Page 87 of For the Cameras

That felt right. Joking around while telling someone how hot they were. If that wasn’t my comfort zone, nothing was.

I sat down on the couch and he leaned against me, getting cozy under the blanket as the movie played.

Everything was fine until Adam started snoozing lightly halfway through the movie. He had slumped downward until his head was basically resting in my lap, and my heart started doing funny things again. I loved seeing him sleep, and knowing that he was comfortable enough with me to fall asleep at all. It wasn’t about sex or his cock or how fuckable he was, even though he was definitely extremely appealing in every single one of those ways.

It was just him. And me.

And I realized something so simple but so world-shattering, as I gently ran my hand along his hair.

Being with him always felt better than being on my own.

And my heart didn’t know what to do with that at all.

22

ADAM

I blinked my eyes open to see my living room still shrouded in darkness. A small amount of light from my outdoor light was coming in through the curtains, but it was clearly the middle of the night, nowhere near dawn yet.

Almost instinctively, my usual loneliness crept in. I did this sometimes, falling asleep on the couch while watching a movie and waking up hours later all alone.

But there was a warm weight pressed up next to me. Chase was right there, sleeping soundly and breathing evenly. The light blond portion of his hair was illuminated, doing that thing where it made him look like he had a halo.

Iwasn’tall alone, for once.

A yearning ache settled in my chest at the same time that my cock started to harden. I gently put my arm down around his shoulders, pulling him toward me while trying not to wake him up. We had both crashed out on my couch at some point, and we were slumped into the corner of the couch on a cluster of plush pillows. The deep, wide, super comfortable sectional was something I’d splurged on when I’d moved in, because it wasmore like a comfy bed than a couch. But until now, it had seemed like a bit of a waste.

All this couch, and no one to share it with?

But waking up next to Chase felt right. He smelled likehim. I was somehow both turned on and cozy all at once.

I wasn’t supposed to want him for anything other than fun and sex, but he was sogoodwith all of the other things, too.

I’d expected Chase to be detached, removed, or almost emotionless. But he was a kaleidoscope of expression, all the time. He made me feel like I mattered as a person, not just as a person with a cock he wanted to ride.

God, I wanted him to ride it again.

I was a confused, horny, desperate mess. I shifted on the couch and tried to force myself to fall asleep thinking about nothing, but instead my mind was full of images of him. The way he looked at me from under his lashes, like he was flirting without even knowing he was doing it. The way he took my cock, almost begging for more.

The way he’d been all embarrassed when his family had called him earlier tonight, and how all I’d wanted to do was cover him in kisses and make him realize how he had nothing to be ashamed of at all.

I loved that he was right here next to me.

I drifted off into a sleep laced with dreams of blue hair and blue eyes and so much desire it almost hurt.

The next time I woke up, I turned over to look and no one was there.

I knew I should have expected that.

I hummed, blinking in the nowverybright, direct sunlight pouring into my living room. I reached for my phone on the table and saw that it was a little past seven in the morning, and the Fixer Brothers crew would be here by eight.

I breathed in deep, sitting up on the couch.

This was normal. I knew I shouldn’t have a hollow, empty feeling waking up without Chase next to me, because Chasewasn’tgoing to be waking up next to me. He had every right to leave, because that’s what “no strings attached” meant, anyway.

I glanced at the coffee table and saw that there was a note, scrawled out on a scrap of cardboard from the kitchen renovations.

Adam,