese, and binge watch The Simpsons for the next ten days. It was a tolerable level of pathetic for me.

While I was starting up the second season of the show on Saturday morning, waiting for Bash to come over and hang out with me and Rhys, my phone rang. I answered without looking, figuring it was just Bash telling me he was gonna be late or ask if I wanted him to bring food.

"Hello?" I asked distractedly, attention mostly still on the TV.

"Hey babe! What are you up to?" Kit greeted me happily.

I was thrown for a minute since I was expecting a different voice, but I recovered quickly. Not sure how I feel about the "babe" though…jury"s out on that one.

"Oh, hey! Uh, not much. I have plans with Rhys and Bash later today, but I"m just chilling with the Simpsons right now. Why?"

"You said your parents are gone for the break, correct?"

"Yeeeah…" I answered slowly.

"Well, what would you say to coming home with me to The Woodlands for the week?" he asked in a chipper tone.

Stunned, I didn"t know what to say. I had told him a few days ago that I had planned to stay on campus for the holiday, and he hadn"t even blinked an eye at the news.

"Oh…um, I don"t k-"

"I mean, it works out perfect! We get the week together and you get to meet my parents! Come on, it"ll be great!"

"Well, Kit…"

"I can pick you up tonight around 5pm. What do you say?" he continued on like I hadn"t spoken.

I didn"t know what to think about his offer coming out of left field like that. I definitely didn"t think we were at a "meet the parents" level in our relationship yet. Maybe he was just trying to be nice and not let me be alone over the break.

"Kit, that"s really sweet of you to invite me, but…I don"t think that"s a good idea," I apologized meekly.

"Why not?" he snapped lightly, evidently not liking my answer. "You already told me you don"t have anywhere to go during the break, and this is the perfect solution."

"I actually came to terms with it and was kinda looking forward to spending the break alone, doing my own thing…I"m really sorry, it has nothing to do with you, Kit," I explained. Well…it was half the truth at least.

"So you"re actually telling me that you"d rather spend the next week alone than come be with me?" Kit griped, fully annoyed by my decision now.

"It"s not about not wanting to see you, I just…"

"Nope. That"s okay. I get it. I"ll call you when I get back to town. Enjoy your alone time, I guess," he snipped at me before hanging up. Oookay…that could have gone worse, I guess…

I didn"t want to expend any energy worrying over his reaction though. It was way too soon to be introducing me to any of his relatives, or even taking four hour road trips together. We hadn"t done anything more than a couple of quick kisses since the messy blowjob I gave him, and I had a feeling that if I had gone with him, he would have expected us to take it a step further. I wasn"t prepared for that, nor did I really want it. Maybe eventually, but I wasn"t ready. Not by a long shot.

Maybe trying to force things with Kit wasn"t fair to either of us, but I"d cross that bridge next week when he returned.

Before I sank into those thoughts too much, there was a knock on my door signaling that Bash was there. I jogged over to open the door and like the beautiful, gift-bringing vision he was, he stood there with food in his outstretched hand. "Did you ever know that you"re my hero?" I crooned at him, placing a hand dramatically over my heart.

Bash rolled his eyes and smirked at me, "If you break out into a chorus of "Wind Beneath My Wings", I will leave you to rot and take the food with me. I shit you not."

Wow. So rude.

"You"re just jealous because I can actually sing, Dupont. Would you like some pepper to go with that salty attitude of yours?" I scoffed at him. He obviously didn"t appreciate my wit because he shoved me with his shoulder and stole back the bag of food from me.

"You"re mighty cocky there, MM, but I don"t see you putting your money where your mouth is. How about we make a deal? You sing me a song, I"ll give you the food," Bash teased, his eyes glinting with amusement.

I faked a cough and grabbed at my throat. "Oh, you know…I would, truly, but my throat…it"s a little…" I coughed some more, committed to the drama at that point.

Bash gave me a look dripping with fake sympathy and stepped closer, nodding his head.

