Sicilian Escape with the Forbidden Tycoon - Chapter 5

RYAN

Ryan hadn't been with a guy since college. And he'd never been with someone like West. Serious. Generous. A little shy. His previous hookups took what they wanted and then left him. Sasha had, too, he supposed. She took the best of him and didn’t think twice about choosing New York over him.

Ryan pushed that feeling away, though, because West tasted like wine and mint and ten years of a buried crush bursting to life on his tongue. Ryan liked that he’d waited ten years to do this. Letting the feelings sit for so long made this so much sweeter.

Ryan deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue along West’s bottom lip. West groaned and pushed Ryan against the wall. Ryan really, really liked where this was going.

“Just so you know, I want this.” Ryan rushed the words out between kisses. “I want anything you want to do tonight.”

WEST

West swore under his breath and pressed his forehead into Ryan's. This was his best friend's brother. This was his former-roommate’s off-limits kid brother, Ryan.

Ryan grabbed his chin and looked him in the eyes. “Do you want this, too? I need to hear you say it.”

West threaded his hands through Ryan’s hair and pressed their foreheads together. “Yes,” he gritted out. “Maybe I shouldn’t. Your brother is going to kill me.”

“Please don’t talk about my brother right now,” Ryan groaned.

“Done.” West huffed a breath into Ryan’s mouth, making them both laugh. Ryan’s eyes went wide as he smiled. West pressed their bodies together.

“I haven't, I mean, it's been a while,” West admitted. He wasn't embarrassed exactly. Honestly, he wasn't really the dating type. He’d rather go for a hike or read or help a friend than actually try on a dating app. More than once, West had wished he could skip the dating part and find someone who got him, who liked his quirks, who accepted him.

But that wasn’t what Ryan was offering. He was offering ten years of a pent-up crush and letting off some steam. West needed to remember that.

“I want you to feel good,” Ryan breathed against West’s neck. “Whatever that looks like for you.”

West's heart flipped and then did something fluttery, and he ignored it. “Anything. Do anything you want.”

And so he did. Ryan was every bit as attentive and kind as West knew he would be. And when Ryan crashed back on the pillows, pulled West down with him, and pulled his shirt off with one hand over his head? Well, it was like one of his better dreams come to life.

RYAN

West slept on Ryan’s chest, both of them tangled in the sheets. But Ryan refused to let sleep take hold of him. West snored a little, every few breaths, and he clung to Ryan even in his sleep, as if Ryan could help him solve something. And Ryan wasn’t going to miss a second of this.

He craved touch. And attention. And needed to be needed. It had been months since he’d held someone this way. If he’d ever held someone this way. West stirred on Ryan’s chest, and Ryan held his breath.

Ryan had had hookups before. And this felt distinctly not like a hookup. This felt like knowing someone for the better part of the last decade in a thousand different ways. And then finally seeing them in this new way, experiencing them in this new way, for the first time.

Ryan had to get a hold of himself. Yes, West had turned him inside out and peppered a thousand kisses down his spine and then later across his abdomen. He’d taken his time with Ryan in a way no way ever had before—but that didn’t mean anything.

“Ry?” West murmured in a daze, half asleep and confused. Ryan had been right. West did like to narrate every move he made, but it was this sleep talk, calling Ryan nicknames, that had him reeling most of all. Ryan shook his head even though West couldn’t see.

“Go back to sleep,” he whispered.

“Need you,” West murmured. He wiggled his body until every part of him was touching every part of Ryan. And then he was breathing heavy and steady.

Ryan finally fell asleep.

WEST

West took a sip of his lukewarm tea and winced. Ryan was asleep in the wrecked bed. His hair was a flash of copper curls on the pillow, and his bare shoulders peeked out from under the mussed-up sheet.

A thrill went down his spine at the sight. He knew he wasn’t supposed to get involved with Ryan, but the idea of waking up with a snuggly Ryan each morning was appealing.

