Fortunate Son by Jay Crownover

Ry

“I THOUGHT YOU said you were tired.”

Bowe’s voice was breathless and thin as her naked body bounced up and down on mine.

I took my fingers away from the small, silver hoop in her belly button and curled my hand around Bowe’s waist. I used the other to trace a long line from the base of her arched neck and down between the valley of her breasts. Her head was tossed back, and the ends of her long, colorful hair dragged across the top of my bare thighs. Even though I assured her that my shoulder was doing much better, she insisted on being on top. Not that I was about to complain. I liked having her in my lap and grinding against me while I was buried impossibly deep inside of her. I loved that I got to watch the way her body moved, and the way a myriad of emotions played across her expressive face each time she lifted herself up and fell back down on my cock. My favorite was the hungry, wild look she got when the head of my cock bumped against that extra sensitive, reactive spot inside of her. It was nice to know that I wasn’t the only one who went out of my mind with pleasure when we got together like this.

“I’m never too tired for you.” It was true. The things that mattered to me, I could push through almost anything for, and she was at the very top of the list.

While we’d spent plenty of time getting intimately reacquainted now that she was in town, we’d also had our fair share of long talks and revelations when we managed to carve out a couple of hours together. I was busy with training these days, and she was still living her life backward, up all night and sleeping during the day. She was busy at her dad’s old studio, so while it might seem like she came to Denver for a bit of a break, she was actually working harder than she had when I visited her in Austin. After the first day when I found her on my doorstep, it’d been trickier and trickier to find time to spend together, which had me missing her even though she was closer than she’d ever been.

I was telling her the truth. I would never be too tired for her. When I was close enough to touch her, it felt like my entire body was electrified. There was something inside me that came alive when I was with her, and it didn’t matter how sore or how exhausted I felt; she brought out a whole different kind of energy in me.

I moaned when I felt her body clench around mine, and I leaned forward a little bit so I could drag my tongue up the side of her throat. Her skin was a touch salty, but there was no way to hide how sweet she was. I doubted I would ever get tired of the way she tasted and how amazing she felt when she was all wrapped around me. It was like everything I thought was missing from my life was finally within my grasp when she was around. All those blank spaces that I was filling up with other people’s expectations of me were now filling with bits and pieces of the man I always wanted to be. My future was finally starting to look like something I recognized rather than a foggy idea that belonged to someone else.

Bowe lifted her head and looked me in the eyes. Her bottom lip was swollen and damp from where I’d had it in my mouth earlier, and her amber eyes were obviously out of focus. Her cheeks were a pretty pink, and there were purple strands of hair sticking to her damp skin. She looked good when she was in the throes of passion. I especially liked that I was the only one who got to see her this way. It was a new secret we shared. One that was just as personal and decadent as the first one.

She fell forward until our lips touched, and I felt the press of her hard nipples against my chest. They were still wet from being in my mouth, and there was a cute little love bite next to one of the rosy points. She didn’t mind when I was a bit rough. I had long scratch marks across my lower back and a bruise from a sucking kiss on the inside of one thigh. There was no one like her, and I knew if I was ever forced to give her up, it would be the hardest challenge I ever faced. The fact she gave me a chance to prove I wouldn’t do her dirty again made me the luckiest bastard alive. I owed my folks a heap of gratitude for keeping our families close all these years. I couldn’t imagine where or who I’d be if I missed out on knowing her for a lifetime.

I pulled her closer as her rocking motion picked up speed and her body fluttered eagerly around mine. She was wet and hot, making my cock throb with a pleasure that bordered on pain deep within her. I slid my hand around to her back and held her still so I could thrust up into her as she devoured my mouth with ravenous, biting kisses.

I grunted in satisfaction as I felt her body release a flood of pleasure, and I continued to arch up into her. She moved her mouth across my cheek, down the side of my neck, and along the curve of my shoulder. The skin was still an array of ugly colors and bruised to high hell. It was still a touch stiff, especially after practice or a few hours in the weight room, but it wasn’t enough to slow me down. I thought it was cute how she wanted to be gentle with me and treat me like I was fragile when I got knocked around and run over daily by guys three times bigger than me.

Her gentle care was enough to have both my roommates bemoaning that they were single, not that either was ready to settle down with one girl. Lucas was a bit of a ladies’ man, and Dino was the kind of kid who could only focus on one important thing at a time, and right now, it was all about football and making it to the NFL.

