Chapter Sixteen
Declan
“Shit!” A whispered curse woke me up, and I was confused for a second because I wasn’t in my bedroom. After blinking a few times, I realized I’d fallen asleep on the couch. And when I tried to lift my hand to rub my eyes, I realized that Trent had me pinned down on the couch.
I looked down at him and smiled at the little snore coming out of his open mouth, then I held back a chuckle when I noticed him drooling on my chest. I was so going to make fun of him for that.
I was flat on my back with one foot on the floor, the other across the couch, and Trent lying almost completely on top of me. His one leg was only an inch or two away from my morning wood, so I sent up a silent prayer that he didn’t suddenly jolt or kick in his sleep.
Once I took stock of everything—including a cursing Kade in the kitchen—I settled back in. It was Saturday, so we were both off work. There was no point in waking him up. Plus, I kinda liked having him there. I’d always been a cuddler, but I hadn’t had anyone to cuddle with in months. And this was Trent. He was my best friend, he was adorable, he was sexy, and he always made me feel good about myself, made me feel light and happy—minus his stupidity over the whole Levi thing, but I could tell he was truly sorry, and he’d only been doing that because he hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone’s feelings. But he was an all-around good guy that I enjoyed spending time with, and someone that seemed to understand me for the most part.
Oh, did I mention he was sexy? Why wouldn’t I want a sexy man lying on me? He fit perfectly in my arms, like he was made to be there—not that he was, because I obviously couldn’t go there with him. But I figured it was fine to pretend until he woke. I could pretend that he was mine, that we were together, that he would always be with me. Even though I knew that wasn’t possible, sometimes Trent made me wish it was.
I ran my fingers through his hair and rubbed his back, savoring him while I could. I pressed my nose to his hair and relished the smell of his apple-scented shampoo. Whenever he was close and I got a whiff of that wonderful smell, it made me smile.
Kade walked through the living room and lifted a brow at me, so I just shrugged a shoulder and ignored him. When he walked back through again, he waved, so I waved back. I figured he was on his way to work, so it was still early. I pulled Trent closer to me and maneuvered a little to get us both more comfortable so I could go back to sleep.
“Declan?” he mumbled with his eyes closed, clearly not really awake.
“Sorry,” I whispered, “Go back to sleep, Jalapeno.”
He hummed and tucked his head into my neck as he wrapped his arms around me farther, clinging to me in his sleep. I pulled him tight against me and automatically kissed his hair. I cringed when I realized what I’d done, but then I blew out a breath and just hoped he’d been asleep enough not to notice.
I closed my eyes and let myself drift off into a comfortable sleep.
***
I woke up when I felt Trent pulling away from me, and I automatically grabbed him so he couldn’t get up. It took me a few seconds to realize what I’d done in my half-asleep state, and when I did, I loosened my hold on him, kept my eyes shut and muttered, “Sorry. Where are you going?”
He cleared his throat, then whispered, “I have to pee.”
“’Kay.” I let him go completely, and he got off the couch, climbing over me. I shivered at the loss of his body heat. I didn’t want to think about the fact that I also sorta just missed having him in my arms. Not going to think about it.
While he was gone, I rolled onto my side and pressed flat against the back of the couch so I could see when he returned. I squinted at the clock under the TV and noticed that it was only eight in the morning. I groaned and rubbed my eyes. I wanted to go back to sleep.
When Trent came back, he stood at the end of the hall and stared at me, looking unsure and uncomfortable. I almost decided to just get up and start making breakfast, but we’d stayed up late last night, and I knew we were both tired. So I figured what the hell?
I patted the couch beside me and said, “Let’s go back to sleep for a bit. I’ll make breakfast later.”
Trent stepped forward and started wringing his hands together, still looking unsure.
I leaned my head up a little and asked, “Would you rather go in my bed, and I can stay out here?”
He stared at me for a moment, then took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders, seeming to steel himself. “Are you sure you wouldn’t mind me on the couch again?”
I put my head back on the throw pillow. “Of course not.” I patted the couch again. “Come on, it’s no big deal. You’re comfy.” I looked at him and saw a small smile on his face.
“Okay,” he whispered as he walked over and climbed onto the couch.
He was stiff and a little tense, so I put my arm over his waist and pulled him closer to me, then asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
He blew out a breath. “I was afraid you were gonna be weird.”
I shrugged. “You’re the one being weird. Come on, I’m tired.”
He snorted, finally rolled into me and rested his head on my biceps, then tucked his head under my chin. When I started rubbing his back, I felt him blow a breath against my skin as he finally relaxed.
