Page 51 of My Fearless Fake Fling

Dad nodded slightly and then passed out again. He still had a lot of the anesthesia in his system.

Eventually, we had to leave for the night. Mom and I kissed Dad while Len gave his arm a quick squeeze, exactly as he had before my dad had left for his surgery.

The drive back to my childhood home went quickly yet quietly. The stresses of the day sort of caught up with us all. Mom let us in. Len carried our bags.

“I’m awfully tired,” she said. “Think I’ll head to bed.” She kissed my cheek first, and then went up on her tiptoes to kiss Len’s.

When she was gone down the hall Len turned to me. “Am I allowed to share a room with you? Or do I take the couch?”

“You can have the couch if you want it, but I’m sure my parents hold no pretense that you aren’t screwing my brains out on a nightly basis.”

“It’s notnightly.”

“I know that, but we’re young. They think everyone our age screws nightly.”

“Ouch,” Len said, laughing. “Your poor vagina. Maybe give a girl some recover time.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“Makes me wonder about your parents.”

“Don’t.” I put my hand up. “Don’t even go there.”

Grabbing his hand, I tugged him halfway down the hall to my old bedroom, now turned guest room.

We stripped down and changed into our pajamas, took turns using the bathroom, and climbed into bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow… nothing. I couldn’t turn my brain off. I lay on a bent arm facing Len. He took on the exact same pose, facing me.

“How are you doing?” he asked.

“Better, knowing Dad’ll be okay. Thank you for this, today. Coming. I didn’t even realize how much I needed you here until you were here.”

“Sort of comes with the boyfriend job description. But you’re welcome. I’d have gone crazy not knowing how you were doing.”

He leaned in to kiss me and right as his lips touched mine, I asked, “How come you always stop yourself when you talk about your brother?”

Probably not the best time to have asked that, seeing as Len rolled back over to his original spot. “It’s hard. We were…close. But like you, my brother died. I didn’t handle it well. Actually, I sort of went off the rails on a crazy train. It got pretty bad. So I just don’t like thinking about it. Thinking about him makes me think of the stuff I did.”

“And you can’t separate the two? The memories of your brother from the crazy stuff you did?”

“I hurt some people in my grief. Not physically, but I’m really not proud of that.”

“Have you tried to apologize?” I asked.

His stare drilled into me. I’d never felt anything more intense. “Kami, baby, I’m going to kiss you now.”

And he did. He rolled over me, pinning me to the bed, and took my lips in possibly the hottest make-out session we’d ever had. I squirmed underneath him as I groped his backside. But right when I was about to hit pay dirt, he moved my hand and rolled away, leaving me a heavily panting, confused mess.

“Wha?” Yes, the panting continued so hard, I couldn’t even finish the word.

“I’m not having sex with you here. Your mom is two doors down.”

“But,” I whined. Not my proudest moment, but Ireallywanted to have sex. Now.

“When we get home, baby. You can have me every way you want me. Just not here, not tonight.”

It felt like there was something else going on here, more than him not wanting sex because of my mom, but I didn’t push it. If he needed us to wait, we’d wait.

“Hold me?” I asked.

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