She kissed her way across the darker spots on my skin, sinking her teeth into a spot that was unmarred when her body finally broke apart over mine. Her orgasm, and the sting of her teeth buried in my flesh, pulled my completion from me a moment later. The sounds I made were probably loud enough that everyone in the condo knew what we were up to, but for once, Bowe didn’t shush me or act like she was embarrassed. She just watched me with heavy-lidded eyes as I rolled her off of me and laid her out on the other side of the bed so I could take care of the clean-up.

When I came back into the bedroom, she was wearing one of my t-shirts and scrolling through her phone. She was tugging on her bottom lip when I climbed back into the bed, and I threw the sheet over my lower half instead of bothering to get dressed. I was going to have to crawl into a shower before crashing for the night. If I was lucky, I could talk her into joining me. More often than not, I fell asleep while she was tinkering on her laptop or playing with her guitar, and I woke up alone in my bed. When I asked her why she didn’t stick around until morning, she always said she was inspired and wanted to get something recorded before losing her enthusiasm. As far as I could tell, she was always creating something, always thinking of a song or lyrics. Her brain was busy, but she seemed genuinely excited about whatever it was she was writing and playing these days, so I tried not to give her a hard time about being a girl who came and went as she pleased.

I reached out a hand and pulled her fingers away from her poor tortured lip. I brought her hand to my lips and placed a little kiss on the digits.

“Why do you suddenly look so concerned?” The way she was staring at her phone and her body language told me she was worried about something. It was the opposite of how I wanted her to look after we’d just had some seriously incredible sex, and when we only managed to squeak out a few hours together after several days of missing one another.

She used her index finger to trace the bridge of my nose and to boop it on the tip. The way she touched me, the way we interacted, was totally different now that all our history was laid bare in front of us. Instead of ignoring all the problems and complications that used to terrify me, we faced them head-on. There was no place to hide anymore, and that changed the way we treated each other. We were forced to find kindness for each other when the option to run away was no longer on the table.

She gave me a crooked smile and waved her phone in her other hand. “Your cousin texted me a little while ago. I don’t know how she still has so many contacts in a city she hasn’t lived in for years, but she knows someone who owns a bar that has live entertainment. She wants me to go audition for them.”

I leaned back against the headboard and watched her carefully. “Are you ready for that?” She was kind of cagey and evasive when I asked her what her plans were going forward. I knew she didn’t want to think too much about what would happen when the summer was over and we once again had to face being two people with very different lives in very different cities. But I also wondered if she was hesitating because she was scared to commit to moving forward on her own without a band to back her. She always seemed so fearless and sure of herself, knowing exactly what it was she was supposed to be doing with her time and her talent.

She blew out a breath and pushed her hair over one shoulder. She looked at me out of the corner of her eye as she shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I mean, I have the songs, and I can play them, but I’ve never performed alone before. If I fail again after going out solo, it means I have to face the facts that I’m not meant to be in the music industry. I’m not sure I’m ready to deal with the reality of that.” She gave her head a little shake and sighed again. “Failing at the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do,” she blinked hard, and I knew she was trying to control tears. “It’s a terrifying thought.”

I shifted closer so I could throw an arm around her shoulders and pull her into my side. She curled up next to me as I rested my chin on the top of her head. There was enough tension in her body that I knew she wasn’t kidding about being terrified.

“Isn’t this the kind of situation where you have to try before you know if you’ll succeed or not? You can worry about what will happen all day long, but until you jump in, it’s all speculation. If you don’t put yourself out there, you fail in another way, and you’re still giving up the thing that matters most.”

She pulled away and tilted her head back to look at me through narrowed eyes. “It kind of bugs me that your brain is as big as the rest of you.”

I chuckled and squeezed her tighter. “No one ever said chasing after your dreams was going to be easy. Putting yourself out there, baring your soul through your songs, you didn’t pick an easy route to happiness, did you, Bowe?”

She hummed a small sound of agreement and reached up to lace our fingers together. “I guess not. But neither did you. I had no idea how much work you had to put in to play what’s supposed to be a game. I mean, I vaguely know that sports take a lot of endurance and stamina, but you work yourself to the bone, and you’re constantly showing up with new bumps and bruises. I don’t know how you juggle your responsibility to the team and your education. I can’t believe you had a social life on top of all of that.”

