Page 60 of Catching Sparkles

“I’m, uh… sorry I ripped your underwear. I’ll replace them.”

He giggled, his slick abdominal muscles quivering and jerking against mine in a truly adorable way that made me want to melt.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re the only guy I’ve ever been able to wear this stuff for, anyway.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” he confirmed. “I have so much cute stuff I want you to see me in.”

I groaned lightly, the corner of my mouth tugging up into a smile I couldn’t prevent. I was floating in a sea of euphoria, tangled up in Kendall’s limbs and scent and perfect aura.

“That sounds fucking amazing, Sparkles.” A twinge of nerves bloomed up in my chest as I realized how badly I needed to voice my next thought. It was inevitable, something I couldn’t prevent. “So, ah… I’m pretty sure that was the best sex I’ve ever had. I mean, I know it was.”

He hugged my neck, squeezing me tightly as he smacked a kiss onto my sweaty temple.

“It was the best for me, too. I swear,” he tacked on. “Even better than all the times I imagined it.”

“Fuck, you’re sweet.” I wanted to live in his bed with his sticky, limp body under me, surviving on just his praise and infatuation. “You’re so good to me, Kendall.”

“I’m so glad you came over,” he murmured, happily rubbing little shapes into my lower back with his fingertips. “And we have the whole night all to ourselves.”

I let out a lazy sound of content affirmation, burying my nose in his vibrant hair before another thought occurred to me.

“My brother doesn’t, like, randomly come over around this time, does he?”

“Not usually,” he responded, sounding amused.

“Good. Uh, one other thing.”

“Yes?”

“I know we agreed that it was really fucking good already, but um… We can still practice, right?”

He laughed again, the bubbly sound of it filling me up like champagne, forcing out all the dark thoughts I’d kept inside me for so long.

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

KENDALL

LATER, AFTER WE’D showered and I’d fed him dinner like a good sleepover host, Rhys and I lounged together on my couch. I played the role of the little spoon, clutching my Switch console as I made my way through my Animal Crossing: New Horizons dailies. He was on his phone, but it felt good just being together. Especially when he’d absently rub a hand over the indent of my waist or press a kiss into my hair like it just came so naturally to him to be affectionate with me. He’d been so touch-starved when we’d started hooking up, and I loved being the person that could meet his needs for that. I’d never dreamed of being so lucky in my entire life.

After a handful of minutes of comfortable quiet where we were both focusing on our respective screens, I started to process the noises coming from his phone.

“Are you watching something?” I wondered, and he cleared his throat like he was embarrassed or something.

“Oh, I was just checking on the game. Sorry. Is it too loud?”

“Game?” I repeated, turning my head to look at him. “Like a sports game?”

His mouth twitched into an amused grin. “Yeah. Football.”

“You could just watch it on my TV if you want,” I invited, gesturing to the flat-screen mounted to the wall across from us. His eyes flickered to it, and then back to mine, suddenly timid.

“Ah, that’s okay. I’m sure it would get on your nerves or something.”

“I don’t mind!” I promised. “It won’t bother me at all.”

When he only continued to stare at me with an odd sense of unease, I stretched out to grab the remote off the coffee table and push it into his hands.