Page 36 of Best Friends, Tennessee

I shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know. I might.”

Ori let out a long breath.

I let the moment hang in the air. I wasn’t going to do a damned thing if he didn’t want to, but I could tell that Ori was glad I wasn’t wigged out by the situation anymore.

I’d been trying to defuse the tension, but…

God, I also wanted to have fun, too. There was no reason why we couldn’t do whatever the hell we wanted to do.

And then I felt it.

Ori was reaching down toward his own cock, and I could feel the gentle movement of the edge of his arm pressed up near my side. I swallowed hard, trying to keep my promise to him that I wouldn’t look down. I heard the faint sound of fabric brushing against his skin, and a moment later, felt the gentle motion of his arm.

He was tugging on his cock.

Right fucking here next to me. My own cock throbbed at the prospect, an electric thrill moving through my body.What the fuckin’ fuck?

He stopped moving as soon as he’d started, though, letting the weight of his arm drop down.

“You finally backing out?” Ori said softly.

I swallowed, willing myself to turn my head to the side and look him in the eye. The moment I did, my cock jumped again beneath my shorts.

“I think you’re the one who’s afraid,” I said, raising the bar. “You think I’m going to chicken out and sayoh no, we have to stop, but I’m not going to do that, Ori.”

His eyes widened, just a little.

“No?”

I reached down before I could overthink it, freeing my cock and pulling it above the waistband of my shorts. The night air was refreshing.

I really am fuckin’ crazy.

But God, it felt good to finally grip my cock. It had gotten to the point where it was aching, too, and now I just wanted to quit thinking and get some relief.

I kept my eyes locked on Ori’s as I started touching myself, like I was challenging him in a fight.

“Tell me to stop and I will,” I uttered, my voice low.

“I’m not going to,” he challenged me.

“I’m already halfway there.”

But I was hiding a waver in my voice.

He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. But I could feel him reach back down and grip his cock. “This is such a bad idea.”

“Maybe.”

But whether it was a massively bad idea or not, I was too far gone now to care. I was delirious from a lack of good sleep. I’d felt strange ever since Ori had gotten to my house, being flooded with memories from our past.

I just needed a release.

And some part of me liked that I could do this here, next to him.

Like we didn’t have to have any secrets. Like we could do anything together, just like back in the day.

Finally, just for this moment, we were close again.

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