Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Arden groaned and his shoulders sagged the moment he was alone and didn’t need to keep up the illusion of confidence. Couldn’t Mike have been meaner? It would have been so much easier to hate him then. But there was no time to waste, so Arden checked out the bathroom, which was clean and spacious with a large bathtub designed to fit two people. It would be heaven to take bubble baths in.
He went for the wardrobe next, but as soon as he opened it, his gaze was drawn to a denim vest hanging on the inside of the door. It didn’t deserve much attention at first glance, but it was small, most definitely not Mike’s size, so he picked it off the hanger to have a closer look, confident some girl must have left it to mark her territory.
Confusion sank its teeth into his flesh when he saw its back. Instead of the club name, the top rocker stated Property of and the bottom one Mad Mike.
Arden’s head buzzed, but he put the vest away. Maybe he shouldn’t have snooped after all.
Chapter 6 – Mike
Mike stared at the plastic shelving unit he’d put in the corner so Arden didn’t have to live out of a suitcase.
A week had passed since the boy moved in with him, and somehow listening to Arden’s unmistakably male voice hadn’t dampened Mike’s confused attraction to him. In fact, the forbidden fruit smelled sweeter every day. Mike just had to work out whether Arden was the broccoli that only drew him in because it wasn’t allowed, or candy from abroad that tasted as nice as the stuff he’d treated himself to all his life.
Challenge was the sweetest aphrodisiac for him, but having Arden sleep there, wash his slender body in Mike’s shower, and reject him despite there being obvious chemistry, was slowly pushing him down the road of madness. And the fact that Mike had ditched the cigarettes in an effort to smell nice for Arden didn’t make the situation any better, because he didn’t know what to do with his hands at times.
He took a step closer to the shelves and looked down at the mattress covered with a lavender-hued blanket Arden had borrowed from Mona. The sheets smelled like Arden’s skin did—of jasmine and tea, but if he kneeled to rub his face against the pillow again, he might as well roll into the fluffy pillows that occupied his otherwise masculine room.
But the lowest drawer of the unit? He hadn’t seen what it contained yet, but the semi-transparent plastic revealed whatever was in there had straps.
A drop of sweat rolled down Mike’s back, because he shouldn’t invade his guest’s privacy, but Arden was still showering, and having a peek at his stuff might prompt Mike to stop thinking about warm water all over the boy’s smooth skin.
Because yes, Arden was smooth. Mike hadn’t seen him naked, but he’d seen enough to know Arden shaved his legs and pits.
Opening the drawer, he felt like a teen again, spying on Jack’s first girlfriend, but instead of the simple thongs he’d found back then, Arden’s stash was all lace, in a variety of colors. Mike pulled on the first bit of fabric stuffed tightly into the small drawer to reveal a pair of black lace boxers. Heat flooded his head when he realized there was extra space at the front, while the back had a corset lacing that would have showed off half of Arden’s ass.
Mike so desperately wanted to see the boy wearing those. He liked nice underwear on women, but the same items would be so illicit when worn by Arden. It’s been a week since that one time the bra strap had slipped down Arden’s arm, and he still hadn’t gotten over it.
But there was more to see in the drawer: stockings and even flat bras of thin fabric that would have covered Arden’s nipples without the need for holding anything up. His mind did the rest and put Arden in the corset lying at the bottom of the drawer. Brain synapses fried in Mike’s head when the imaginary boy bent over, placing his hands on the bed and tempted Mike with the sway of his hips.
And his balls? They were right there, tucked under lace south of the tempting buttocks.
Mike froze when the door behind him opened, and he frantically shut the drawer, the imaginary Arden who kept trying to pull him into sex ripped to shreds by the appearance of his real-life equivalent.
Only then did Mike realize he was still holding a pair of lilac panties.
Arden was wrapped in a towel up to his chest, hiding his nipples from view, which made Mike want to see them all the more. “What the hell are you doing?” he yelled and charged at Mike, one hand holding the towel, the other extended like a claw.