Chapter Sixteen

Perry

An hour later we're in my car, heading home. "I'm sorry if I was flirty at Shenanigans. I didn't really think about it. I don't want to out you to your friend." I'm really upset about that, to be honest. I should have been more careful. And bringing up the anime? That was a screwup on my part. Jack isn't an idiot. I'm sure he knows that was code for hooking up. "I can fix it if I overstepped." I don't know how, but I'll figure out a way.

"It's okay. I actually told him."

I glance at Theo in the passenger seat, my body feeling heavy. "Fuck. Because of me?"

"No. Because of me. I blurted out that we're having sex. I didn't plan it. The words just tumbled free."

"Are you okay with it? Coming out can be a big deal."

He shakes his head. "I'm fine. It felt good to tell someone. I still think I want to keep it to myself a little while longer, but Jack won't tell anyone. Was it hard for you? Coming out, I mean?"

I think for a minute. "Not really. I'm bi too, and I realized I'm attracted to girls first, I think because that's socially ingrained, right? It's the default that boys like girls. I was a freshman in high school when I started noticing guys, and it hit me like a ton of bricks, the way it did you. One day I was out to lunch with my mom. I was fifteen, and our waiter was gay. He was really fucking cute, and I got all tongue-tied around him. I acted like you do, Puppy." I shoot him a glance and a smile. "When he left, Mom said, goodness, he's cute, right? And I said yep, and that was her way of telling me she knew and was okay with it, and from then on, it was common knowledge at our house. She never asked if there were girls I liked, just people. Her reaction made it easier to own my truth publicly. I didn't have a lot to lose, though. I didn't grow up with a lot of close friends. She was the only person I cared about, and she accepted me, so fuck everyone else."

It takes me a moment to realize what I said to him. Sharing personal things isn't usually that easy for me, but with Theo, it's just like breathing.

"She sounds great."

"She is. Best person I know."

"Guess you get it from her," he replies, and my heart suddenly starts acting like a battering ram against my chest.

"Aw. That's so sweet. I already plan to suck your dick tonight. You don't have to butter me up." I try to play it off, to pretend those words don't lift me up. I'm not supposed to care what others think, but I do with Theo.

"I'm not buttering you up. It's true. Why didn't you have a lot of friends? That seems impossible to me."

"Why? It's not like I have a bunch now. Haven't you realized I don't spend time with anyone but you and my brother?"

"But you're such a people person."

"I am." I'm friendly with everyone. I'll laugh and joke and talk, but… "I don't give the real stuff up easily. Don't let people in." The car is quiet for a moment, just the sound of the engine and other vehicles around us. My ears start to feel echoey, and all I can think about is how I want the words back, how I never should have said them, how this whole situation is so out of my wheelhouse, I should turn and run the other way.

But then…then Theo reaches over and threads his fingers with mine, and I let him. We hold hands while I drive, and I'm not a hand-holdy kind of guy, but I do it with him. Somehow, it's easier than words, and I have a feeling Theo knows that.

I have to let go when we pull up in front of the house.

"Ty and Brax are home, by the way. They spend a lot of time in their room, but if they're in the living room, all they need to know is you're my friend coming over to force me to watch anime. Ty might tease me because that's how he is. Brax might grumble and secretly look at it all introspectively, but that's how he is. It's not because they know anything. Or if you want to go somewhere else, we can."

"It's fine. I'm cool with staying here. We might have to wait for the BJ until they go to bed, though. I'm not sure I can be quiet."

I chuckle. It's impossible not to around him. "Jesus, you're so fucking great." I nod toward the house. "Let's go."

We get out, and though the house isn't on the ocean, the scent of saltwater suffuses the air.

I lead Theo up the walkway, see lights and hear the television inside. Of course they're awake. Just our luck.

"Get your clothes on. We're coming in!" I tease as I push the door open, but they're fully dressed, cuddling on the couch like they're fucking thirty or something. "You guys are so boring."

"Fuck off." Brax flips me off. "I question my life choices. How did I get stuck with two of you?"

"Aw, but you love us," Ty tells him. "Well, you love me and like him a lot." Ty points toward the bong on the table. "You guys wanna smoke?"

Silently, I thank Ty for not saying something like, before you go hook up, or mention something about being quiet or whatever the fuck joke he thinks of.

I turn to Theo, who nods, so I say, "Sure." Then tell Theo, "Have a seat. You want something to drink? Lemonade again?"

"Um…cool, that works. Or anything. Whatever's easiest," he rambles cutely.

"They're all easy, Puppy."

I make it two steps before I freeze. I'd just used my nickname for Theo in front of Ty and Brax. There's no way my brother is going to let that pass.

"Yes…have a seat…puppy." Ty smiles.

"Lacrosse." Brax nudges him. "Be good."

"But where's the fun in that?" Ty answers.

"It's just a thing." Theo blushes and sits down, and it takes everything in me not to tell him how cute he is.

I pour two glasses of lemonade and return to the living room, where Brax is now packing the bowl with weed from his box.

Rather than sitting on the couch with Ty and Brax, I sit on the floor beside Theo's chair. "You can sit up here." He tries to stand, but I put a hand on this thigh.

