AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jesus, I had it bad.
Preston sighed in his sleep—or perhaps he stirred toward wakefulness?
I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.
How often had he woken up and slipped from my embrace over the years when we’d been gifted the freedom to spend the night together? I’d always made sure to have my hard dick away from his ass, but in that moment, our last few hours together…I didn’t want to.
Couldn’t.
He definitely roused. I could feel his heart rate kick up beneath my palm on his chest.
Tension, thick and delicious, slid through my veins.
Preston swallowed and rolled onto his back, his head continuing to turn until sleepy green eyes met mine.
The world disappeared as I swam straight into his soul and frolicked like a kid in the baby pool for the first time. Wetness glazed over his beautiful orbs, and even though I wanted to smash my lips to his, lick into his mouth and taste his sweetness, I couldn’t.
I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him against my front. We touched from toes to chest, hard dick be damned, my lips against his forehead.
Jesus fucking Christ.
He was mine. Always would be, even after I put distance between us and decades passed with us living separate lives as we had no choice but to do.
“D-Drake,” he whispered, his voice as broken as my heart.
“I have you, Preston,” I rasped, fighting off tears.
He cried until he once more passed the fuck out.
Climbing from his bed knifed at my chest, leaving me shredded and bleeding.
It was the last night I would get to hold my stepbrother.
The following afternoon, I graduated. All my shit sat packed in the back of the Land Rover Jacqueline had gifted me that morning, ready for my escape to Boston. Dad hugged me, teary-eyed and proud, reminding his little buddy to shoot for the stars. Jacqueline offered me her best wishes, but I barely returned her embrace, unease making my skin crawl over the fact she gave me more affection than her own son.
And Preston…
The last to bid me goodbye—in front of our parents.
Swallowing hard, I ruffled his hair, wishing I could sink my fingers in deep and pull him toward me, right into my arms where he belonged. “Take care, kid.”
He couldn’t even find his voice to chide me. A single dip of his head, and he stepped back from my reach.
A blade of anguish stuck in my chest long after I left New York in my rearview mirror, but I had no choice but to leave him behind.
No matter how badly I wanted more with Preston Casswell, he could never be mine.
Chapter 6
Preston
Five Years Ago…
I stood in front of Jacqueline and Devlin’s door to their new loft in Tribeca, my palms damp with sweat, my button-down and slacks chafing. The ache in my chest beneath my breastbone intensified from the anxiety attempting to squeeze the life from my lungs.
The man I dreamed about every night stood beyond the painted oak I stared at.
It wasn’t until after Drake had left New York for Boston after high school graduation that I’d realized the true extent of my feelings for him. My longing had gone far beyond a teenage crush.
