Chapter Sixteen James

After our heart to heart that morning, the rest of the day was pleasant and a little more comfortable than it had been previously. There was still tension in the air and Rowan wasn't really sure how to act around me, but that was to be expected. He'd just taken a big step, and I didn't expect him to suddenly be one hundred percent alright with everything. He needed time and space to feel comfortable.

?So, I did what I could to make him feel like there was no pressure. We lazed on the porch in the sun, we drove into town to get takeout, and spent most of the night watching movies. It was honestly one of the most relaxing Saturdays I'd had in a long time. Usually I was out at the beach or on a date in a vain attempt to find a guy who actually wanted me around. But being with Rowan made all that feel sort of superfluous. He might've been quiet, but I knew he wanted me around. I could see it in his gaze every time he looked at me.

?Those brown eyes of his made my heart soar.

?"I'm gonna put dinner stuff away," he said after the credits rolled for the movie we'd just finished.

?"Okay," I replied with a smile, handing him my plate. "I'd help you but I can't walk."

?"It's fine. I don't mind."

?I grabbed his hand and pulled him down so he was face to face with me. "Thanks, babe," I said and gave him a little peck on the cheek.

?The man turned a bright shade of lobster in all of three seconds and practically ran to the kitchen to pack up our leftovers. It was the first time I'd made a move on him all day and it was worth it. I loved seeing him all flustered. It was adorable.

?Sliding my phone out of my pocket, I decided it was time to doom scroll for a couple of minutes. I hadn't checked anything all day and even though I wasn't especially popular, I didn't like having a ton of notifications on my phone. For some reason that just drove me crazy.

?As I unlocked it and swiped to the home screen, I saw I had a couple text messages waiting for me from a named contact. Opening the app I felt my heart sink. They were from Ray, the guy that had stood me up over a week ago and never reached out again.

Ray: Hey cutie! I'm gonna be back in town this weekend and I thought it might be nice to hang out. God knows I miss that sweet ass of yours :P

Ray: You still there or are you ignoring me?

?I sat there for a moment, reading over his messages. It was surprising to hear from him to say the least. He'd canceled our previous date at the last minute and acted like it was no big deal. Then he waited over a week to text me again? And now he had the gall to make it a booty call?

?I knew my reply before I even brought up the keyboard.

Me: Sorry, I've had a lot going on. But I'm gonna be busy all weekend, anyway. I figured when you didn't reach out after last time that you weren't interested anymore.

?There was a little hesitation before I pushed send. The message was pretty straightforward, and some people saw that as rude. However, so was canceling a date an hour before with no explanation and no intention to reschedule.

Ray: Something came up, and I had to go back home.

Me: I thought you said you lived here in town?

Ray: I don't think I did.

Me: No, you did. You said you had a house on the north side of town on Hamlin Lake. You even offered to take me there.

Ray: Why are you making stuff up? Do you want to meet up or not?

?Okay, now I was getting mad. It was one thing to ignore me, but it was something entirely different to straight up gaslight me.

Me: No. I'm busy.

Ray: You don't have any time at all?

Me: Nope.

Ray: Well, whatever you're doing, it better not be anything with another guy. We're together.

Me: Excuse me?

Ray: I bought you dinner, and you begged me to fuck you. I'd say that means you owe me at least a chance at being your boyfriend.

?Holy shit. I couldn't believe what I was reading.

Me: First off, I paid for my half of the meal. And secondly, we had sex because I thought you were a halfway decent guy. But your messages are telling me just how much of a jealous bitch you are. So you can go fuck yourself. I don't want to ever see you again.

Ray: Who the hell are you to talk to me like that you fucking cheap whore?

?I didn't wait to see what other messages might come my way. Instead I just clicked on his contact icon and blocked his number. However, one last message made it through before I could stop him.

Ray: If you won't be with me, you shouldn't be with anybody.

?I just scoffed and thrust my phone back in my pocket. All the good emotions of the day had been ripped away from me in a matter of seconds and I was seething. How dare he sweep in and not only try to ruin my day, but try to make me look like the asshole? What a fucking dickhead.

?Forcing myself to take a breath, I willed myself to calm down. Maybe he was a dick, but at least I'd dodged a bullet. At first Ray seemed like a pretty nice guy and I had high hopes for what we might become. But after that little text exchange, I never wanted to see him again. He'd shown his true colors, and I was no longer interested. Now that his number was blocked, I'd never have to hear from him again.

?But I didn't feel any sense of loss. Not with Rowan around. He was ten times cuter than Ray and even with his little blow up earlier in the day, still treated me a lot better than Ray ever had. So I counted myself lucky.

?"Something wrong?"

?I turned to see Rowan standing a few feet away, staring at me.

?"No. Why?"

?"You've been glaring at that throw pillow for a couple of minutes," he said. "Did it do something to you?"

?I glanced over at the simple blue and white striped pillow. "I mean… it's ugly and cliche, but I don't hate it I guess."

