Oh my.

Something in my mind had switched on tonight, and it wasn’t just because of Kade.

I felt like my body was on fire, like I was powerful, almost, after having such a good time at the party. There was a sense that I could do anything, and I wanted to hold on to that feeling and ride it out for as long as I could.

I knew it would disappear. I knew that I wasn’t a changed man after just one successful night. But I could pretend. And that was exactly what I was doing, now, in just about the hottest way imaginable.

Kade had slipped a hand underneath the waistband of my sweatpants, and he was cupping my bare ass, squeezing me hard. I had pulled off his shirt and was kissing along the ridge of his collarbone, down to his nipple.

“You’re wild, Mason,” he said, his breath hitching as I dragged my tongue across his nipple.

“Maybe,” I said, moving to press slow, wet kisses down the center of his chest. “Kinda want your cock in my mouth.”

He chuckled, his voice low, as he pulled in a long breath. “That… that can absolutely happen.”

Kade’s hands were at my back, then, gathering up the fabric of my shirt and pulling it up and off. When I sank back down onto him, the rush of skin on skin was so good, and I felt my cock throb. I moved lower, keeping my eyes fixed on Kade’s as I slowly kissed my way down to the waistband of his pants. When I reached his cock, I gently placed my lips over it, through the fabric, and watched as his eyes slowly widened, and then he relaxed again, moaning at the gentle touch.

“You tease,” he said softly, lacing a hand through my hair. I loved this—loved that I could affect him this way, loved seeing his eyes get so heavy-lidded as I stroked his cock, gradually increasing my pressure. Finally, Kade started to grip his hand against my head harder, and his hips bucked more and more with every stroke I laid on him through his pants.

I took mercy on him. I gently pulled down his pants until his cock was free, and I watched as it bobbed in front of me.

“Oh, wow, that is a beautiful dick,” I said, forgetting to be sexy for a moment, just in awe.

Kade laughed lightly, tossing his sweatpants away, gazing down at me. “You’re too kind.”

“I had no idea my boyfriend was this well endowed,” I said. I ran the tip of my thumb down the back of his cock, and I loved that I saw one clear bead of precum come out of his tip. I moved to lick it off, laying my tongue across his tip in one slow, fluid motion.

He moaned at the touch, and I smiled, wanting so much more from him. I took the tip of his cock into my mouth, sucking gently, and watched his face relax and his eyes focus on me.

“God,” he groaned softly, “give me more.”

I hummed, still teasing him a little, just running my tongue in a circle on his tip. I loved that I had this little control over him, that I had something he wanted so badly.

“More,” he whispered again, bucking his hips slightly, and finally I obliged. I moved down, taking all of his cock into my mouth, and relished it as Kade hipped up into me, spreading his legs a little wider. “That is—that is so good,” he said.

I had never been with a man like Kade before, and his confidence came through in bed as much as it did in general life. He didn’t hold back at all from reaching down to grip his fingers against my shoulders, stroking my hair, cursing as I dragged my tongue up and down his shaft.

He also didn’t hold back from saying exactly what was on his mind. I was used to men who were shy, who would barely make a peep when I went down on them. But Kade just kept on talking, like he couldn’t dream of shutting his mouth.

“You’re so good,” he kept saying. “Just like that.”

I pulled off him, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand and smiling. “If I were your boyfriend, I’d want to make you come every night,” I said.

“Yes, baby,” he whispered, bucking his hips in need. A thrill shot straight through me, all the way to my cock, hearing him call me baby again. I had no idea why I liked it so much. I knew it was just pretend, knew that Kade would never really want to call me that.

But I loved it all the same. I hummed as I wrapped my lips around him again, sucking harder, showing him exactly how much I enjoyed him. I wanted him to feel as wild and desperate as he made me feel, wanted to drive him crazy like I had been all night.

“Okay, okay,” he whispered, reaching down to pull my head up and off his cock. “If you keep going I’m gonna lose it.” He pulled me back up to his face and kissed me hard, and I sank down against him, pressing my body weight to his. Even this was enough for me, the feeling of being this close, of finally touching him like I’d wanted to all night. Finally getting confirmation that I hadn’t ruined anything between us.

