“Hey, Nick? Can you come help me with something?”

I blinked, looking up from the book I’d been reading. I must have gotten lost in it—I’d almost forgotten Eli was here. I looked around, not quite sure where his voice was coming from.

“Sure, what’s up?” I tossed the book aside and stood up from the couch. The light was hazy and golden and the whole afternoon had a honey-sweet slowness to it.

“Just come here, and I’ll show you.”

The bathroom. Eli’s voice was definitely coming from the bathroom.

I padded my way across the old wooden floor and pushed the bathroom door open gently. Eli must have been taking a shower—hot, citrus-scented steam billowed out as the door swung in, and I caught sight of him, standing next to the tub with just a white towel wrapped around his waist. He was biting his lip as he looked at me.

“What is it?” I asked, glancing around the room. “What do you need?”

“You.” Eli let the towel fall to his feet. “I need you.”

My breath caught. Eli was gorgeous. His skin shone in the sunlight filtering in through the window, and tiny beads of water collected on his collarbone, and along the slim V of his hips. He was breathing hard, like he was nervous, his chest rising and falling in his thin frame. And his cock—God, his cock. Long and pink and hard. I ached to touch it, to touch him. But I couldn’t.

“Eli,” I said, licking my lips. “I can’t—”

“Please, Nick.” Eli brought his right hand down to stroke his cock, and I swallowed. “Please.”

“I want to. God, you know I want to, but we can’t.”

“I need it, Nick,” Eli said, and I swear to God, he trembled. “Please. Don’t let me go without touching me. At least once. Let me have that, before sending me away.”

“I don’t want to send you away,” I told him, stepping closer. I let myself touch his face, stroke his cheek once. “I want—I want you to stay.”

“Then show me.” Eli took my hand and brought it to his cock. I gasped. How long had I waited to touch him? I could feel the heat of his skin, the pulse of desire through his body. “Take me, Nick. I need you to.”

I sank to my knees. It was wrong, so wrong, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was helpless before Eli. I’d give him whatever he wanted—and he knew that deep down, I wanted this as much as he did.

Taking the base of Eli’s cock with my hand, I brought the tip to my mouth. Spreading my lips apart, I drew him in slowly. Eli moaned. I leaned forward, taking him in and letting him fill my mouth. He tasted perfect, sweet and clean, and felt amazing. Better than I’d ever imagined—and I’d imagined this a lot.

“Please, Nick,” Eli urged, thrusting his hips forward, begging me to take all of him. I did, sinking down around him and then pulling off languorously, stroking the underside of Eli’s cock with my tongue, then swirling it around his tip. Eli whimpered and I sank down again.

Christ, it was hot, watching Eli come undone at my touch. His body shook and his hands gripped my shoulders like he was holding on for dear life. I looked up to see him close his eyes and moan in pleasure. If this was what a simple blow job could do to him, I couldn’t wait to see him fall apart when I fucked him.

Every inch of Eli was perfect, from the rosy flush in his face to the soft skin of his inner thighs to the tang of precum on my tongue. I sped up, pushing the tempo and Eli gasped, his hips shaking, stuttering wildly as I sucked him in and out. I’d been hard since the moment I’d walked into the bathroom, but I couldn’t hold back anymore.

My cock was pressing hard against my jeans, and I dropped a hand down, unzipping them so I could stroke myself as I sucked Eli off. Fuck, this felt so good, so right, and I was so close already. Why had we waited so long to do this?

“God, Nick, I’m gonna—I’m gonna come,” Eli groaned. “Oh fuck, Nick, please, Nick, Nick—”

His fingers dug into my shoulder as he released in my mouth, and I came in response, loving the sweet taste of Eli’s cum on my tongue and the way his whole body shook as he rode out his orgasm. It was so perfect, we were so in sync, and we—

I woke with a start, as a loud thump brought me back to consciousness. I looked around wildly. Where was I? Where was Eli? What was I doing?

My eyes landed on the heavy, hardcover book that lay on the floor next to the couch. I’d been reading that only a few minutes ago, lying on my back. I must have fallen asleep, and it must have hit the ground when—

Oh. Oh, no. My cheeks heated up in shame. I’d had another dream about Eli. Well, I had lots of dreams about Eli, but it was only recently that I’d started having these kinds of dreams. The kind where I finally let myself do everything I’d been trying not to think about. The kind where everything felt so right, so good—and then I woke up, disgusted with myself.