"Ooooh, yeah…that sounds bad. You know, you sound like you have a little…bullshit caught in there or something," he needled me before pouncing on me, getting me in my ticklish spot on the sides of my stomach.

I shrieked in helpless laughter, attempting to pull away, but Bash was relentless. "Holy shit, stop! Bash, you ass! You know I hate being tickled!" I choked out between torturous laughs, finding it hard to take in a deep breath.

"Oh I"m sorry! I couldn"t quite make that out…I think your throat"s in real bad shape there," he snickered, unwavering in his ticklish assault.

"Bash, please! Stop! Fuck, I can"t breathe!" I laughed even harder, trying to suck in air and ultimately dropping to the floor to get away from his devious hands.

Bash followed me down, tickling me harder for a few more seconds as I snorted out more laughter in a terribly unattractive manner. Finally, I tapped him hard on his thigh a few times and he relented, laughing almost as hard as I was.

"You…are such…a dick," I chuckled out between gasping breaths, trying to get my breathing back under control. Bash just laughed some more.

"Eh, but you love me anyway," he grinned mischievously, locking eyes with me.

The air shifted around us, growing more charged by the second. We were both still smiling and catching our breaths, neither of us breaking the contact. I became intensely aware of Bash straddling my hips, his hands on either side of my shoulders as he held himself over me.

Slowly, the smile slipped from Bash"s face as his breaths became deeper, heavier. I swallowed hard, feeling a tingling sensation spreading through my body and sweeping down toward my groin. The pupils of Bash"s eyes grew wider, swallowing the emerald color like a tempest swirling out from the center.

"BB…" I whispered, noticing that Bash had begun lowering himself ever so slowly toward me on the ground. I wasn"t entirely sure he was even aware he was doing it, but it caused my pulse to climb steadily. His eyes broke contact for a second as he flicked his gaze to my lips, and I reflexively wet them with my tongue.

His breathing caught in his chest, and I felt like I was engulfed in flames, my body temperature rising by the second. He inched a little closer…

"Hey you two! Are we…uhh, hi? Whatcha doing on the floor?" Rhys" voice reached us as he sauntered out of his room and into the kitchen, just catching sight of us on the floor as he rounded the island.

The spell was instantly broken, and Bash"s eyes shot wide before he scrambled off of me onto his feet. Ugh…sometimes I hate having a roommate…

"Bash is a sadistic tickler and I need a new best friend," I grunted as Bash held out his hand to help me up. His warm, rough palm had the tingling sensation reigniting and coursing up my arm, so I quickly dropped it once I was situated on my feet again.

"Cool…sooo, The Simpsons?" Rhys deflected, sensing the heightened tension in the room and growing uncomfortable.

Bash and I glanced at each other one more time, and he gave me a soft, heart-stopping smile before turning to load up his plate.

Just like that, I felt the ground move under my feet as the foundation of our friendship shifted a little more.

*****

Bastian

I headed home to Dallas early Sunday morning after spending the better part of Saturday with Micah and Rhys. That close call in the kitchen had my head reeling all day, and when I went to bed that night, I flooded my hand with cum to thoughts of Micah.

I had fought with myself over surrendering to the sinful, delicious thoughts of him months ago, but in the end my lust won out and I gave in to the urges. I had started with replaying the night we hooked up, but soon after I let the thoughts of us together run wild. Fantasies were pulled from the darkest depths of my brain, taking on a life of their own.

