Chapter Eleven

Theo

Reading is strange for me. I can do it, and I've been tested for learning disabilities, and I don't have any, but sometimes the words feel like they move around, or I'll start out on one line and end up in another. If I concentrate really hard, I'm okay, but the longer I read, the harder it gets, and sometimes I get headaches from putting so much into it. I've been able to get by my whole life, but it does take more work for me.

"What's wrong?" Perry asks, and I realize I'm rubbing my head. We've been at this for nearly two hours, and I'm over it.

"Nothing. My head hurts. That happens when I read too much."

"Do you need glasses?"

"No. I have good vision. For a while they thought I needed glasses for up close, but wearing them never changed anything."

"We can take a break." Perry tries to pluck the book from my lap, but I shake my head.

"If we finish this section, then I can be done for tonight. I just need to finish reading this and highlight notes, and I'll be good. Plus…I have to earn that pizza and anime."

He cocks a brow. "Puppy…you earned it already. You really are a people pleaser, aren't you?"

"That's not what I'm doing." I shake my head, but the thing is, he might be right. That might be exactly what I'm doing. I like to make people happy, to make people proud, but I thought that was mostly my parents. Am I doing that with Perry now? While I'm distracted, he tugs the book out of my hand. "Hey!" I tell him, thinking he's going to close it, but instead, he leans back against the pillows.

"Tell me when I say something we need to highlight."

I frown, trying to understand what Perry is doing, when he starts to read to me…my schoolbook. Perry is reading about financial management…to me…out loud…in his bed…and my pulse goes from a steady walk to a jog.

"You're going to read to me?"

"If you'll ever be quiet, I will." He smiles and starts over. I lie down beside him, our heads on the pillow. I close my eyes and listen.

When he gets to something important, I tell him, and Perry stops to highlight it. This is maybe the coolest thing anyone has ever done for me. I try to focus on what he's saying, but as Perry speaks, my thoughts go from how nice this is of him to how I'd wanted to kiss him at Shenanigans. To the way my cheeks heat when he flirts with me and how annoyed I'd been when Jack had flirted with him and—"I didn't hook up with Autumn," I blurt out. Fuck my life. Why did I say that right now? Am I broken?

"O-kay…" Perry lets the word drag out. "I'm sorry?"

I roll my eyes. "I could have. I just wasn't feeling it." He looks at me. "And I think you assumed I did…or I let you think I did. And you're my friend, so I don't want to lie to you. I don't know why it's coming out now."

Perry chuckles. "Well, thank you for telling me."

What about you? Have you hooked up with anyone?

Stop that, Theo! It doesn't matter. Don't make things weird.

"Carry on," I say.

"Carry on reading to you? Yes, sir."

But he does, and we finish the chapter, highlighting things I need to go over and try to remember for the test. When we're done, we move the books aside but don't get up, just lie next to each other on the bed.

"Do I get my pizza and anime?" I flutter my lashes like the choice is really up to him and I have to plead my case.

"You're trouble," he says, but there's a smile on his face.

"What? Why? I didn't do anything."

"That's what makes it worse." Perry sits up and grabs his phone. I immediately wish I hadn't said anything so he would still be lying beside me. "What do you like on your pizza?"

"What do you mean?"

He tosses me a look over his shoulder. "Toppings?"

"No. What do you mean, that makes it worse?"

He groans, running a hand through his short, dark hair. "You don't want to know."

"Well, I wanted to know before, and now, having you say that makes me need to know even more."

He sighs, and I'm pretty sure that means I'm going to get my way…which is kinda cool. I'm always the one trying to give everyone what they want, so this—Perry doing it for me—makes me feel…I don't know, important.

"You're basically irresistible, Puppy. And the fact that you don't know you're adorable and irresistible makes you more adorable and irresistible. It's fucking with my head."

My dick twitches, heat spreading through my groin, and I can't help but shoot a glance down there because, yep, I'm getting a little hard.

"Oh," I reply—because what else can a guy say to that?

"See? I did say you didn't want to know."

"But I do. I'm glad you told me, but, um…pepperoni?"

He laughs, grabs a pillow, and smashes it into his face with a muffled scream.

"Was that adorable too?"

"Shut up, Puppy." He gets on his phone to order our food, and when he's done, grabs his laptop and sets it in front of us. We lie on our stomachs. "Where do I find this weird cartoon stuff?"

"It's not weird cartoon stuff," I grumble, then head to the site and log in to my account. I pick Run My Town. It's got action and intrigue, with some Mafia thrown in. I hope it's something that will keep Perry's attention. "We can do something you want afterward. Or first? And if you hate it, you have to tell me, and we'll stop."

