Chapter 8

December 23rd

8:40 p.m.

My head was spinning. Ryan wanted me.

Ryan wanted me.

His fingers threaded through mine, gripping onto my hand tightly as we re-entered the pub and headed back through it to the main entrance and exit. It felt so easy, so natural, and my stomach was flipping all over the place.

Out on the street, I stopped, facing him. "I live with housemates, but I'm supposed to be staying with my sister and her boyfriend tonight since we're driving back to our parents' house tomorrow."

"We can go to mine if you want. I live all alone, in one of my parents' investment properties. No interruptions to worry about." He gave me a dirty grin, tugging me closer and planting a kiss on my lips.

"Fuck, Ry, I can't believe that we both liked each other, but neither of us knew. All that time we wasted."

We began walking down the street, and he briefly turned to me before weaving us around a group of people blocking half the pavement, avoiding the slushy snow at the edge of the road. "Sam. We can't change the past. But we've got a lot of making up to do."

A smile spread across my face. "Oh, yeah. I'm gonna make it up to you, alright."

* * *

"Nice flat." I whistled, taking in the exposed brickwork, wooden floors, and furniture that looked like it was straight out of a design magazine. A huge Christmas tree stood in front of the windows, tiny glittering golden lights glistening and catching on the bronze and green baubles that were strategically placed on its branches, all topped by a sparkling star. Ryan's apartment was small, but the open layout and large windows gave it a feeling of space. "Never knew you had a knack for decorating. Remember your old bedroom?"

He laughed. "Yeah, I grew out of the whole plastering every inch of my walls with Marvel posters phase."

"And don't forget that time you persuaded your dad to paint your room completely green for your sixth birthday, including all the furniture."

"Have you finished?"

Catching his eye roll, I grinned, shrugging off my thick coat and scarf, and then pulled him to me. I walked us backwards until he bumped up against the counter of the kitchen area. Tilting my head, I placed my mouth to his ear. "I've finished reminding you of your questionable taste in décor, but I'm just getting started with you."

His body shuddered. "Fuck," he muttered, dropping his head back against the kitchen cabinet. I took full advantage, licking and nipping his throat while I divested him of his coat. I slid my hands under his navy T-shirt, up over the ridges of his abs, and onto his hard pecs, dragging the fabric up with me. It wasn't quite Christmas, but I was unwrapping my present early.

And what a fucking present he was.

"Your body…" Drawing back, I drank in Ryan's exposed torso, my dick hard as steel inside my jeans.

"Yours." Spinning us, he pushed me up against the counter, grinding his hard length against mine as he yanked my T-shirt off. "You don't even know how difficult it's been, trying to pretend like I didn't notice you in the gym."

"It was just as difficult for me." My lips found his again, and I lost myself in him. "I've wanted you for so long. Every time I saw you, I asked myself why I was torturing myself by coming back to your gym."

His low chuckle sounded against me, his nose running over my cheek before he nipped at my ear. "I'm so glad you did." Gripping my hand, he stepped back, pulling me with him. "Bed."

The second we stepped over the threshold of his bedroom, I was on him, my hands working at his jeans while he attacked me with kisses and bites, his hands all over me, driving me insane. "Sam…if you even knew…" he rasped between kisses.

"I know." Dropping to my knees, I tugged his jeans and underwear down, revealing his long, thick erection. "Ry. You're fucking dripping."

My thumb swiped across the tip, making him groan.

"All for you, babe." His hands came down to grip my hair as I leaned forwards, taking him into my mouth. "Fuuuuck."

Emboldened, I took him even deeper, using every technique I knew to drive him insane. He panted above me, his thighs shaking with the effort of holding back, to not thrust deep into my throat. My cock raged against my jeans, and as if he knew exactly how on edge I was, he yanked me off him, dragging me to my feet and ripping my jeans and boxers off me. "I need to taste you."

My voice was so fucking hoarse I hardly recognised it. "Bed. Now."

We tumbled onto his bed, flipping each other over, our bodies grinding together. Ryan kissed me, hot and heavy, his tongue sliding against mine. The friction of our movements and the way our cocks were rubbing together felt so fucking good that it was almost impossible to tear myself away.

"Turn around," I gasped out. "I wanna suck you while you suck me."

"Fuck, yes. You have the best ideas," he groaned, shifting onto his side, his head level with my aching cock, while his own pointed straight at my mouth, his precum glistening on the tip. I had to taste him.

Angling my head, I swiped my tongue around the head of his cock, and he moaned. The next second, it was my turn to moan as my cock was suddenly encased in wet heat, his throat working to take as many inches as he could fit in his mouth.

It was almost impossible to concentrate when Ryan's mouth felt so good around me, but I did my best, taking in more of his cock, running my tongue over the hard length of his erection. My hand went to his balls, rolling them lightly, and he moaned around me, sending a jolt of heat through my body. When I pressed down on his taint, he moaned again, and the vibrations, combined with the wicked movements of his tongue, had my balls seizing up.