My body was hyper-aware of every part of him that touched me. The way his lips were close to the skin on my neck, and his breath was blowing on my skin. The way his chest was flat against mine. The way his hip was pressed to mine. The way his hand rested on my waist.
Suddenly, instead of wanting to go to sleep, my body had a mind of its own and almost thrummed to life and I had a problem. I pushed my ass back against the couch so Trent wouldn’t feel my, uh, problem pressed against him.
I haven’t been laid in months, that’s all this is. Just a natural reaction to a hot guy’s body close to mine.
Apparently, I was glutton for punishment because instead of releasing Trent and getting off the couch, I pulled him closer and smelled his hair—my new addiction—and gently rubbed his back, then used the arm he was lying on to run my fingers through his hair. After a few minutes, Trent ran his hand from my waist up my side to my shoulder blade where he grabbed onto me tightly as he pressed his face against the base of my neck. I held him snuggly but kept up the rhythmic motion of playing with his hair.
We lay there for a long time. I hadn’t fallen back asleep, but I could tell that Trent had because his breathing evened out and his grip loosened on me. Although, he snuggled into my chest farther in his sleep which made me smile.
When Trent woke up later on, he muttered against my neck, “Morning, Cupcake.”
I snorted. “Morning, Jalapeno.” I was still playing with his hair and didn’t stop, even though I was a little worried that I was making this whole thing weird. “What do you want for breakfast?”
“I’m not picky.”
“Eggs and bacon it is, then.”
I felt him take a deep breath, and he surprised me by quickly pressing his lips against the base of my throat, then scrambling out of my arms and off the couch. My breath hitched and I closed my eyes so he wouldn’t see my emotions on my face. I was also praying that he didn’t notice the huge hard-on I was sporting. I’d been sporting one for the nearly two hours we’d laid there, but now, just from that simple little kiss, my dick was throbbing. Fuck. Why the hell did he do that?
“Uh… Declan?” Trent’s voice grabbed my attention, and I realized I’d been lying there with my eyes closed, taking deep, calming breaths for over a minute. I looked at him and immediately regretted seeing his sleep rumpled state because, fuck, if he didn’t look adorable like that. His blond hair was sticking up everywhere, his shirt was wrinkled, and he had a crease on his cheek that was probably from my shirt. After I stared for another minute, he asked, “You okay?”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah… I… need to go to the bathroom. Be right back.” I jumped off the couch and ran quickly into the bathroom, breathing out a sigh of relief when the door clicked shut. “Holy shit.” I ran a hand through my hair and pressed my other hand to my dick, willing it to calm the fuck down. “Down, boy,” I chastised. I looked in the mirror and attempted to fix my hair, then splashed water on my face before pissing and washing my hands, taking deep, calming breaths the entire time.
Trent is your friend, you can’t just jump him, no matter how sexy he looks… or feels.
Shit.
I repeated my mantra that wasn’t helping in the least a couple of times before leaving the bathroom. When I walked into the kitchen, Trent was already starting on breakfast. I leaned against the doorframe and crossed my arms over my chest, taking him in. His little ass was perfect and practically begging me to grab and fondle it. When I realized I was perving on my best friend, I looked up and asked, “I thought I was making you breakfast?”
Trent looked over his shoulder with a half-smile. “You can help.”
I snorted and pushed off the doorframe, then grabbed the eggs out of the fridge. “What kind of eggs do you want?”
“You have cheese to put on top of scrambled, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s do bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches, then. We can use toast.”
“Sounds good.” We continued making food and after a few minutes, I asked, “What do you want to do today?”
“Um… I don’t really have clothes to change into, so if you want to go out, we’ll have to stop by my apartment first.”
“We can just hang out here, if you want? You can borrow sweatpants and a shirt if you want to take a shower here.” I held in a groan at the thought of Trent in my shower—where he’d be naked. Then I closed my eyes and took a deep breath because, for reasons I couldn’t explain, the idea of him wearing my clothes was appealing. Very appealing.
“That would be cool, thanks. I could use a lazy day.” He had his back to me and I couldn’t stop myself from checking out his ass and imagining what it looked like in that lacy underwear he liked. Shit.
“Declan?”
“Hmm?” I snapped my gaze upward and bit my cheek when I saw him looking over his shoulder at me. I prayed that he hadn’t noticed my sudden obsession with his ass.
“Are you okay?” He was staring at me with wide, concerned eyes.