Breathing heavily, I leaned down to pick up the book and set it on the coffee table, then pulled myself into a seated position. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t control my dreams, but I couldn’t live inside them either. I had to give Eli what he actually needed, not what my subconscious wanted Dream-Eli to need, or what it wanted to give him.

I sighed. I was just going to have to learn to ignore the dreams.

Because ignoring things you feel about Eli has gone so well in the past, right?

I squished that little voice with my finger, mentally. I was going to ignore it, too. Things were going well with Eli. I wasn’t going to let anything mess that up. Not even my own subconscious.

“Uh oh,” Ben said from the other end of the couch. “Nick’s got that smile on his face again.”

“Oh shit.” Adam laughed. “You know what that means, right?”

“I do.” Ben’s voice was serious. “It means we’re contractually obligated to give him shit about it until he finally tells us what’s going on and why this is all such a big secret.”

“Exactly.”

I looked up from my phone and shot the two of them a dirty look. I was over at their apartment on a Friday night, ‘doing them the favor’ of letting them cook for me and ply me with wine. Adam claimed that Ben cooked so much pasta that if I didn’t start coming over to help eat it, he was going to put on 700 pounds by summer. And Ben had insisted that I help him drink the contents of a case of wine he’d gotten from a vineyard that was courting him as a celebrity sponsor. I had the feeling they were mostly just checking up on me, though.

“It’s really not that big a deal,” I said, trying to keep my voice casual.

“Ooh. Now it’s glare and denial time.” Adam looked over at Ben. “We’re progressing through the stages very quickly tonight.”

“I hate you both.”

Before I could say anything else, though, my phone buzzed again. Eli had texted me a few seconds ago, asking how my night was going, and confirming the time for him to come in tomorrow, when we were going to celebrate my second birthday. I’d told him that anytime that worked for him was good for me, but maybe he wanted something more specific?

ELI: Okay, so, you know how you told me I didn’t have to get you a present, but I told you I wanted to anyway?

I snorted.

NICK: I might have a vague memory of the forty thousand times you asked me what I wanted, yes

ELI: Good. Well, the thing is, I’m kinda bored tonight, so I was thinking about giving you your present early. What would your feelings be on that?

Where was this going? I didn’t see how Eli could give me an early present if he wasn’t even coming into New York until tomorrow.

NICK: My feelings would be slight curiosity mixed with a hefty dose of skepticism. And a soupçon of terror, to be honest.

ELI: Well, that’s silly, there’s absolutely nothing for you to be terrified of. After all, it’s not like I would send you nudes for your birthday or anything like that.

My stomach tensed.

NICK: Funnily enough, you saying that doesn’t reduce the terror at all

ELI: I’m hurt, Nick. I would never deliberately flout a rule you’d made like that. I would never send you racy pictures

ELI: On the other hand, I might send you… a video

Jesus Christ, what had he done? My face felt hot, and I could feel sweat beading on my brow. Had I somehow not conveyed how very not okay that was? Probably not—because probably, Eli had picked up on the fact that no matter how wrong it was, I actually did want to see whatever he sent me.

“Damn,” Ben said. “Now he’s blushing. Do you think it’s because of us, or his secret lover on the phone?”

“Both, I’d hope,” Adam replied.

I couldn’t even spare them a glance, my heart was beating so fast. It was hard to swallow.

NICK: Eli

ELI: Nick

NICK: Please tell me you didn’t make some kind of video that we’re both going to regret

ELI: Define regret

NICK: Eli, please

ELI: How about I just tell you what the video contains

NICK: How about you don’t?

ELI: Okay, I’m ignoring that request. I may or may not have made a video. Of me. That may or may not be accurately described with the adjective ‘dirty.’ Actually, ‘filthy’ is probably better, to be honest. Like at one point I might be on all fours. At another, I’m maybe (definitely) on my back with my legs in the air. There also may or may not be some licking involved, by which I mean there totally is. But like, it’s totally up to you to decide if you want me to send it to you or not

My jaw dropped as I read, and if my face felt hot before, it was positively melting off right now

NICK: Eli please don’t send me—

I couldn’t even finish typing my text before a video landed in the conversation.

ELI: Just kidding, I’m sending it to you regardless. Happy Birthday, Nick!