Micah bent over the desk in my room as I hold him down, me pounding into him in the shower, his legs hiked up to his chest as I plunge into him mercilessly, my fingers deep in his hot, tight hole as I suck him off and make him scream…

The unfortunate part of the stimulating visions was that they always brought me to climax too damn fast. It was never a problem I had before I started thinking of Micah in that way, but it seemed my body was so tightly wound for him that I always shattered within three minutes each night. It turns out that it wasn"t just the idea of fucking Micah that got me there…

Letting myself recall the way I had him pinned beneath me on his kitchen floor, his face flushed, his breathing ragged, and his dick swelling slowly under me had me blowing my load in record time. Son of a bitch…being so hard up for my best friend has turned me into a two-pump chump. That"s not at all humiliating…

As I turned onto the long, winding driveway that led to my house, I cleared my head of Micah and my unfortunate premature emissions, focusing on getting through the next several days with my parents. I was happy to see my mom and check on her, but my dad could go bury his head in an ant hill for all I fucking cared. My goal was to avoid him as much as humanly possible.

I unlocked the front door and called out for anyone who might have been home.

"In here, sweet boy!" I heard my mom"s lyrical voice call out from the kitchen. I came around the corner through the arched doorway, and was greeted with a nostalgic sight that made my heart clench and a smile slide onto my face.

My mom had her back to me as she cooked over the stove, the floral apron I gave her for Christmas years ago tied around her waist. Her lightly gray-streaked, chestnut hair was thrown up into a giant clip and she had a blue sundress on that I remembered from when I was a kid. She was barefoot and dancing gently to the dulcet sounds of Frank Sinatra on the sound system hooked up to the kitchen. My mom always was a sucker for the classics, and I grew up with great taste in music because of her.

She spun to face me, and her face split into a huge grin causing the few wrinkles around her eyes to stand out. My mom was still a beautiful woman at her age, and when she wasn"t sunk into one of her depressive states, the light that shown through her eyes was warm and inviting. I wrapped her in a big bear hug, the comforting smell of her perfume hitting my nostrils.

"Hey momma, how are you feeling?" I asked before releasing her, looking her over as if there would be visible signs to clue me in to how she was doing.

"I"m really good, honey! It"s been a good month," she said with a smile, looking genuine in her answer. I inwardly let out a sigh of relief that my mom was on one of her upswings for the holiday. That"s one less thing to worry about while I"m here, thank God…

"I"m glad to hear that, mom. You know I worry about you," I ruffled her hair affectionately, and she swatted my hand away, still smiling.

"You worry too much about me, sweet boy. I know I have…hard weeks sometimes, but I promise I can take care of myself. You don"t need to give yourself worry lines fretting over me," she teased, pinching my cheek and making me roll my eyes. If you only knew what your vindictive husband threatened about that…

"I know you can, but that"s not going to stop me worrying. It"s kind of in the handbook. I think it"s under chapter 6, "how not to be a shitty son" or something like that," I deadpanned, making her smack me on the shoulder and scoffing at me.

"Fine, but no girl is gonna want you if you have wrinkles when you"re twenty-five. Might I suggest Botox?" she said, batting her lashes at me in false innocence. I laughed at her joke, mostly because it was so good to see her in high spirits and bantering with me. I couldn"t remember the last time that had happened…maybe my senior year?

"Oh! Your father asked to see you in his study when you got here. Run up and see what he wants, and then let him know dinner should be ready in an hour," she said, turning her back to me to continue cooking.

Fucking great. I better get this over with.

I trudged up the stairs and down the long hall to his study, knocking on the last door on the right. "Come in," my dad"s aloof voice called out.

I pushed the door to the office open slowly, every self-preservation instinct I had kicking in and pleading with me not to go in there. Nothing good came from talking with my dad in recent years.

His study was a reflection of the man himself: cold, lifeless, but decorated just enough to be appealing to an outsider. I always hated coming in here as a kid because the stale energy in the room coupled with the gray and black motif created an ominous atmosphere that never failed to make me uncomfortable.

"Dad? Mom said you wanted to talk to me," I said dispassionately, hoping that he just wanted a quick word about how things were going with school. I knew better, but one could hope.

