AN: We have hit the last of the pre-written chapters… From here on out expect a bit longer between chapters. I am sorry… I’m a University student, they keep us damn busy. Thanks for all the awesome reviews. So you know, read it, enjoy it, and review it. Thanks.

Camden

The rest of the week passed in a blur of activity, work, and introductions. I had stopped pretending to remember people’s names by Tuesday afternoon. Yet people seemed insulted when I explained that they were the fifty-eighth person I had met that day. Swimming kept me sane. Jeremiah hadn’t bothered me again, but his stony glares seemed to indicate that he’d like to. However, seeing Jake in his Speedos more than made up for anything Jeremiah might throw my way.

Jake had been a pretty constant presence since he asked me out on Monday afternoon. He’d taken to eating lunch with me, and had even driven me home a few times when Daryl had late practice. I was quickly finding everything Daryl had said was true, Jake was, truly and honestly without a doubt among the most genuinely good people I had ever met. And for that reason, I was pacing in Daryl’s entertainment room, clothing spread out on the floor in front of us, an absolute nervous wreck.

“I just want him to like me,” I whined, disgusted at how feminine my complaint sounded.

“He already does,” Daryl assured me, an amused grin gracing his features.

“Well you know… I want him to… want me.”

“I stand by my previous statement.”

“Are you sure this outfit is ok?” I gestured at my faded jeans, brown leather belt, and button up cream-colored shirt.

“You look gorgeous ok?” Daryl’s eyes scanned my frame appraisingly. “If Jake doesn’t like it then shit, I’ll do you.”

“Daryl,” I slapped him lightly, but an inexplicable shiver runs down my spine.

“Shut it kid,” His smile was nothing less than condescending. “You know I’m kidding.”

I laughed, “Course you are, you couldn’t handle me.”

Daryl scoffed, “Yeah, right. I could handle you fine. It’s you who probably just couldn’t keep up.”

“Please,” I rolled my eyes as the doorbell rang, “Oh, that’s him, I’ve got to go.”

“Alright, have fun,” Daryl put an arm around my shoulders as he led me downstairs. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“So pretty much anything then?”

“Short of fucking a chick, yeah,” Daryl grinned, and opens the door.

“Hey dude,” Jake greets Daryl, and then smiled shyly at me.

“Take care of him alright?” Daryl’s hand on my arm was protective.

“Yes sir,” Jake laughs, and I glared at Daryl.

“And don’t bring him home to late,” Daryl continued.

“Yes dad,” I rolled my eyes at Daryl, and he winked.

“Get out of here punk,” He musses my hair and shoves me out the door.

“Sorry about that,” I blush trying desperately to rearrange my dirty blond locks.

Jake laughs, “It’s alright.” He takes my hand in his, and leads me towards his Audi. “I’m more than used to Daryl by now.”

“Yeah, I’m still working on that one,” I chuckled, surprised when Jake opened the car door for me before climbing around to the other side.

“Sorry,” He apologized, “I’m a gentleman. My mother has me well trained.”

“It’s alright,” I smiled, accepting the light kiss on the cheek he gave me, “You get a ten for manners.”

“Good to know,” He laughed.

“So where are we going?” I asked as Jake made his way down the long spiraling drive.

“This amazing French place called Ches Nous,” Jake suddenly turned his head looking nervous, “You do like French food right?”

“Love it,” I responded. My heart fluttered slightly as a relieved expression took over his face. It was nice to have someone who cared so much about my comfort and my preferences.

“Good,” Jake fiddled with the radio, tuning it to a light rock station, “My ex was a super picky eater, and I made the mistake of choosing this fantastic Mexican place for our two year anniversary without checking with him first… He sulked the whole night because he hadn’t found anything he liked so we’d had to go back to his house and cook instead.”

“At least it was an adventure,” I commented.

“Yeah… Adrian never really thought like that,” Jake’s voice was slightly bitter.

“I’m sorry.”

