“I’m proud of you, if that’s not weird to say,” Holden whispered into his hair.
“Why?”
“You said what you needed to say, and you didn’t run out of breath while doing it.”
Bryce wiggled out of Holden’s arms enough to see his face, relief trickling down his spine when he saw the soft smile on Holden’s mouth. Holden took Bryce’s face into his hands and pressed a gentle kiss against his mouth, a little rougher than would be considered polite, but nowhere near aggressive enough to be considered inappropriate.
“I love you,” Holden said, kissing the corner of Bryce’s mouth, his chin, the cut of his jaw. Bryce tilted his head back to give Holden his neck, which earned him a toothy grin against his skin but no more kisses.
“I love you,” he shivered, laughing to himself. “I never would have thought.”
“That you’d love me?”
“That it would feel like this.” Bryce tucked his chin against his chest and shrugged awkwardly. “This may not be doable because Merrick has always been able to kill the mood, but did you have anything else planned for the day?”
Holden arched a brow, the insinuation clear. He thought Bryce was chasing after when they were going to go back home and fuck, which wasn’t entirely wrong but was also honestly not the root of his question. Holden had asked him to waste a day, and Bryce was committed to doing exactly that.
“I was going to see where the mood took us,” Holden said. “I didn’t have anything concrete until tonight.”
Bryce made an awkwardly horny sound. Holden laughed and joined their hands again and pulled Bryce back toward where they’d parked. “You’re insatiable,” he teased.
“Can you blame me?”
“Honestly, no.” Holden’s mouth quirked up into a little smile. “But you’re going to have to wait for what you want. And you’re probably going to have to wait longer than you want.”
“It’s already been longer than I want.” Bryce covered their joined hands with his other hand, enjoying the contact. “Do you think if I talk long enough you’ll give in because it’ll be an opportunity to shut me up?”
“As much as I love when I can make you quiet, there’s not much I love more than the sound of your voice, Bryce.”
The admission slammed into him like a semi-truck. He rubbed his chest, trying to ease the ache and the pressure that love seemed to leave behind.
“Oh, well.” He unlocked the car. “In that case, have I got a story for you.”
CHAPTER 19
Holden
Bryce wasall nerves on the drive back to Holden’s house. He didn’t stop talking from the second the car turned on up until Holden got his key into the front door. Holden didn’t stop him; he knew enough about Bryce by then to know it was a coping mechanism, especially when it came to his brother. Getting caught together hadn’t been either of their plans, but life had a way and now they both were left to the deal with the consequences of being outed prematurely.
With the door closed and locked behind them, Holden toed off his sneakers and leaned against the wall with a heavy sigh. “Are you done?”
Bryce finished his sentence, shoulders sagging on a long exhale.
He went quiet so quickly, it made Holden’s dick hard.
“Good,” Holden told him. “Take some time in the bathroom to get ready, then come to bed. Okay?”
It was the middle of the day still, but Holden had no plans of coming up for air until the sun had set and risen again. There were enough snacks in his fridge to hold them over, and the sort of sex he had in mind was not ideal after a taco lunch, butHolden had faith it would all work out in the end. He brushed Bryce’s hair away from his forehead and kissed him.
“Okay,” Bryce said softly.
Bryce shuffled into the bathroom and Holden waited until the shower turned on to set up the bed. He’d debated the merits of getting a hotel or something so he didn’t have to deal with the mess their sex would leave behind, but in the end, he’d opted against it. Holden wanted his sheets stained, his lube empty. He wanted to remember what Bryce looked like on his bed, full to bursting and desperate for release.
He’d already remade his bed with a waterproof sheet beneath his normal fitted sheet, and he hoped that would be enough. Bryce’s kink wasn’t feeling it come out of him, it was keeping it in, and Holden wanted to make sure he did exactly that. While Bryce prepped himself in the bathroom, Holden made sure everything he needed was within reach, then he stripped down to his underwear and sat on the edge of the bed.
It wasn’t a good idea, but Holden checked his phone while he waited. As expected, there was a text message from Merrick. He debated reading it or letting it go, but knowing the message was there and unread would distract him and he wanted to be completely focused on Bryce when he got out of the shower. Getting caught by Merrick on the beach had unsettled them both, Bryce especially. Holden didn’t think Bryce had ever stood up to his brother in his entire life, but he’d done it there on the boardwalk, fingers dancing across the tops of Holden’s knuckles.
He swiped to the message, finding a chunky text that required him to scroll to read the whole thing. Holden scoffed. It was the most stereotypically Merrick thing that could have possibly happened to him.