His hand trailed down to my cock, and he let out a small, frustrated growl. “Too many clothes,” he said, giving my sweatpants a firm tug, pulling them down. My cock bobbed free, and I turned to toss my pants away.

Christ, I was hard. I felt like I might explode just from this, Kade watching me with hungry eyes as I lay there, catching my breath.

“If you were mine, I’d come home every night,” Kade said, slowly shifting so that he was on top of me, “and I’d wrap my arms around you in the kitchen. Come up from behind, all slow. And I’d kiss you on the back of your neck.”

I hummed happily as he dipped to kiss me, moving to straddle me, now.

“And I’d tuck my hands right here,” he said, trailing his fingertips along my hips, “and distract you until you had to turn around. I’d push you up against the counter… grinding my hips against yours…”

He mimed what he was describing, rolling his hips against mine right now, and his cock slid up against my own. I pulled in a shaky breath, reaching up to wrap my arms around his shoulders.

“And then I’d go down on you, right there,” he said, sliding a hand down to drag his palm against my cock. “I’d blow you there, I’d turn you around and fuck you right there, or I’d pick you up and throw you across the bed. God, I would fuck you anywhere, Mason.”

He was primal, now, licking down my chest, stopping to suck my nipple before making his way lower, nibbling gently near my hips.

“Jesus,” I hissed as he dragged his tongue in a straight line from my lower stomach, downward, trailing all the way to the tip of my cock. “Who… who says I’d let you wait that long?” I whispered, writhing under him. “Who says I wouldn’t jump on you the second you made it through the door, Kade?”

He half groaned, half growled and gripped tight against my upper legs, spreading them a little further apart. “You are so fucking sexy it hurts, Mason,” he said, moving lower and kissing my inner thigh. “If I’d had any idea you had all this inside you… what goes on in your head….”

“I’m glad you found out,” I said.

“I’m going to find out a whole lot more about you tonight,” he said. “How you look when my cock slips inside you. How you look when you come with me inside you.”

“Christ,” I uttered, shaking a little at his words. I looked down and saw that I was now leaking precum, my cock rock hard, standing tall just in front of Kade’s mouth.

He moved away, leaning off the bed and reaching over to his backpack. He unearthed the smallest bottle of lube and a condom, placing them on the bed next to us.

“You brought those to come meet my family?” I said, staring down at him in shock.

“Oh, shut up,” he said. “I bring them everywhere. A permanent fixture in my backpack.”

“Well, at least you’re safe,” I said, grinning down at him.

“You’re going to be thanking me for having them in a little bit.”

“Oh, am I?” I asked, teasing him.

“You’re going to be thanking me for all kinds of things,” he said, opening the tiny bottle and slicking his hand. In another moment, he was lowering himself again, crouching between my legs, and he pressed a kiss to the inside of my thigh.

“Spread for me, baby,” he whispered, pushing against my legs. I sure wasn’t going to say no to him. I spread my legs open, and soon after, he had taken my cock into his mouth. There was no teasing going on—he took me deep, right away, and soon, I felt his slicked fingers dragging lower, resting against my hole.

“Oh God, Kade,” I whispered, watching him from above as he worked up and down on my cock. Seeing him between my legs like this would be enough on its own to make me come—I wanted to sear this image into my brain, to remember it forever. I already sort of knew that I would. Kade had gone down on me the first night we met, but this was something entirely different. I could see him, even in the dim light of the bedside lamp, and seeing the expression on his face was a beautiful thing to behold.

Since when was I the kind of person who ended up with a strong, tanned, tattooed man between my legs, with his lips wrapped around my cock? I was living some other life, a life far more exciting than my own. And Kade looked like he got off on this just as much as I did.

A moment later, Kade suddenly reached his free hand up toward my face, pressing his palm down gently across my lips. At first, I was confused—it was sexy, sure, for him to cover my mouth like that, but I wasn’t sure what he was doing.

And then I felt his finger slide into me, and I knew exactly why he’d covered my mouth.

“Mmh,” I hummed against his hand, wishing I could call out louder. He kept working his mouth up and down my cock as he began to slide his finger in and out of me, and I already felt like I could come. After he let a second finger in, I moaned deeply and gently bit down on his fingers, which were still in front of my mouth.

