Chapter 40 is a part of a crossover between characters of my other books. (Sort of like a summary of what's relevant to Gideon and Harvey that happened while they were at Boston so you'll not miss out on anything, should you skip the full version of the crossover entirely).

The full crossover version is available in a separate book titled "The Crossover" under the works section of my profile. If you're not interested to read about the werewolf characters of my other boyxboyxgirl story, and if you really don't wanna know what happened at Boston, you can just skip chapter 40 and move on to chapter 41! :)

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[40]: "Don't Do The Nasty."

"Well," With a sigh, I flopped onto our bed in the shared, four-person, "family" suite, my shoulders and arms sore from having spent the past couple of hours cooking a five-course meal, "That was a bust."

"It's okay, babe. Don't let it get you."

"It's okay, Harvey. Not all of us are gifted the same."

Gideon and Lyle said at the same time, and then there was a beat of silence in which I imagined Gideon must be shooting Lyle a poisonous look because I was too out of it to even crane my neck up and look. Ryker just chuckled.

It was bad enough when we had flown in here a couple of days ago to find that the couple's suite we had booked and the double room (with the two twins) that Lyle and Ryker had chosen had somehow been switched to one family room that housed four freaking people; with two queen-sized cots arranged next to each other and a mere few feet of space between them. But then we'd found out that the entire hotel had been booked solid, and that none of the nearby hotels had had any rooms available in such short notice either.

No, the worst part about the situation wasn't that we were in a posh hotel that Gideon and I couldn't take advantage of, but that we had to share the room with none other than Lyle and Ryker, who, by all accounts, didn't seem to give a shit that we might want a little bit of alone time after finally confessing our feelings for each other.

Axel had gone ahead to stay with Talon in the dorm-room accommodations that the Uni had arranged for the finalists, so the option of switching rooms was out. We had run into some of our acquaintances from middle school in the lobby when we'd reached, but we didn't know those guys well enough to ask them a favor like this.

So yeah, we were in a more-than-half-a-grand per night hotel room but we couldn't have sex.

And to think it had taken Gideon such a long time to convince me to spend his parents' money and book a room here instead of just staying at a B&B like I'd suggested.

This is absolute hell.

On top of all of that, Gideon had convinced me to give the Culinary Arts contest a try, but as expected, with close to a hundred participants, despite my best efforts to cook the fanciest five-course meal I could manage, I hadn't made the cut.

And oh yeah, Lyle and Ryker had managed to score the wild card entries to the finale in whatever the heck they'd taken part in. Something about Math and Creative Writing.

"Okay, it's not like I was actually expecting to get into the finals." I shook my head and rolled over to my side, propping my elbow up to rest my head on my palm. "So that's not the thing. It's just that I'm so . . . tired, to be honest. I don't think we've had a moment to breathe since we landed. Meeting all those new people, touring the campus and preparing for the competition this morning . . . I haven't been this busy in a while."

Gideon shifted the book that had been resting on his lap over to the nightstand that separated our bed from the dynamic duo's, rolling over to wrap an arm around my waist and snuggle closer, his voice dropping to a low whisper, "You're right. I think you should go to sleep." He pecked my forehead, combing away the hair falling into my eyes with gentle swipes, "You don't have anywhere to be for the next few hours."

"Mm, don't stop." I leaned into his touch, my eyes drifting shut, "That feels so good."

"Annnnd that's our cue to leave." Ryker jumped up from the bed, yanking the iPad Pro out of Lyle's hands to get his attention. I laughed when the guy pouted, but did as he was told and followed his best friend out of the room, muttering curses, "Don't do the nasty, guys! We'll be back very soon!"

With that, Lyle slammed the door shut, leaving us in blissful silence that was broken by our laughter.

"Sexual frustration is a real thing, y'know? People probably die of it, or at the very least, their dicks fall off." It was my turn to pout.

Gideon was all smiles, "While I'm sure that's true, we just have to endure this for one more day."

"Right." I sighed and leaned closer for a real kiss, one that wasn't rushed or chaste or on the freaking forehead like I was his baby brother. Okay, forehead kisses were nice and cute, but at some point, we needed the real thing.

Gideon made a sound that was a cross been a whimper and an exhale, melting into me. I shivered when our tongues met in a slow sweep that sent liquid heat coursing through my insides. My hands wandered down to cup one of the taut globes of his jean-clad butt, squeezing as I ground into him. "This is sweet, sweet torture," I gasped, sliding my lips lower to the spot where his neck met his shoulder. Gideon groaned, arching into the soft suction of my lips like a graceful cat, welcoming the occasional bite I threw in with soft moans.

