“I like your room,” Jules said all of a sudden.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Mhm. Your bed is comfy.”
The genuine innocence of that statement made me grin. People who had come here before usually only cared about the bed, but not because it was the coziest place on earth with the huge amount of blankets and pillows, but because it was where…other things took place.
Still laughing, I flopped onto the bed and pulled him down with me so that we were lying amidst the fluffy cushions.
After a moment of silence and me playing with his hair, he suddenly asked, “Did you really dream about me last night?”
Now it was my turn to be slightly embarrassed. “Yes.”
“What was the dream about?”
I hesitated for a heartbeat. There was a voice in my head telling me to just go for it. It was the stupid part of my brain. The one that thought that car races were a great idea and that spray-painting the school surely wouldn’t have any consequences. But it was also the part that told me to kiss Jules after the race that night. And hadn’t that turned out alright?
Throwing the last of my sanity out of the window, I propped myself up on one elbow and asked, “Do you want me to show you?”
I didn’t miss the way Jules’s breath hitched as he looked at me with wide eyes, nor the way he was biting his lip. After a split second, he nodded tentatively.
My hand was shaking slightly as I reached out and gingerly laid a hand on the back of his neck, pulling him closer. Jules’s eyes were closed even before our lips touched. I paused for a second, strangely fascinated by the way his long lashes grazed the tender skin beneath his eyes. My gaze darted back to his lips, which were parted slightly in anticipation.
The kiss was almost painfully sweet, slow and cautious, until I started to deepen it, teeth scraping across his bottom lip. Jules’s hands slid up my arms, searching for something to hold onto. I pushed him back into the pillows and straddled him, careful not to crush him with my weight.
“That all?” he asked, though he sounded breathless already, and grinned up at me.
“Oh, sorry. Am I boring you?” I asked in the same teasing voice and planted a kiss right underneath his ear. That had to be some kind of sweet spot, judging by his sharp intake of breath and the goosebumps forming on his skin.
He reached for me again, this time to lift the hem of my shirt with a questioning look.
I got the hint and pulled it over my head, then gestured at his clothes. “Can I…”
Jules was taking his hoodie off even before I could finish the sentence. I gasped quietly when he suddenly rolled us around so that he was on top of me.
Grinning mischievously, he leaned down a little, pressing his lips to my neck. My breath caught in my throat when I felt him sucking on the skin ever so lightly until a hickey started forming. When he looked back up again, there was a new kind of sparkle in his eyes.
“How many hickeys did you say I could give you? A dozen?”
I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to reply when his lips were back on my neck, drawing a quiet grunt out of me instead of an answer. Jules’s smile was as wide as the Cheshire cat’s as he trailed a fingernail over the bruises.
“Is this okay?”
“Go on,” I said.
Jules was quick to comply, working his way down my neck. I gasped when he suddenly made his way further down, trailing kisses along my chest.
“Not so fast.” I laughed and flipped us around once again, holding his wrists down. “This is about you today.”
He raised a brow but didn’t object. Neither did he complain when I started unbuttoning his pants and pulled them down, discarding them somewhere next to the bed. I quickly got out of my jeans too but hesitated when it came to my boxers, sending him a questioning glance.
I could tell that he was nervous just by the way he was biting his lip, but after a moment, he nodded. I got out of that last item of clothing and looked down at him. He swallowed before he did the same.
“You okay?” I asked. “We don’t need to go any further, you know.”
He shushed me as he propped himself up on his elbows and pressed a fierce kiss to my lips. When he backed away, he muttered, “I want to. I just never…You know, I don’t have any experience with this.”
I nodded with a wide smile that just wouldn’t leave. “Don’t worry. I got you,” I said and cupped his cheek. “We’ll take it slow. You tell me when you want to stop, okay?”
“Okay,” he said, barely audible and with a shy smile.
For a moment, all I could do was stare at him. Everything about him was just so beautiful. His skin was the color of honey in the golden light. His hair was disheveled and hung over his eyes. When I leaned closer, I saw that his pupils were dilated and there was a pink tint to his cheeks.
Even more beautiful was the way he reacted to my touches, the way his back arched and his eyes fluttered shut, the way his fingers grasped onto the sheets and his chest rose with every sharp intake of breath. I loved the noises that occasionally filled the room, though it got progressively harder to distinguish which were his and which fell from my own mouth. And I loved the quiet affirmations when I asked if he was alright, the whimpers and moans muffled by a pillow and my name whispered over and over again.
Right now, every single movement he made was the most perfect thing I’d ever seen. I tried to savor every detail, every second of this to remember them when this would be nothing more than a memory, wishing nothing more than to capture this moment forever.
***
Long after the sun had set, Jules was still lying next to me, his head resting on my chest. I could feel his soft breaths against my skin, coaxing goosebumps to the surface. His eyes were shut and one of his hands intertwined with mine. The content smile playing around his puffy lips was enough to reassure me that he was fine.
“Was this how you imagined it?” I asked as I brushed a hand through his curls, which were still damp from the shower we’d had a few minutes ago.
He opened one eye to look at me. “Better. Was it…okay for you?”
