Page 55 of Hold Me Down

"Tell me again."

He ran a hand up Travis's chest to his shoulder, squeezing the hard muscle there. The body was familiar, but the words weren't, and Dave still couldn't quite grasp the magnitude of what Travis had given him just now.

"You know, I don't want to make assumptions, but ifyouhad something to say, I'd love to hear it, too." Travis ran his thumb over the soft skin behind Dave's ear, sending shivers down his body. "But I'm in love with you, either way. If you're not there—"

"I'm there," Dave cut in, not wanting Travis to doubt Dave's feelings for even a second, now that they were safe to share. "I've been there. I'm in love with you, too."

Travis kissed him at that, hard and hungry, as if trying to catch the words straight from Dave's mouth.

He didn't have to, though. Dave would happily repeat them, over and over again.

Preferably forever.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

"I'm there. I've been there. I'm in love with you, too."

The words echoed inside Travis, the earth-shattering truth of them so obvious on Dave's face now that Travis dared to look.

They were on the same page with this.

Just like it always should be.

"Fuck," Dave whispered when Travis moved to trail kisses down his neck. "I can't believe it."

Pausing at Dave's collarbone to breathe him in, Travis closed his eyes.Neither can I.

They were lying on the couch now, pressed together as closely as they could, and a part of him had expected everything to be different now, but it wasn't. While some things had shifted and changed, others—perhaps the most crucial ones—stayed the same.

Dave smelled the same, and still shivered when Travis licked along the ridge of his collarbone before sucking on the soft skin next to it.

The noises he made were the same as well, and so was the way he clutched at the back of Travis's head or his shoulders, whatever he could grab onto.

The hard press of Dave's cock against Travis's was the same, too, the prickly friction and both of them shifting their hips at the same time, rearranging to fit even better.

And yet, there was also something more there. Something new.

Travis couldn't pinpoint what it was, but he was eager to find out, and to explore it all with Dave.

Now, though, they were both too worked up to slow down and wonder.

Dave slipped his hands between them and pulled at Travis's jeans until Travis lifted himself a bit with his arms framing Dave's head on both sides. Once their pants and underwear were pushed down, Travis pressed closer again and moaned loudly into Dave's mouth as their cocks slotted perfectly together.

It always felt good, but tonight… Tonight it felt amazing, and messy, andtheirs.

They stumbled over the edge a few seconds apart, and Travis barely avoided falling down on his partner by rolling onto his side instead, fitting into the small space between Dave and the back of the couch.

Pressing first a kiss, then a smile onto Dave's shoulder, Travis couldn't believe how the day had gone. From waking up in an empty bed, trying to tiptoe around Dave, to everything that happened after… A true roller-coaster, but one Travis hoped they were leaving behind for good.

They didn't need it now that they'd figured themselves out.

"I wish I could tell you to take me to bed," Dave murmured without even opening his eyes, "but I'm in need of a shower, so I guess that has to come first."

"Are you sure?" Travis inhaled deeply against Dave's neck and licked the sweaty skin there. "Maybe we should get a little dirtier before that, to save on water."

Dave groaned and pushed at him until Travis lifted himself onto his elbow.

"I can't believe you used that line on me. It's awful."

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