Anna Martin's First Love Box Set: Signs - Bright Young Things - Five Times My Best Friend Kissed Me

by Anna Martin

  But Scott had picked up a few of those tricks for himself, and Evan found his body responding quicker than he’d anticipated under Scott’s intense teasing.

  “Fuck, Scott,” Evan breathed. “Want you inside me.”

  Scott groaned. “Me too.”

  Evan pulled off and rolled onto his back, upside down on the bed now. He spread his legs and stretched his arms over his head, his pose a languid Come and get me.

  Scott grinned, grabbed lube from their nightstand, and kissed his way up Evan’s body. His tongue traced along the crease of Evan’s hip. He nosed at Evan’s belly button and licked circles around each nipple in turn.

  They were smiling when their lips met again, sweet kisses peppered over delicate skin, and Evan reached up to gently cup Scott’s cheeks in his hands.

  “Be quick,” Evan murmured. “I need this.”

  “Only been married two minutes and you’re already bossing me around.”

  Evan laughed, delighted, and grabbed Scott’s wrist to direct it between his own thighs.

  “Come on.”

  Apparently Scott was in no rush. He held Evan’s wrists in one hand, pinned above him on the bed, while he worked two fingers of his other hand slowly into Evan’s body. There was security in Scott’s touch, and Evan let himself go with it, moaning quietly and rocking his hips into each explorative thrust of Scott’s fingers.

  “Please.”

  “Hmm?” Scott hummed, brushing his lips over Evan’s mouth and his fingers over Evan’s prostate. “What do you want, baby?”

  “Need,” Evan corrected. “Need you inside me.”

  “Okay.”

  Scott pushed his tongue into Evan’s mouth, and Evan licked at it hungrily, wishing his hands were free so he could hold Scott’s head to his own. When Scott finally let go, he used his free hand to drizzle more lube over Evan’s hole, then pulled his fingers out and pushed his cock in in one smooth, practiced move.

  Evan gasped, his whole body contracting and curling in, his hands flying to Scott’s shoulders and squeezing them hard.

  “Oh my God.”

  Scott moaned, low and deep into Evan’s ear. After a few seconds, allowing both their bodies to adjust, Scott started rocking back and forth. Just gently. Just teasing.

  “I love you,” Evan whispered. He wrapped his arms more solidly around Scott’s back, holding him close. “So much.”

  Scott nuzzled into the space under Evan’s ear and whimpered softly. “I love you too. I can’t believe you’re my husband.”

  Time seemed to slow then, becoming an indefinite thing as they moved together. It was more than rings, more than bodies or touching or whatever terms someone else wanted to use to define the concept of marriage. It was theirs. It was making love.

  Evan was only aware that tears were slipping from his eyes when Scott started to kiss them away. He’d never done this before, never felt so close to another person that he wanted to cry while having sex with them. Scott didn’t say anything, just held Evan tighter, made his thrusts harder, deeper.

  Evan came with Scott’s name on his lips, his body unraveling around Scott’s, and he rode the edge of pleasure with his arms still wrapped tight around Scott’s chest. A few seconds later, Scott groaned again, and Evan imagined he could feel it, Scott’s come deep inside his body.

  “Love you,” Scott murmured, kissing down Evan’s neck. “More than anything.”

  It felt like their erratic heartbeats settled into a shared rhythm as their breathing evened out again. Evan sighed, finally releasing his death grip around Scott’s shoulders, and fluttered his fingers through Scott’s dark hair.

  It took longer than usual to come down from this particular sex high. Evan wanted to luxuriate in the feeling for as long as he could, losing himself in the intimacy of having Scott still inside him.

  “Need to move,” Scott said softly. “I’m sorry.”

  Evan just grunted, moving bonelessly with Scott as he rolled them both onto their sides. For a little while they almost dozed, content to be held, finding a new peace in the world they had made together.

  “So,” Scott said, his voice an easy, satisfied sigh. “What are we going to do today?”