“No,” Jake shook his head, “It’s fine. I’m over him. We broke up about eight months ago now. And in the end he was a real bastard… It’s just you’re the first person I’ve asked out since him.”

“I know, Daryl told me.”

Jake shrugged, “I figured he would,” he didn’t appear angry or pleased that I knew about his dating history, “Anyway, the thing is, I don’t know how to date anyone but Adrian, so you’ll have to bear with me, as I learn that not everyone is like him.”

“Well I’ve never had a real relationship, so I’ve probably got a lot to learn too.”

Jake said nothing, but placed a warm hand over mine. I turned my palm around and let our fingers intertwine naturally. Everything about Jake was very comfortable. He made me feel at once relaxed and contented. We drove in relative silence. Not because we had nothing to say, but because we had no desire to ruin the calm aura that transcended the car.

He pulled up in front of a chic looking restaurant and parked the car next to a Porsche and a Mercedes.

“This place is nice,” I said shyly. “Are you sure you want to spend this much—“

“Shh,” Jake placed a finger against my lips, “I like to spoil people. Spending money on others actually make me happy, believe it or not. So let me.” I nodded, pressing my lips lightly to his fingers. He grinned. “Thank you.”

He then once again took my hand in his and led me inside. We were seated near the side at a relatively private table. I disappeared behind the menu, thanking my mother for making me take so many years of French.

“So how do you like living in the Connoway mansion?” Jake asked, his eyes still scanning the menu.

“It’s huge,” I responded, “I mean our house back in Texas was pretty big, but not like that. I’ve been living there for a week and I still haven’t figured it out. I haven’t even been into all the wings.”

Jake smiled softly, “Apparently it was built during the civil war, and has a whole slew of secret passages. Daryl’s found a few, you should ask him to show them to you, they’re pretty cool.”

“Really?” I lifted an eyebrow, “That’s awesome. All I’ve seen is my room, Daryl’s room, the dinning room, living room, foyer, kitchen and living room. Oh, and I’ve been in the pool too, and a few of the bathrooms.”

“Yeah it’ll take you a while to see the whole place,” Jake folded his menu, dropping it on his plate as he made his decision on what to order. I soon followed suit, “I’ve known him for ten years and I only completed my tour of the Connoway mansion a year ago.”

“Wow, I wont even be living there much after this year,” I looked up as a black suited waiter came up and took our orders with a polite grace.

“Yeah, Berkeley right?”

I looked up, “I love how everyone knows my business.”

“Horrible isn’t it?” Jake laughed warmly. “That’s why I specifically asked Coach not to tell anyone when I signed with Stanford.”
“You signed with Stanford?” I scrunched up my nose, “Come on now, it’s all about Cal.”

“Feh,” Jake snorted, “At least we’re not surrounded by hippies.”

I grinned, “At least we have culture.” We were kidding around, and we both knew it. There was an ancient rivalry between UC Berkeley and Stanford, most likely the result of being the two biggest NCAA division one schools in within fifty miles of each other.

“How long have you been swimming?” Jake asked, leaning his chin on this palm, his brown eyes glittering gently.

“Since I was eight,” I responded, “My mom signed me up for the swim team after she realized I was a total disaster at soccer, and I fell in love with the sport. You?”

“I picked it up in seventh grade, when I was thirteen. I’d done a fair amount of running, and I knew how to swim, but I joined the team because my brother suggested it. I surprised myself when I won the 100 freestyle at my first meet, and I haven’t stopped since.”

“Brother?” I asked.

“Yeah,” nodded Jake “he’s 21, at Yale. Do you have any siblings?”

“One sister,” I admitted, “but she’s three years old and lives with her Dad back in Texas.”

“Why isn’t she here?” Jake wanted to know.

“Custody battle, my mom got me, because I was old enough not to need constant care, my Dad got her, because he’s home a lot more.”

“Do you miss your dad?”

“We don’t get along,” I said quickly praying that Jake wouldn’t press for more answers.

