boy who had seen himself represented in dozens of movies and books—made me feel more vulnerable than baring my cock to him had. To be fair, I had a major dose of lust to carry me through the awkward when Ace put his hands on me.
If Ace were to laugh or criticize my favorite hobby, I might have to kick him in the balls. It would definitely tarnish my infatuation with the boy. But so far, he hadn’t teased me, and whenever I took a sidelong look at him, he was watching me instead of the computer screen, but it was tough to be upset about that.
“What do you think?” I asked as the episode wrapped up.
“Hmm?” He blinked down at me. “I think I like this a lot.”
“You haven’t really been paying attention to it.”
He smiled, tightening his arm around me. “I mean this. You and me. The anime is cool, but I’m a little lost in the storyline.”
Understandable since it was a fairly convoluted story and he was coming into it in the middle. At least he wasn’t cracking jokes about it.
He added, “I don’t really care what we watch. I just like hanging out with you.”
“Yeah?” I wiggled my brows. “Are we ‘hanging out’?” I slipped a hand into his hair and tugged him down. He obliged me with a sweet kiss. Not the lustful affair I wanted.
“Go ahead and turn it back on. I’m fine.”
“You must be bored.” I dropped my hand to his thigh, tracing the inner seam of his jeans with my thumb.
His breathing quickened. “Dre?”
“Out till late,” I said, moving the laptop aside and turning to straddle his thighs. I’d just started kissing him with intent when his phone rang.
I pulled back so he could check the screen. He tensed. “It’s Jeremy.”
His eyes met mine, and I knew the unasked question.
I shook my head, casting my eyes down.
“We can’t keep this a secret forever, Benji.”
“I know.”
“It doesn’t feel good, keeping this from him.”
To my horror, he swiped the phone to answer the call. Surely, he wouldn’t tell Jeremy everything right now? I clenched one hand tight on his arm as he answered.
“Hey, man, what’s up? Four calls in one day. You’re not after my kidney, are you?”
Ace kept his tone light, but shit. Four calls in one day? That wasn’t like Jeremy.
I could only hear one side of the conversation, which was maddening, but Ace shot me a look that seemed to be asking me to trust him. I sat back, waiting, heart in my throat.
“Nah, I’m sort of on a date, but—” Ace paused to laugh. “No, this one’s serious. It’s still new. Shut up, I can do serious.” His eyes met mine. “I’ve never felt this way before.”
Swoon. That was nice, but also weird. He was telling my brother about me without telling him about me.
“You okay? Okay, sorry. I’ll call you soon. Uh-huh. Don’t work yourself into an early grave. Find some time to play too.” He nodded along as Jeremy talked for a moment. “I will. Bye.”
Ending the call, he sighed.
“I can’t keep doing this.”
Ace
Benji went rigid in my lap, and I realized my words must have sounded ominous. I squeezed him reassuringly.
“Not telling him, I mean,” I said. “I want to keep doing this.”
“What if he freaks?” Benji asked in a small voice. “What if he wants us to stop?”
I shouldn’t have left this talk so long. I didn’t want to nag Benji about talking to his brother. I knew it was a big deal, for all of us, and that there could be some fallout with Jeremy.
But I’d spent weeks preparing myself to accept that fallout before I ever kissed Benji. He hadn’t had time to make peace with it, and hell, Jeremy was his brother. Maybe his approval meant more to him than it did to me.
“Well, I guess we have to be prepared to face that possibility,” I said. “I made the choice to be with you, but I’ll understand if you don’t want to be at odds with your brother. I probably did this all wrong. Maybe I should have asked him first—”
Benji pressed four fingers over my mouth. “I’m just gonna stop you right there. I’m not some maiden whose virtue must be protected.”
I tried to speak, but he pressed harder on my mouth, so I lapsed into silence.
“I don’t want to be at odds with Jeremy, but he’s not in charge of my love life.”
I nodded encouragingly.
“I was kind of afraid you