And impossible. Ryan was moving to Los Angeles. And even if he wasn’t—there was no way Matthew would forgive West if he ever found out he’d fooled around with his brother.

The blank page where he was supposed to write all his brilliant ideas filled his laptop screen. He sighed, minimized it and checked his email. There was an email from a woman he used to meet with once a week to brainstorm solutions for each other. And she needed his help.

This was a problem West could solve. He wasn’t sure how long he worked at his computer. Long enough that he was back to using tech shorthand and writing bits of code. And long enough for Ryan to sneak up behind him and surprise him. Ryan kissed the spot where West’s neck and shoulder met, just below the collar of the white T-shirt he’d slipped on.

“Good morning,” West said as he leaned his head back, giving Ryan better access.

“You let me sleep in.” Ryan placed a kiss on West’s lips, and West felt it everywhere. He could get used to this. Ryan gave him a lazy smile and nodded at the screen. “Are you working?”

“Yeah.” West stared in disbelief at his screen. He’d filled a page with ideas for Charlie. “I guess I kind of am.”

Ryan went silent for three very long seconds. “Cool, man. Looks like you found your idea.” Ryan backed away, and West turned to see him stretching, his back to West. Something was off with Ryan, but West couldn’t figure out what it was.

West closed his laptop and walked to where Ryan sat on the edge of the bed. “Is your ankle bothering you?” West murmured.

Ryan shrugged. “It’s actually feeling a bit better.”

He pushed Ryan’s wide legs apart and stood between them. Ryan pressed one kiss to West’s stomach, over his shirt, but it still made West smile as he raked his hands through Ryan’s hair. “You can talk to me, you know?”

Ryan looked up and held West’s gaze before shrugging and dipping his head. “You have your idea. And that’s great. I can get out of your way so you can…honestly, I have no idea what you do.”

West tugged on Ryan’s hair, pulling his head back until their eyes met. “What I do can wait.” West felt a little bit of the tension leave Ryan’s body, giving him the confidence to keep going. “I’d like to spend some more time together.”

There was a pounding at the door. Three distinct knocks that West remembered from his college years. Ryan cursed under his breath.

“We have plans, West.” Matthew’s voice reverberated through the room. “My fiancée and I want to go paddleboarding. Are you coming?”

“I’ll be there later,” West called out. “Promise.”

“Fine. And tell my brother he has to come, too.”

“Paddleboarding?” Ryan asked.

West pressed their foreheads together. “He asked me last night. He wanted to make sure I didn’t stay stuck in this room all day.”

Ryan rolled his hips, and West could feel how much Ryan was already affected. “Tell him you're busy.”

“I am not telling your brother any of this.” West moved off Ryan’s thighs and sighed at the loss of friction. “And neither are you.”

“Sure, sure. Whatever you say.”

Ryan pulled back and frowned. Unease crept up the back of West’s neck. “I just…I may have promised him I wouldn’t hook up with you.”

Heat crept up West’s neck. He looked away and sighed. Ryan tugged on his hand, and when West finally looked back, Ryan was smirking.

“You promised? Was it a pinkie promise?”

“Shut up. I promised, okay. Your brother is maybe my only friend. I can’t lose him.”

“Yeah, okay.” Ryan smiled. “I don’t want that either. We don’t have to tell him yet.”

West nodded and pressed closer to Ryan’s body. Ryan nuzzled into the touch, pressing his face into West’s stomach more conclusively. Ryan lifted his face, and it was as if the morning sun had broken through the clouds. West would do anything if it meant Ryan smiling like that at him again.

“Okay, we should get ready,” West said.

Ryan wrapped his arms around West and pulled him down on the bed. “We should,” he said into his neck. Ryan kissed the spot just behind West’s ear and laughed when West squirmed.

“The paddleboards are down at the beach, you know,” West said, his mind suddenly not on the boards at all. He loved the way Ryan demanded his attention. The way he nuzzled into his neck and touched every part of his body. Needed it.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ryan laughed. “We’ll get there.”

And eventually, they did.