?"Did something happen?" He looked suddenly worried. "You're always smiling and now you're not. Did I say something stupid again?"

?There was a long pause before I decided it was probably best to be completely honest. Rowan needed that if he was going to trust me fully. "I just got an annoying text from an ex is all. Nothing to worry about."

?"Oh." He shifted uncomfortably from side to side. "Am I… in the way?"

?"What?! No!" I laughed at that, surprised he was so worried. "Believe me, I never want to see or hear from that guy ever again. He's an asshole. In fact, I just blocked his number permanently."

?"Okay. If you're sure I'm not stopping you from living your life…"

?"Believe me, I'd rather be here with you on your worst day than hang out with him."

?That seemed to cheer him up a little. He came over to the couch and instead of sitting on the opposite end, he took a seat right next to me so that our thighs touched. I could feel the tension in his body and he kept wringing his hands nervously.

?"Something up with you?" I asked.

?"I… I don't know."

?"Well that's not much to go on."

?"Sorry," he sighed. "I know I'm a pain."

?"You're not, I promise." I reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Why don't you just tell me what's on your mind? Say anything you want. There's no shame here."

?Rowan took a deep breath. "There's just some things I've been thinking about. Things I'd like to try."

?"Like what?"

?"Like… bedroom things."

?"Ooh," I cooed. "You want to explore a new way to put sheets on a mattress? Or maybe how to hang clothes?"

?He gave me a serious amount of side-eye.

?"I know what you meant," I laughed. "Just giving you a hard time. I know you're nervous."

?"It's just… weird to talk about."

?"How did you and your girlfriend talk about sex?"

?He furrowed his brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

?"I mean, how did you talk about meeting your needs in the bedroom? Did you talk about things you like? Things you don't like? Or maybe hard limits for stuff you weren't into?"

?"No," he said, shaking his head. "We just had sex. Or well, we used to. She never said anything to me and I figured it was a pretty straightforward operation."

?"That's not a very wise assumption," I said softly, trying not to make him feel bad. "Everyone likes different things and just doing it the normal way sometimes isn't good enough for people."

?"So I messed that up too–"

?"That's not what I'm saying," I interrupted. "Did she ever tell you what she wanted or ask what you liked?"

?"No, but–"

?"Then she was being uncommunicative too."

?Another sigh.

?"Here, let me show you how it's done," I said. I sat up a little straighter and made sure he was looking me in the eye. "I really enjoy making out, oral sex of any kind, bottoming, and I especially enjoy being bred when I'm with a person I trust. Other than that, I really like the idea of that sex swing in the other room and I find it really hard to resist a guy after he's been on a run or working out." I couldn't help but smile. "There's just something about that smell, you know? I don't know what, but it just gets to me. Oh, and I love being ordered around in the bedroom. Dominance makes me weak in the knees."

?Rowan sat there, his mouth hanging open as he stared at me. However, a quick glance down at his lap told me all I needed to know. His shorts were already tented and I could clearly see the head of his cock fighting against the fabric. Apparently talking about what I liked really turned him on.

?"Now it's your turn," I nodded. "Tell me what you like."

?"I… I've never been with a guy before…"

?"So tell me what you've fantasized about. That'll give me a clue."

?"I mean… What we did this morning was hot."

?"Okay. Anything else?"

?His cheeks turned bright red as he turned his gaze to the floor. "I… uh… I've always wanted to suck a dick," he nearly whispered. "And anal seems sort of interesting."

?"Interesting how?"

?"I've heard it's tight, and it hugs everything a bit more. At least that's what Adam said." He shook his head. "I don't know though. It seems risky."

?"Risky?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

?"Like… things could get… you know… dirty."

?I couldn't help but laugh. I should have known that was going to be his concern. "Well, that's a reality with having sex in general. Things can always go wrong. But I'll let you in on a secret."

?"What?"

?"There are tools to make sure everything is pretty clean before you start. Most of the time, that takes care of everything. But, if something happens, you just clean up and move on. That's why there's soap."

?He nodded. "Yeah. That's makes sense I guess."

?"Anything else you want to try or that you like?"

?"There's one thing I'm gonna miss I think."

?"What's that?"

?"It's weird but… I kinda liked going down on Mia."

?"You can do that with guys!"

?He seemed confused. "What? How?"

?"Just do the same thing to their butts."

?His jaw fell open again. "Is that… sanitary?"

?"Again, soap. It exists for a reason."

?"I guess… I just… I didn't think you could."

?"Clearly you've not been on social media for a while. Eating ass is very popular."

?He shook his head. "There's so much I don't know…"

?"Well, don't worry. We can start with the easy stuff."

?His gaze flicked up to mine, his eyes filling with lust in an instant. "When?"

?I smiled, my heart racing as I realized this was my chance. Leaning back against the couch, I grabbed the waistband of my shorts and pushed them down, my half-hard cock flopping out onto the fabric.

?"We can start right now if you like."

?He stared at my dick hungrily, licking his lips.