Fortunately he got the hint, “My Dad’s kind of a dick too,” He admitted. “Cheated on my mom, fortunately the idiot hadn’t signed a prenuptial, so my mom sewed him for practically all he was worth.”

“The same mother who taught you about manners?”

Jake laughed heartily, “Yeah, the same one. She’s very protective of my brother and I, and she hates my father with a passion.”

The waiter then showed up with our food, placing it delicately in front of us as a fascinating mix of spices and flavors assaulted our senses.

The rest of the meal passed in pleasant conversation and stunningly good food. Jake once again took my hand as he led me back towards the car.

“It’s still early,” He said as he backed out of the lot. “You want to go and catch a movie? Or we could go walk around. There’s a park nearby and it’s really pretty at night.”

“The park sounds great,” I said looking up at him, and leaning my head against his strong shoulder. He ran a gentle hand through my hair, sending a shiver across my spine.

“You cold?” He asked feeling me tremble slightly.

“No, I’m fine,” I responded not wanting to tell him that he was the one who’d given me goose bumps with his soft touch.

“You sure?”

“Positive,” I assured him, pressing my face further into his warm shirt.

We pulled up at the park two minutes later, Jake parked the car and wrapped and arm around my shoulders as soon as we’d gotten out of the car. He steered me towards a small obviously man made lake surrounded by a neatly clipped lawn and tall trees.

“This is nice,” I commented, leaning against his hard body.

“Yeah, I come here a lot, it’s usually pretty quiet. There’s a playground but it’s on the other side of the park, and at this hour anyways, it’s not like there are any kids around.”

I smiled up at him, “But kids can be so much fun.”

“Some of them.”

“My sister is the cutest thing ever. She’s got all this curly blond hair, and these big green eyes. And whenever I’d get home from school she’d come running at me with her arms in the air begging to be picked up.”

“You miss her a lot?”

“Yeah, I do,” I admitted, “but my mom gets her for Christmas and Thanksgiving, so I’ll probably see her pretty soon.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah,” I nodded, “She’s a lot of fun to be around.”

“I look forwards to meeting her then,” Jake pulled me down onto his lap as he sat down on a nearby bench.

“She’ll like you.”

“How do you know?” Jake asked his arms warm against my chest where he hugged me.

I turned to face him, tilting his chin upwards with the palm of my hand, “Because I like you.” And then to both of our surprise, I kissed him. I’d never been the initiator in a kiss; people had always come at me. Starting it off was a slightly different experience. Jake seemed surprised as I was for a moment before he responded. His lips cautious as they moved against mine. The kiss was tentative, each one of us moving slowly, testing waters, his tongue reached out to touch mine, and my mouth tugged lightly against his bottom lip. And then something changed.

He growled slightly and pulled me closer as I adjusted so that I was straddling his hips. He had one hand on the back of my head, keeping me from going anywhere, the other was around my waist, pressing our chests together, as the kiss went from shy and tentative, to passionate and demanding. My heart started pounding and I let Jake’s talented mouth take over as I lost myself entirely in the kiss.

We broke apart slowly, and he sighed, wrapping his arms tightly around me. and pulling me against his body in a warm, caring hug.

“That was nice,” I whispered in his ear, nipping gently at his earlobe.

“It was,” Jake admitted, his hands tracing circles on my back. “This whole evening has been nice.”

I grinned, “It has been.”

“You wanna come over and watch a movie or something?” Jake asked, and somehow I was positive that his intentions went no further than good wholesome snuggling and perhaps some intense making out.

“Sounds good,” I nodded, standing and shivering at the sudden cold that attacked my body, until Jake stood too and pulled me tightly against him. We walked silently back to the car, and Jake laughed as I rubbed my hands against the heater.

“Not used to the cold?” He teased.

“Nope,” I replied. “We don’t believe in seasons down in Texas.”

“Oh you’ll get used to it,” Jake reassured me. “By February winter will almost feel normal.”

