10. Josh

10

JOSH

M y head was still spinning as Logan unlocked the door of his room and I followed him inside, stopping just over the threshold as my jaw dropped. “Wow, this is really fucking sweet.” I was pretty sure I’d said some variation of that ten other times since we’d walked into the large Victorian. “Beats the hell out of the athletic dorms, that’s for sure.” I wrinkled my nose, thinking of the tile in our communal shower darkened with mildew, the beige “carpet” that was more like slightly soft cement. I mean, it wasn’t that bad, and better than the regular dorms, but still nothing like this.

My gaze pinged around the room, singling out points of interest as I sipped the beer Logan had handed me. The high ceiling with a few cracks in the plaster, a vintage—or more likely, antique—light fixture in the center, the dark blue paint on the walls. A messy bed and a basic desk. But, also, a fireplace. “You have your own fireplace! Why didn’t you say so?”

“It’s gas, too, but the house manager said only the one downstairs works,” Logan said when I started toward it.

I studied the little Marvel character figurines on the mantel.

“Funko Pops,” he explained, and I glanced over my shoulder for the tinge of sheepishness in his voice. “Nerdy stuff.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what Funko Pops are, but they’re cute.”

“Cute?” He chuckled, and I glanced over my shoulder at him again.

“Yeah, cute. I didn’t know what else to say, but I don’t think they’re dorky or anything.”

“Oh. Okay. Good.” He sounded satisfied enough with my response.

I bent down, sweeping a finger over the marble above his fireplace. “Damn, it’s the real thing. You don’t pay more for this shit?”

“Nope, there’s a lottery. First for the house, then the rooms. Anyone can apply. The U technically owns them. They’re kind of like an upgraded dorm.”

“I’ll say.” I’d had no idea that was even an option, but then again, I’d been destined for the athletic dorms from the start. I dropped to a crouch and examined the fireplace. “You sure this doesn’t work?” I asked, eyeing the gas logs.

“I mean, I’ve never tried it, I was just told it didn’t work.”

“You got a lighter?”

“Ummmm, maybe?”

I ran my fingers along the piping and heard Logan rustling around behind me, then he dropped down beside me, offering out a blue BIC that he snatched back before I could take it.

“You sure you know what you’re doing? I really don’t want to be responsible for blowing up Gable House.”

“If that happens, we’ll both be dead and none the wiser,” I teased. His scowl lightened but the hesitation remained in his eyes. “My folks own a hardware store, remember? When I was a kid, my dad used to do handyman stuff. I’d go with him.” I reached for the lighter. “I know what I’m doing, I promise. Trust me?”

Logan slid his gaze from the fireplace to lock on me. His lips parted slightly and, damn, did I have the sudden urge to kiss him again. Especially when his tongue darted out to wet them, like maybe he was having the same thought. But if that was the case, why had he brushed aside the earlier kiss so easily? Already, guys were proving as confusing as women.

He nodded slowly, just once. “I trust you.”

Something about the solemn way he said it felt almost as good as kissing him had.

Our fingers brushed as I took the lighter, and I shook the electric connection off in favor of focusing on not actually blowing us up. I got on all fours, located the lever to turn the gas on, then held the lit flame of the BIC to the starter and pressed the ignition. The pilot light caught and I settled back. “There should be a switch somewhere.”

“Oh!” Logan popped up. “I couldn’t figure out what it was for since it never worked.”

Damn, for a smart dude, he was charmingly oblivious sometimes. He fingered the switch on the wall next to the fireplace.

“Flip it,” I told him.

There came the hesitant expression again. “You sure?”

“As sure as a snowball to the face. Flip it.”

He flipped it, and there were a couple of beats where nothing happened. Logan turned a skeptical eye on me just before the logs caught with a soft whumpf that made him flinch.

“Look at that.” I grinned. “We’re still alive.”

“Huh. I wonder why Pete said it didn’t work?”

I laughed. “Think about something like this in the wrong hands. Like, the average partying sophomore stumbling in smashed and thinking a fire is a great idea. Then throwing off the bedcovers in the middle of the night or something. Or bringing someone home and it gets a little wild and there goes the comforter into the fire.” Logan’s furrowed brow deepened. I’d said something wrong. “What?”

