Chapter 50

Andy licked at Scooter’s lip, tentative and exploratory, but Scooter’s mouth yielded readily; he had Andy pinned against the door, but he let Andy take control of the kiss for long, delectable moments. His hands were on Andy’s hips and he was pressing them together, letting Andy feel how hard he was, even through their jeans. The same flickers of desire that Andy had seen from time to time in Scooter’s eyes became liquid fire in his mouth as Scooter kissed him, traced Andy’s lip with his tongue. He let Andy draw out his tongue and they slid together in a wet, slick tangle.

Finally, gasping for air, Scooter pulled back, just enough to rest his forehead against Andy’s. “Okay. Good talk.”

Andy laughed, a little hysterically. “Yeah? You sure you don’t want to go over any of those points again?”

Scooter backed away, drawing Andy in toward the sofa. “I need to sit down, before I fall down.”

“Sitting is good,” Andy agreed. “I can work with sitting.” He followed where Scooter led, waiting until Scooter dropped down onto the cushions, then put his arms back around Scooter’s neck and slid onto his lap, straddling Scooter’s thighs.

Scooter touched Andy slow and reverent, as if he’d been given something rare and priceless and he didn’t want to break it. He drew a slow line down Andy’s cheek and throat, brushed the palm of his hand down Andy’s chest. He tugged lightly at Andy’s tee, getting a hand up under it to splay warm across Andy’s lower back. “So, um…dating,” he managed. “Was that a thing you wanted to do? Because I’d like that. Take you out, do stuff that’s fun. Spend time together.” He kept moving his hands like he was drinking Andy in with his fingertips, touching him, tracing swirling circles on Andy’s skin.

Almost, almost, Andy would have said anythingto keep Scooter touching him like that, dragging trails of fire across his skin, but oh, God, Scooter deserved so much more than that. “I, we…already do fun stuff,” he pointed out. “And I know you mean more…Date-y stuff. But I’m, I don’t know if I’d be any good at it. I haven’t really dated much.” God, that was an understatement. He’d partied and fucked around casually, and then he’d been a possession, even if it had taken him too long to realize it. He wasn’t sure he knew how to do anything in between. Anything that involved give andtake, that came from real caring. He closed his eyes. “I’m not exactly a real catch, either.”

“Why don’t you let me decide what I want, okay? I want to date you.” Scooter punctuated it with a short, hot kiss. “And you worry about what youwant. If you don’t want to date me, that’s okay. I’m a big boy, I can handle some disappointment. I won’t push or insist or turn you out, if that’s a concern.”

Andy stared at him. “You really…” He shook his head. Who the hell stopped in the middle of making out to be reassuring and, and perplexingly, infuriatingly perfect? Andy probably owed Kat more ice cream now. He traced the line of Scooter’s jaw with one finger, around the shell of Scooter’s ear, and enjoyed the way it made Scooter shiver. “I want,” he said, half a breath. “I want to…try. I want to date you. I think I’d like that.”

The relief on Scooter’s face was a tangible thing, the way his forehead relaxed and that brilliant, helplessly happy smile crossed his face. He ran a hand up Andy’s spine and cupped the back of Andy’s neck, lifting his own face even as he pulled Andy in for another series of kisses, each one just a little deeper and dirtier than the one before, building up into a whirlwind of sensation. It wasn’t about technique—Nick’s technique had been excellent, had left Andy breathless—but Scooter seemed actually happy to just kiss. There wasn’t any rush; he’d barely done more than trace lines against Andy’s skin, wasn’t already pulling Andy’s clothes off. Not that Andy would mind; in fact, Andy would rather prefer he got on with it, because those teasing touches and slick, sensuous kisses were driving Andy wild. But Scooter kept returning to Andy’s mouth, eagerly tasting and exploring and learning. He tickled at the corner of Andy’s mouth with the tip of his tongue until Andy was panting with want.

Andy groaned and set about figuring out the best ways to make Scooter crazy, because damned if he was going to be the only one half out of his mind with need. He nipped at Scooter’s lips and tested the edges and corners of Scooter’s mouth, tracking the hitched breaths and moans and clenched hands.