My stomach somersaulted, cartwheeled, and then executed a complex series of gymnastics moves worthy of an Olympic performance.

I definitely could not open that video. I just couldn’t. Really.

I looked up at Ben and Adam.

“Can I, uh, use your bathroom for a minute?”

“Be our guest,” Ben said, smiling expansively.

“Thanks,” I managed to stammer, as Adam and Ben’s laughter followed me across the living room and into the hall.

This was humiliating. They didn’t even know, but it was embarrassing enough as it was. If they had known… Well, they wouldn’t, because I wasn’t going to tell them. I wasn’t even going to open the video. I was just going to the bathroom so I could collect myself for a minute, and then explain to Eli that I couldn’t watch something like—

The second I shut the bathroom door behind me, I clicked on the video. I felt hot and sticky and shameful as I did it, but I clicked. I frowned in confusion when Eli’s face filled the screen. He was wearing clothes, for one thing, and he appeared to be outside. What was—

My mouth fell open as the video continued, and I began to laugh. Oh, sweet Jesus, this was—this was the most adorable thing I’d ever seen. Trust Eli to give me a heart attack before sending it. He was probably laughing his ass off right now, and I wasn’t even mad. How could I be, with something like this?

“Happy Birthday, Nick,” Eli said at the end of the video, breathless and laughing and—yes—filthy. My heart was so full. How had I ended up with this incredible man in my life?

“Oh, Eli,” I whispered. “I love you.”

My eyes widened at the words. They’d just slipped out, the way you’d casually tell a friend you loved them after they did something particularly ridiculous. Except that it wasn’t casual, and it wasn’t just because the video was cute—and Eli was far more than a friend.

I loved him. Plain and simple.

It was dangerous, and reckless, and stupid, but I couldn’t make myself care. Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the video, maybe it was just the fact that I missed Eli, and I was tired of fighting my feelings, but I swiped my phone back on.

NICK: How soon could you get to New York tonight, if I asked you to come in?

An hour and twenty minutes later, I ran down the stairs to the lobby of Adam and Ben’s building and threw open the door, grinning.

“Hey!” Eli said, peering at me uncertainly. “You okay?”

“Absolutely.” I pulled him inside. “Why?”

“Uh, because you texted me out of the blue and asked me to come into the city without any explanation?” Eli raised an eyebrow. “Not that I’m complaining, but I’m mildly concerned you’re about to tell me you’re leaving for a trip to Mars tomorrow and you’re about to bid me goodbye forever. Where even are we right now?”

“Oh.” I shook my head, feeling silly. “I just didn’t want you to worry, so I didn’t want to tell you and let you freak out on the train, but—”

“Wait, you are going to Mars?”

“No, no.” I tried to get my thoughts in order. Maybe that last glass of wine hadn’t been a good idea. “No, I just wanted to um—to introduce you to my friends.”

Eli’s eyes went wide. “Wait, seriously?”

“I mean, it’s only Adam and Ben right now,” I said, tugging Eli up the stairs. “But I don’t know, I was sitting there and I watched your video and I just realized how dumb it was, keeping you guys separate. You’re gonna love them, I promise.” I was halfway up the flight before I realized Eli was still standing on the bottom step. “What’s wrong?”

Eli shook his head slowly. “Just trying to take it in. After insisting that we have to keep this thing a secret for months, you suddenly decide to introduce me to two of your friends who are, you know, no big deal, just incredibly famous and cool and you’re worried I’m not going to like them? What if they don’t like me?”

“They’ll love you.” I trotted back down the stairs to take Eli’s hand. “I swear. Even if you weren’t amazing and perfect and lovely, they’d still just be thrilled to finally meet the mystery guy.”

“The mystery guy?” Eli looked nervous. “They know about me? Nick, are you sure this is such a good idea? What if—”

“Hey, hey.” I stroked Eli’s arms. “It’s nothing to worry about. They’re both just really genuinely nice people who will love you because you are wonderful and they’re going to see that. They’re just going to be extra happy to meet someone who makes me so happy, that’s all.”

On impulse, I leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

“Nick, are you drunk?” Eli asked, his voice suspicious, and I felt my cheeks heat up. God, I could not keep from blushing today.

“Not drunk,” I said carefully. “I might be mildly tipsy, but that doesn’t negate anything I’ve said. Now come on.”