  “It’s almost lunchtime,” Evan said with a laugh. He ran a flat palm over Scott’s chest, then tucked his head under Scott’s chin and settled into the now-familiar embrace.

  “We could go out for pizza?”

  “That’s an amazing idea. I knew I married you for a reason.”

  Scott chuckled and kissed the top of Evan’s head. “Any more reasons?”

  “That’s the most important one right now.”

  “Can we stop by the county clerk’s office and pick up our marriage license?”

  Evan hummed. “Okay.”

  “You sound… not pleased with that idea.”

  “I dunno.” Evan brushed his fingertips through Scott’s chest hair. “I like that it’s ours right now.”

  “Ugh, come here,” Scott grunted as he pushed Evan onto his back and settled himself on top, his arms bracketing Evan’s shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I mean it. I just like that no one else knows other than us.”

  “You want to elope?”

  “No. Didn’t we already do that?”

  “I want for this to be official,” Scott said, leaning down to press his lips to the corner of Evan’s mouth. “I want to be able to call you my husband and put you on my will and make you my next of kin. We can have all of that, so I want it for us.”

  “Okay.” Evan kissed him again. “Okay.”

  “You’re not just my boyfriend anymore. It’s something more now. We made us a family.”

  “Come shower with me. Then we’ll go get our marriage license.”

  There was space in the shower for both of them; they’d made sure of it when they’d renovated the bathroom. It was a good shower too, powerful enough to cover them both in hot water as they gently washed each other’s bodies down. They did this enough, sharing a shower, to know how not to make it sexual. Not that Evan could get hard again after that, even if he wanted to.

  By the time they left the house, it was late morning and the sun was bright in the sky. It felt like the perfect kind of day to be married, and Evan reached for Scott’s hand, deciding he didn’t care at all who saw them like this.

  “Good morning,” Scott said brightly as he stepped up to the counter at the county clerk’s office. Evan watched him, feeling a familiar rush of affection. “We’d like to apply for our marriage license, please.”

  “Congratulations,” the woman said flatly. She was wearing an unflattering twinset in an ugly green color and lipstick that clashed. “I need both your IDs. The fee is thirty dollars.”

  Evan pulled out his wallet and retrieved his driver’s license and three tens, then slid them across the counter while Scott fumbled to get his wallet from the back of his incredibly tight jeans. He started to make a noise of protest and stopped at Evan’s pointed stare.

  “You can buy lunch,” Evan said under his breath.

  “Fine.”

  The paperwork was simple, and it didn’t take long before the clerk stamped her seal on it and passed it over.

  “Your license is valid for sixty days,” she said in a flat voice. “It’s valid throughout the state of Virginia and must be presented to an authorized marriage celebrant at the time of your marriage ceremony.”

  “When can we get married?” Scott asked.

  “Any time between right now and sixty days from right now.”

  Scott looked at Evan. He blinked. Then a look of mischief danced over his face. “Right now?”

  “Sir, if you want to go over to the courthouse and wait for a judge to be free, you can do it right now. You could be waiting for hours, though.”

  Evan reached down, grabbed Scott’s hand, and squeezed.

  “Thanks,” Scott said, gathering up the paperwork and their licenses. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”<
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  “Are you thinking we should get pizza first?”

  Scott laughed and tugged on Evan’s hand, leading them back out into the bright sunshine. “Fuck it. We’ll grab something on our way over. Let’s do it now.”

  It was two hours—two hours of turning the paperwork over and over in his hands—before there was a judge free to sign their marriage certificate. Evan had insisted they stop for coffee and a sandwich before going to the courthouse. He’d had sex instead of breakfast, and his stomach was protesting loudly. Maybe the nerves had something to do with it.

  “No witnesses, gentlemen?” the judge asked as he looked at them with a crooked smile.

  “No, Your Honor.”

  “Eloping?”

  Evan looked at Scott and grinned. “I guess so.”

