Page 20 of Surface Scratch
“What?” Caleb asked.
“‘Can’t wait to hang out soon’?” Marcus echoed, an eyebrow raised. “I told you before, I’m not big on sharing.”
Did Marcus think he and Andrew…? “Oh my God, no, it’s nothing like that.”
“Good,” Marcus said. He grabbed Caleb’s chin and pulled him into a kiss.
Caleb was never quite sure what he should do with his hands when they kissed, particularly this kind of kiss. It was rough, the way Marcus held on to him, but the kiss was soft, almost needy, and he loved it that way. When Marcus kissed him like that it felt dangerous, like anything could happen, and the anticipation built up in his mind and body was more than enough to make him wish he could wear long hoodies every day at work.
Caleb reluctantly pulled back from the kiss. “You wanted to see me?”
Marcus kept his eyes shut for a moment longer, as though he were savoring the kiss. “Hmm, why did I call you up here?” he asked, feigning forgetfulness. “Maybe it was to do this?”
Marcus pushed Caleb back on the couch, forcing him to catch himself on his elbows to keep from bouncing his head on the arm of the couch. Caleb gulped, his heart pounding in his ears as Marcus lay against him and nuzzled into him. Lips brushed gently against his neck and goosebumps erupted over his skin.
“What kind of restaurants do you like?” Marcus asked against neck. He began kissing upward, drawing small, sharp gasps from Caleb.
“I don’t really go out to eat,” Caleb said before biting down on his lower lip in a futile attempt to control the full-body trembling that started in his core and echoed out to his limbs. “I never had the time or money.”
“Hmm, I have a place in mind, but I should not be given that much control this early on,” Marcus huffed into his ear. He bit down on Caleb’s earlobe hard enough to draw another sharp gasp. “I’m liable to think you want me to take charge of you, and if that happens, I might end up pushing you too far.”
That’s awakening something I didn’t know was there.
He gripped the back of Marcus’s head as he nuzzled against his ear and neck, a flood of heat hitting his face and groin in a way that made him want to wriggle away and go cool off in the cold rain he’d heard was pouring outside. Marcus said he wanted to take things slower, and Caleb was pretty sure that popping a hard-on from a little necking was not ‘taking it slow.’
Marcus lifted his chin and left a trail of kisses along Caleb’s neck and Adam’s apple as he moved to the other ear, his other hand roaming over his clothed chest and stomach. “I think I want to take you on a date,” Marcus said against his ear before licking along the shell of it.
Caleb shuddered, a weird wave of pleasure exploding through his lower abdomen that ended up straining the front of his dress pants. He desperately wanted to cover himself, embarrassed by the obvious arousal, but Marcus’s legs were firmly entangled with his.
“A date?”
“Yeah, you know, go see a movie, have dinner, make out in my car? A proper date,” Marcus said with a smile.
If he’d been a balloon, Caleb would have gone flying across the room with how quickly he deflated. The heat in his face vanished, replaced only by the tingling sting in his scar and his tinnitus flaring up in both ears. He rubbed the left side of his face, trying to make the tingling go away and ground himself in the moment. Now wasn’t the time for an episode.
“Hey, where’d you go just now?” Marcus asked.
Caleb felt himself flush, though he couldn’t tell if it was from embarrassment or the memories knocking at the door of his consciousness. For a split second, he caught the whiff of gasoline, and his heart sank. He rubbed his scar again, looking away from Marcus as he said, “Promise not to laugh at me?”
“Of course not.”
Caleb took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, eyes still focused on the ceiling.Inside. Ceiling is above you, couch underneath you, ridiculously hot guy on you. Stay here.
“I haven’t been in a car s-since th-the accident,” he said. He squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to see Marcus’s reaction.
He felt Marcus’s fingers lace with his and those incredibly soft lips on his forehead. “That’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Marcus said. “You went through a life-altering accident, I don’t blame you for not wanting to be in a car.”
“You don’t think it’s weird?” Caleb asked, turning his head to look at him.
Marcus shook his head. “No, trauma does weird things to the brain that can take a long time to get over,” he said. “We can always make out somewhere else, it doesn’t have to be in my car.”
Caleb laughed. The buzzing feeling in his head was beginning to fade. He turned his face into Marcus’s chest, breathing in his scent to chase away the phantom gasoline smell tickling his nostrils. “Why do you always smell like sugar cookies?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Oh, man, is that a story.” Marcus laughed. “When Ophelia was ten, I did something to piss her off. I don’t even remember what it was, but she was furious with me. Full-on, silent treatment for a week, stabbing holes in the walls of the apartment mad.”
Caleb sat up, unsure if he should laugh or be horrified. “Stabbing holes?” She was pretty aggressive when she wasn’t apathetic, but he’d never imagined her being violent.
“Oh yeah, I had to hire a contractor to come in and repair a good portion of the damage she did. After I locked all the sharp objects up in a safe, she got more creative with her revenge. She ended up taking some horrible glittery tween body spray she got for Christmas from a family friend and absolutely dousing every single piece of clothing I owned in it,” Marcus said. He smiled wide at the memory. “I was honestly so impressed with the creativity of it, I just let it slide and pretended I didn’t notice that our place smelled like a bakery and looked like it got fucked by a pixie. The smell grew on me, so now I just keep using the damn stuff sans glitter. Though I think that pisses her off too.”
