Page 102 of Manhattan Tormentor

My head swerves to see my best friend approaching. It doesn’t go unnoticed how his gaze bounces between me and Sage. I know what he thinks when he looks at my man. The urge is strong to put my hand on him, to let Bates know Sage is off limits for whatever shit he might say. I haven’t set him straight this year and I should have.

We slap hands, “you remember Sage?”

“Yeah, how’s it going, man?”

“Fine,” my man answers coldly.

Fucking hell, my Fierro is frosty and I chew back my grin. I’m a lucky motherfucker he thaws for me. I don’t know if I’ve seen anything sexier than the blank stare on Sage’s face. Now I really do wanna kiss him.

As I start to tell Bates, “Me and Sage,” the guy in question stands and throws his bag around his back. “I gotta head across the quad to meet my professor.” He shares a glance with me and takes off. I know he’s spared me from coming out to Bates. He’s giving me time. But unease and disappointment settles in my chest as I watch his long-legged stride. A couple of people stop him to talk and I’m unnaturally jealous.

“Didn’t know you were chummy with Fierro.”

“There are a lot of things you don’t know.” I reply and take a big bite of the sandwich my boyfriend bought me to keep my mouth occupied before I snarl.

Did I want him to push me into coming out? Why the fuck am I angry that he’s being considerate?

Being in love with a guy makes me crazy. At the last second before he enters the red brick building, Sage turns and throws me a half grin as my phone pings.

Sage:Stop scowling. Eat the sandwich, you’ll need all the energy you can get for tonight.

My blood simmers, and then it boils. My fingers work fast as I type a reply.

Finn:Fucking bossy.

Finn:Your ass looks good in those jeans.

Sage:I know. Catch you later, Maverick.

Bates and I chew the fat for a few minutes before we head in different directions, with a plan to meet up at the bar next week for his birthday.

It’s only as I’m sitting in the arts department working with a new lens that I down the camera and fish out my phone. Something has been nagging me for hours.

Finn:I should have told Bates about us.

Sage:Only in your own time, don’t sweat it.

Finn:Are you pissed?

Finn:I don’t mind fucking a bad mood out of you.

Sage:You’re so selfless. But I’m not in a bad mood. Not gonna pressure you into coming out. I only asked you not to hide me away. We can be seen together without being all over each other, it’s fine, Finn.

Finn:I wanted to be all over you.

Finn:I wanted to fucking maul you. And mark you and make everyone see you are MINE when I watched you talking to those guys in the quad.

Sage: You pissing up my leg is a hard limit.

Sage:I’m a one-asshole kind of man. But I like you being jealous.

I show him my jealousy that night as he walks through my door. We fuck in the hallway. And then the living room. By the time I get Sage into the bedroom, we are mostly undressed and wrecked from so many orgasms. It doesn’t stop us going again and again. I’m ruthless for my man, I admit it. I can’t get enough, even when he tries to climb out of bed at 2 a.m. to go home. I drag his ass back and spoon/pin around him until he relents and we fall to sleep like that.

It was perfect.

So are the next few days.

Either Sage meets me after class or I meet him, and we walk for coffee.

---