  “Sign here, please. If you wish to change your names you will need to file a separate petition.”

  It was strangely official, signing their names, paying the fee to the clerk at the courthouse, walking away with a piece of paper that proclaimed them husbands. Legally. Officially.

  “Let’s go to the beach,” Evan said as they headed back to the car.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. We can catch up with people on the way.”

  “I like that idea.”

  Scott had a good car, a black and shiny SUV that handled the miles of commuting just fine. Evan drove it mostly on weekends. Scott insisted that he saw enough of the inside of the car during the week.

  It was still early spring, the air cool, though the skies were blue and the sun bright in the early afternoon sky. The world felt like it held so much potential. Even though it let the cold air in, Evan rolled the window down and turned up the heat on his feet.

  Evan shifted in his seat and reached across, took Scott’s hand and ran his thumb over the band. Scott didn’t take his eyes off the road, but his hand twitched in Evan’s in response.

  The sign for the hospital was like a beacon of guilt the first time Evan drove past it. By the second time he couldn’t ignore it anymore.

  “We should go in and tell our moms.”

  Scott threw his head back and laughed. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

  “Do we share a brain now?”

  “Apparently so.”

  Evan flicked the turn signal and took his hand back. He didn’t stop in to see his mom at the hospital all that often. He knew she had a shift this afternoon, the reason they hadn’t already made plans to catch up.

  “I just checked my mom’s schedule,” Scott said, slipping his phone back into his pocket as Evan pulled into the huge hospital parking lot. “She’s working for another hour.”

  “You have your mom’s work schedule?”

  “Our diaries are linked,” Scott said and rolled his eyes. “Family thing. I’d link yours too, but you never put anything in it.”

  “I don’t,” Evan said.

  Scott squawked and pointed at a space close to the hospital’s main entrance, and Evan swung the SUV ’round into it. Evan pocketed the keys as he hopped out of the car and locked it, then leaned against the hood and folded his arms.

  “How are we going to do this? One mom first, then the other? Or should we go on our own….”

  “You should tell your mom,” Scott said. He walked around to settle himself between Evan’s thighs. “I’ll go track my mom down. It’ll take longer. Then I can text you and let you know where we are.”

  “Okay.”

  “Nervous?”

  “A bit.”

  Scott grinned, his eyes flashing with love and amusement. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to the corner of Evan’s mouth.

  “It’s different for you,” Evan said, wrapping his arms around Scott’s waist. “Your mom had big weddings for her two other kids. She probably won’t care that we didn’t do that. My mom, though….”

  “She knows you’re not a big fancy wedding kinda guy,” Scott said. He scritched his fingers through the short hairs at the back of Evan’s neck. “I’d be surprised if she was expecting that from us.”

  “She probably expected to be invited, though,” Evan mumbled.

  Scott sighed softly and didn’t mention that the whole elopement had been Evan’s idea. He was nice like that.

  “Tell you what. If the pressure from the parental front gets too much, we’ll have a dedication down on the beach. Renew our vows, or whatever.”

  “I don’t think I remember our vows.”

  Scott laughed again and kissed Evan’s cheek. “We’ll make up new ones. If they want us to.”

  “Okay.”

  “Feel better?”

  “Not really.”

  “I love you.”

  Evan nodded. “Love you too.”

  “Come on.”

  Evan’s mom had changed jobs a few times since she started working at the hospital as a receptionist during Evan’s teenage years. She’d moved up to managing a whole department, coordinating blood tests across departments and throughout the hospital. It meant Evan knew exactly where to find her: in her office, on the third floor.

  Scott stayed on the elevator to go up to the ward his mom was most likely working on, squeezing Evan’s hand for reassurance just before Evan left. He knew his way around this building pretty well these days, not because anyone he loved had been a patient, thank God.

  His mom was just where he’d expected her to be. He knocked lightly on the door to her office, which was propped open, as always.

  “Hey,” he said softly when she looked up.

  Her face immediately relaxed from a frustrated frown into a beaming smile.