"I'm good."

When Brax finishes, Ty picks up the bong and the lighter and hands them to Theo. "We should let our new friend have green."

Theo glances my direction, and I nod. He puts the glass to his lips, lights the bud, and inhales to fill the neck of the bong with smoke. Then he pulls the bowl out, continuing to suck the smoke into his lungs, and clears it. He coughs slightly when he exhales. "Damn, that's good."

"We treated ourselves to good shit the last time we went to the dispensary," Ty tells him.

Theo passes it to me next, and I do the same as he did, my lungs burning briefly. We keep going like that, Ty after me, then Brax, before it's passed to Theo again, until it's dusted.

Theo giggles.

"Uh-oh," Brax says. "Are you a lightweight?"

"No." Theo shakes his head. "I'm just thinking about the nickname Puppy. It's so cute, but, like, why do I think it's cute? Is it weird that I like being called puppy? Would I like being called puppy if it was anyone other than my friend Perry using it?" He looks at me. "You're my friend, right? Like my real friend."

I chuckle. "Yes. I'm your real friend."

"I thought so. That's why you study with me, and read the words out loud to me, and—"

I press my hand to his mouth before he starts talking about how I'm showing him what it's like to have sex with a man.

"On that note," I say, "I think we're going to my room to watch anime." Theo licks my hand, but I don't pull it back. "No talking."

He nods. I pull my hand back. "When did you get boring?" Theo asks.

Ty doubles over laughing, and I hear Brax trying to bite it back as well.

"I'm not boring." I push to my feet, take his hand, and start pulling him to my room.

"Have fun watching anime!" Ty calls after us.

"We're really watching it!" Because I'm not blowing him for the first time when he's high. I should have thought that through better.

I close the door behind us and lock it to be safe.

"I thought you were gonna suck my dick?" Theo says in a whisper-yell.

My dick twitches. Yes. We thought the same. "Later. Not until you're not floating in the clouds."

"But, Perry! Please." He pouts, and damned if I'm not smiling…and if my dick isn't getting hard. Goddamn him being so irresistible.

"We'll watch some of our show and take it from there."

"Can we take our clothes off?"

"Underwear stay on." Who the fuck would have thought I'd ever be making a deal like this?

"Fine."

We take our clothes off, and I try not to stare too hard at Theo's body, at the belly that's a little softer than mine—and honestly, than most of the guys I'm with—and yet it's so fucking tempting and mouthwatering to me. I want to lick him from head to toe, taste every part of him, making him come so hard that no matter what guys he's with in the future, he compares them to me.

"You're looking at me funny." He wrinkles his nose.

"I'm looking at you like I want to devour you."

He groans. "Dude. You're getting my dick hard."

"Keep that put away for now."

I turn on the lamp on my nightstand and the main light off before we climb into my bed. One of the programming sites I read is on the screen, which I forgot about, so I close it and pull up our show.

We lie on our stomachs with the computer in front of us, but while I'm watching the screen, I can tell Theo is watching me. It weighs heavily on me until I can't take it anymore. "What?"

"Was that about coding or something like that?"

Ugh. "Yes."

"You like tech stuff."

I sigh. I hoped he'd missed that. "It's not important."

"Everything about you is important."

Warning bells ring inside me, creating a damn orchestra of chimes. But also, there's this quiet voice I can't ignore, one that admits, I want to be important to you… "Puppy…"

He rolls his eyes. "Not because I want to be your boyfriend, but because I'm your friend."

"So, you know what I mean now but not all those other times? Like when I was flirting with you?"

He chuckles huskily. "You like tech stuff," he says again.

I pause the show and let the word, "Yes," fall out. Why does he have this control over me? It's foreign for me to feel so comfortable with someone, to let them see the many parts of me I've already shared with Theo.

"Why don't you want to like it?"

"Ty's dad is a tech mogul, remember? That's how he made his money. I don't like enjoying things he does. I don't like being good at things he's good at." Because it wasn't me he ever wanted to share that with. I wasn't the son he gave his name to or the person he'd wanted to inherit his company. Not that I want it, I don't, but knowing I wasn't even a part of it at all hurts too much.

"You deserve better than him. You deserve…everything. You're basically my favorite person, and I'm not saying that because I'm high. Okay, maybe I'm saying it because I'm high, but that's not why I'm feeling it. I just wouldn't allow myself to let the words out if your brother didn't have some really good weed."

A laugh jumps out of my mouth, one I didn't expect, so couldn't try to hold back. "I'll tell you a secret."

"What is it?"

"You're basically my favorite person too. Now can we watch this show? You can't get me into anime and then deny me."

He's looking at me all goofy in a way that shouldn't be as cute as it is. "Yes, we can watch."

I hit Play, then wrap my arm around Theo and pull him close. The tips of my fingers dance along his nape, and he moans, snuggling closer. It's not even annoying that we're cuddling the way Ty and Brax were. At least not tonight.

It's still darkwhen I feel Theo moving around in the bed. His ass presses against my dick, which immediately wakes up that part of my body.

I groan.

Loudly.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. I have to pee."

"Totally not making noises because you woke me up."

