Love Me Like A Rock by Amy Jo Cousins Page B

scandalizing them?” he murmured, enjoying a little thrill at the idea.
    “Sorry, babe,” Sean said, laughing at the disappointment Austin frowned at him, but keeping his voice low enough not to be overheard. “They’re surprised I brought you, I think, because people usually only bring dates on these trips if they’re pretty serious about them.”
    “And you’re not serious about me?” Austin didn’t know why the idea bothered him. He was the one who’d told Sean about being hung up on Vinnie and only available for something casual. He couldn’t blame the guy for not wanting to get himself all invested with a guy who’d already told him he was only there for the fucking.
    “No, I’m totally serious about you.”
    Which pretty much made Austin’s heart skip a beat, even though he wasn’t serious. Couldn’t be serious. Was going to spend the rest of his life pining after fucking Vinnie and screwing up possible things with really good guys like Sean.
    It couldn’t mean a damn thing to him to hear Sean say that. I’m totally serious about you.
    But somehow it did.
    He told himself it was the fire heating his cheeks as he cleared his throat and looked away from Sean’s steady gaze.
    “Then why are they so surprised?”
    Sean shrugged, his shoulder rubbing against Austin’s. “Because I haven’t ever brought anyone before now, I guess. Maybe it seems fast.”
    “Yeah, but you wanted me, like, a year ago. That’s pretty slow, actually.”
    “Why do you think I jumped you the first chance I got?” Sean asked, and leaned close again with a wicked smile that Austin wanted to lick off his face. “And now…I offer you the king of camping treats.” He held up a plastic CVS bag bulging with odd shapes. “You know what to do with marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate, right?”
    The third time Austin licked melted chocolate off his fingertips, sucking on them one at a time after smashing the remainder of a S’more into his mouth, he caught Sean staring at his mouth with lust-dazed eyes.
    Actually, Sean wasn’t the only one.
    A couple of the rock geeks seemed equally mesmerized by Austin’s absent-minded finger-sucking, to the point where he started playing it up a little, just to fuck with them. After a particularly in-depth assault on his own mouth with a chocolate-and-marshmallow-sticky index finger, Sean grabbed his chin and sucked a hard kiss from his lips.
    “Stop. Teasing,” he said into Austin’s ear, sparking a shiver that felt like quicksilver up his spine.
    “This is a really homoerotic kind of hobby you guys have, you know that? Are you sure none of these dudes are gay?” Austin whispered to Sean as he passed him a S’more.
    Most of Austin’s camping experiences had revolved around the ability to smoke pot in the fresh air. Making S’mores felt oddly childlike.
    “Anybody mind if I smoke?” the guy with the dirty blond mane like a lion asked as everyone had settled back down around the fire after post-dinner cleanup.
    I knew it. No one camps without getting high.
    But almost no one put their hand out for a toke when Lion Man passed around the joint he’d rolled, although the rest of the guys didn’t look like they minded either.
    Though his ears had perked up at the word smoke, Austin hesitated when the joint came around to him, glancing up at Sean where he sat on the log at Austin’s shoulder, messing around now on his guitar. Shit. He didn’t want to get high if that was going to bother Sean. Austin had spent more than enough nights babysitting wasted friends to want to be a drag for anyone else.
    “Go ahead,” Sean said, rubbing his head. “But if you get the munchies, I’m warning you right now. All we’ve got when the S’mores run out is trail mix.”
    “With M&Ms?” Austin asked.
    “Yeah.”
    “Works for me,” he said and took a drag before passing the joint back to Lion Man. He held the smoke deep in his lungs until it stung and then let it out slowly,