But it couldn’t be avoided for forever.
“I’m still here now,” I said, closing the distance between us. I didn’t pull him into my arms like I wanted to, because students entered the classroom, but I subtly brushed my pinky on his.
“I know,” he answered in a sad tone. “I’m just trying not to get too comfortable. I’m not foolish enough to think this will last forever.”
As he greeted some of his students, I walked to the back of the room to get out of the way. I normally didn’t stay long after lunch, but there’d been times when I stuck around for the rest of the school day, playing teacher’s aide.
Recently, I’d been dubbed One Who Passes Out Assignments and Gatherer of Papers. I was kind of a big deal like that.
“Today we’re going to read more in Tartuffe,” Hunter said, standing at the front of the class and looking sexy as fuck as he bunched up the sleeves of his shirt at his elbows. “But first, can anyone tell me the literary period when Moliere released the play?”
Kevin’s hand shot up. “The Enlightenment.”
That kid was always the first to raise his hand.
“And what was that?” Hunter asked.
“It was the age of reason,” Kevin expanded his answer. “Instead of focusing on blind faith, it emphasized logic and scientific ideals.”
“Correct,” Hunter said with a smile. “Tartuffe is the name of one of the main characters in the play who was thought to be a pious man. The name also translates to ‘hypocrite,’ which you can imagine caused quite the conflict back in the day, angering the church to such an extent that the play was actually banned. Moliere stated, however, that his play was not an attack on religion, but on hypocrisy and the ridiculousness of blind faith.”
Seeing Hunter in action was an incredible sight. And a massive turn on. My dick began to fill, and I quickly adjusted myself.
Hunter’s eyes met mine, and I smirked. He went back to teaching, but not before I saw the small upturn of his lips as well.
The shy parts of him were nowhere to be found when he was teaching. He appeared confident and relaxed. He was patient and kind, and he really made his students think critically about the work instead of just giving them the easy way out. He’d loved classic literature so much when we were in school, and I was happy he’d found his calling. We’d both found ways to make careers out of our passions.
That thought got me thinking again.
Careers. The future. My off-season in pro-ball, which was like my vacation time, lasted until end of April when workouts began. They weren’t mandatory, but by that time, I was usually ready to jump back into the football scene. That gave me about two more months before I had to make any decisions.
I had a photoshoot with Veronica coming up in March, though, that I hadn’t mentioned to Hunter yet. Mostly because of his jealousy toward her. I wasn’t sure how I was going to approach that subject.
We’d been so damn happy lately, and I didn’t want us to go back to not talking to each other. I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
***
“You want another plate of pancakes, hun?” Hunter’s mom, Wendy, asked after approaching our booth in the corner of the diner.
“No, thank you, Ma’am,” I answered, putting a hand on my already stuffed stomach. “Any more and I won’t be able to fit into my football uniform.”
Hunter rolled his eyes as he took another drink of coffee.
“What?” I asked. “It’s tight.”
“You’re tight,” he shot back in mock form just like we used to do all the time when we were younger. Only this time, it kind of bit us in the ass, and we blushed.
I was definitely tight. The only guy I’d ever let fuck me was Hunter, and that was way back in the day.
Wendy looked back and forth between us before smiling and walking to another table to refill someone’s drink.
Hunter’s routine on Saturday was to have breakfast at his parent’s diner, and I’d started joining him. In fact, I’d noticed a lot of his life was routine. Even though he hadn’t come out and told me about it, I got the impression he avoided most people. He had a certain schedule he stuck to; one that mostly involved him being alone.
He was afraid to put himself out in the world hurt, and I knew it was because of me. He didn’t have to tell me he was afraid of people hurting him. It was clear in his daily life of shielding himself from new experiences. From things and possibly even relationships that’d excite him.
Once upon a time, I’d known him better than I knew myself, and I liked to think I still did to an extent.
“What do you wanna do today?” I asked after taking a drink of orange juice. “Besides me, that is.”
Hunter tried—and failed—to stop his smile. “I really need to hit the gym. But after that…I don’t know. I’m still reading over the kids’ research papers, so I might work on that some.”
I nodded before glancing out the window at a red cardinal that had landed on a low-hanging branch. It pecked at something before flying off again.
After the snowstorm we’d had about two weeks before, the weather had begun to feel more like spring, although some days were still chilly. The high was going to be in the sixties that day with blue skies and lots of sun. The perfect weather to do something outside. Maybe to get Hunter to be more spontaneous too.
“Okay,” I said, returning my gaze to him. “We’ll go to the gym after this, and then you’re mine for the day. No working on school shit or being a hermit in your cave.”
His lips twitched. “Should I be scared? You’re not going to throw me into a den of lions or something, right?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“In that case,” he said before taking another sip of his coffee, “let’s get the check and get out of here.”
Chapter 17
Hunter
I’d once thought that working out with Corbin back in high school was tough, but it was nothing compared to working out with him now. He pushed me hard and didn’t let me slack off at all. I was in the best shape of my life, but I still had trouble.