I pulled off him long enough to gasp, "Gonna come," before I was releasing into his mouth, feeling him swallow every drop. Fuck. So. Good. My body wanted to collapse back onto the bed, but he was throbbing in my mouth, and I needed to make him feel as good as I did. Working over his length, I sucked and licked, playing with his balls and taint until he tugged at my hair, his body tensing against mine. Then his cum was filling my mouth, shooting down my throat.

"Fuck," he gasped, flopping onto his back, panting. "I'm dead. That was…"

"Amazing," I finished for him, my voice breathless. "How soon can we go again?"

A throaty laugh fell from his throat. "Give me a minute to recover." I felt the bed move underneath me as he manoeuvred himself the right way up, and then he was collapsing down next to me, his face so close to mine. It was all the excuse I needed to lean forwards and kiss him, tasting myself on his tongue. Why was that so hot?

"Sam. Sam. Sam." He chanted my name between kisses, and I did the same, his name falling from my lips. I couldn't get enough—this amazing, sexy man was sharing his bed, his home, and his body with me.

It was a dream that I never wanted to wake from. A Christmas miracle, as cliché as that sounded.

When I felt him hardening again, my own cock rising, I pulled him to me, wrapping my arms around him, sliding my hands down his back to his ass.

"Top or bottom?" My words came out on a moan as Ryan latched his mouth onto my throat, sucking and licking at my skin.

He raised his head to look at me, his black pupils swallowing the hazel of his irises. Licking his lips, he slid his hand between us, gripping my dick and aligning it with his. "Whatever you want. I've only done this a few times, and I think I preferred bottoming, but I'll have you any way I can get you."

A hiss escaped me as our cocks slid together with a friction that had me tightening my grip on his muscular ass, pressing him into me. "Mmm. I think I'm going to enjoy this." Stilling below him, I slid my hands over his smooth skin, meeting his gaze. "I'll take you any way I can get you, too. As long as I get to have you."

"Sam…" He kissed me again, thrusting his tongue into my mouth.

"I never knew…" My words were forgotten as he palmed my cock, rolling a condom over the length.

"I need you inside me."

Those words coming from my former best friend's mouth did something to me. Flipping us again, I raised myself to my knees, and I blindly reached for the bottle of lube he'd set next to me. He lay beneath me, tracking my movements with his heavy, lustful gaze.

"Fuck, Ry, you're so fucking sexy."

He gave me that same dirty grin he'd given me earlier, making my heart race. The way he was looking at me… "Same goes for you," he drawled, his gaze licking all over my body. Then, he raised himself up and kissed me, hard, before he turned over, on his hands and knees, ready and waiting for me. He arched his back, and his gorgeous round ass was so tempting that my cock throbbed, desperate to be inside him.

Taking my time, I opened him up, stretching him with my lubed fingers until he was writhing beneath me, begging for my cock. Placing myself at his entrance, I eased myself forwards until I was all the way inside him.

"You feel so good." Curling my body over his, I nipped at his shoulder before kissing up his neck. His stubble rasped against my skin as I mouthed across his jaw and up the side of his face.

He turned my head, capturing my mouth with his. "Even better than I imagined. And I imagined it. A lot. Fuck me, please."

When I had Ryan Jackson underneath me, begging in a voice that made my dick jerk and drip all over the place, I'd give him anything he asked for.

Drawing almost all the way out, I paused for a second before I rolled my hips down, feeling him contract around me.

So. Good.

I set a slow, steady pace, our bodies sliding together, hot and damp with sweat, our mouths connecting and disconnecting in messy kisses as his fists white-knuckled the sheets beneath us. He lowered himself to his elbows, thrusting his ass back onto my cock, and I groaned against his skin, my mouth on the juncture between his shoulder and his throat.

He moaned beneath me. "Sam. Fuck. That's it…fuck…right there…harder…"

"You want it harder?" I pulled almost all the way out and then slammed myself home.

"Fuuuuck. Sam. Fuck. Please."

Ryan's words were almost incoherent as I thrust in and out of him, my hand going to his cock, fisting his length in time with my movements.

He shuddered, convulsing against me as he spilled his cum all over the sheets beneath him. I stroked him through it until he gasped and stilled my hand, pushing himself back against my body. His body tightening around me was all it took to send me over the edge, my cock emptying into the condom as he panted beneath me, his skin hot and damp beneath my chest.

When I was spent, I dropped my weight against him, his strength holding us both up for a couple of seconds before he collapsed onto the sheets, taking me with him.

"Need to change these sheets," he mumbled into his pillow. Smiling against the nape of his neck, I ran my hands up and down his sides before I eased myself out of him.

"Totally worth the wait." I pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades. Rising from the bed, I took care of the condom before flopping back down next to him. He didn't seem to be in a hurry to clean up, and neither was I.

"I really did miss you, you know." Rolling to face me, Ryan lifted his hand to stroke through my hair. "I wish we hadn't grown apart as kids. There are so many things I'd change."

"I missed you, too, Ry. So fucking much. And I wish I could change things, too."

He sighed. "We can't change the past. Like I said earlier, let's concentrate on the future, okay? Put all the bad behind us and look forward to the good."

Closing the distance between us, I kissed him, wrapping my arms around his powerful body. "You're right. And if that old saying's true, which I'm one hundred percent sure it is, in our case, the best is yet to come."