Chapter 22

Nolan’s mind was reeling.How much did he really know about Rick?Would he be capable of that?He wondered what this intense emotion was he was feeling while listening to this story.He realized he was jealous of this Uncle Bill character.“What happened to Rick and Bill?”

“After my mom caught them together,she left and wouldn’t talk to either of them.Uncle Bill decided a relationship with his sister was more important than some random piece of ass,so he said he didn’t mean it.Said he got drunk.He never talked to my dad again as far as I know.”

Nolan studied his roommate’s face.His eyes were burning an intense emotion Cam was barely keeping under control.Nolan’s own mind was racing with a feeling that had no name.It was a horrible mix of fear and bravery,anticipation and dread.His breathing was ragged as he got up the courage to ask,“What else?”

“Nothing else.”

“Why don’t you want your dad to do that to me?Why do you care?”

Cam locked eyes with Nolan.Time seemed to stand still before Cam said,“You really wanna know why,Nolan?This is why.”He snatched the cereal bowl out of Nolan’s hand and grabbed his head,pulling him into an intense kiss.

Kissing Cam was nothing like kissing Rick.Rick was strong and confident.Cam was pure need.Desire incarnate.Despite never asking for this kiss,Nolan’s body was quickly responding to this unexpected contact.He allowed himself to lay back as Cam rested his weight on him.His cock was rapidly stiffened as their mouths moved in a perfect dance of tongues and lips.

Nolan shoved Cam back away from him.He wasn’t exactly sure what was going on and he was not a fuck first,ask questions later kind of guy.Cam tried to lean in once more for another kiss,but Nolan stopped him.“Cam,seriously.”

“Fuck it,Nolan.I’m not hiding this anymore.I want to be with you.”

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“Because you were not into dudes.At least I didn’t think so.Even after I saw my dad flirting with you.”

“He never flirted with me!”

“He totally did,”Cam said in a serious tone.“He did and it really pissed me off.”

“Did you tell him you liked me like that,too?”

“Hell no,”Cam said.“Not until the morning I found him here.”

“What did you say to him,Cam?”

“I told him to back the hell off.I told him I liked you and there was no way I’d tolerate him fucking you.”

Nolan stood up from the couch and crossed the room to look out the window.He was furious that Cam would assume he could interfere in his life like that.“I’m not some fucking tree you can piss on to mark as your territory.”

“I know that,”Cam said softly,lowering his head.

Nolan could not get his head around all this information.Just a few short days ago,his worst problem was maintaining an erection while jerking off alone.Now he had not only kissed one man but two.He looked down at his shorts.They still had a telling lump along the zipper.Maintaining an erection no longer seemed to be an issue.He walked to his bedroom doorway and said,“I need to process all this,Cam.”

“Okay,”said Cam.“I get that.”

Nolan studied his roommate and best friend as he sat on the edge of the couch,his eyes bloodshot and desperately close to spilling over with tears.Nolan’s throat clenched as he quickly retreated into his room.

“You have reached the voice mail of…”Nolan hung up.No matter how much he tried to stop himself from doing so,he had called Rick’s number countless times in the three days since he had last seen him,each call resulting in this now familiar electronic greeting.

He respected Rick for trying to spare Cam’s feelings,but he couldn’t imagine that Rick could just walk away from the intense connection they shared.If Rick was feeling even half of the amount of emotional turmoil Nolan was experiencing,there was no way he could resist answering his young lover’s obsessive calling.

Nolan rolled toward the edge of the bed.His bedroom had become his sanctuary from Cam’s pleading eyes but it was also a hellish trap where Nolan’s mind was allowed free rein to pick apart every scenario into frustrating details that could mean one of a thousand different things,but that was about to change.

“Forget this,”he said aloud to himself,getting out of bed with a single-minded determination and putting on his shoes.If he was ever going to have a moment’s peace,he was going to have to speak his mind to Rick face-to-face.“I’m going out there.”

As he headed out of his bedroom toward the apartment’s front door,he waved at Cam who was doing class work at the kitchen table.

“Hey,”Cam said.His tone was light,but his expression hinted at things still unsaid.“You heading out?”

Nolan nodded.“For a bit.”

Although the two roommates hadn’t spoken of anything that had gone down earlier that week,Nolan had tried hard to keep things civil.He understood why Cam did what he did,but Nolan also knew there was no way Cam could possibly understand how deeply his actions had hurt him.

“Nolan,”Cam said before hesitating,licking his lips nervously.