“Mercy!” I said with a pained chuckle, bending over and resting my hands on my thighs. “I think I’m dying.”
“It’s good for you, babe,” he said before slapping me on the ass.
The action shocked me, and I looked around to see if anyone else had noticed it.
There weren’t many other people in the gym, and the people that were there were too preoccupied with their own workouts to notice us. Weekends weren’t normally busy anyway. The busiest day seemed to be Monday, and then business just dwindled off as the week went on.
Once Corbin was done killing me with our workout, we went back to my place and showered. I didn’t like showering at the gym. It was just one of my things.
“Wear comfortable clothes,” Corbin called out to me from the other room. “None of that button-up shirt crap you wear to school.”
“Yes, sir.” I mocked him as I grabbed a plain T-shirt off the hanger and a pair of old jeans.
All of a sudden he was behind me and tugging me against his chest. “I’ll show you sir,” he whispered at my nape, sending shivers down my spine. Before he pulled away, he nipped the skin on my shoulder with his teeth.
I turned to face him, arching my brow. “Dude, I might bottom, but I’m not a damn submissive. So you can just can all of that Dominant shit right now.” I moved toward him, loving the way his eyes watched me with an excited gleam. “If memory serves me right, there was a time when I used to fuck you into the mattress. Maybe I can remind you of that later.”
Corbin’s expression went from entertained to seductive in a split second. He used to love when I took control, and by the way his gray eyes seemed to darken a little, I suspected he still did.
Without allowing myself to over-analyze it like I did with everything, I charged forward and took his face in my hands before crashing my lips to his. He gave a surprised grunt and his arms slowly came around my waist. We
toppled backward on the bed, and then he was kissing me back, swirling his tongue against mine.
I didn’t think I’d ever get enough of him.
No, I knew I wouldn’t. Corbin was a part of me—the better part, actually—and when he left again, I’d… no, I won’t obsess over something that hasn’t even happened yet.
“Mmm, Hunter.” Corbin clutched onto my ass and pulled me between his legs. His sweats did nothing to conceal the tent he was pitching. “Fuck me.”
“What about your plans?” I asked, grinning between the kisses I placed on his throat. My voice was a lot steadier than how I actually felt.
“Fuck the plans,” he grumbled before squeezing my ass cheeks in his big hands. “I need you inside of me.”
There wasn’t any arguing with that, and I was more than willing to give him whatever he wanted.
I had topped since him, so it wasn’t exactly anything new, but I was still nervous for some reason. Because it was with him—the only guy who mattered. However, my eagerness outweighed the nerves.
I kissed him, tasting the mint from his toothpaste and fusing my tongue with his. He was warm and fit perfect against me. Pulling back from his mouth, I took off my glasses and placed them on the nightstand beside the bed. I could see well enough without them and mostly just used them for work, so he was only a tad blurry.
I caressed the stubble on his jaw before moving down his neck and to his collarbone.
His gray eyes didn’t leave mine as I slipped my fingers under the waistband of his pants and began sliding them down, past his muscular thighs and farther until they were completely off.
Since he’d been in Willow, his tan had faded a little, but there was still a faint line from where he wore his briefs. He was still golden and amazingly sculpted, though, and looking more like a god than any mere mortal had the right to.
We’d had so much sex in the past few weeks that I should’ve been used to seeing his body and feeling his touch, but it still felt like the first time. Every time. The thrill of being wrapped around him, succumbing to the pleasure of our tangled limbs and warm kisses, felt like home.
Once he was naked, I took my time playing with his ass. He kept jerking at first, as if he wasn’t used to the feeling. But when he relaxed, I wet my finger between my lips before slowly pushing it knuckle deep into his hole.
“Damn,” he groaned, tilting his head down to watch me.
Loving the sounds he made, I kissed his dick as I continued fucking him with my finger. His cock twitched against my lips and grew bigger as it hardened. I teasingly licked around the crown before lazily running my tongue across his slit.
Corbin gasped and gripped a handful of my hair. Pre-cum drizzled from his tip, and I used my other hand to dip my thumb into it and rub it around.
The sounds he made drove me wild, and I was so hard I quietly whimpered. I shoved down my pants as I continued thrusting my finger into him and started stroking myself.
“I love when you touch yourself,” Corbin confessed with a lopsided grin.
I angled my finger upward inside him, rubbing that bundle of nerves and causing him to close his eyes and moan.
After opening him with one finger, I added a second. I wasn’t sure if he’d bottomed a lot—and honestly, I didn’t want to think about it because my jealousy would arise again—but just in case he hadn’t, I wanted to do everything in my power to make it as painless as possible.
Not that anal was ever completely pain-free, but I wanted him as comfortable and relaxed as I could make him.
“I’m ready,” he said, still watching me as I worked him with my fingers. I was up to three fingers now and had been at it for a while. Sweat covered his chest and his breaths were sharp. “Get up here.”
