Life in Fusion (7 page)

“That went well.” I placed my chin in my hand and sighed,

having no clue how the hell I was going to fix this. “I don’t know

that I can fix it,” I admitted to myself.

Realistically, I had a pretty good idea he’d be this upset,

considering I had no intention of telling him for another five…

five and half months.

“Who am I kidding?” I sighed, defeated. “I’d have slithered

out of town without facing him at all, had I thought I could get

away with it.”

In the twenty-eight years that we’d been best friends, hardly

a day passed in which we hadn’t seen one another. When we

44 Ethan Day

were kids we’d been inseparable, making elaborate sheet tents

for indoor camping as we house swapped for sleepovers. Even

now, while there were several other friends in our clique, no one

had even come close to fully breaking into our twosome. If the

situation were reversed, while I was fairly certain I would’ve

handled it better than Gabriel had, there were zero doubts I’d be

anything other than devastated at losing him.

“Fuck!” I yelled out, my arm falling with a thump as it

stretched out across the table. I realized for the first time that I

would, in fact, be losing him too.

As if on cue, my phone started to buzz, vibrating across the

dining table. I scowled at it, unable to figure out how it got on

vibrate. Seeing
Love of my Life
pop up on the caller ID, I snatched

it up off the table and punched the answer button, lifting it to

my ear.

“I can’t talk to you now, you…you friendship killer!” I nodded

defiantly, briefly hearing the sound of Wade’s voice before

disconnecting the call.

It infuriated me more that the sound of Wade’s voice, even

the tiny bit I’d managed to actually catch, had me yearning to

hear more. I slapped myself in the face. “Stupid freak!”

Kicking my laundry basket down the hall, I still had that ache

in the pit of my stomach. The basket slid across the wood floors

toward the closet that housed the washer and dryer. Twenty-

four hours had come and gone and Gabe still hadn’t called me

back. I’d texted an apology to Wade after crawling into bed the

night before, curling up with his plaid covered pillow stand-in.

I’d barely settled in after turning off the lamp when my phone

started to buzz. Even though I was happy to see it was Wade, I’d

half hoped it would be Gabe.

I gave him the cliffs notes version of Gabe’s reaction, and

was taken aback by the fact Wade was genuinely concerned. I’d

expected some sort of cocky retort such as, “You have me now,

baby. Who needs him?”

I’m not sure why it was I didn’t think Wade would understand

or give a shit about my friendship with Gabe, but it brought out

this whole other side I hadn’t witnessed during the week we spent

together. We’d had some serious conversations, or he tried to

while I deflected with sarcasm and my boy bits. So I knew there

was actual substance underneath the ripped, muscley exterior. It

was sweet that he cared and it made me miss him that much

more, which in turn only wound up depressing me further.

I tossed the last pair of jeans in the washer and shut the lid. I

reached up to pull the chain that turned off the light in the closet,

and caught a good whiff of yesterday’s T-shirt that I’d thrown

on earlier when I ran out to grab some coffee. My lip curled as I

yanked it off and added it to the wash. Heading back down the

hall toward the kitchen, my first double caramel macchiato had

kicked in and I could feel the haze lifting. That was something

to be thankful for, I thought as I snatched the second of my

Starbucks to-go cups off the countertop, sitting next to my keys

and wallet.

I stepped down into the den, feeling a chill travel over my

46 Ethan Day

bare skin. I considered putting on a shirt and reached under the

waistband of my jeans to satisfy the itch niggling at my hip. It

was nearly ten-thirty in the morning and I was already dreading

work the next day.

“How the hell am I supposed to go back to the ho-hum of

everyday life after a week with Wade Walker?” I placed my iPod

into the docking station and scrolled down the playlist until

coming across the remix for J-Lo’s
Louboutins
.

I turned the volume up as loud as it would go, and stepped

back into the center of the room while taking another long sip

of my caramely-espresso goodness. The R&B riff slowly built

into the thumping club back beat. As Jenny from the block sang

about taking back her love, the rhythm of the music started to

lift my spirits.

My hips began to sway, my foot tapped from side to side,

and by the time she was ready to throw on her
Louboutins
, I was

full on dancing around the den. I closed my eyes and allowed

the pounding beat to pulse through my body. I bounced around,

gyrating my hips as my shoulders swayed back forth. There was

something about the way my body moved when I was dancing,

the muscles tensing—the thin layer of sweat that was already

beginning to form over me, warming my body from the inside

out. It always managed to make me feel better. I wasn’t positive,

but I was fairly certain that dancing was nature’s Prozac.

“Christ, now I sound like Wade.” I laughed as I continued

to work my way around the room. “You ain’t gettin’ me Mr.

Granola!”

“I bet I could, though!”

My eyes popped open and I yelped, startled into a frozen

mass of shock. The sippy-lid popped off my Starbucks cup,

flying straight up into the air as I’d inadvertently squeezed too

hard. Warm liquid splashed onto my hand and ran over my

fingers, dripping down onto the tile. I could feel it splashing onto

my bare feet and saw the plastic lid out of the corner of my eye

on its descent toward the floor. I stared at Wade standing in my

kitchen, looking me over as if he’d just finished tasting every last

Life in fusion
47

inch of my body and was now demanding seconds. It amazed me

that one man could instill such an incredible sense of safety yet

somehow manage to seem kind of dangerous at the same time.

“Baby, I do love the way you move!” Wade yelled over the

music, proving to me that I wasn’t hallucinating after all.

