" Without moving apart, Zev moaned and whispered into Jonah’s
mouth, “Damn, Blondie, you’re a great kisser.”
Jonah moved his arms up to Zev’s back, wrapping the young man
in his embrace and stroking his smooth, firm skin. “You’re not so bad
yourself, Hassick. You been practicing this with someone without me
knowing?”
Zev snickered. “You jealous?”
Jonah didn’t return the smile. He looked into Zev’s eyes and
answered without any guile, “Yeah. I’m jealous of anyone who got to
touch you.”
Instead of looking freaked out, as Jonah had half expected, Zev
remained completely calm. He gazed into Jonah’s eyes with such
powerful emotion that Jonah’s heart raced and his breath hitched.
“Unless you can manage being jealous of yourself, you don’t
have to worry. Like I told you yesterday, I haven’t ever thought about
anyone else—girls or guys—let alone touched anyone else. It’s just
you, Blondie. It’s always been you.” Zev let his words sink in, then he reversed the tables on the discussion. “What about you? Been hiding
out behind the bleachers sneaking kisses with cheerleaders?”
Jonah snorted more than laughed. “Uh, Zev, I was teasing about
the whole not-so-smart thing earlier, but now I’m thinking I may have
been on to something. That hardness you feel against your stomach
isn’t a banana. That’s me happy to see you, or feel you, in this case.
And you’re a guy. With that background in place, we can add two and
two together here and even someone with your limited math skills can
come up with the correct answer. I’m gay. I’ve got no deep dark
cheerleader secrets in my past.”
Zev was amazed at how easily Jonah said the words. He admired
how his friend so completely accepted this part of himself. No shame,
no hesitation. Just a matter-of-fact statement. In that moment, Zev
decided he’d take the same approach. He knew it’d shock his parents.
Hell, it’d rock his whole community. But he was attracted to a man. He
had a male mate. That meant he was gay. Zev Hassick was a gay
shifter. The pack would just have to find a way to deal with that truth
even though they’d always believed it to be impossible.
“And in case you’re wondering,” Jonah continued, his hand still
rubbing Zev’s back but now moving lower, skating over his ass, “I
don’t have any deep dark football player secrets, either. I’ve had a
crush on one guy for as long as I can remember and I kinda put all my
eggs in that basket.”
Zev took another kiss, slow, soft and sweet this time.
“I better be the egg-basket guy in that story, Blondie, or the
tickles are coming back in full force. "
― Cardeno C. , Wake Me Up Inside (Mates, #1)