“You could have at least warned me,” Eli said as we got close to their door. “I would have at least brushed my teeth before leaving.”

“Please, Adam will be the first to tell you he’s a trash human being at heart, so he won’t judge, and I think Ben wakes up each day with magically clean teeth polished with fairy dust, so we’re all slobs compared to him.”

Without giving Eli a chance to protest, I pushed open the door and smiled broadly at Ben and Adam, who were watching me and Eli with undisguised curiosity.

“Adam, Ben,” I said, shutting the door behind us and tugging Eli forward. “This is Eli. Eli, this is Adam and Ben.”

“Holy shit.” Adam’s jaw dropped. “He actually does exist.”

“We knew he existed, dummy,” Ben said, poking Adam’s side. “We saw him that night at Adriatic.”

“Well yeah, but Nick wouldn’t let us talk to him, so we didn’t really know he wasn’t a hologram or a collective hallucination.”

Ben rolled his eyes and smiled at Eli.

“What the love of my life is trying to say is that it’s really nice to meet you, Eli.” He patted the couch where I’d been sitting before. “But maybe you should come over here and let him shake your hand, just to prove you’re corporeal.”

Eli looked at me once for confirmation, and when I nodded, joined Ben on the couch. A few minutes later, greetings exchanged and done with, Ben grinned and asked Eli if he wanted a glass of wine.

“Oh.” Eli blinked in surprise. “I, uh—I’m not—that is, I’m good.”

He glanced at me nervously, and I realized he was wondering if Adam and Ben knew how old he was. To be honest, I hadn’t thought any of this through—I’d just known that I was sick of keeping the guy I loved a secret. And I didn’t want to lie anymore, not to my friends. They’d understand, wouldn’t they?

I put my arm around Eli and turned back to Ben and Adam. “Kind of a funny story about that, actually. Remember when I told you Eli was in college…?”

“Holy shit,” Eli said, as Ben finished talking. “That’s honestly the sweetest, best love story I’ve ever heard. And it’s real? Are you shitting me?”

“I know,” Adam said. “It’s pretty unfortunate.”

Telling them about how Eli and I had met had prompted Ben to try to explain how he and Adam had gotten together, which had led to Adam claiming it was too soon to go into that kind of detail and him grilling Eli about his life instead. That had led to the two of them bonding over having weird parental relationships and learning to be self-sufficient at a young age, which led to Ben getting excited when he learned that Eli liked to cook, which led to him getting all the leftovers back out of the fridge and force-feeding Eli pasta, which led to me and Adam eating more too, which, finally, had led to Adam being mellow enough to let Ben tell Eli how he and Ben had gotten together in the first place.

But now that Ben was done, I wondered if Adam was regretting that decision. He squirmed uncomfortably under Eli’s praise.

“Yeah, really regrettable,” Ben said, pulling Adam in for a kiss. Adam made a face but did not, I noticed, move away.

Neither Adam nor Ben had blinked an eye at learning Eli’s age, or how we’d met, or why I’d kept everything so quiet for so long. They’d laughed at his stories, and seemed almost as delighted with him as I was. As we’d talked, Eli had relaxed and grown more comfortable, and by now, he had them eating out of his hand.

“I’m serious, though,” Eli says after a pause. “There are what, eight, nine million people in this city? Eight million hearts out there, and we’ve all got our own love stories, but you don’t hear about them. Especially not ones that aren’t straight, or don’t conform to the world’s perfect, cookie-cutter standards. People should hear about yours.” He frowned. “Sorry, unless that’s weird. Sometimes I get soapbox-y.”

“Not weird at all. And I completely agree.” Ben laughed. “You wanna write it for us? Adam here claims he hates being the center of attention, but I bet he’d let you, if you promised to let him play his unfinished songs for you over and over again while he fiddles with their chord structure until you grow selectively deaf from boredom.”

“He could,” I said, “except that in a few months, Eli’s going to be out at Wrenville College, taking the fiction-writing world by storm. So he might be a bit busy.”

Eli shot me a look, but Adam spoke before I could ask what the look was for.

“Really? I don’t know much about that school. Do they have a good creative writing program?”

“They do,” Eli said. He sounded hesitant. “But I haven’t actually gotten in yet. I might not. And even if I do, there are other places I could go, too. Closer ones, that wouldn’t cost as much.”