I raised a brow and tapped a finger against his nose. “Okay?” I echoed. “That would be the understatement of the year.”
“Is it normal that my brain feels like jello?” he wondered.
I laughed, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Stop being adorable. I don’t think my body’s ready for a second round.”
Jules opened his eyes just to roll them at me. Then he said, grinning incredulously, “I can’t believe we just did that.”
“I know.” I agreed. Reality still hadn’t really settled in.
Jules was here. I was holding him in my arms, and he was fine. He liked it, and I hadn’t scared him away and I felt like that was the only thing of significance that had ever happened to me.
We both jumped when his crappy Nokia phone suddenly began to ring. Jules groaned and stretched a hand out but was too exhausted to make any further attempts at retrieving his mobile. Instead, he looked up at me with puppy eyes. I chuckled and slid towards the edge of the bed to fish it out of the pocket of his jeans, which were still lying on the floor.
He smiled gratefully at me and settled back onto my chest as he answered the call. “Yeah?”
“Julian, come home for dinner. Now,” a deep voice said.
I vaguely recognized it as the one we had heard at the cinema when Jules’s father unexpectedly turned up there. I could feel his body stiffening against mine and wrapped my arm a little tighter around him.
“Yeah, I…I’m coming,” he said.
“Ask Emily if she wants to have dinner with us.” His father ordered.
“We just had Chinese food in town.” The lie fell easily from his lips, though his eyes looked troubled saying it.
“Alright. Can I talk to her?”
Jules tensed up for a moment. Clearing his throat, he said, “She’s in the restroom right now. I’ll be home in a few minutes, Dad.” Then he hung up an
d tossed the phone over the edge of the bed. With a loud sigh, he tilted his chin to look at me. “I should go.”
I nodded, ignoring the pang of disappointment that came because he had to leave so soon, and pulled him into one last kiss.
When Jules sat up afterward, he was still looking a little dazed, but the grin was back on his face.
“Hey, Hunter?” he said as he was just about to leave. “I think we might have had the same dream.”
Chapter 29
Jules
“Tell me everything.” Nate demanded, seizing my shoulders in an iron grip.
My cheeks were burning as I slapped his hands away and sunk onto a nearby chair. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, right.” Emily chuckled and sat down on the table in front of me, boots propped up on the back of another chair. “C’mon, I didn’t lie to your parents for nothing! I want details.”
“I hate both of you,” I declared.
They only exchanged an amused glance before Nate said, “Nah, you don’t. At least tell us if it was good?”
I buried my face in my arms, which were resting on the table, hoping that would muffle my answer. “Yeah, it was. Why do you think so many people want to spend a night with him? Surely not to study algebra.”
Nate cracked up laughing and slapped my back approvingly. “Who would’ve thought you’d someday be able to say you got a piece of the infamous Hunter Adams?”
“Can you please not say that?” I groaned. “Honestly, I’d rather not talk about it.”
“He was nice though, right?” Emily asked, a little more serious.
I lifted my head off the table to smile reassuringly at her. “Yeah, he was.”
That was probably the understatement of the year. Hunter had been more than nice. He had been so careful and considerate and just so sweet. I had imagined all of it to be hastier, less intimate. I hadn’t expected quiet questions for consent, long kisses, arms wrapped tightly around me, or soft breathing against my neck. Nor had I thought that he would want to just lie there and cuddle afterward, still warm and fuzzy in the afterglow.
Somewhere in the back of my head, there had still been that stupid fear he might dump me as soon as he got me into bed. Knowing that wasn’t the case was a bigger relief than I cared to admit.
“Good,” Emily said. “So I don’t need to get Liam to beat him up. That’s nice to know.”
I laughed quietly, making Nate and Emily share an equally relieved look. Probably because I had been a useless, teary-eyed mess over the last few weeks and they were glad that they didn’t have to worry about me starting to cry at any given moment.
My mood had improved so much since yesterday that my parents actually got suspicious. Apparently, being happy was a sin for homosexuals too. My dad had all but glared at me when I entered the kitchen with a smile.
What are you so happy about, Julian? I swear if it has something to do with that boy…
“Liam, huh?” Nate asked, faking an insulted scowl. “Don’t trust me to beat Hunter or what?”
Emily shrugged innocently. “Well, if I wanted someone with noodle arms to try and win a catfight against him, I could’ve done that myself.”
While Nate glared at us, genuinely offended, I high-fived Emily.
“Oh, come on. It’s not like Liam is all that muscular either!” Nate complained, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Yeah, he is.” Emily objected. “Have you seen his arms when he rolls his sleeves up?”
I nodded. “True.”
Nate groaned and threw his hands up. “Am I the only one here who hasn’t spent several hours swooning over that guy’s muscles? Jesus, get a grip.”
“Anyways.” Emily laughed. “Are you guys coming to that party at Amy’s tonight?”
I frowned, resting my chin in one hand. “Who’s Amy?”
Nate looked at me in disbelief. “Dude, she’s that really hot cheerleader! The one with the short blonde hair? I think she was with Hunter for like two days last year.”
“Only two days?” I asked, admittedly a little shocked. Two days really weren’t much, even by Hunter’s standards.
