But that would come in the morning, and I planned on coming a lot more before then.

The night wrapped us up like a velvet blanket threaded with starlight. We played with each other for hours, interspersed with easy and jokey conversation as our bodies cooled down, only to wind right back up again moments later. And then one cock would be in a mouth and the other in a hand and legs in the air and moans filling the room.

Needless to say, it was a dreamy kind of night. One that I was sure I’d remember for the rest of my life.

Unfortunately, the dreamy feeling was shattered sometime around five in the morning. We’d fallen asleep about an hour before, naked and wrapped up together on top of the covers, our bodies spent and our hearts full.

It was around then, at the crack of dawn, when my home alarm went off, blaring through the house and jolting us both awake.

13. Noah Barnes

13

NOAH BARNES

At first, I thought I was dreaming. That the entire night had been a long and sultry fantasy, confined solely to the time when my eyes were shut and reality faded away.

Then the alarm in my dream got louder, and my eyes snapped open, and Jake shot up on the bed, throwing the comforter off him and reaching for his phone.

This wasn’t a dream at all. “False alarm?” I asked, throwing a nervous glance at the door, which was slightly ajar, a slice of the dark hall appearing to shift with shadows.

I knew I should have closed the door before we fell asleep.

“It sometimes gets tripped by a faulty window downstairs. Let me check,” he said, speaking loud over the competing sirens. He opened the app to his security system and looked at the screen, eyebrows knitting together. That didn’t appear like the face of someone who thought this was a false alarm. Then his eyes grew wider, and he thumbed at the screen, holding it up to his ear and facing away from me.

“Yes, someone tried to get into my home. I need the police here immediately.”

It was like someone punched me in the gut. My body entered fight-or-flight mode, my heart pounding so hard that I was sure it would tear through my chest at any moment. Either that or just completely collapse in on itself from exhaustion.

“Okay, thank you.” He turned to me, moving to the door and shutting it. Locking it. He turned on the light, allowing me to see his anxious expression in 4K.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Should I be putting on my underwear? I don’t want to die naked.”