"Ah, Bastian. Yes, I wanted to see how you"ve been getting on at school. We haven"t talked much recently and I"ve been thinking about you," Dad said with an artificial smile caked on his face. That was too easy…

The comment left me bristling, and I was quickly put on guard. My Dad only checked in on my well-being insofar as how it affected him. "Um, school"s great. The classes are hard, but I"m getting through it okay. Still on track to graduate. Was that all, sir?" I replied, wanting so badly to retreat from the room.

"Good. That"s good to hear. However no, that"s not all. Tell me how you and Ainsley are doing. Any new developments or progress being made there?" He gave me a sharp look that had me feeling uneasy.

"We"re fine. Went to a Halloween party. Nothing much else to tell," I shrugged, thinking it best to keep my answers short and simple where she was concerned.

"That"s excellent, but Halloween was quite some time ago. Have you taken her out since? I sincerely hope you"ve been treating her with the respect that I raised you with," Dad chastised. There was something about his remark that rubbed me wrong and had anger sparking under my skin.

"Well, maybe I would be more inclined to treat her better if I didn"t feel that Mom was just a hostage here for you to threaten me with," I snarled quietly. Dad"s face flashed with quiet fury as he sat rigidly in his chair.

"Don"t be impertinent, son. Watch how you speak to me," he warned, his tone quiet and menacing.

I said nothing in response, remaining impassive and waiting for him to finish this conversation so I could lock myself in my room until dinner.

"You already know my terms as far as your mother and Ainsley are concerned. I won"t rehash them, but I will remind you that I expect things between you to be moving in a good direction. Her father has been asking for some reassurance that you and his daughter are on the right path. I suspect an engagement by Christmas wouldn"t be too impractical at this point," Dad stated coolly, as if we were discussing his golfing plans for the weekend.

My body seemed to be malfunctioning, my brain going haywire and my heart struggling to pump blood to my vital organs. A wave of dizziness came out of nowhere, and I shook my head to clear it.

"Dad! What the hell? Christmas is in less than a month! I am in no way ready for that!"

"The beginning of summer, then. That should give you plenty of time to wrap your head around the idea and "get yourself ready" because you will be engaged to that girl before the start of your senior year," he growled at me intimidatingly.

I"m not sure where the sudden burst of bravery came from, but I couldn"t just back down. Not on this.

"What if I don"t? What if I don"t propose to her before then? Even you can"t force that no matter what you threaten me with," I said firmly, my voice shaking in the slightest, but thankfully he didn"t appear to have noticed.

His face cleared a bit and he looked at me in a scrutinizing manner, cocking his head the tiniest bit to the right. "You"re right about one thing. I can"t force you. Just as you can"t force me to continue to pay for your education or stop me from putting a call in to the Dean of the Psychology department at UT."

My blood ran cold and my breathing halted altogether. "What the fuck does that mean?"

My dad"s slow smile was smug, sinister with intent. "Your friend Micah must be doing well over there. He was always a smart boy, driven, hard-working. His parents and I had lunch recently and they were very proud of how he"s doing with his Psychology degree. He dreams of being a psychiatrist someday, evidently," My dad said casually, his mock interest making my anger elevate even more. "I was simply thinking I could put a call in to the Dean for him, just to put Micah on his radar."

True to form, my Dad didn"t have to explicitly voice his threats for them to come through loud and clear. I knew he held the purse strings to my college fund, but he also had the power to derail Micah"s education with a single phone call. My father hadn"t always had this power, but a couple of years into his political dealings had given him marked influence and unscrupulous connections. Most of the people in Texas knew his name by now, and that alone carried weight.

Queasy and battling between being sick or ripping his office to shreds, I knew I had been beat in this game of wits. It didn"t matter what I said or how I fought back, Dad would find some new coercive tactic that would undoubtedly work to keep me underfoot.

When I remained silent and unmoving, Dad pasted on his artificial smile once more. "Wonderful. I"m very glad we"ve come to an agreement. Now, I"m sure dinner is almost ready, so I"ll see you down there."