“But that’s your dream program.” I looked at him, confused. “You wouldn’t not go, if you got in, right? Which you definitely will, by the way.” I turned to Adam and Ben. “I read one of the pieces he submitted with his application. It was beautiful.”

“I don’t know…” Eli shrugged and looked down at his hands. “Probably I would. But it’s all hypothetical at this point anyway.”

“Aren’t you supposed to find out if you were accepted like, any minute now?” I pressed.

“Well, yeah. But it’s—whatever. We don’t have to talk about it now.”

“Whether you go or not,” Ben broke in, “I hope we see more of you, now that Nick’s finally let us meet you.”

“Definitely,” Adam added. “At first, I was just relieved that Nick wasn’t dating an apparition in his head, but it turns out I actually like you.”

“Translating for Adam again,” Ben said, “what he means is that you’re lovely and we’re so happy for you two.”

“That’s what I said!” Adam protested.

“Um, no, what you said was maybe the most begrudging compliment ever given.” Ben gave Eli an apologetic look. “He’s kinda a misanthrope.”

“No worries.” Eli grinned. “My best friend Aisling is like that too. I’m used to people liking me begrudgingly.”

Eli was quiet as we undressed that night, back in my apartment. He’d been kind of contemplative the whole way home, and he curled up on his side, looking away from me, when he got into bed.

I climbed in after him and pulled him close. My body molded itself to him automatically, and ached for him the nights he wasn’t here.

“Hey, you know I don’t like you begrudgingly, right?” I said, stroking his arm.

“Of course,” Eli said. I wished I could see his face.

“Thanks for coming in tonight.”

“Of course,” Eli said again. If he was smiling, it wasn’t the kind of smile he usually had, the kind that made his shoulders roll down and his lower back relax as it let go of tension.

“You were killing me with your texts about that video,” I told him, trying to shift to a lighter topic. “I almost had a heart attack leading up to it.”

“Good.” This time Eli actually laughed, and it rolled through his body as he unfurled, stretched, and then pressed himself against me like a cat.

“You take delight in torturing me.”

“Hey, you knowingly date a goblin, you have to accept what you get.” He giggled. “I wish I could have seen your face though, before you watched it.”

“I had to go into the bathroom,” I admitted. “I was convinced it was going to be pornographic, and Adam and Ben were already giving me shit about how red my cheeks were.”

“Amazing.”

“You have no idea how relieved I was when it turned out to just be puppies.”

“Yeah?” Eli tensed for a moment, before relaxing and sinking back against me again. Our thighs pressed together, Eli’s body fitting perfectly into the curve made by mine. “You sure about that?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, nuzzling his neck. “I told you not to send me anything pornographic, remember?”

“I do.” Eli’s voice was lazy and warm. “You told me not to send you anything like that. In no uncertain terms. And then, as soon as I sent you the video, you went ahead and opened it anyway. In private. Where no one else could see your reaction.” He shifted, and his ass rubbed between my hips, so casually that I wasn’t even sure he noticed. “Just saying that’s a lot of effort to go to, to watch something you said you didn’t want to see.”

“Eli, I—”

My strangled voice cut off as he did it again, his ass rubbing up and down against my groin, and there was nothing accidental about it this time.

“You sure you didn’t want to see that?” Eli asked. His voice left no doubt that he knew exactly what he was doing. Which meant he could also tell it was working, that despite my best intentions, I was growing hard.

“Please, Eli—” I choked out, my free hand sliding from Eli’s arm to his thigh.

I held him tightly, trying to stop him from moving against me again. But it seemed to have the exact opposite effect of the one I’d intended, because Eli just laughed and wriggled anyway, stroking my cock with his ass. I gasped, a high, desperate sound.

“Please, Eli, what?” He reached back to take my hand and drag it from his thigh, up and inwards, and I had to remind myself how to breathe as it got… close… to…

“Eli, no, we can’t.”

“Yes we can,” Eli countered, his voice growing fierce. He thrust back against me and I moaned in spite of myself. “There’s no reason we can’t, except your stupid rule.”

I groaned. “I made that rule to—”

“You made that rule, and you can break it, Nick. Don’t you get it? No one cares. Adam and Ben didn’t care about us, about me being in school. No one’s gonna give a shit, except you.”

“It’s not because you’re in school, Eli, it’s because you’re—”

“Because I’m what?” Eli flipped over so quickly that he was facing me before I’d even realized he’d moved. “What are you so embarrassed about with me?”

