Chapter 43 Chapter Forty
Alex’s Point of View
By four-thirty on Saturday afternoon, our house already smelled like garlic bread, lemon cleaner, and the kind of nervous excitement my mom pretended not to have.
“Bambino” she called from the kitchen for the third time in ten minutes, “did you remember to put out the extra chairs?”
“They’re out” I said, louder than necessary, from the living room where I was arranging board games into what I hoped looked like a deliberate,
welcoming spread and not a desperate plea for everyone to have fun.
We had Uno, Monopoly, Scrabble, Cards Against Humanity, strategically hidden behind Clue, because my parents pretended they didn’t know we owned it.
The front windows were cracked open just enough to let in the late afternoon breeze, and somewhere down the street a lawn mower hummed. Everything felt normal.
Which was exactly why my stomach was doing that stupid, floaty flip.
Demi was coming.
The doorbell rang right on time.
“I’ve got it mama” I said, already halfway there.
Chris and his dads stood on the porch, arms full of snacks and drinks, laughter already spilling over before the door was even open.
“Alexander” Micheal boomed, grinning wide as he pulled me into a one-armed hug that smelled like cologne and winter mints. “You get taller every time I see you.”
“I really don’t” I laughed, returning the hug. “Hey, Greg.”
Greg smiled, softer but just as warm, holding up a foil-covered tray. “Seven-layer dip. Because you once said it was your favorite.”
“That was when I was twelve,” I said, stepping aside to let them in. “But yeah. Still is”
I gave Chris a small smile and he returned it before walking past me into the house, probably to go greet my parents
Behind them, Demi’s family pulled up, his mom already waving through the windshield like she’d spotted someone she loved at an airport.
And then Demi stepped out of the car.
He smiled the minute his eyes caught mine.
Not the wide, friendly one he used for everyone else.
The small one. The secret one.
My chest tightened.
“Hey” he said when he reached the porch, voice casual, eyes anything but.
“Hey” I replied, hoping no one could hear the way my heart kicked up.
His mom hugged me next, squeezing tight. “Thank you for hosting, sweetheart. Your mom’s cooking smells incredible.”
“It’s mostly garlic” I said. “You know how Italians are when it comes to their garlic”
Inside, the house filled fast, voices overlapping, jackets piling up, someone immediately asking where the bathroom was even though they’d been here a hundred times.
This wasn’t a first meeting. This was a continuation. Families that had grown around each other like vines.
Chris disappeared into the living room with his dads, already arguing about which game to start with.
Demi’s older sister Angel made a beeline for the snacks, she was visiting from Scotland and she so happened to have come at the right time.
She looked good, she was like the female version of Demi. The same brown skin and mole above the lip, the same slender eyes and unlike Demi, her hair was in a ponytail.
My dad started talking sports with Demi’s dad like they’d pressed an invisible play button.
And Demi drifted toward me again, like gravity was optional but convenient.
“You look good” he murmured, just for me.
“I had to look my best for you” I whispered back.
“Well I appreciate”
I snorted, then caught myself when his fingers brushed mine as he passed me a stack of napkins. The contact was brief. Accidental-looking.
Electric.
We didn’t stand together for long. That was part of the rule. We orbited. We passed. We met eyes across rooms and pretended it didn’t mean anything.
From the kitchen, I watched him laugh with my mom, leaning against the counter like he belonged there. Like he always had.
And maybe he did.
.
.
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Demi’s POV
If anyone ever figured us out, it would be Alex’s mom.
She had that look, that warm but sharp look, like she noticed everything even while pretending she didn’t.
The kind of woman who remembered your favorite cookie and the exact tone you used when you said you were “fine”.
She was a sharp woman.
So I stayed careful.
I laughed at the right moments. Helped set out snacks. Didn’t stand too close to Alex for too long, even though the house felt tilted when I wasn’t near him.
I was still talking with auntie Marissa when Chris’s dad Greg called for her attention and she walked away.
I looked around Aunts and uncles chattered in the living room, glasses clinking over the low music that was being played.
The coat closet door clicked shut, as more people came in.
Alex’s family party was packed.
Speaking of Alex, I was being dragged into a random place in their house now.
With the excuse to fetch more snacks, but now his hands were under my sweater, pinching my nipples hard enough to draw a hiss.
“Our parents are right outside Alex” I breathed, but my dick betrayed me, hardening against his thigh.
He smirked in the shadows. Zipper down, he swallowed my length whole, throat contracting around the head as he bobbed.
I gripped a hanger to steady myself, coats rustling softly. Laughter erupted nearby, my mom calling for alex and he sucked harder, tongue lashing the vein underneath.
I came down his throat with a stifled groan, legs shaking. He stood, spinning me to face the wall, yanking my jeans to my ankles.
His fingers dug into my hips, cock nudging my hole, it was still prepped from last nights round. He pushed in, inch by inch, until buried deep, rocking slow to avoid noise.
The door handle jiggled, someone grabbing a scarf, and we stilled, his pulse throbbing inside me.
It passed. He fucked faster now, hand over my mouth, until he pulled out and came on the coats below, white streaks hidden in the folds.
We straightened up, faces flushed, rejoining the party with the snacks in hand like nothing happened.
Game night officially started after dinner, once plates were stacked and parents settled into the dining room with wine and stories that started with, “i remember when Chris and Alex were little”
The teens—us—claimed the living room floor.
Chris flopped down dramatically, stealing three pillows at once. “I call these. All of them”
“You’re a menace” I said, nudging one free.
Alex sat across from me, knees bent, forearms resting casually on his legs like he wasn’t acutely aware of the exact distance between us. His eyes flicked up to mine.
There it was again.
That look.
The one that said he wanted another round , even though he just finished destroying my insides a few minutes ago.
Uno won the vote, loud and fast-paced and perfect for chaos.
Cards slapped down. Groans echoed. Someone accused someone else of cheating, and by someone I mean Kyle accusing Angel of cheating
Alex’s foot brushed mine once.
I didn’t move it.
When he glanced up, I raised my eyebrows just slightly. A challenge. A joke. A reminder.
He looked away first.
Victory.
From the dining room, laughter erupted, full-bodied, adult laughter, the kind that came from shared history and zero stress about curfews.
Chris’s dads were in the middle of a story, both talking at once, and my mom and auntie Marissa were wiping tears from their eyes from laughing so hard.
This was easy. This was good.
And somehow, that made the secret feel louder.
“Hey, Demi” Alex said casually, tossing a card onto the pile. “You’re up.”
His voice dipped, just enough.
I leaned forward to play my card, lowering my voice. “Careful. You’re staring.”
“I’m not” he muttered.
“You absolutely are.”
I sat back, smiling sweetly, and from the corner of my eye I saw his ears turn red.
Later, when the games shifted and people rearranged, Alex and I ended up in the kitchen at the same time, both reaching for the same soda.
Our hands collided.
We froze.
His fingers curled just slightly around mine, hidden by the fridge door.
For one dangerous second, the world narrowed to the hum of the refrigerator and the sound of my own heartbeat.
“Demi?” his mom called from the other room. “Do you mind helping me bring out dessert?”
Alex let go immediately, stepping back like he’d been burned.
“Sure auntie” I said, forcing my voice steady.
As we carried plates together, our shoulders brushed.
No one noticed.
But we did.
.
.
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Alex’s Point Of View
Demi's ass clenched so tight when that handle turned, I almost lost it right there. Slipping back into the crowd, tasting him on my lips, the secret burned between us like the best gift under the tree.