  “Evan! It’s good to see you.” She got up from the desk and walked around to hug him. “Everything okay?”

  “I’m good,” he said, nerves twisting in his belly. He hugged her tightly, wanting the feeling of his mother close to his chest, allowing himself a moment of childish weakness. When he pulled back he held up his left hand to show her the ring. “I guess I have news.”

  “Oh, Evan,” she said, hands flying to her mouth. “Oh my gosh.”

  “So… I got married today.”

  His mom flew back into his arms. “I’m so happy for you,” she sobbed. “So, so happy.”

  Evan felt the tears stinging his own eyes. “Me too.”

  “You got married?” she wailed. “I didn’t even know you were engaged.”

  He accepted the light punch on his arm, knowing he deserved it.

  “Scott asked me last night,” Evan admitted, making a show of rubbing the sore spot on his arm. “We went over to pick up the marriage license this morning, and they said we could use it right away…. I suppose it was a spur of the moment thing.”

  His mom grinned and shook her head. “Oh, Evan.”

  “What?”

  “A spur of the moment thing? You’ve been in love with that boy your whole life. I’ve been waiting for this for years.”

  Evan chuckled softly, feeling the blush crawl across his cheeks. “I guess so.”

  “Are you happy?”

  “More than I ever thought possible.”

  His phone buzzed in his pocket with a text. He pulled it out, checked the message, and offered his elbow to his mom.

  “That was Scott. Want to go celebrate with crappy cafeteria coffee? He found Annie. She’s taking a break.”

  “Sure.”

  She pulled the office door closed behind them and locked it with the security card she wore on a lanyard.

  “Let me see that ring,” she demanded once they were in the elevator, heading for the cafeteria on the top floor of the hospital.

  Evan dutifully held his hand out for her inspection.

  “It’s beautiful, Evan.”

  “Scott chose it,” he admitted. “His matches.”

  “I’m so proud of you.”

  Scott and Annie were already in the cafeteria when they arrived, almost at the front of the line for the coffee cart. Evan slipped into Annie’s place as she pulled Evan’s mom into he
r arms so they could sob on each other’s shoulders. Evan heard more than one mumbled “Our babies” and decided to concentrate on what on the menu would be the least offensive to his taste buds.

  “How did it go?” Scott asked in a low voice.

  “Could have been worse. She cried.”

  “Mine too.”

  Scott gave him a conspiratorial grin. Evan grinned back.

  He ordered four lattes, hoping these, at least, would be palatable, and two pieces of chocolate cake to share.

  “Right, young man,” Annie said as she dug into her cake with a fork. “Tell me everything.”

  “I already did, Mom.”

  “Fine. You tell me everything,” she said, pointing her fork at Evan. “Then I can see if your stories line up.”

  Evan laughed and draped his arm across the back of Scott’s chair. An almost-hug. “Well, last night Scott asked me if I’d marry him. I said yes. Then this morning we went down to the courthouse and made it official.”

  “You always knew we weren’t going to do the big wedding thing,” Scott added.

  “Are you mad at us?” Evan asked his mom in a small voice.

  “Mad? No. Why? Should I be?”

  “For not doing the big family wedding.”

  She shook her head. “Your marriage is your thing, Evan. Yours and Scott’s. I want for you whatever you want for yourself.”

  Evan’s mom had married Mark a few years back. It had been a small ceremony at their local church with their close friends and family, then a big potluck dinner back at the house. That had been her thing, what made sense for them as a couple.

  “I agree,” Annie added. “There’s no point doing something for the sake of it, especially if it’s not what you want. Or worse, doing it because that’s what’s expected of you. When I married your dad back in the eighties, God, it was awful. My mom and her sister took over most of the planning. I wasn’t allowed to make any of the decisions. I cried before the ceremony because I felt so helpless.”

  Evan’s mom patted her hand in sympathy and pushed the rest of the cake toward her. Annie gave her a smile of thanks.