It was my turn to shrug. “It wasn’t much of one.” Unlike the last few weeks with her, neither Aston nor I made it a priority to fit each other into our lives. We saw each other when it was convenient, but we never made spending time together a priority. That should’ve been the first red flag. Instead, I let a whole brigade of them pass me by so I didn’t have to face my own shortcomings.

Bowe rubbed her thumb across the back of my hand. “I always thought you were perfect. The perfect brother. The perfect son. The perfect student and athlete. And obviously the perfect boyfriend. It bugged me how well you and Aston seemed to fit together. I told myself it was best to forget about you because you and she belonged together. I’m not going to lie; knowing that you kind of made each other miserable takes the sting out of you picking her over me. I like you a little bit more each time you prove to me just how flawed you are.”

I let my head fall back so it rested against the headboard. My eyes were starting to get heavy, and the grind of the day was starting to hit me hard. I wasn’t sure how much longer I was going to be able to stay awake and remain coherent. I yawned and snuggled her closer.

“You’ll fall in love with me in no time, then. I’m a huge fucking mess, and I’m only just starting to realize it. The only thing close to perfect about me is my rushing average.” And truthfully, there was always room for improvement there, as well.

She gave me a look that told me she wasn’t exactly sure what I was talking about, but she grinned at me anyway. “I don’t know about that, Archer. Your face is pretty darn close to perfect.” She didn’t deny that she might fall in love with me any minute, which made my heart do somersaults in my chest.

I didn’t doubt that I was going to be the one who fell first. I’d been well on my way since the first time I realized the way she made me feel was different than anyone else.

I’d heard that my face was perfect before, but it meant more coming from her. “You think so?”

She nodded just slightly. “I do, but that’s not the reason I’m attracted to you. The advice you give me, the way you support what I want to do, even if you know I’m going about it the wrong way, I think that’s pretty perfect as well. No one else could tell that my songs weren’t being played the right way. No one else picked up on the fact I changed them when I didn’t really want to. I like the way you see the things I can’t. And I like the way you show them to me.” She reached up a hand so she could tap my temple. “Your big brain is beautiful, and so is your big heart.”

I yawned again and caught her hand so I could hold her palm to my cheek. “I’m glad you think so. I only use my big brain to overthink every little thing, which gets me in trouble and ends up hurting the people around me. As for my big heart, it’s only that way because it’s been full of you for a long time. I think you need to get your feet wet and go to the audition. You’ll probably only have to play for a few people, not a whole crowd. Plus, you said they’re friends with Remy, so they’re already going to be rooting for you. If you can make it through and they like you, that’s the first step. If it doesn’t feel right, you’ll know.”

She patted my cheek and used her thumb to caress my lower lip. “You look like you’re ready to pass out. Are you ready to go to bed?”

“I need to take a shower first.” I had used the one in the locker room to rinse off before heading out to dinner with her, but I needed an actual scrub down after rolling around in bed. “Want to join me?”

I could see her considering it. Since I technically owned the condo, my room was the only one that had an attached bathroom. She wouldn’t have to chance an awkward encounter with one of my roommates if she agreed.

“If I join you, you’re going to be awake even longer. It’d be more than a simple scrub down, and you look like you can barely keep your eyes open.”

I struggled to lift heavy eyelids. “I said I was never too tired for you. Shower sex is a different story.” I wasn’t going to risk taking her down to the ground with me or reinjuring my shoulder. I slithered down the bed, taking her with me. “I might be too tired for a real shower after all.”

Bowe reached down to pull the sheet up over me and shifted so she could rest her head on my shoulder. “Set your alarm for earlier and take one in the morning.”

I grunted a tired agreement and tightened my arms around her. “Will you stay so we can revisit the shower together in the morning?” It wasn’t exactly fair to ask her since I would be dead to the world, and she would spend the night wide awake. But I wanted to hold her and wake up to her whenever I got the chance. “I won’t ask all the time, Bowe. Just every now and then.”

She was quiet for long enough that I started to drift off. I almost missed her softly spoken, “I’ll stay. I won’t always, but every now and then… I will.” That was more than I expected and way more than enough to keep me happy.