startling him as I spoke excitedly. "I do work hard to keep my ass little—each cheek is exactly a handful."
"You're a handful all right," Wade said, placing his hand over my mouth to prevent me from speaking. He smiled as I winked at him. He pulled his hand away when I licked it.
"Whole lot of trouble."
I let out a little laugh, somehow liking the thought of being his trouble. "The things you say to me—you silver-tongued devil, you." I settled back down and lay my head on his tummy. I smiled listening to his body as it made little creaky noises.
Wade ran his fingers back into my hair. "I'm not very good at this, you know."
"At lying naked in bed with another man?" I asked, looking up at him, resting my chin on his abs. "I most vehemently disagree—you're doing quite well."
Wade shook his head as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Are you ever serious about anything?"
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"A fine thing to say," I said with a grin, knowing full well that in my weakened state, my rambling was the only thing keeping me coherent. "After the hours and hours of seriously hot sex we just...boy you really know how to cut a bitch."
Wade laughed, mussing my hair, as if I were an obedient little puppy. "I feel incredibly exhausted. You are an amazing man, Boone. I think you're very special."
"I'd kiss you right now, but your mouth is way up there." I pointed up toward his face, and Wade took my hand in his.
My instinct had been to tease him as to what he meant by
'special', but as I felt Wade's lips softly kissing the palm of my hand; I felt my entire body begin to tingle. My chest felt as if it might explode as I looked back up at him. I lifted myself and crawled up next to him, lying back down on my side.
He rolled on his side and looked into my eyes, longingly.
"You realize you're lying right on top of the big wet spot?"
"I know, but I can't seem to make myself give a shit."
Wade smiled and leaned over, planting a soft kiss on my lips.
As we separated Wade looked over my face, and I could see the wheels turning away. "Can I ask you something?"
I nodded okay.
"The guy that you were...um..." Wade glanced down at my hand and chewed on his lip.
"The one that dumped me over the phone?"
"Yeah, that's the one. Were you in love with him?"
I smiled as Wade made eye contact again, seeming to be glad to have gotten that question out. "I thought I was, had myself quite convinced." I slid my hand over the short 100
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distance of mattress and wrapped my fingers around his hand. "But, no—I wasn't really in love with him."
Wade grinned and settled onto his back again. He opened his arm as if asking me to snuggle in. I scooted over and tossed my leg over his, resting my cheek on his chest as his arm squeezed me closer. The view of his body from my new perspective was amazing. The softness of his skin contrasted with the hardness of his muscles, like the terrain of some amazing undiscovered land no one could get to but me.
I ran my hand over his stomach watching the way my fingers rose and fell as they passed over the surface of his muscled torso. "What was it like being an Olympic Golden Boy?"
"I've never...indescribable really." Wade let out a sigh, his thumb caressing my arm as he stared up at the beams stretching across the roofline. "It was like a thousand different emotions all coming at me at once in a flood. I felt light and weighted down at the same time. I do distinctly remember laughing and crying simultaneously, and all I kept thinking was three months."
"Three months?"
"I'd lost my dad three months earlier to the day. I was standing on that podium, medal in one hand, flowers in another and despite being so happy...so proud, it all seemed so unfair. If he'd been able to hang on a little longer he'd have been able to witness what all of his hard work—" Wade stopped abruptly, taking a deep breath. "My dad put so much of himself on hold for my dreams."
101
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by Ethan
Tia Louise
Charlotte Hubbard
Sheena Binkley
Donna Jo Napoli
Carole Mortimer
Carmine Gallo
Joyce Carol Oates
Rob Spillman
Carolyn Hart
Bruce Wagner