“Hope so,” I sighed, continuing to lean into the heater for warmth.

“You are adorable.” Jake shook his head and drove the rest of the way to his house in silence.

His house was large and modern and sat on top of a small hill. He led me to his room, and I curled up on his bed, watching him pick out a DVD. “Is Love Actually ok?”

“Fine,” I said, “That movie always fills me with warm happy feelings."

“You and the rest of the world,” Jake smiled, inserting the DVD, grabbing the remote and sitting down next to me.

“Well… I mean it’s so happy and… stuff.”

“Stuff?” Jake asked, pulling me against his chest.

“Well you know, the almost naked super hot Brazilian isn’t bad either.”

“Aha, so that’s why you like this movie,” Jake laughed as he hit play. “For the sexy naked men."

“Feh, as if you don’t enjoy it too,” I teased, and yelped as he flipped us over and pinned me to the bed.

“Are you accusing me of being a horny male?”

“Maybe…” I smirked, as Jake’s eyes glinted with a slightly evil grin.

“Well then… We’ll just have to punish you,” Jake released me for a moment, only to start tickling me mercilessly.

“Nooo,” I shrieked trying to writhe away from him as he attacked my sides. “Stop,” I begged him breathlessly as he laughed. “Please stop.” He finally did as I demanded, and lay next to me a self-satisfied grin on his face. “I hate being tickled.” I pouted.

“Do you?” Jake’s voice was thick with sarcasm, “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Bastard,” I hit his shoulder lightly, climbing on top of him. “What are we going to do with you?”

“Kissing me sounds like a good start.”

“You think you deserve to be kissed after that display of idiocy?”

“Yes?” Jake tried, a small pout on his face. “Please?” He whispered. I grinned and gave in, covering his lips with mine, giving him everything I had. He held me carefully as if I was porcelain while responding thoroughly to my kiss, the room becoming almost unbearably hot.

“I had an awesome time,” I admitted as Jake pulled up in front of Daryl’s house. It was 2:30 am. We had ‘watched’ half of Love Actually before turning it off, as we quickly found we were much more interested in kissing each other.

“Me too,” he grinned, pulling me in for a light peck. “We should do this again.”

“Mmm,” I gave him a lingering kiss, “Definitely.”

“How’s next Friday night?”

“Perfect,” I grinned, and sealed our mouths together again.

“I’ll see you Monday then?” Jake asked his eyes dark as he pulled away.

“Yeah,” I nodded, and got out of the car.

To my surprise Jake followed me to the door. “Sorry, it’s the whole gentleman thing,” he shrugged his shoulders, apologizing.

I laughed, “It’s alright.”

“Well good night then.” I shifted awkwardly as Jake stepped a bit closer.

“Goodnight,” He smiled before leaning in and attacking my lips. He pushed me up against the door, and pressed our bodies together. I couldn’t help the moan that escaped the back of my throat as his lips danced against mine, and his tongue did all sorts of insane things. I felt his erection hard against my own, and a part of me wanted to say fuck it and drag him inside. Jake’s hands slid up my shirt. His touch felt like fire, and I arched against it, whimpering slightly, as he traced fingers across my stomach and chest.

“Jake,” I whispered threading my hands through his hair, “We can’t do this.”

He sighed, breaking the kiss and hugging me tightly, “I know. But can I tell you that I want to. Really badly?”

“I can feel it,” I laughed. “But you see… I haven’t ever, before, and I just don’t think—“

“Shhh,” Jake’s lips cut off what was soon becoming incessant bumbling. “We’ll take it as slow as you need to.”

“Thank you?” I tried, pressing my face into his shoulder.

“No problem,” Jake responded, before giving me a brief, but heated kiss.

“Goodnight, for real this time.” I pushed the door open and smiled back over my shoulder at him. He winked, before turning around and walking down the steps back to his car. I closed the door quietly, leaning against it with a stupid expression across my face, my heart pounding. He was almost too good to be true.