When the tempo of our rutting grew faster, both of us knew it was time to stop because while we were desperate, we weren't so heartless that we'd let Lyle and Ryker suffer spending the night in a room that reeked of sex.

"Uhh," I mentally scrambled to regain my control, while my mouth still continued to kiss Gideon like a man starved, "Don't you—" kiss "—have to be—" kiss, kiss "—at your portfolio—" kiss "—submission—" kiss "in less than an hour?"

I didn't just know how I managed it, but this time, I leaned away from his eager lips and covered them with a palm, "I'm in literal pain here, baby. If you start again, I'll never stop."

Gideon blew out a loud breath, kissing the palm that still covered his mouth before pulling away, "Yeah. I still haven't decided which piece to put in the center though. The one of the lone boy seems to make the whole panel depressing."

"Speaking of the boy," I sat up and grabbed his forearm, pulling him up as well, "I saw you packing the one on the wall of your bedroom too. I know I'm no expert like you, but I feel like the happiness in that one may balance out the darker vibe you went for on the other paintings."

"Uh," Gideon blinked a couple of times before shrugging and climbing out of the bed, "Yeah, you might be right about that."

"Cool," I nodded slowly, trying to understand if I was missing something here. Gideon was acting sketchy all of a sudden, but it wasn't like I felt the need to pressure him to tell me everything that went through his mind. Heck, for all I knew, it could just be nerves or something.

Yeah, right. A Gideon nervous about art. Sure.

"Right," I added when it was obvious Gideon was going to continue rummaging around his bag without another word. "A pretty painting of that little kid, by the way." I leaned back on my hands, smiling brightly in hopes of changing the subject, "Who was your model?"

"Just some picture I found online." Gideon didn't turn around to meet my eyes, and that finally clued me into the detail that this was, in fact, the very topic he wanted to avoid.

Remember what happened the last time he thought you were gonna touch his painting?

Right.

"I think I've got everything I need. I should probably get there early?" Gideon swung a bag over his shoulder and rushed to the door, the other arm full of the encased paintings we had just been talking about.

"Babe!" I called and jumped out of bed, drawing him to a halt near the door at the last second. I grabbed his hand and entwined our fingers together, squeezing, "How about a good-luck kiss?"

Something in him cracked, and he smiled, glancing at our joined hands before meeting my eyes, "Why not?"

~

"How did it go?" I asked the moment he stepped out of the temporary studio they'd made out of the uni's Art room, almost bouncing with energy. All the contests were taking place within the monstrous campus of the university, so it hadn't been that difficult for me to find the studio when I'd woken up from a short nap and decided to go support Gideon.

He considered his words for a moment, a slow smile blooming on his handsome face, "I think I might have a chance."

"Holy shit!" I threw myself in his arms, making Gideon stagger back in surprise before he returned my hug, sharing my enthusiasm, "Holy shit, holy shit." I pressed a hard kiss to his cheek, grinning so wide my cheeks would probably hurt later, "You've so got this in the bag!"

"Shhhh!" Gideon laughed, before pulling back to wrap a loose arm around my waist and drag me away from the entrance, "Not so loudly. I think I saw some people cry when it was their turn to meet the judges."

I threw an arm around his neck, nestling closer as I reduced my volume to a stage-whisper, "Okay, but you've definitely got this."

"I don't want to jinx it." He shrugged, beaming. "Let's just wait and see what happens."

"If that's what you want."

"Thanks," Gideon said. "Where to next? The football field?"

"Yeah, the Hillbridge Hellcats are playing against the Boston Wildfires while the judges of all the competitions decide on the winners." I bit my lip in thought, "I thought it'd be fun to watch for once. Unless there was someplace else you wanted to go?"

"There's no need to play it cool, Rem." Gideon pressed his lips together to control a grin, "I know the Hellcats are your dream team. Besides, I wanna see how you curse and get amped up in the audience for a change. If it's anything like how you're in the field, I'm sure it'll be loads of fun."

"Oh, come on!" I groaned, embarrassed. "I'm not that bad."

"Nope. You're definitely that bad."

"Am not!"

"You so are."

"Am not!"

"Are too—you know what? This is giving me flashbacks to our elementary school days." Gideon laughed, "Let's just see what you do when the match starts."

Question: Would you wanna be able to freeze time or go back in time?

I'd wanna go back despite the consequences.

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