The Blueprint (Rules of Possession #1)

by S.E. Harmon

But apparently a week’s worth of Kelly ignoring my calls was enough to send me into full-blown stalker mode. Hell, things weren’t right in my world if I didn’t see Kelly for too long. So the fuck what. Everyone had a crutch. My crutch just happened to be of the dark-haired, gray-eyed, mouthy, and annoying variety.

I scowled. It wasn’t important, but there was nothing I hated more than Kelly keeping some part of himself from me. I was kind of possessive that way. That got me to really thinking about what he liked that was so fucking secretive. I already knew he was gay, so he probably liked to fuck and be fucked. What was the big hairy deal? Did he think I was some sort of homophobe or something?

It was supposed to be a kiss to shut him up, a kiss to maybe even scare him off, to remind him never to experiment with me again. Somewhere along the line, it turned into something more than that, and I kissed him like I was never going to get the chance to kiss another person ever again.

Football is a game of strength—building it, keeping it, using it. And the best way for you to build strength is by lifting a fuckton of weights.

I was pretty sure I’d never come that hard in my life. So either he was really, really skilled, or it was the fact that it was Kelly that did it for me.

“The way he looked at you then. Hell, the way he looks at you now. Like there’s no one else in the room. His eyes track you like he’s scared you’ll leave.”

He gave me a long, unfriendly look as he passed, and I pretended not to notice. When the front door slammed downstairs, I flopped face-first on the bed. So what, he wasn’t happy. Join the fucking club.

When he finally spoke, his voice was calm. Clearly he had shelved his murdering urges. “I want you to be mine. And I want to be yours.”

“First date?” His eyes crinkled in amusement. “I hate to tell you this, Cannon, but we’ve been dating since we were kids.” Huh. I guess we had. I was flummoxed for a second and closed my smart mouth with a snap. It’s just that everything with Blue seemed so comfortable. So easy. It had from the beginning. I guess that’s what happened when someone had already seen you at your worst.

After such a momentous day in our lives, we wanted to do something different—something celebratory. But as I brushed my teeth in the bathroom mirror and watched him hum—out of tune… so out of tune—in the shower, I realized nothing had changed because we’d always been in love with one another. Our brains were just catching up.

Something amazing happens in your world when the person you think is crazy special thinks you’re kind of special too. I didn’t know if there was a biological name for it, and I wasn’t about to distort science to create an explanation for strange phenomena. Love made my world better—that’s all I really needed to know. His sleepy voice interrupted my mental list. “Kels?” “Yeah?” “I was made for you too. He just made me a little early.” He yawned. “Good night, baby.”