I cleared my throat. “Uh, yeah. I just need coffee.”
Trent pointed with the spatula at the mug sitting in the coffee maker. “I made you a cup already.” He turned around and flipped the bacon on the skillet.
My chest was thick with emotion knowing that he’d been thoughtful enough to make me coffee. I cleared my throat for the millionth time this morning and said, “Thank you.”
He waved me off, clearly unaware of how much the simple gesture meant coming from him.
For the rest of the morning, I attempted to stop checking Trent out, though he was smiling and laughing with me which made it even harder, because damn, did he have a nice smile. After we cleaned up breakfast, Trent took a shower and dressed in my smallest pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Somehow, the clothes were still huge and hanging off him, and he still looked sexy as hell with his wet hair, big brown eyes, little nose ring, and flushed skin from the heat of the shower.
“You are totally my Little Jalapeno,” I said as soon as he came out. I cringed internally when I realized I said my.
“I’m not little, you asshat.” He flipped me off. “Your turn. I’ll find a movie while you shower.”
I gave him a mock-salute before heading into the bathroom. As soon as the water warmed up enough, I jumped in and couldn’t stop myself from grabbing my cock and giving it a tug. I couldn’t help it after waking up rock hard this morning and fighting a boner every damn time I looked at Trent or he looked at me. I tried to think about someone—anyone—other than the man sitting in my living room, but every time I pushed the picture of Trent’s wet hair or tight ass out of the way, another picture of him smiling or laughing would pop up. His brown eyes taunted me as I tugged and jerked my cock, just wanting some relief. I was so close to release that I didn’t even care if I pictured him. It wasn’t like he’d ever know, right?
All I could think about was how it’d felt to have him in my arms, how he’d clung to me, his breath on my skin, that tiny barely-there kiss, and suddenly I exploded all over my hand. I had to bite down on my arm to keep from screaming out, though a low moan still spilled out. My orgasm was more intense than it’d been in months, and it left me feeling worn out.
“Holy shit,” I panted out as I rested my temple against the tile wall. After taking several deep breaths and calming myself, I washed off, then got out, dried off and dressed before heading back into the living room.
Trent looked up and said, “I thought I was gonna have to come in there and save you from drowning. You always take that long?”
Huh? “Uh… erm… no? Not usually? I mean, no… No.” I felt my face heat up a little, which was dumb because I never blushed. What the hell is going on with me today?
Trent gave me a weird look before his eyes widened and he started laughing so hard, he fell over on the couch. He threw a pillow at me and said, “Oh my god, Declan. I can’t believe you did that with me out here waiting for you.”
“Like you’ve never done it when someone was over,” I muttered.
“Okay, true,” he laughed out. “I just made sure I was quiet so they wouldn’t know.”
I clenched my jaw and bit back the embarrassed groan that wanted to escape. I grabbed the pillow off the floor and didn’t say anything which made another bout of giggles pour out of him. I sighed and sat on the couch, and as soon as my ass hit the cushion, Trent smacked my chest. “Hey, you gotta do what ya gotta do.” He chuckled.
I chose to ignore that. “Did you pick out a movie?”
He kept laughing as he said, “I think I found a show we can binge today.”
“Fine, whatever. Put it on.”
He grabbed the remote, pressed play, and kept on laughing like a jackass as demons or something attacked humans on the TV. Once he finally sobered, he laid back on the couch, put his head on a throw pillow and his feet on my lap. I glanced at him and he lifted a brow at me as if he was asking if it was okay to put his feet there. I sighed, then rested my hand on his shin.
When the second episode started, Trent said, “Ohmygod, I’m never moving again.”
“Huh?”
He nodded at his feet. “That feels so good.”
I looked down and frowned. I hadn’t even noticed that I’d started rubbing his feet, but I didn’t stop because he let out a low moan that made me bite the inside of my cheek and focus on the TV. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t risk the chance at seeing his facial expression when he made that sound.
Trent and I spent the entire day lounging on the couch, eating food, talking and watching TV. It was the laziest day I’d had in a long-ass time, but somehow, it’d been the best day I could remember having in recent years. When Trent went home that night, I instantly missed him as soon as the door shut behind him. I’d spent more than twenty-four hours straight with him and yet, it wasn’t enough.
When I lay in bed that night, I couldn’t help but notice the ache in my chest. Somehow spending just one night with Trent on the couch made my own loneliness come to the forefront. It sucked and I tossed and turned all night long and tried to figure out a way to have Trent spend the night again that wouldn’t weird him out. It didn’t go well.