Chapter 23

23

JASON

I awoke in the throes of an orgasm. Sweaty and panting, hips jerking, I was helpless to do anything but bite my lip and ride it out. With my head thrown back and the sheets gripped tight in my fists, I grunted through it as my cock pulsed in my boxer briefs. Wave after wave rolled through me in what felt like quite possibly the longest orgasm of my life until it finally subsided, leaving me shaky and gasping for air.

I lay motionless on the bed, eyes still closed, as my heartbeat slowed and I finally regained control of my breathing. I released the sheets and half sat up to grab my phone off the charger, groaning at the feel of the sticky mess inside my briefs. I'd need to get up and shower before my cum-soaked underwear started sticking to me.

Tapping the screen on my phone, I sighed as the time read five-oh-three. That explained why it was still dark outside. I set the phone down by my side and scrubbed my hands over my face. As a child, I'd lain in bed at this time on Christmas morning, watching the minutes tick away until the readout finally said seven and Mandy and I could go wake up our parents to see what Santa had brought. Those days were gone now that we'd gotten older and learned what a beautiful thing it was to sleep in. In the last several years, we'd started the day around nine on Christmas, still four hours from now.

No way would I be able to go back to sleep with my underwear full of jizz—might as well get up and shower.

Thankful everyone would still be asleep at this hour, I quickly crossed the hall into the bathroom and started the shower. As the room filled with steam, I contemplated my current predicament. This was the third time in three days that I'd woken up mid-climax, the first being the morning after our shopping trip into the city. Each time had left me feeling guilty, though I knew it was out of my control. I was clearly lusting after my straight best friend like some sort of creep.

At the same time, I felt an odd sense of relief. Feeling attracted to someone was new and scary, but it was also…good. Exciting. The afternoon of the shopping trip, there had been moments when I'd felt my heart race and my hands go clammy just from sharing a look. And when I'd hugged Zach after lunch, even though it had come with the weight of his worry over losing our friendship, warmth had flooded my chest. I hadn't wanted to let him go.

I'd long ago accepted I was ace, and while I knew logically there wasn't anything wrong with that, there had still been a part of me that yearned for that feeling of attraction, that spark that meant you'd found someone who connected with you on a different level. It figured that when I'd finally experienced that jolt of attraction, it would be with my straight best friend, who was currently attending college fifteen hundred miles away.

I peeled off my boxer briefs and stepped into the spray, trying to recall what I'd been dreaming about that had triggered the wet dream. Much of it had already faded from my conscious memory, but there were glimmers of moments, fragments that I tried to latch onto. In the dream, I thought we might have been shopping, but this time, it'd been just the two of us shopping at a location that didn't exist in real life, a place my brain had conjured up.

Every dream over the last three nights had started the same way, but in this one, we'd been walking along hand-in-hand. A graphic tee with some silly saying had been displayed in a shop window, but when I'd called it to his attention, thinking he'd find it amusing, he'd been looking the other way, seemingly distracted. I couldn't remember what had happened next, but I'd found my back pressed against the wall of a forgotten hallway and Zach closing in with a salacious twinkle in his eye.

He'd leaned into me, pressed his body into mine, and kissed me. In reality, I'd never kissed anyone, but in the dream, my subconscious had filled in the blanks of my inexperience. He'd gripped my face in his hands, holding me still while he plundered my mouth, tongue sweeping in to tangle with mine. He'd pulled back and nipped at my lip, my jaw, my earlobe before trailing kisses down the column of my throat. I didn't remember any more of the dream, and honestly wasn't sure it had taken much more before I came in my shorts.

As I lathered my body, I wondered what it would feel like to kiss him for real. What it would feel like to have his lips pressed to mine. Would they be soft and smooth? Rough? And how did it work with the tongue? I'd obviously liked it in the dream, but I was pretty sure it was entirely different in real life. I'd never spent so much time thinking about these things as I had over the last few days. Previously, thoughts of kissing had seemed…abstract. People did it all the time and obviously liked it, but I'd never understood the appeal.

My dick clearly liked the idea though. Despite coming just fifteen minutes ago, it was making a valiant attempt at a comeback, standing partially erect as the water sluiced down my body. The temptation to stroke myself, to see if I could come again so soon, was strong. But it was one thing to come while dreaming of my best friend when my subconscious was in charge. It was an entirely different thing to do so on purpose. It was not something I was comfortable with.

Doing my best to avoid thoughts that would make the temptation even more challenging, I quickly finished my shower and got out. After drying off and quietly crossing back into my room, I changed into a fresh set of boxer briefs and climbed back into bed. I grabbed my phone, noted it was still not yet six o'clock, and, with a sigh, swiped open the lock screen.

I tapped into Instagram, scrolling through my feed and catching up on my friends' posts. Rafi was smiling with his girlfriend in front of the altar at the Catholic church. They must have gone to Christmas Eve mass. Sonny and Hannah were posed in front of a lit-up Christmas tree with her hand on her slightly rounded belly, just starting to show. Turns out, they'd been absent from the end-of-summer bonfire because she'd just found out she was pregnant, derailing all of their college plans. They'd decided to defer the first semester while they sorted out this abrupt change in their life. Last I'd heard, they were both working in Brinkley and had delayed college indefinitely. They were due in April.

I continued to scroll, smiling at the posts of friends and their families in front of Christmas trees, when a message came through, causing my phone to vibrate, startling me into almost dropping it on my face. I swiped into the Messages app to find a new text from Zach.

Zach

Merry Christmas!

There was a picture attached of him from the shoulders up with a lazy smile and his hair mussed from sleep. He appeared to be lying in bed with no shirt on. Something fluttered in my chest, and I found myself grinning in response. Jesus, I was going to have to get this shit under control before I embarrassed myself.

Merry Christmas to you!

Wanna go for a run?

I flipped into the weather app and then back into my messages.

It's 14 outside

So?

I'm not running in 14 degree weather

Wuss

If not wanting to run in 14 degree temps makes me a wuss, then so be it

lol

I have a gift for you. Can we meet up?

I looked at the time. It was six-fifteen.

Now?

I'll be at Aunt Amy's most of the day. I figured we could do it now before the day gets crazy

I started to respond when the three dots flashed, showing he was typing another message, so I waited for that to come through.

But it's cool if not. We can meet up later in the week.

I can meet now. Where?

My house

See you in 15

My pulse ratcheted up at the thought of seeing him again. Never in my life had I felt this kind of excitement over seeing someone. It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.

I grabbed a pair of sweats and started to put them on, then ditched those for a pair of jeans, suddenly finding myself wanting to dress a little nicer for him. As if any of that mattered to my straight best friend. Still, I pulled on one of the few sweaters I owned—the one Mandy said made my blue eyes pop—and ran a hand through my short hair. I pulled on my Timberlands, grabbed my keys, wallet, and the little gift I'd bought him, and headed out to the garage, pulling on my coat before climbing into my truck.

By the time I got to Zach's, I was a jumble of nerves, another new feeling I wasn't used to having. I generally wasn't a nervous person. Not when playing football or baseball. Not with public speaking at school. Not during any of my EMT training. And definitely not because I had a crush on someone.

I parked on the street and turned off the ignition but took a moment to pull myself together before getting out. I was being ridiculous. He was my best friend, and we were exchanging gifts. Just because this was something I'd never done before or I'd developed some sort of attraction to him was no reason to act a fool.

I took a deep breath and got out of the truck.