Page 107 of Play With Me
My fingers fall to my thigh, and I squeeze, turning my gaze back to the road. We’re silent for a long time, so long that I feel nauseous. My hand moves up to my stomach and touches it, feeling it roil beneath my palm. I may be sick.
I’ve fallen for a guy who doesn’t want me anymore. He upended my entire life, and here he is pulling away.
My nudes are going to be leaked.
I’m going to be exposed.
And the worst part of it is I’m going to be all alone when it happens.
I pull up to his frat house, and he lets out a shaky breath.
“Why the fuck are you dropping me off here?” he asks, looking confused. He hasn’t said a word to me since he asked me not to touch him, and now he seems perplexed that I’m offering him an out.
“Figured you wanted to be alone.”
He huffs and pushes the heels of his palms into his eyes.
“Is that what you want from me? You want me to leave you alone?”
That break in my heart stops cracking wide open, and I put the car in Drive.
Yeah, fuck this. I’m not letting him choose. I’m gonna decide for him. I’m going to take what I want.
I don’t hesitate, just turn the car around and drive him to the apartment. Paulie is there, sitting and watching movies on the couch. His feet are propped up, a slice of pizza in his hand. When he sees the two of us walk in, he sits up, pausing his show.
“Hey, guys.” He must read the emotion in the room, the way our faces are drawn, the stiff set to our shoulders. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I lie. “We’re good. Just been a long day.” And then I press my hand onto his lower back and lead Colton to the bedroom, turning over my shoulder and meeting Paulie’s gaze. It tells him I’ll fill him in later. He needs to know what’s going on. He’ll be inadvertently affected by this as well. He’ll be the roommate of the guy with leaked nudes.
I want to let him know what’s going on before it happens, but right now, I want to just be with Colton. Everything that’s happened over the last forty-eight hours has taken its toll on me. And obviously on him. We must look like we’ve lived a hundred years at this point.
The bedroom door closes softly behind us, and Colton falls onto my bed, kicking his shoes off and tucking himself under the covers.
“Fuck. I’m so glad I have somewhere else to go. Can we just hide like this for a while? Pretend the world doesn’t exist?”
I stand over him, wanting to join him, but unsure of what we are anymore. The car ride made me question it all. And now I’m on unsteady ground.
“What are you doing standing up?”
My hand runs across the back of my neck. “Are we still together? Or has this ended?”
His eyes peek out from beneath the covers, and confusion moves across his face.
“Why would you think that it’s ended?”
“You said you can’t do this. You told me not to touch you in the car…”
“I didn’t mean that. I mean, I did, but I just needed a minute to think. All of this is happening to you because of me. And I know I should be selfless and end this between us so you can move on in peace. To be with someone who has less baggage, but selfishly, I’m here in your bed, wanting you to come and hold me. To make all the bad go away, even if it’s just for a minute.”
My breath hitches at his admission. Fuck, why does this guy go from being cold and unbearable to the sweetest prick?
“What do you want me to be, Myles? Selfless or selfish?” he asks softly.
I don’t even hesitate, just kick my shoes off and climb in next to him.
“You can be as selfish as you want as long as you’re with me.” My arms go around him, pulling him against me. He’s warm and shaking slightly, as if all the anxiety he’s kept inside is pouring out.
He buries his head against my neck, his leg thrown over mine.
