“I already told you, I’m not going to apologize for what happened.”
“Why do you think I want you to apologize?” he asked.
I sighed and reached up to take my hair down before running my fingers through it. It was a gesture I did so often when I was stressed I was surprised I still had hair left on my head.
“You said as much.”
Foster’s eyes narrowed, and I could see him going through our previous exchange in his mind. Then he shook his head. “No, I didn’t.”
“Maybe not those words exactly, but ‘I can’t believe I did that’ is pretty much the same thing. Not to mention how embarrassed you looked.”
Foster’s jaw dropped before he uncrossed his arms and took a step closer to me. “You misunderstood me, Stellan.”
“I think I heard you loud and clear, Foster. Your words and body language made sure of that.”
“Yes, I was embarrassed, but not because of what you think.”
I clenched my jaw and stared over his shoulder. I was not in the mood to hear why he was embarrassed over what we did. I just wanted to get the evidence of his regrets off me and go the fuck to bed. The day had turned into a complete dumpster fire, rather than ending on a postorgasmic high.
“Then what was it?” I finally asked.
Foster blew out a breath as he took another step. “I meant, I was embarrassed over how fast I came, and that I did it in my pants. I hadn’t done that since I was a teenager, and now I’m a grown man. I should’ve had a better handle on it, but…you made that impossible.”
Relief washed over me with such force I almost sagged against the wall in relief. “So you don’t regret what we did?”
Foster’s eyes widened. “Not at all. Why would I? That was the most incredible thing I’d felt in a long time.”
“It was, huh?”
Foster nodded his head and gave me a smile. “I just wish it would’ve lasted a little longer, is all.”
A small part of me was still concerned of his uncertainty. “There’s always next time.”
“Is there going to be a next time?” he threw back at me.
“Do you want there to be?”
Foster didn’t hesitate with his response. “Of course I do.”
My blood rushed straight to my cock, causing it to stir in my pants. “Then as long as you want one, there will be. And as you can see,” I said gesturing toward my crotch, “you’re not the only one who made a mess.”
“Oh,” he breathed.
“Yeah, oh. Don’t ever be embarrassed by your response to me, Foster. I like seeing you come undone because of my touch.”
“You do?”
I reached out and cupped his cheek. “I do. And one day, when you’re ready, I’m going to show you what can happen once you finally let go and just feel.”
“How are you going to do that?” he asked softly.
I leaned down and placed a soft kiss to his lips. “You’ll find out.”
“When?”
“When the time is right. But right now, we both need to clean up. I have a pair of shorts that are too small I’ll let you borrow.”
“Thank you.”
I wasn’t sure if he was thanking me for the pants, or for pausing long enough to listen to his explanation. Whatever it was, I was grateful he came to find me and forced me to understand.
After grabbing him the shorts, I quickly cleaned up in the bathroom that was attached to my bedroom and changed into a pair of sweats. I hadn’t bothered putting on a T-shirt and when I walked into the living room, Foster took one look at me and his jaw nearly came unhinged.
“Y-your nipples are pierced.”
I glanced down to look at the barbells that went straight through my nipples before meeting his stunned gaze with my humor-filled one. “They are.”
“Anything else on you pierced?”
“Do you want the answer to that, or would you rather find out for yourself?” It was the same question I’d asked him when he inquired about my tattoos.
Foster opened his mouth to respond, closed it, and cleared his throat before he was finally able to speak. “Definitely find out for myself.”
A rumble sounded in my throat. “Then I won’t answer you.”
“I…I’d better get going. Otherwise I’ll be making another mess.”
“We don’t want that to happen.”
“Don’t be so sure,” he grumbled.
I laughed and walked him to the door. But before pulling it open, I slammed him into the door and covered his mouth with mine. He instantly responded, wrapping his arms around my neck and plunging his hands into my hair at the same time his tongue entered my mouth. The kiss was heated, passionate, and downright filthy. We kissed as if it was the last one we’d have for days and we needed it to last until then.
“Okay,” I said breathlessly as I wrenched my mouth away, “definitely almost made another mess.”
“Same. I’ll talk to you later.”
After closing the door behind Foster, I locked up and went to the living room to clean up the mess. Once everything was tidy again, I stripped down and went to bed.
My entire body was thrumming with the adrenaline of what’d happened between us. If we reacted that way with clothes on, I could only imagine how explosive we could be once they were shed and we were finally able to explore each other completely. I wasn’t lying when I said I was going to make him feel what his body was capable of. And when he was ready, I was going to make good on my promise.
15
Foster
“Don’t look now, but it looks like trouble is here, and it’s coming straight toward you,” Mina said ominously. “That expression just screams problems.”
“What?” I asked and turned to follow her gaze, groaning when I saw who was making a beeline toward the bar. “Oh, shit.”
I could feel Mina giving me a onceover. “Do I need to get Ted?”
“Not yet. Let’s see what happens, first.”
The person in question was Blaine Conrad. He’d made my life a living hell in high school. I never understood what I did to make him hate me, aside from the fact I was an easy target due to being a bit on the smaller side and I preferred to keep to myself. But whatever the reason, he took advantage and ran with it. I went home with countless bruises and nosebleeds thanks to being used as a crash-test dummy every time he sent me flying face-first into a locker, and since he was a key player on the basketball team, everyone turned a blind eye—including my mother, who was a booster. Something she came to regret later in life and apologized profusely for more than once. I’d forgiven her before she ever apologized, but it was nice to hear her speak it out loud.
When I moved back after my failed engagement, I didn’t go directly to my hometown, but the neighboring one instead. It was familiar enough that I felt comfortable but distant enough that I didn’t have to see many people from my past. It gave me the space I needed to get my affairs in order and life put back together. So running into someone at the bar was bound to happen at some point, since it was such a popular place. I just didn’t want it to be Blaine.