“I’ve slept with people here before.”

Initially, I didn’t register the defensive tone or understand why he was telling me, I was solely reacting to the flare of jealousy in the pit of my stomach. Who had he brought here? Who’d gotten to enjoy his kiss the way I had?

“I’ve also stumbled in here drunk.”

“Wait, I didn’t mean—” I shook my head. “I just mean you’re more responsible than the average person probably. That’s not a bad thing. Fuck, I get you on edge so easily, sometimes.” I took a step toward him, the heat from the fireplace warming my calves. “Did you bring your blind date here? Chet?” Yeah, that wasn’t going to help the situation. It was sooooo none of my business, but I couldn’t resist. Maybe that was why he’d reacted so strangely to kissing me when we’d clearly both enjoyed it at least for few seconds. Maybe he was more into Chet than he’d let on.

“What? No! No way.” The way Logan blurted it out so vehemently was reassuring, but I couldn’t help fishing for more.

“How come?”

Logan’s silvery gaze met mine, his lips doing that subtle parting thing again that drove me crazy for the way it felt almost like an invitation. “I didn’t want to.”

“Why not?” I pressed.

He let out an exasperated sigh. “Because, unfortunately, I’ve developed a raging crush on you.”

I blinked in surprise that he just came out with it like that. I’d hoped he was at least attracted to me, but between my tentativeness about guys and Logan’s walls, it’d been hard to read the situation clearly. “Does that mean you liked that kiss as much as I did?” I asked softly.

“You liked it?” His nostrils flared slightly as I nodded. I thought it’d been pretty obvious, but I’d also gathered Logan was the cautious type.

“Yeah.” I took another step closer. “And I’m gonna do it again unless you stop me.” Fuck professionalism.

“I’m not. Not going to stop you, I mean.” His voice became a whisper as I leaned in, the last couple of words washing over my lips as I pressed them to his. His lips were silky smooth, the kiss an entirely different temperature now that we weren’t freezing outside. I wrapped my arms around him as he fisted my shirt on either side of my ribs and opened his mouth, giving me more of the taste I’d been craving for the last forty-five minutes.

I pulled back enough to speak. “Is it still the atmosphere?”

He shook his head slowly, his hands dropping, fingers skimming beneath my shirt over my bare skin. “No. It’s you this time. It was then, too. I lied to try to give us both an out.”

I smirked in satisfaction, then dived in for more.

It’d been a while since I’d just wildly made out with someone, and Logan kissed with the same dedication and intensity with which he’d explained the laws of thermodynamics. Which is to say, it was really fucking good. Enough to make my dick throb in my jeans.

Logan’s grip on my waist tightened, and I let out a quiet moan as his rigid, denim-bound cock glided against mine. Hooking my fingers through his belt loops, I chased the friction until it became painful. Then he pushed me back gently.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Why not?”

“You’re… you.” He gestured vaguely.

“Yeah, and you’re you, which I happen to like.”

He blinked, a hint of a smile quirking his lips.

“I’ve ever been with a guy before.” I didn’t know why I’d confessed that. It wasn’t like it should matter, but I was afraid it might, and the sudden hesitation in Logan’s expression said I was correct. “I mean, I know I’m bi, but I’ve never acted on it. I want to, though,” I added hastily, like that should smooth things over.

“What about tutoring you?”

My turn to frown. “What about it? You can keep tutoring me. Or someone else can, if that’s some sort of conflict of interest, I guess.” I was pretty sure my dick was doing all the talking now, but parts of my brain agreed. I didn’t see the big deal. I just wanted him. “Do you not want this?” This , of course, hopefully being us getting naked and tangled up sometime in the near future.

“I do, yeah, absolutely. A lot.” He paused again, chewing on a lower lip I was tempted to trap between my teeth. His voice was breathy when he spoke next, cheeks flushed. “What, ummm, what is it that you want to do, exactly?”