I left his study only by strength of will, forcing one foot in front of another and fighting every compulsion I had to jump across his desk and strangle him. I didn"t know how I would spend an entire week in that house with the man who raised me that I no longer recognized.

*****

I lasted until Wednesday. I spent a couple of days at home hanging out with Mom before I could no longer stomach being in the same house as my father. Each time I saw him at lunch or dinner, his fake smile and intimidating gaze brought up the rage and helplessness that was eating me alive. I finally got fed up and decided the holiday break would be much better spent back on campus with Micah.

When he had told me that his parents weren"t going to be around for Thanksgiving, my first instinct was to take him home with me so he wouldn"t be alone. When I thought it through however, I came to the conclusion that bringing Micah to my house would be stirring a hornet"s nest that neither one of us would be prepared for. After the hellish talk with my dad on Sunday, I realized I had been right in my assumption.

Now, all I could think about was getting back home to Austin…to him. Being without Micah was like living with a phantom limb. It wasn"t there, but you could still feel its presence, and it drove you mad because all you wanted was to truly feel it again, to have it back.

He was in my blood, in my bones, woven into the fibers of my being. Each day resisting the pull to him was getting harder, and from the few charged moments we had together since the night of the Delt party, I would say my resolve was weakening. But I couldn"t give in. It would be acutely selfish of me to cave to my love and lust for Micah. My mom would suffer and Micah himself would pay the consequences of my actions as well. I couldn"t let the two people I loved most be subjected to my Dad"s venom just so I could allow myself the freedom to be with him.

It was a special kind of Hell, but I would suffer it a dozen times to protect Micah. He was my world, and he deserved every bit of what I could give him. Being back on such good terms with him had made me happier than I had been in a long time, but it was tinged with my own self-loathing and disgust over the lies still hanging between us. I despised the fact that Micah believed I wasn"t in love with him, and that it was somehow his fault we had struggled for so long this year when it was all me. It was my lies, both of the blackout and my feelings for him, that put us in this position. I always said he deserved so much fucking better, but what had I done to prove that?

Thinking of one, small way that I could show him how much he meant to me, I dialed his number through my car"s Bluetooth. He answered on the second ring.

"Hey BB! What are you up to?" he said cheerfully, his sweet tone invading my ears and making my cock perk up in my jeans.

God, even his fucking voice through a car speaker has the power to unravel me. I"m so fucked.

"Hey MM, I"m actually heading back to campus. Thanksgiving spent at the house wasn"t working out too great, so I figured I"d cut it short."

"Oh damn…I"m sorry, B. Is everything okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah, nothing I can"t handle. Look, what are you doing tomorrow for Thanksgiving?" I checked, praying that he hadn"t made some last-minute plans with some friends or even Rhys.

"Got a hot date involving me, my couch, and Bart Simpson," he said sarcastically. "B, you know I don"t have shit going on. I"m just hanging at my apartment."

Images of Micah lounging naked on his couch sprang to mind unwittingly, and the pressure behind my zipper grew uncomfortable. Shit, I"ve got to get a grip on myself…I"m losing it.

"Spend the day with me instead. Come hang out at my place, and I"ll cook us Thanksgiving dinner," I implored, not sure I could take it if he said no. I missed him so much it was embarrassing.

"Really? Damn, you haven"t cooked in ages! Are you sure, BB? You know you don"t have to do that just for me. I"m cool with junk food on the couch with you, you know that," Micah said earnestly.

I indeed knew that Micah would have been happy with the bare minimum because that"s just who he was. He was easy to please and enjoyed the little things, and it was such an endearing quality of his that I fell for him a little more in that moment. However, I wanted to do more for him, show him I cared.

"I know, but I wanted to do this. Let me cook you dinner, M. Say you"ll spend the day with me. Please?"

I could almost hear the grin take over his face across the line before he said, "Hell yeah, let"s do it."

Perfect!"Come to my place about 11am. See you tomorrow, MM," I told him, the smile on my face never once dimming the rest of the way back to Austin.