Page 75 of Needed You

He sighs and waits a moment as I rub his back. I can tell he’s working to gather his thoughts.

“Couldn’t sleep last night,” he tells me quietly.

I wait for him to go on, but he hesitates, silence filling the room. After another moment, I kiss his cheek again and press my hand into his back to anchor him.

“What happened? What’s bothering you?” I ask. But he doesn’t say anything, and I know he’s going to need a little more coaxing. My hand moves up and down his back. “You can tell me, Dare. I’m here.”

He tenses and nods. Then, finally, he says, “When I got home from Ryan’s, my dad was there. He wanted to talk, but—ah, fuck, Lev, it was a mess. I can’t—” He clings to me for a minute, his body trembling, and I hold him, planting more soft kisses on his neck and cheek as he starts talking quietly. He tells me about what’s happened with his parents since I left. I stop kissing him and just hold him, listening. I’m horrified that they could just discard him as they have. I’d heard things from people—my parents, Lindsey, the guys from the Wolf Pack every now and then, but I didn’t know it was this bad. They’ve all but abandoned him.

A mix of anger and sadness fills me from my toes to the top of my head, and I have to consciously calm myself before I respond. Carefully, and with a deep breath, I say, “Hey,” and I turn his face toward me and gently brush my lips against his. “I’m here. It’s okay.”

Dare takes a deep breath and rests his head back on my shoulder. “After Nate died, everything changed, Lev. My mom isn’t even the same person.” He brushes his hair away from his eyes and continues. “I mean, I was like fifteen by the time everything sort of settled, and I was forced to fend for myself. I was basically living alone and going to school and just . . . existing.”

My heart aches for him. His voice holds so much pain. He shifts a little, pushing himself closer to my center. I pull him in tighter. There isn’t space between us now, and he goes silent.

I hold him, nuzzling into his hair and kissing the sensitive skin behind his ear. I catch his earlobe between my teeth and suck. Dare shivers and lets out a little moan, leaning into my jaw. We sit in silence for a while, me giving him soft, tender kisses and stroking his arm and back.

I can tell this is big, this moment for us. Dare was upset, and he came to me. He knew that whatever he needed, I could give to him. My heart warms at that thought. He’s sharing more with me than he has in the past.

I’d better not mess it up.

I pull him in again as he starts talking and tells me about what happened recently. About how his mom said they want to sell the house and how his dad started in on that too.

“Obviously you don’t want to do that?” I ask.

I know he’s lived there since he was born, and I’m sure the house has a lot of memories for him, but I also know that some people (myself included) struggle with those memories and find it tough to be in that house. Memories of Nate are everywhere there, and yet he’s not anywhere. I know that I’d see reminders of him every place I looked. Dare must get a different feel from the house. Maybe he finds comfort in it?

Dare continues. “I don’t want to leave it. I like being there, and there are so many memories around it for me. I’m comfortable there, and aside from where the accident happened, it’s the only place I feel close to him. I like that.”

I kiss him lightly. “I can understand that,” I say quietly when we pull away.

“I’d love to have it. Just not sure I could spin that to them.” He stops and looks at me, as if something dawns on him. “Is that why you haven’t been over yet? Other than to drop off that food the one day?” His arm is gripping my neck as he leans back in the seat to look me in the eye. “Is it too hard for you to come to the house, Lev?” His voice is half teasing and half sympathetic. I just nod. “Well, fuck me . . .” he says, and I chuckle, dirty thoughts running around in my head. “It’s okay—I get it. I’m fine coming to you.”

“It’s not that I can’t . . . or that I won’t, especially if it’s important to you. Right now, I just don’t know what it would feel like to be there, and I worry it would be too much.”

Dare seems to understand what I’m saying. He kisses me again and leans in, settling his cheek on my shoulder, and I just hold him for a while. Every now and then, he lets out these adorable and sexy little sighs of contentment, and I never want this moment to end.

Unfortunately, my legs start to fall asleep after a bit longer, and I tap his hip. He sits up and starts to crawl off of me and the chair. He extends his hand and I take it, allowing him to pull me up.

I drape my arms over his shoulders and say, “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you go to my place and take a shower. You can hang out there, try to take a nap. I’ll finish work here and come to you. I’ll bring dinner, and we can watch a movie or something.”

His eyes flutter, and he leans in to give me a soft, sultry kiss. My knees go weak. This guy is going to kill me.

“Are you sure?” he whispers, leaning in to kiss me once more.

I pull away and lick my lips, tasting his kiss. “Positive.” I drop my arms from him, grab my keys, and take the house key off the ring to hand it to him. “Just throw it under the mat once you get in the apartment. That way if you’re sleeping, I can let myself in and not wake you.”

“You know,” he says, wrapping his arms around my neck, “the last time I had a really good night’s sleep was at your house, in your bed.”

I smirk. “Yeah?” My hands naturally find his hips, and I kiss him. “Then go.” I can’t help the way my whole body warms at the fact that Dare is going home to my place, and he’s going to be in my bed. But what’s bigger is that he wants to.

He nods, and his expression seems to lighten. “You’re too good,” he says. Then he looks me up and down. “I need to ruin you.”

My head throws back in a boisterous laugh as he turns around and basically sashays out of the office. His impeccable ass is swaying, and my mouth is watering.

I’m in so much trouble.

I give myself a few minutes to calm down before I head back out to the shop. There’s no way I’m getting any more paperwork done today, not with the thought of Dare at my place, in my shower and then in my bed. I figure working on one of the bikes will be a big enough distraction for me, so I put my coveralls on and meet John at the workstations. He gives me a sly smile as I gather my tools and look at the next ticket.