Page 1 of Tangled Up In You
Chapter 1
Corbin
Seven years ago
There were worse things than to be sitting beside a lake on a sunny day with your best friend. Notjusta best friend, though, but someone who was so much more. Someone who knew everything about you.
Hunter sat with his legs outstretched on the grass, looking at the sparkling water under the bright rays of the sun. We’d just finished swimming and were enjoying the warm day. It was something we did when the weather was nice.
We’d graduated high school Friday night, and while other kids were going on huge vacations to the beach and places like that, Hunter and I were hanging out at the lake by my house. It wasn’t technically summer yet, being only the end of May, but it was already humid and hot outside, making it the perfect swimming weather.
“Think your grandpa will care if we go into town later?” Hunter asked, bringing his knees up and resting his arms on them.
I lived with my grandpa because my dad wasn’t around, and my mom had committed suicide when I was six. I’d often thought it was my fault that she’d done it, that if I’d been a better kid, maybe she wouldn’t have found life so pointless. As I’d gotten older, I’d coped better, but that thought was still in the back of my head sometimes.
To be honest, it had fucked me up for a while, but Hunter had helped me through it.
“I doubt it,” I answered. “He might make us eat dinner first, though. You know how he likes to cook for us.”
“Yeah, I forgot you’re spoiled.”
“Asshole,” I said with a laugh, pushing his shoulder. “What do you wanna do in town? And please don’t say the bookstore.”
“Actually, it’s the library,” Hunter said, grinning when I scoffed.
“You’re such a nerd.”
Hunter had been my best friend since we were five, and there wasn’t really anything we didn’t know about the other. And this last year, he’d started coming to mean more to me than just a friend. Subtle things here and there—fingers brushing against the other, eyes locking longer than necessary, and shy smiles—had all started and hadn’t stopped.
Then, there were the kisses, slow and hesitant at first before growing more confident.
It was hard to explain, but until I began developing feelings for Hunter, I hadn’t thought I was gay. I’d mostly had crushes on girls—and I saymostlybecause I totally had a thing for Shemar Moore fromCriminal Minds, but I mean, like, who didn’t?
Hunter’s dark hair, brown eyes, and kissable lips made him the biggest distraction, and I kept staring at him until he looked at me.
“What?” he asked.
I lunged forward and tackled him. He grunted as I rolled on top of him, and I kicked his knees aside until I was between his legs. His dick hardened and I grinned, but my amusement fled when he grinded his hips upward, causing me to moan.
Then, I kissed him. He tasted like the banana Laffy Taffy he’d been eating earlier, and I flicked his tongue with mine, tasting more of him.
“I think I could spend forever kissing you,” I said before doing it again.
“I think I’d let you,” he responded after the next one.
His brown eyes flickered to mine, and my heart beat just a little faster at the eye contact. I didn’t remember what life was like before Hunter, and I never wanted the reminder.
All I needed was the boy in my arms—the one who drove me wild with lust but also touched a spot in my heart no one else ever would.
“God, Corbin,” he moaned as I kissed down his neck. “Fuck me.”
Ever since we’d discovered our feelings for each other, we’d fucked like rabbits. For years, we’d had sleepovers at each other’s houses, but those sleepovers were much more X-rated these days. His parents didn’t know about us, and neither did my grandpa.
No one knew.
We’d talked about coming out before, but neither of us was ready. Living in a small town in the south made it challenging. Hell, coming outanywherewas scary as fuck, but it was even more so there in Willow, Arkansas. The people were nice enough, but with some of the churches having signs that readPray the Gay Away… well, it wasn’t exactly encouraging.
At the lake, we had privacy, so we spent a lot of time out there.
