Page 127 of The Score

He maneuvers me with decisive hands. My knees land next to his neck, close to his shoulders, and my hands by his hips.

I'm breathing hard, nervous all of a sudden. "I'm not good at sucking cock. Will you guide me—"

He lets out a dark chuckle. "I'll sue them for everything they're worth, for making you think that."

Next thing I know, he grabs my thighs and parts my lips with his tongue.

"Holy shit." My hips buckle.

"That's right." He sucks at my clit. "I want my face soaked by the end of this."

I gasp. It shouldn't come as a shock that the controlled, stern man I've known for so long can be direct in bed, too. What surprises me more is how much I like it.

I grab his cock and suck on the head, trying to echo what he's doing to me.

"Ride my tongue, Pen." He licks me. Teases my entrance with his nose.

I roll my hips… and my tongue on his cock.

"Fuck. Like that," he moans.

And we say nothing else, as we use our mouths on each other until we're spent.

By the time we're in the shower together, I don't question it when we stand naked, doing nothing but hugging each other under the two sprays. It's one of those times when I can't name what I feel, except to call it perfect. It's the same kind of emotion I felt when Bear called our friendship perfect.

There's nothing I would change.

"I like it when you just hold me, too," I whisper against his chest.

In Chile there's a desert known for being the driest on earth. Every few years, when rain finally falls on the Atacama sands, a miracle happens. Delicate flowers spring everywhere, carpeting in pink and purple what once were arid plains.

It doesn't last long. Only a few weeks later, all that is left are seeds lost in parched soil, hoping one day rain will return.

Five years ago, I gave up on waiting for a storm that would change the territory. Now I'm in Bear's arms, and I think the Atacama flowers got it right. A gentle rain can bring something beautiful too, if I only accept it won't last.

"Just hold me for a little longer," I say.

I need my skin to drink him in. I want this feeling to stay in a little corner of me forever, so I can look back on it and know I didn't only get heartbreak in life. I also got a friend who will hug me and make me feel safe enough to do things I've never done. A flowering desert in my soul.

He brings me closer. "I'll hold you as long as you need."

We still have some time.