Emily quickly said, “Yeah, but it was actually because of her, not Hunter. She, uh…broke it off because she got together with Claire, that short girl with glasses from our chemistry class who’s like insanely smart?”
“Oh,” I said. “Oh, okay. So Amy’s bi?”
“Pan.” Nate corrected. “The interesting thing is that even afterward, she and Hunter were still talking. They still seem to get on well.”
“So, are you guys going to that party?” Emily repeated. “Everyone will be there, and it might be fun…”
“I don’t think so…”
Nate shot me an incredulous glance. “What are you talking about? Of course, we are!”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I don’t even know half of the people there.”
Emily dismissed my arguments with the wave of a hand. “There’ll be one person you want to see. Hunter told me he’ll be there.”
“But what about Victoria and Sean? Surely, they’ll be there too.”
“Sean is sick today, and Victoria is always the first one to leave parties with some unfortunate guy. So after she’s gone, you and Hunter can…do your thing.”
“Fine,” I said. “I’m coming.”
“See, I told you.” Nate grinned widely at Em. “As soon as you mention Hunter, he’s in.” Then he turned to look at me. “I’ll pick you up, okay? So your parents know you’re with me in case they get suspicious.”
***
Turned out, they did get suspicious. As soon as the doorbell rang, my father stormed past me and opened it, making sure to block the entire doorframe from my view.
I rolled my eyes at his back and stayed behind him while he talked to Nate.
“Good evening, Mr. Hatcher,” Nate said. Since I knew him so well, I could hear the disdain he was trying to hide in that one sentence. “I’m here to pick Jules up for the party…”
“Can I trust you, Nathaniel?” my father asked in his calculating lawyer-voice. “I hope you know that I will prohibit your contact to Jules without hesitation should I somehow find out that he gets into any…gay business tonight.”
“Gay business? It’s fine, Dad. I promise I’m not gonna dress up as a drag queen or snog a guy in a dark corner. But really only tonight and because you asked so nicely.” I snorted and finally pushed past my perplexed father.
Nate turned around briefly to hide his grin. When he looked back at my father, he said in the most serious voice he could muster, “Don’t worry, Mr. Hatcher. I’ll keep him away from all gay bars, makeup, and male genitals.”
My father, completely oblivious to the heavy sarcasm lacing Nate’s words, actually seemed relieved and turned to look at me. “Follow the rules, Julian. Don’t make me regret trusting you.”
I bit back a snarky comment and just nodded stiffly before pivoting and dragging Nate with me.
“You know, if you want me to go back and punch—I mean, talk to him, I’ll gladly do that,” Nate said as he unlocked the car.
“Don’t bother. Talking doesn’t get you anywhere with my parents. I’ve tried.”
He got into the driver’s seat wordlessly, but his lips were pressed together in a thin line as he started the engine.
I turned on the radio to fill the tense silence and switched to a rock station. Nate’s face immediately lightened up, and minutes later, he was aggressively whispering the lyrics and drumming on the dashboard.
“So, Nate. When are you going to ask Alexis out for prom?” I asked.
Nate’s face immediately flushed bright red, and he slumped back into his seat. “Why would I do that? It’s not like she’d ever say yes to me.”
I looked over at him, frowning slightly at his lack of self-confidence. “Why wouldn’t she?”
“Because she’s…because she’s just too perfect.” He groaned. “She’s intelligent. She’
s funny. She’s so fucking gorgeous…”
“Wow. It really got you badly this time, huh?”
“What’s there to laugh about?” he snapped, directing his angry stare at me. “She’s flawless, and I’m…a boring nerd who spends his time playing the guitar and writing stupid songs about her!”
“Hold up. You’re writing songs about her?” My grin was probably wider than the Atlantic Ocean by now.
Nate’s eyes widened as he realized what he had just given away, and he slapped a hand over his mouth. “Forget that I said that, yeah? Please?”
“No way, dude.” I laughed. “Remember how many times you made fun of me because of how I talk about Hunter? This is only fair. So, what kind of songs?”
“Embarrassing ones.” He groaned. “Stuff about eyes like sapphires and that she has a smile like the rising sun and a mind like a thunderstorm…They’re so bad it’s not even funny.”
“Hey, maybe you should show one to her. The other day, she told me that she’s tired of everyone always just caring about her looks and never about her character. If you could show her that you like her for the way she is, that would probably mean a lot to her.”
Nate considered this before a smile spread over his face. “You know what I love about you being my wingman? That I never have to worry that you’ll steal my girl.”
I rolled my eyes but laughed along with him. “Well, aren’t you lucky to have me as your best friend?” Then I pointed at a house at the side of the road. “Is it here?”
He craned his neck to see what I meant and nodded. A few minutes and a frantic search for a free parking space later, we walked up to the front door. Loud music was blaring out onto the lawn, making the windows of the townhouse vibrate slightly. Even louder was the chatter and roaring of all the teenagers in different states of wasted that were crowded in the garden. The door swung open as soon as Nate pushed against it, giving a clear view of the corridor and the living room, where most people seemed to hang out on a bunch of couches.
Why You Shouldn't Lend A Bad Boy Your Clothes Page 31