I felt my face flush as I smiled, my knees going slightly weak

at the sight of him. I opened my mouth to speak, then high tailed

it over to the docking station to turn the volume down. I sat my

coffee cup next to it onto the shelf.

“Wha…um, how?” I bumbled as I turned, watching him slide

the coat off his thick, massively delicious shoulders.

Christ on a cracker, he is beef-noodle-hearty-hot
.

“Well, will you look at that?” Wade smiled all cocky-like as

he stepped down into the den. “I’ve left
you
speechless—for the

second time since we met, if I remember correctly. Nice chair by

the way,” he added, nudging his head toward the Morris chair as

he tossed his coat over it.

I nodded in agreement with his opinion of my furnishings

and he shook his head at me while crossing the room. He rolled

his eyes and stared down at me.

“That devious brain of yours is going a mile a minute isn’t it?”

I nodded again, feeling his hand on my hip. I let out a faint

groan, my eyes rolling back the tiniest bit from breathing in his

scent. I nearly came in my pants as Ke$ha started to sing,
You’re

Love is My Drug
.

“Truer words,” I whispered. “Who let you in?”

Wade looked at me inquisitively. “I think you’re about to.”

His voice cracked slightly, exposing a weakness for me. “But you

probably meant your house, huh?”

I nodded and he lifted my hand to his lips.

“Your front door wasn’t closed all the way, guess the latch

didn’t catch,” Wade said before he began licking the macchiato

seductively from my fingers.

48 Ethan Day

I took in a sharp breath, my cock going instantly hard as his

tongue licked down one finger, easing along the inside curve

before heading back up another. I lost any and all ability to

maintain a coherent thought.

I pulled my hand away and stared into his bright blue eyes,

desire running rampant throughout my entire body.

“You gonna invite me in?” Wade asked, the corner of his lips

curling up.

Some sort of undecipherable noise escaped from my mouth

when our lips made contact. I felt a smile forming as his tongue

found its way inside my mouth. The heat from his breath, his

scent and the way he liked to take control all came together like

a secret combination to the lock on my body and soul, which

only he now held. My hands, still slightly sticky with spit and

macchiato, were weaving into his hair while his arms wrapped

around my waist, pulling me to him.

Wade ground into me and his fingers dug into the naked skin

on my back. His impossibly large hand was unsuccessfully trying

to work its way down the back of my jeans.

“I’ll try getting…jeans that aren’t…so tight,” I managed to

get out between kisses.

“The hell you will,” Wade said, after pulling his lips away.

His face was slightly pink and the skin around his mouth was

already red, as I hadn’t managed to shave yet that morning.

“I have to be back at the airport by five,” he got out before I

kissed him again.

I loved the wet smacking sound our lips made and I did my

best to ignore that last statement. “Shut up and take off your

pants,” I said between breaths.

Wade moaned; that deep sound that somehow managed to

vibrate through my entire body.

“Yes sir,” he said between kisses.

I practically went off the deep end hearing the clinking sound

his buckle made as he took to his task. I followed suit, undoing

Life in fusion
49

my fly, quickly sliding my jeans and briefs over my hips. Wade’s

hands were on my ass before I had a chance to shove them any

further down my thighs.

“You take my pants off.” He was licking and biting along my

jaw on his way to my neck. “I’m busy.”

I yelled out his name when his fingers began rubbing over

my hole.

“Fuck, I missed you, Boone.” Wade dug his teeth into my

neck and started sucking.

My vision blurred, the lights seeming to dim from the assault

of his mouth on my neck and his fingers, which were roughly

attacking every inch of my ass. “I love you.”

Wade pulled back, looking over my face. The heat and passion

on his face told me the same. But he seemed to require the visual

proof written across my face before he deemed it fact. I opened

my mouth to say the words again in an attempt to reassure him,

and he leaned down and kissed me silent. I was all but helpless in

his arms, with my pants half off and one of his digits halfway up

my ass. An odd moment for such a declaration, perhaps, but I’d

suddenly realized there wasn’t anywhere else on earth I wanted to

be at that moment. I could have stood there kissing him like that

while life slowly and methodically drained from my body.

q q q

Wade’s clothes lay in a rumpled heap next to mine on the floor

of my bedroom. He’d managed to get me onto the bed and the

weight of his body now pressed down into mine as I spread my

long legs, wrapping them around his waist. I loved the sensation

it created, that he might crush the life out of me. His skin was so

warm, and I didn’t think it possible for me to get close enough.

Wade forced my arms up above my head, his long, thick

fingers digging into me, almost to the point of being painful,

as if he too felt he might not ever be able to fully have all of

me. I could feel the head of his cock pressing into my ass, his

hips thrusting slightly, wanting to push his way in—to invade me

50 Ethan Day

with his full length. The only thing stopping him at this precise

moment was the fact we’d not managed to obtain a condom or

lube. I knew it was taking everything he had to not enter me, as I

was gyrating my hips in an attempt to force him inside.

I wanted him to fuck me so badly, my entire body felt red hot

from the need of it. Wade’s tongue was plunging down my throat

and I sucked him in. I’d been worked up in the past, quite a bit

in the past week I’d spent with Wade, but as I pleaded for it with

my grunts, my body writhing under his, I thought I might lose

consciousness. The large head of his dick was slick with precum.

I could feel that he was sliding easier as we continued to hover

there, one tiny thrust away from Wade being inside me.

I was way past delirium, no longer able to think clearly, feeling

Wade’s precum begin to run down the crack of my ass. He was

so wet it was making me burn even hotter knowing how much I