He chuckled happily around my cock, and I relented, sucking on his middle and index fingers instead of biting down. Kade’s eyebrows knit together in pleasure, and he pulled his mouth up and off me, looking my way.

“You’re too much,” he said, dragging his free hand down from my mouth, across the skin of my chest. He pushed two fingers into me easily now with the other hand, watching me closely.

“So fuck me, already,” I said, the words dancing off my tongue. I felt bolder than I ever had, talking like this to Kade. I would never in a million years have been able to say these things to anyone else. But with him, it made sense. It felt good and right and hot.

And good Lord, I loved how he responded. He got a wild look in his eye when I said it, and soon, his fingers were slipping out of me, and he was rolling on a condom.

Even then, my heart was pounding hard in my chest. I knew I wanted him, and I definitely knew I was ready, but this was the kind of thing that would normally have me passing out in anxiety. I waited and waited for it to come—waited to start panicking as he slicked his cock, waited to freak out when he pulled my legs upward, positioning me so that his cock lined up with my ass.

The moment never came, though. When I felt the tip of his cock against my hole, all that happened was a rush of warmth through my whole body, a sense of finally reaching a place I’d wanted to be forever.

I trusted him. And looking up into his eyes while he gently started to push inside me was all the reassurance I needed.

From the moment he was inside me, I was gone.

“Holy… God…” I uttered, my eyelids fluttering shut. The world was reduced to pure sensation: his strong hands holding my legs, the press of his thighs against mine, his sizeable cock sliding inside me. I made myself open my eyes, as hard as it was, because I wanted to see it all. I wanted to watch his brow furrow as he entered me.

And of course, I wouldn’t have cared if Kade was wearing a foot-tall pinstriped hat and face paint at the moment—anything would have looked like the sexiest thing in the world to me. His muscles had a thin sheen of sweat, and his mouth hung open in pleasure as he finally was fully inside me, buried deep.

“Fuck, Mason,” he said, breathing deep and pausing. “You okay? Not too much?”

“Not enough,” I said. I didn’t care at all how desperate I sounded. I wanted more, wanted anything I could get from him.

He took my words like a challenge, and over the next few minutes, he built up to a steady rhythm, thrusting inside me. I watched him in awe, like watching a master at work. He was so damned good at this, and I couldn’t believe I’d been missing out on sex this good for my entire life.

He was fucking me hard now, stroking in and out with reckless abandon. I gripped my fingers tight around his hips, pushing him inside over and over, pleading for him to go harder. The more he gave me, the closer I came to losing all control. The world started to dissolve, and when he reached one hand down to wrap it around my cock, I knew I was done for.

“You know what I’d do?” Kade said, breathless, as he fucked me hard. “If I were your boyfriend?”

“Please, please tell me,” I said, my voice just as broken as his was.

He was silent for a moment, slowing his pace a little but pushing into me with firm, sure strokes. “I’d tell you I loved you, right when I was going to come inside you,” he said, his voice so low and gravelly. “And I know it would make you wild.”

I basically whimpered as his fist got tighter around my cock and he resumed fucking me at a faster pace.

“Oh, my God,” I moaned, knowing I was probably a little too loud. “You’re getting me so close. If you keep—keep touching me like that, I’m—”

“Are you going to come for me?” Kade asked.

“I’m going to,” I said.

“I want you to come hard,” he said, thrusting harder into me now. “For me, Mason.”

I moaned. “You are so good to me,” I said, barely believing that this was happening.

He lowered himself down, closer to my face, still keeping his grip on my cock. “It’s because I love you,” he said, dipping to kiss me hard before sitting up again and fucking me.

“Oh God, I love you, Kade,” I uttered, seeing stars as he worked his fist around my cock. “I’m gonna come—I’m gonna—”

Words were no longer available to me as I felt my orgasm starting to come, radiating from deep inside me and coming in shockwaves. It was like nothing I’d experienced before, so many sensations and emotions building up to this point that I was reduced to nothing. I came and came across my stomach and chest, babbling, saying Kade’s name over and over and probably muttering again that I loved him.

