Page 56 of The Best Parts of Him
“Yes. More.” Ryland scrambled up, one hand braced on Dabbs’ chest. He was flushed and beautiful, his hair wilder than Dabbs had ever seen it.
Dabbs gave an experimental pump of his hips, and when Ryland hissed out his pleasure, he didn’t hesitate.
The world outside the bedroom blurred, one step removed from reality as he pistoned into Ryland over and over. His surgical incision gave a twinge as he engaged his core, but he could live with the pain if it meant he got to see Ryland crumble with pleasure.
And crumble he did. Tugging at his erection, chasing his own pleasure, Ryland was magnificent as he came with a long groan. Dabbs followed after him, liquid heat spreading from his balls upward to his chest and down to his toes. When he came, it was with a shout as he buried himself in Ryland as deep as he could.
“Jesus.” Ryland heaved for breath and slumped over him again. “We need to have so much more of that before I head home.”
Dabbs couldn’t agree more.
“The eyes are a little too close together.”
“What?” Ryland stepped back from the pumpkin at Dabbs’ pronouncement and inspected the face he’d drawn in pencil. “You think?”
“That middle part between them will disintegrate if they’re too close together.” Dabbs gestured at it with a paring knife before resuming his apple slicing. “Move them farther apart. It’s a massive pumpkin. Might as well use the real estate.”
“True.” Ryland erased one eye and started over.
It was the middle of the night—closer to dawn now—and neither of them had slept. They’d come downstairs after their first round to feed the dogs and feed themselves, laughing at the half-gutted pumpkin on the counter as they’d assembled sandwiches for lunch. They’d abandoned it after Ryland had pumpkined Dabbs’ eye, but Ryland was heading home in a few hours, and he didn’t want to leave a mess for Dabbs.
After lunch, they’d showered and taken the dogs to the dog park, ensuring they were sufficiently tired and wouldn’t bother Ryland and Dabbs during their second round. Dinner, a third round, another shower. They’d caught the end of the Columbus versus Colorado game, where Columbus had won in overtime. Blow jobs on the couch, a snack, and then they’d finally finished gutting the pumpkin.
Given the hour, Ryland should’ve been dead on his feet. But the past sixteen hours had been a whirlwind of sex and food, and he was as energized as he was before a game. And with his flight looming, he wanted to milk every second with Dabbs that he could get.
He glanced over at Dabbs and?—
“No. Uh-uh. No way.” He pointed at the new word on the Scrabble board on the end of the counter. “There’s no way that’s a word.”
Dabbs grinned at him, sending Ryland’s emotions haywire.
“I seem to remember you saying the same thing a couple of days ago.”
“Okay, but this actually isn’t a word.”
Dabbs waggled his eyebrows and grabbed the block of cheese. “Look it up.”
Grumbling, Ryland typed S-P-I-N-E-L into the online Scrabble dictionary.
Congratulations. This is an official Scrabble word.
“Seriously?” He googled it next. “A gemstone? It’s a gemstone. How do you know that?”
“I . . . Actually, I’m not sure. I just do.”
“You just do.” Ryland set his phone aside, leaned over the counter, and dropped a quick kiss on Dabbs’ mouth. “Of course you do.”
“I’d never heard the word becquerel until you said it to me, if that makes you feel better.”
Ryland nodded. “You know, it does.” He contemplated his tiles, cursing at his selection, and added a g and e to an existing t.
“Get?” Dabbs said. “Again? We need to expand your Scrabble vocabulary.”
Ryland laughed. “Fuck you.” He waved his pencil at the pumpkin. “What do you think?”
Dabbs looked at it. “No horns?”
“No horns,” Ryland confirmed. “Not that it looks much like Bellamy anyway.”