Jesus. “I need to spell it out for you?” Was this typical parlay in guy-guy hook-ups? Like, we went down a menu and agreed on certain things? I definitely had a lot to learn. “I want to do a lot of things.” Okay, maybe this was getting a little awkward, but fuck it, I was pressing on. “I want to take your shirt off and touch you. Your pants, too, while I’m at it. I want you to touch me, also, and…” I trailed off as he inhaled sharply and adjusted himself. Since I was clearly the one on the offensive, I figured I might as well lean into that and be the pioneer in this frontier, so I reached behind my neck and yanked off my Henley. I was rewarded with another one of his sexy-ass nostril flares, and I didn’t even care that it sounded slightly unsettled, because his eyes locked onto my exposed torso, heating me all over as it skated along the ridges and rolls of muscles honed by my time on the field and in the weight room.

“Good fucking Christ,” he muttered. “You have actual washboard abs.”

“Thank you.” I fought to suppress a smile. Then I didn’t have to fight at all, because the inclination evaporated the second he skimmed the backs of his knuckles over my abdomen. “Change your mind, yet?”

“You’re annoyingly cocky sometimes.”

“You’re annoyingly sexy,” I countered, then was forced into choked silence as Logan hooked his hand into my waistband and yanked me closer, lips and teeth grazing over my throat and moving down my torso until he found my nipple. The pinch of his teeth stung, only to be soothed by the flat of his tongue. It took all my willpower not to buck against him because I could feel his fingers against my erection. Not moving, but just their presence was enough to send my libido soaring. I pushed him away long enough to get him out of his shirt, and he hesitated again, starting to fold his arms across his chest—narrower than mine but still sleek and sexy—until I pushed the one hand down flat against his side and hooked the other one around my pants where it had been before. Then I gave him the same treatment he’d given me, bending my head low to taste the pinpoints of his nipples and lick the goosebumps that flooded his skin at my touch. Every arch of his body into mine made me harder, and in seconds, we were both rutting wildly against each other. I didn’t know what first times were like for other guys, but so far this experience with Logan was everything I’d wanted for so long.

“Fuck,” he whispered, then unbuttoned my pants and yanked down the fly one handed. I gave him the same treatment in return, hungrily eyeing the tented fabric. I felt like I’d been waiting for this moment all my life, and I was glad it was with him.

I panted as he trailed his fingers over the jutting fabric of my boxers. “I don’t really have any clue what I’m doing, so I might need guidance or —” I cut myself off on a groan as Logan reached inside my boxers and pulled my cock out, caressing my aching shaft reverently before I couldn’t stand it anymore and yanked him closer. He might wrongly think he lacked in the coolness department, but he definitely didn’t suffer in the skills department. I was thirsty as fuck for anything and everything he’d give me.

The sensation of his cock against mine made me dizzy with pleasure, and I let him walk me to the edge of the bed, falling backward and yanking him after me. We scrabbled to push our pants down farther, but I was too impatient to bother with pulling mine fully off. Logan managed to kick free of his, then sealed his mouth to mine as he rolled his hips against me, every dip, every retreat and return, sending another sizzle of electricity through me.

“Oh fuck,” I moaned into his mouth. Suddenly I was there, tipping over the edge of the universe and spiraling into pleasure as I blew my load over both of us.

Horror set in immediately. I’d just come in basically two seconds. “Shit, I didn’t—” I spluttered against his jaw, a second before Logan gripped my biceps and thrust hard against me. A fresh wave of wet heat scorched my abdomen as he shuddered through his orgasm with a curse before collapsing against me.

We were quiet a few moments, catching our breath, then I said, “I can last longer, I swear.” Logan exhaled a sated chuckle I’d never heard before, but loved immediately. “Seriously. Do not judge me on that one nut.”

He laughed again and clapped a hand over my mouth. “Stop, Joshua. I came right after you. I have no room to talk. Though in my defense, it’s your fault. You’re really hot when you cum.”

“I’m just gonna accept that somewhat backhanded compliment.” I played with a strand of his hair and let it go. “I can be ready for more in five minutes.”

“Five minutes, huh? Okay, we’ll see.” His drowsy voice poured into my ear like honey and it, along with the cozy heat of the fireplace and the snowstorm outside, made my eyelids heavy.

“Five minutes,” I murmured, then decided I’d shut my eyes just for a second.