“I’m not embarrassed.”

“Then what is it? What’s wrong with me? Why won’t you—why don’t you—” he hiccuped, then inhaled raggedly. “I never fucking know what you’re thinking. You never say anything, and I feel like I’m constantly guessing, and I’m trying not to push, I’m trying to just take what you’re willing to give, but I—I just—” he broke off, flinging his arms around my neck and burying his face against my chest.

His tears carved me open, and I folded Eli into my arms, as though I could staunch the wound if I held him close enough. How did I keep doing this, keep hurting him when all I was trying to do was take care of him?

“Shh, baby, it’s okay,” I whispered, not knowing what to say, not even knowing if what I said was true. Eli was upset and that wasn’t okay. I felt like the ground was shifting beneath my feet.

“I don’t even know why I’m crying,” Eli hiccuped. “I’m sorry I always do this.”

“Don’t be sorry. Sweetheart, please, please don’t apologize for that. I’m the one who’s sorry. I don’t know how I keep hurting you, but I’d do anything to stop it.”

“You can’t,” Eli said, his voice shaky with tears. “You’re not doing anything wrong, you’re just being yourself.”

“But if being myself is making you cry—”

“It’s just hard.” Eli quavered. “You’ve got all the power and you’re so guarded and I’m trying to trust what you tell me, but it’s just hard.”

“Wait, you think I have all the power here?” I tilted his chin up so I could look him in the eyes. “Eli, baby, I don’t know what’s made you think that, but believe me, you’ve got it wrong. You could destroy me in a heartbeat.”

“I would never do that,” Eli protested. “Don’t you know that by now? I would never tell anyone about us, I wasn’t even pushing to meet your friends, that was your idea, and I wouldn’t—”

“I’m in love with you.”

“What?” Eli stared at me like I’d started speaking Swedish—like he couldn’t make sense of the words I’d just said.

“I’m in love with you,” I repeated, saying it slower this time. I could hear the edge of panic in my voice, and nervous laughter bubbling in my chest. “Don’t you see that? I am completely helpless for you, and you could ruin me, not by telling someone else about us, but by telling me you don’t—that you don’t feel—”

“You can’t love me,” Eli said. “You’re not—you don’t—you won’t even touch me, and you never say how you feel, and I’m always just guessing, and—you can’t love me.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever not loved you.” My hand went to his face, and I stroked the pad of my thumb across his lower lip. “From the very beginning. I didn’t want to admit it, but that’s all it’s ever been. Remember that night—when I told you I cared about you? Very, very deeply?”

“Yeah?”

“That was me trying to tell you I was in love with you, before I’d even quite realized it myself. I’m so sorry if you ever doubted it. I haven’t told you because I hate what I’m doing to you, not because I don’t feel it.”

“You’re not doing anything to me,” Eli objected. “I don’t know why you think you’re hurting me. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

My heart cracked in two. The same thing was true for me, except I knew that no matter what Eli thought, this wasn’t good for him. I wasn’t good for him. We’d only been together a few months, and Eli was already talking about not going to Wrenville, talking about changing his future just for me.

But I didn’t know how to make him see how wrong that was. And I couldn’t handle seeing him cry. So I just pressed another kiss to his forehead, trying to stop the tears that were building up behind my eyes.

“I love you too,” Eli whispered, his arms snaking around my waist. “Just in case that wasn’t clear.”

I laughed helplessly and pressed my lips to his skin again.

Eli snorted. “I was wondering if maybe that would merit an actual kiss, but apparently not.”

I pulled back to look in Eli’s eyes and saw him smile.

“Just kidding,” he said. “Kinda. I know you have to do what you think is right.”

Shaking my head, I brought my hand to Eli’s lower back and pulled him closer, letting my still-hard cock press up against his hip as I stroked my hand down over his ass before letting it come to rest on his thigh. He gasped as my fingers slid between his legs, not touching anything, exactly, but not not touching anything either, and the tiniest moan escaped his lips as I thrust against him once.

“Just in case that was in doubt, too,” I told him. “I’m not only stupidly in love with you, I want you more than you can possibly imagine. Okay?”

“Okay,” Eli said, breathless.

“And the second you graduate—”

“I’m gonna hold you to that.”

“Good,” I told him, my fingers warm against his skin. “Good.”