"I told you I would watch it, and I will. We're not doing something I want first. You earned it."

"I didn't do anything."

"Yes, you did. Now be quiet so I can watch."

We get through the first episode before the doorbell rings, and Perry leaves to get the food. He comes back with a two-liter soda, a large pizza, plastic cups, and napkins.

"Should we watch something else while we eat?" I ask.

"Nope. I'm digging this."

I can't tell if he's being sarcastic, but I go with the flow. I sit up, and we situate ourselves on the queen-size bed so the box is in front of us. Perry pours our drinks, and we watch anime while sharing our late dinner.

I'm watching the screen, my eyes riveted on the laptop while I set my crust down in my pile of others and reach for another piece. When I do, my hand touches his, a static zip shooting up my arm, then taking a weird, confusing detour to my dick, which twitches again. I mumble, "Sorry."

"You should be. I can't believe you touched my hand."

"Ha-ha." I play along, but really, my thoughts and feelings are confirming what I thought before I came over here: I must be bi.

How does one say that after the mix-up we already had and then swearing I'm straight?

I eat another piece of pizza, leaving the crust like I always do, following it with a drink. We eat it all, and then Perry sets the box on the ground so we can lie on our stomachs again.

"Are you sure you're okay to keep watching it?" I ask him.

"For sure. I had no idea it's queer."

I whip my head in his direction because, um…what? "Who's queer?"

"The two main characters who are totally fucking behind the scenes?"

"No they're not. They're just friends."

He stares at me for a moment, eyes wide like he's waiting for the punchline before a loud laugh jumps out of his mouth.

"What? Why are you laughing at me? I've watched this whole season, and they're one hundred percent not hooking up! I think I would remember that. Not that I'd have a problem if they were, but they're not."

"Oh, my sweet summer child. You really don't have a clue, do you? The sexual tension is crazy thick. I bet they're fucking in the next season and you find out they were the whole time."

Annoyance prickles at me. There's no way I missed that, but then, he'd been flirting with me, and I didn't have a clue.

Still, I grab the pillow he'd screamed in earlier and smack him with it.

"Hey. What did I do to deserve that?"

He tries to pull it out of my hand, but I squeeze tighter. I don't know who actually starts it, how we go from trying to pull the pillow from each other's hands to wrestling around on his bed, but we do. Perry's muscular body presses and rubs against mine as we play tug-of-war with the pillow. We roll around, him on top, then me, the temperature in my body going up even more as every place he touches me pulses and throbs with…something. Awareness, yes, but maybe more.

Perry tries to get the upper hand again, arching and trying to throw me off him with his body. The vibration in my body grows, spreads out, gets stronger and stronger. It distracts me, which is exactly what Perry needs to flip us, him lying on top of me. My legs spread open, his body between them, our chests touching, both of us breathing heavily while he looks down at me.

Wow…he has pretty eyes, brown like I knew, with flecks of a lighter shade.

Blood rushes to my groin, the area hot and throbbing.

"Do you give up?" he asks, and I shift, which makes his pupils blow wide when he feels my erection.

We both freeze, staring at each other, my breaths coming out faster and faster.

Perry licks his lips, which immediately draws my attention to them. They're nice lips. I wouldn't call them plump, but they're not thin either. Little hairs run the length of his jaw. He's usually smooth when I see him, but it's the end of the day and maybe he didn't shave this morning.

His eyes are still holding me captive, the different shades of brown, and his lashes, thick and curling up more than mine do. Perry has more defined cheekbones too. I wouldn't call them sharp, but they're noticeable, drawing my attention like everything on his face. He's…fuck, he's hot. Really fucking hot. As soon as the thought hits me, my body starts firing off with all these pings of desire. Perry shifts, making my erection throb again.

"Physical reaction," he says and tries to move off me. Panic pierces my chest, and I do the first thing I can think of—I wrap my legs around him to hold him in place. "Um…I'm not sure if this is another one of those things you miss, but what we're doing right now? It's pretty fucking gay."

"Bi," stupidly comes out of my mouth.

"Huh?"

"You're bisexual."

"And you said you're straight."

"But am I?" I ask, then ignore my heart trying to beat out of my chest, shut down all the thoughts sprinting around in my head, take hold of his nape, and bring Perry's mouth down on mine.

It's awkward at first, me trying to come to terms with what I'm doing and him likely wondering if I've lost my damn mind, but then he moves against me, his body rubbing along my erection, and I moan…the dick rub somehow telling my tongue to sneak out, and it does, flicking against Perry's closed lips.

