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“I owe you an apology,” Drake finally broke the silence.
I waited rather than attempting to ease the sudden awkwardness between us.
“From five years ago, when we got together with our parents at their loft in Tribeca. It reminded me of the first time we’d had dinner as a family and Jacqueline spouted off shit about Nancy.” Drake stated what I remembered all too well.
I hummed in agreement, wrapping my arms around my bent knees and lacing my fingers at my shins.
“You were hurting, and rather than hugging you like I’d done that night in my bedroom, I walked away,” Drake said, his voice full of remorse. “Left you standing there on the sidewalk while I turned my back, something I promised I would never do to you.”
“What was different that night?” I asked, my voice low and uneven, the pang of pain still lingering in my chest.
Drake sat silent long enough I dared to glance over at him. His eyes were closed, lips were pressed tight, and forehead was dented by a deep frown.
I had no clue where his mind was. What had caused him to act like that when he’d been nothing but nurturing and protective since the day we’d met?
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked what I’d always assumed.
He huffed an exhale loudly through his nose. “No, Preston.”
“Then what?” I asked, stretching my legs out and angling slightly to face him.
“It was me.” Those blue eyes of his turned my way, freezing me in place. “I did something wrong.”
Chapter 11
Drake
Preston held his breath, waiting for me to fill him in on what I’d done.
But could I go there? Did I have the balls to admit to him how much he had crawled beneath my skin that night? To the yearning I’d almost given into as we’d stood out beneath that streetlight, the warm spring air and scent of hyacinths surrounding us?
I’d been on the verge of taking what I wanted, fuck Jacqueline and fuck whatever reaction I would get from goody-two-shoes Preston, but a simple glance at the house looming on my right had shut me down.
What if she saw us?
I couldn’t begin to imagine Jacqueline’s reaction to me kissing her son—my stepbrother. The fact I was gay would be enough to have me banned from her house and life, but if I soiled her heir?
What kind of position would the truth have put Dad in? While I felt confident in our relationship, I wasn’t so sure the bond would stand against the onslaught of Jacqueline’s trans and homophobic storms that built whenever the LGBTQ community was mentioned in her presence.
“It doesn’t matter anymore.” I finally decided on a nonanswer, which would be healthiest for all of us. “I was…struggling then. Trying to figure some personal shit out, and I’m sorry for not being there for you.”
“Please don’t turn away from me like that again.” The hurt in Preston’s voice hit me hard, right in the chest. Add in the fact he hadn’t stuttered, his tone confident in knowing what he wanted, and I squirmed.
“Fuck.” I scrubbed a hand over my face, that shitty feeling doubling inside me. “I’m so sorry, Preston. I’ll have your back next time. Promise.”
No matter how hard my dick might get, no matter the temptation he proved to be, I would give him whatever he needed.
“I could really use a hug right now.”
Fuuuuuuuck.
Swallowing hard, I lifted my arm, inviting him to snuggle in.
He did so with a sweet sigh, his exhale warming my neck rather than my chest like normal.
Jesus, the tightening in my groin tempted a groan to rise up my throat.
Preston shifted onto his hip to better face me, getting good and comfortable with an arm around my waist. I clasped his lower back with one hand and his forearm with the other, keeping him close, talking my lust down the entire fucking time he invaded my personal space.