"Then why are you?" he questions, and I shake my head and roll over to my back. My bed is against the wall, so he's going to have to climb over me to get out. When he does, he pauses while straddling me, no doubt feeling my erection. "Oh."

"Yeah…oh."

"I left you with blue balls again." He doesn't get off me, which means his very sexy ass is resting right on top of my hardening dick.

Electric sparks light up my spine, my body sizzling with desire for him. "You're killing me. Go take a piss and come back."

Maybe by then my cock will calm down some.

Theo does as I say, sneaking out of the room in his underwear. I reach down and cup my bulge, rubbing it with my palm. Damn, this man turns me on.

A couple of minutes later he pads back into the room, closing the door behind him. He hesitates, his body a dark shadow beside my bed for a moment, before he straddles me again. He leans forward, his soft lips pressing against my neck, kissing behind my ear, teeth gently pulling on the lobe.

"I'm not high anymore." Warm breath brushes across my skin, making me tremble.

"You're not?" I run my hands up his thighs, then hold on to his ass. "So, what do you want?" I knead his cheeks, and damned if he doesn't rut against my dick.

"Um…well, you did promise me a blowjob."

Teasing, I ask, "Did I?"

He nips at my throat. "Yes. Please suck my cock."

"Fucking gladly." I roll us so Theo is on his back and I'm on top of him. Reaching over, I turn on the lamp. I want to be able to see his reactions when I take him into my mouth for the first time.

The room is bathed in a soft glow as I tug off his boxer briefs. Theo's erection bounces against his belly, flushed, pulsing and waiting for me.

I lean down, but Theo's, "Wait," stops me.

"What's wrong?" I pause, looking up at him.

"I want you naked too."

I can't stop the grin that tugs at my lips. "I can handle that."

I kick out of my underwear, dick hungry and leaking. I toss one of my legs over Theo's body, eyes on his face as I kiss down his torso. He pushes up on his elbows, head tilted so he can see me too.

"God, you're so hot. I can't believe you do this with me."

"Theo." Kiss. "You're." Kiss. "Hot." Kiss. "Too." My tongue slips into his belly button, and then I pull it out again. "Plus, I Instagram-stalked your ex. She's gorgeous. Let's not pretend you don't pull good-looking people."

"You looked up Whitney on Instagram?"

"Had to see my competition," I tease.

"None. Zero competition."

Starting at the root of his erection, I let my tongue travel to the tip, his salty flavor bursting on my tongue.

"Oh fuck!"

"You like?"

"Too much. I really need my dick in your mouth."

"I guess it's a good thing I do too."

Meeting his gaze makes my chest twitch in a strange way, makes it feel too full, so I break the connection, paying attention to the job at hand.

I lap at Theo's full balls, kissing them before working my way up to his shaft. With my hand around the base, I suck the head, taste the precum there, teasing and flicking my tongue around him.

Theo's hands fist in the blankets, and unable to keep my gaze from his, I look up. Watch him watch me with hooded eyes, parted mouth, and see his chest rise and fall in quick pants.

Without looking away, I slowly, so fucking slowly, lower my mouth down his hot, hard length. It makes my balls throb. I love the feel of sucking cock, how it stretches my lips and the heavy length of a man on my tongue.

Somehow, it's even better that it's Theo.

Reaching down, he threads his fingers through my hair, mouth falling open more. "Perry, so good. Fuck, I love the feel of you."

His cock is slick with my spit as I stroke and suck him, working hard to make this the best blowjob Theo ever had. My other hand sneaks up to play with his balls, then rub his taint.

"Perry…" he lets out breathlessly, spreading his legs for me more. "Oh God, Perry."

His head had dropped back now, eyes closed, hips thrusting up gently.

I pull off him. Theo's head snaps up, and he shouts, "Perry!"

With a grin, I reply, "I was just going to tell you that I don't need you to go so soft with me. You can let loose. I want you to."

Fire blazes in his green eyes. The second my mouth is on him again, Theo snaps his hips up, fucking into my mouth. It's not too hard, he's not choking me, but he's definitely losing himself to the pleasure. He rubs his feet against the mattress, legs shaking, hands fisting, my name spilling from his pretty lips.

"I'm gonna come. Fuck, Perry, I can't hold back!"

I lower my mouth, take him deep, eyes locked on his since he's looking down at me again, trying to tell him I want it. Is it really a blowjob if you don't swallow?

Theo thrusts up again, body coming apart beneath me as the first spurt of salty cum graces my tongue. I swallow around him, feel it slide down my throat right before he spurts again and again, filling my mouth with everything in his balls.

"Fuck, that's good." I push up to my knees.

"Good for you? Jesus, that was good for me."

"I like giving head. If you ever do it one day, you might like it too. There's something powerful about making a man come with your mouth."

Kneeling beside him, I grip my shaft and stroke, needing to come, but then Theo's hand on my arm stops me.

"Can I try it now?" he asks, gazing at me with those puppy-dog eyes that make the fullness return to my chest.

"You want to?" Did my voice just crack? Why the fuck is my voice cracking?

"Yes."

I nod, not knowing if I'll survive it.