Obeying him, I slid back up his body before capturing his lips once more. I felt his heart beat hard against mine, and I looked down into his eyes, fighting the sudden wave of emotion crashing through me.
Within the time we’d been back together, we hadn’t really said we loved each other, with the exception of once. It was something I knew we still felt, but the actual saying it was difficult. Maybe because we loved what the other used to be, and we were getting to know who we were now.
Falling in love all over again. And boy was I falling.
Corbin stroked my jaw and held my gaze as I moved his legs apart with my knee and settled between them. He didn’t say anything, but the look in his gray eyes said more than his words ever could anyway. That he felt the same as me.
After I put on protection and used lube on both of us, I placed my tip at his entrance and gradually pushed forward. Fuck. He was still tight, even after all the prep.
His brow scrunched as he squeezed his eyes shut, and his body tensed.
“Try to relax, Cor,” I said, resting my forehead on his and cupping his nape.
He nodded but didn’t answer. After inhaling, he slowly released it, and on his exhale, I pushed a little deeper.
“Fuck that hurts like a fucking bitch,” Corbin said through clenched teeth.
“I’m sorry.” I kissed his temple, his cheekbone, and finally his lips as I broke through the tight ring of muscle fighting against me. When he buried his face in my neck and sharply sucked in, my heart ached. “Do you want me to stop?”
“No,” he said, tightening his arms around me. “I’m okay.”
Kissing him, I penetrated deeper before withdrawing a little and thrusting back inside. He felt amazing around me, so tight and warm, but I didn’t let myself give into the pleasure until I knew he was really okay.
Only when his winces turned to moans did I let myself do the same. Reaching between us, I found his dick and started pumping it.
“God, Hunter.” He threw his head back on the pillow and peered up at me with half-lidded eyes. “That feels so good.”
I gave him more, driving my hips forward harder than before, hitting him deeper and expelling from him more moans and whimpers. As more of his pleasured sighs reached my ears, I drove into him faster.
“Mmm, right there.” Corbin panted and his chest was slick as our bodies moved together. “I’m gonna come.”
He cried out as his release slammed into him, and I felt hot jets of cum shoot up my stomach.
The hold on my own orgasm started slipping. My spine tingled followed by my balls drawing up. I was close.
Corbin grabbed my hips and helped my movements by pulling me harder inside him, staring up at me with heavy, bedroom eyes and parted lips.
And then I went over the edge, coming so hard into him that I saw spots in my vision.
“Cor,” I moaned, giving him another slow thrust as I filled the condom.
“That’s it, baby,” he said before sucking on my earlobe.
I couldn’t move for several seconds. My heart beat wildly and I felt lightheaded.
Corbin held my lower back with one hand and cupped my nape with the other before turning me over. I stared up at him and felt a breaking in my chest. So much I wanted to say to him, but for some reason, I held it inside.
No amount of I love you’s would change the fact that he was only there temporarily; that he’d go back to his life and I’d continue staying frozen in mine.
“Why are you doing that?” he asked in a husky tone.
“Doing what?”
“Looking at me as if you’re ready to say goodbye.”
I went to respond, but couldn’t find the right words. There weren’t any right words for our situation. So, instead I kissed him, reveling in the taste of him, the softness of his lips.
I didn’t want the very likely reality of our future to take away from the beauty of the present. Whatever happened later would happen, and I wasn’t going to waste the time we had.
A soft groan left his throat as he returned the kiss and tangled his fingers in my hair. I got the feeling his thoughts mirrored mine.
***
Sitting in class that following Monday morning, I kept getting distracted by thou
ghts of Corbin and the incredible weekend we’d spent together.
We never got around to doing anything Saturday, other than enjoying each other between the sheets. I hadn’t minded that, and Corbin hadn’t either. We’d made love, taken a nap, kissed, and then made love again before finally getting out of bed and making dinner. After we’d eaten, we had cuddled on the couch while watching some movie.
But then our lips had found each other once more, and we’d ended up making love there too.
On Sunday, we had woken up and eaten breakfast before going on a hike through a trail in the woods. The path had twisted all throughout the woods, going up small hills before going back down, winding and turning. It’d taken us most of the day to travel the whole trail before wrapping back around to where we’d parked my car.
The long walk had given us the chance to talk about things. Really talk about them, and not just skirt around certain issues. We still hadn’t discussed our future as a couple, but we’d talked about his career and where he feared it was heading.
“My contract expires next February,” he said as we’d stopped on a hill, overlooking the valley below. “I have one more season.”
“What does that mean for you?”
Corbin shrugged. “Not sure. There’s still the chance they could extend the contract, but I don’t have much hope for that.” His gray eyes focused on me. “Football’s all I’ve ever known, Hunter. All I’ve ever been good at. Without it…I don’t know.” He turned away from me and began walking down the hill. “I’m nothing.”
I strode forward and grabbed his arm, turning him around to face me. “That’s not true, Cor. You are everything. Even when you leave pro-football, even when you aren’t the star quarterback anymore, you still have purpose. What about your modeling?”
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