Page 25 of Canned & Coated

“This is—” I start, then immediately lose the thread because my brain can’t function like this. “You don’t— you can— I mean⁠—”

Incredible. Truly. Pulitzer-worthy communication happening here.

I drag a hand down my face, trying to gather what’s left of my dignity. “I came in here to talk, not… whatever this is.”

“Feels like talking,” he says.

Jesus Christ. This infuriating man.

It’s the restraint that gets me. The way he’s not pushing, not closing the distance. He knows I’ll either run or step forward and he’s fine with either outcome.

“Okay, fine.” My words tumble out faster than I can arrange them. “You left, okay? You left and I had to figure out how to be a person without you around, and I got pretty good at it, I guess, but now you’re back and doing... this... and saying you’re staying, and I don’t even know if I believe that because my brain still has this Tanner-shaped hole that’s expecting you to disappear again, and It’s a shock because I’ve spent five years training myself not to want things I can’t have, and now you’re standing there all... available... and I don’t know what to do with that.”

His lips quirk up at the ends, a slow smile spreading across his face. When I don’t say anything else, he studies me, his hand still moving but slower now, his arousal undiminished.

“You done?” he asks.

I nod.

“Alright, my turn...” He takes a half-step toward me, water streaming down his chest. “I’m sorry I left. You deserved better.”

Another step closer, steam curling around his shoulders.

“But watching you and Milo circle each other… knowing what he felt for you. I couldn’t stand between that. I convinced myself you belonged with him, not me.” His voice drops lower as he edges nearer. “So I ran, thinking distance would kill what I felt.”

The space between us shrinks with each word.

“It didn’t.

“So you came back?”

“I came back. I can’t pretend anymore. I won’t live without you again.” His eyes flick down, then back up to mine. “Without either of you, if I’m being honest.”

My breath hitches in my throat.

“If you hadn’t been so weird back at the tent, I might’ve actually managed to have this conversation with both of you.”

I inhale sharply as he continues.

“Instead I ended up here trying to take the edge off. Do you have any idea what it was like watching Milo touch you this morning while I stood there? Then getting my hands on you on the trail? Then overhearing him suggest exactly what I’ve been fantasizing about for years, knowing you might actually say yes.”

He’s so close at this point I can feel the heat radiating from his skin.

“So if you still don’t know what to do with all this,” he says, voice dropping to a whisper, “I suggest you take your cock out and let’s get a jump on this thing.”

I shake my head, the words barely making it past my lips. “This is a bad idea.”

His mouth twitches, not quite a smile. “You’ve always done this.”

“Done what?”

“Act like wanting something is a problem you need to solve.”

I look down, jaw tightening. “It usually is.”

“Then go get Milo,” he says, each syllable rough as sandpaper. “Let him see what we’re doing. You know he’s been waiting for an invitation.”

His breath catches on the last word, and I watch, transfixed, as his cock visibly pulses, flushing a deeper shade of pink.