And in a moment, I knew that he was on the brink, too. After I’d come, his hand slipped away from my cock, and he grasped so tight against my thighs.

“Mason,” he whispered, and when I looked up at him, his eyes were so utterly wrecked. “I need—I need you—”

“Please come inside me, Kade,” I said, wrapping my arms around him. And I knew it was already happening. He was coming inside me, pressing so deep in, collapsing forward against me with one hard thrust. He was nothing but low moans and ragged breaths soon afterward. All my muscles were on fire in the best way possible, and I pressed a kiss to Kade’s forehead, his cheek, his lips.

He was heavy-lidded, looking at me like he was only halfway back down to Earth.

Kade slowly slipped out of me, and after briefly cleaning us both up, he collapsed down onto the bed next to me.

I couldn’t even begin to process what had just happened and all the things we’d said. I knew I would have to, later, and I knew I’d overthink every little thing. But I couldn’t right now. This moment was too special, and no matter what happened, tonight needed to stay as special as it was.

It was ten minutes until midnight, and that was ten more minutes that I could live in this dream with Kade. Ten more minutes of this incredible Christmas we’d spent together.

I reached over to my lamp, turning it off and tucking under the covers. I didn’t go to Kade right away, wondering if he’d even want to touch me anymore after all we’d done... but after a moment I couldn’t stand it. I scooted over toward him and wrapped an arm around his warm torso, squeezing against him.

“Thank you,” I said, kissing him against his shoulder.

“You were… amazing,” he said softly.

“You were exactly what I need,” I replied.

After a pause, he reached over, gathering me in his arm like he had done last night. And soon we drifted off like that, tucked together and completely spent, like the couple we were pretending to be.

Like two people who were in love.

I woke up to sunlight pouring through the window and cold sheets next to me. When I opened my eyes, I saw Kade was sitting at the edge of the bed, his head down.

I yawned, reaching out to skate my fingers over his bare back. “G’morning, baby,” I said teasingly, smiling at him as he turned around.

“You’re silly,” he said, giving me a little smile before standing up and putting on his underwear and a pair of pants.

“Boo,” I said, rolling over in bed. “Could have stayed naked for a little longer.”

“Just heard your mom calling us down for breakfast,” Kade said, rooting around in his backpack and finally pulling out a black T-shirt. I watched the outline of his back tattoo move atop his skin as he pulled it on.

“You know what could probably happen in five minutes if I tried hard enough?” I asked deviously.

“What’s that?” he asked, still looking at the floor, gathering his belongings and shoving them into his bag.

“I could try to make you come in five minutes,” I said.

He shook his head, not looking my way. “Probably hard to do,” he said. “I’m a little spent.”

I laughed, stretching my arms up above my head. “Yeah, me too, I suppose.”

“I’m gonna head down. I already took a shower. You should too,” he said. “You look… disheveled.”

“Thanks to you,” I said. “God, my legs are probably going to be sore all day….”

He gave me a tight-lipped smile before disappearing out the door, closing it behind him. I heard the sound of his footsteps going down the stairs, heading down to the kitchen.

We were leaving today, after breakfast, and it felt bittersweet. I was more than ready to be getting back to my own life and routine, but some part of me was going to genuinely miss having Kade as my fake boyfriend. Especially after last night.

And this morning, things had felt… strange, already. Was this how Kade normally acted? Suddenly I couldn’t remember. I’d gotten so quickly used to him pretending to be my boyfriend that I no longer remembered what normal was, what we had been like prior to this weekend.

I had just slipped into this role like a glove, and now I didn’t want to take it off. Kade seemed more comfortable with it than me. He hadn’t exactly been cold to me this morning, but he wasn’t warm. He was businesslike. Economical. He certainly wasn’t anything like last night.

I shouldn’t have expected that, though. We’d been just pretending, like we said.

This whole weekend had just been pretend.

But somehow, that didn’t really help. It didn’t make my feelings this morning any less real. And it didn’t help at all to quell the growing worry in my chest—the feeling that somewhere, something had gone wrong.

Like I’d already lost him, even though he’d never really been mine at all.