I crept quietly upstairs and was surprised to see the light was still on underneath Daryl’s door. I knocked quietly, pleased when he swung the door open moments later.

“How’d it go?” He asked immediately, as I stepped inside and glanced at the television where I saw he’d been hard at work playing Zelda. He shrugged as I motioned towards the game, as if to say ‘I’m a loser, whatcha gonna do about it?’

“Wonderfully,” I splayed myself out across his couch.

“What’d you two boys do?” Daryl’s tone mocked me sarcastically and I glared as I recounted our date, my eyes taking on what I was sure was a sickening expression as I recounted the night.

“What?” Daryl shrieked when I told him about our parting kiss, “You were out till two am and you didn’t fuck him?”

“I’m kinda, a virgin,” I looked down blushing.

“Well I knew that,” Daryl waved his hand in the air. “But here was your chance.”

“I’m also a hopeless romantic?” I tried, “And feel like waiting for at least you know… the right moment.”

Daryl laughed and shook his head, “You really were made for Jake.”

“Have you ever… you know?” I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

“What had sex?” Daryl raised an eyebrow clearly indicating that I’m an idiot if I thought he hadn’t.

“No,” I laughed, shaking my head, “I’m well aware you’ve done that. Have you and Jake, you know?” Daryl stared at me blankly, and I growled, “Fine, make me say it. Have you and Jake had sex?”

“Yeah,” Daryl admitted. “After he and Adrian broke up, he was pretty beaten up, and needed to get his mind off of things. So we fucked a few times. But no one knows about that, so keep it quiet ok?”

I nodded, “Not a problem,” thinking about the slow list of secrets I was accumulating. First Jamie’s now, Daryl’s… I wondered silently whose was next.

“He was good,” Daryl grinned, “Damn good actually.”

“That’s umm, nice?” I stuttered slightly.

“Well wouldn’t you want to know if your potential boyfriend was a bad fuck?”

I rolled my eyes at him, “Yeah, probably.”

“See, so I’m helping you out. I’ll warn you though, he likes to cuddle, and gets horribly emotional after sex. But I’m going to make the assumption that you like that crazy stuff.” I shrugged helplessly to confirm his suspicions.

Daryl yawned, “Now get to bed twerp,” he ruffled my hair affectionately. “It’s way past your bedtime.”

I gave him a glare but stood up, and left him alone to play Zelda.

………

Daryl

I sighed as he left the room. He’d looked so fucking hot, splayed out across my couch like that. That ethereal expression on his face, I’d wanted nothing more than to climb on top of him, and rip off every item of clothing he was wearing. I growled looking down at my frustrated state. It was far to late to call Kevin, and I was getting more than annoyed with him already. I sighed unzipping my jeans and kicking them off, leaning against the couch with my dick in hand, eyes closed, imagining Camden on my lap, kissing me, pressing his erection tantalizingly against mine. I gasped slightly as I wondered what his skin would feel like, probably unbelievably soft. I thought about the way his strong body would meld against mine, the feel of his abdominal muscles as I ran a finger along the definition. I shivered and thrust against my hand.

His fingernails would be digging into my back, his head rolling backwards as my hand came to wrap around his cock. He would buck against my touch, and I’d pin him to the couch, spreading his legs to take him into my mouth. The sounds spilling out of his throat would make me want to make it last forever.

But too soon I came with a soft gasp, warm white liquid spilling across my hand and stomach. I opened my eyes, breathing hard, and realized that I was alone. More than that I realized that with Camden was my stepbrother, which made things infinitely complicated. Not only that, with Camden dating Jake he was officially forbidden. I may have been a horny bastard, but I wasn’t heartless. Not when it came to my friends. Jake was my friend. He’d been hurt, and it was my job to make sure I kept him from getting hurt again.

Fucking Camden, now that was a one-way street to causing Jake more unnecessary pain.

And yet, I wanted to, so badly.