I sorta want to throw a temper tantrum when he eases his head back. "You said you're straight," he reiterates. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know, but it feels good. I wanted to do it that night at the bar. I guess that means I'm not straight. Surprise!" I try for playful, and he does give me a small smile, but sobers quickly.

"I want you, Theo…fuck, I've wanted you since the first time I saw you, but you're my friend now, and I don't want to do something to mess that up."

Well, shit. That's very mature and kind of Perry.

Still, "You won't!" jumps out of my mouth like the words are running a race. "I want you too. I've been thinking about it. A lot. Have maybe jerked off to it." No reason I shouldn't give him the whole truth.

He buries his face in my neck and mumbles words I can't understand before pulling back. "I swear, Puppy, you're going to kill me one of these days."

"Sorry?"

"I'm not sorry right now. Are you sure you want this?"

"Yes. Yes I am." It's more than flickered through my thoughts now. Him helping me study today, reading to me, all that just makes the tingling sensation I have for him grow. I want to explore with Perry.

His hand brushes against my cheek, palm cupping it, and…oh…that's nice. I push into the touch.

"It's just fucking around," Perry says. "I'm not interested in a relationship. I don't mean to sound harsh, and it's not you. Friends with benefits would be awesome, but nothing more."

I flutter my lashes at him playfully. "Can we start the benefits now?"

"Puppy…"

"I'm serious. I get it. I'm not asking to be your boyfriend. I'm asking for a redo on our hookup mix-up." My hips rotate of their own accord, our dicks rub together again, and while the sensation of a cock against mine is so different from anything I've experienced, I can't deny the zing of pleasure that skyrockets inside me.

"Fuck, you're eager for it." He picks up the laptop and sets it on the nightstand. "If I do anything you don't like, tell me. If I try to go too far, tell me. If you realize you're not into it, tell me. I don't care what we're doing or how far we go, if you don't want to keep going, I'll always stop."

I don't know if it makes sense, but it feels like my insides get mushy. I've never felt like I'm made of marshmallows, but I do right now. Like my body is made up of sweet, fluffy goo, and it's all because of Perry.

"So does that also mean if I say go, you're gonna hurry up and kiss me? Because I want you, but I also might need you to take the lead a little."

He smiles. "Gladly."

Our lips meet again, but this time, Perry's mouth is soft, pliant, and actually moving. His tongue peeks out, my lips slightly parting so he can taste me—and oh, his tongue is in my mouth now, moving with mine. Perry thrusts against me, his hand still on my face so gently, while his tongue leads a dance with mine.

He kisses with his whole body, fingers tickling, body grinding, tongue possessing, and all of it makes my dick throb harder.

I tighten my legs around him again in a move I've had done to me, but not one I've ever done with anyone but him. I kiss him back, hard, deeper, exploring his mouth too, Perry easing off to let me.

My whole body is thrumming with electricity, like there's a lightning storm, and I wonder if Perry will get struck by all this want inside me.

"Good?" he asks, pulling away.

"So…so…so good. Being bisexual is the best."

Perry chuckles, his fingertips dancing down the side of my face—up and down, up and down. I lean into him again, wanting more.

"Someone likes being touched."

"Yes. Mouth on mine again, please."

"Jesus, you're adorable."

He kisses me like he owns my mouth, and I gladly let him take possession of it. Perry's hand goes to my hair, tightening in the short strands, his hips rubbing and pumping like…well, like he's fucking me. The friction through my sweatpants is maybe the best thing I've ever felt in my life. My thighs quiver, balls pulse, as the world slips away and I arch toward him, body liquefying, pleasure ping-ponging through me as my orgasm takes over.

Oh…that was quick. That was in my pants. That was hot.

"Did you just…"

"I did. I'd apologize, but I'm not sorry. I just wish I didn't do it so fast."

He leans down, rubbing his nose against mine. "You don't have anything to apologize for. It's hot that you're so turned on by me that you came in your sweats in, like, five seconds."

I scowl at him, but it doesn't hold any heat. "It was longer than that."

"Was it?" he teases, pressing against me again. His dick is still long and hard and feels really fucking good.

"I'm never going to live this down, am I?"

"Absolutely not."

My fingers twitch, and I think it's because I want to touch him, because I'm curious about him, but that's a big step, and does one just ask if they can touch someone's dick? If they can see it? I'm not sure of the etiquette here, which is maybe why I'm always the one who gets approached by others. "What about you?"