The heavy, suffocating silence stretched between them, completely paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of the confession.
Ashton didn’t speak.
He didn’t move.
He stood completely frozen against the doorframe, his chest rising and falling unsteadily as he stared at Keegan.
His eyes were wide and devastated, visibly processing the years of hidden, agonizing pain he had been entirely blind to.
Unable to bear the look of sheer shock on his best friend’s face, Keegan broke.
He let out a pathetic, trembling sniff, violently wiping the heels of his hands under his bloodshot eyes.
Panic completely rewired his brain, freezing the adrenaline and replacing it with pure, suffocating dread.
“J-just…” Keegan stammered, his voice shrinking back into a terrified, broken whisper.
He took a stumbling step backward, wrapping his arms defensively around his own ribs.
“Just forget it.
Forget I said any of that.”
Ashton didn’t blink, his jaw slightly parted, his breathing turning shallow.
“Let’s…
let’s just pretend I never said that,” Keegan choked out, shaking his head frantically as fresh tears spilled over his lashes.
He stared at the wooden floorboards, refusing to meet Ashton’s gaze.
“I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry, Ash.
I don’t know why I I said all that.
I’m just tired, and—and I’m not thinking straight.”
“Keegan—”
“Just don’t hate me,” Keegan begged, the raw vulnerability in his voice physically hurting to hear.
“Please, Ashton…
I can’t lose my BestFriend.
Just ignore it.
P-please just don’t hate me.
Don’t be disguste—”
He didn’t get to finish the word.
Ashton lunged forward.
In a fraction of a second, the distance between them vanished.
Ashton’s hands came up, framing Keegan’s wet face with a desperate, almost bruising grip, and he crashed his lips down onto Keegan’s.
It wasn’t like the first kiss on the bed.
There was no hesitation, no confusing impulse.
It was fierce, overwhelming, and loaded with a frantic, aching certainty.
Keegan gasped against Ashton’s mouth, his eyes locking onto the person kissing him.
His brain short-circuited.
For an agonizing second, he was completely frozen, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.
“A-Ash…” Keegan whimpered, managing to tear his mouth away just enough to break the seal.
He pushed weakly at Ashton’s chest, his voice shattering in the small space between them.
“Ash, please don’t…
don’t do this to me out of pity.
I can’t…”
Ashton immediately rested his forehead against Keegan’s, both of them panting heavily.
Ashton’s thumbs gently, frantically brushed away the tears streaming down Keegan’s flushed cheeks.
“Look at me,” Ashton pleaded, his voice a thick, ruined rasp.
Keegan squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head.
“Keegan.
Look at me.”
Slowly, terrified of what he might see, Keegan forced his dark, tear-filled eyes open to clash with Ashton’s.
There was no pity in Ashton’s hazel eyes.
Only a fierce, consuming heat and a deep, overwhelming sorrow that matched Keegan’s own.
“I could never hate you” Ashton whispered, his breath fanning across Keegan’s trembling lips. Get faster updates on g.com.
A fresh sob hitched in Keegan’s throat, his hands trembling where they rested against Ashton’s chest.
“Please stop crying,” Ashton murmured softly, his expression crumbling with guilt and overwhelming affection.
“God, it kills me to see you cry.
Especially because of me.”
He didn’t give Keegan a chance to overthink it.
Ashton tilted his head and leaned in again, capturing Keegan’s lips in a slower, deeper kiss.
The fight instantly drained out of Keegan.
Every wall he had built, every defense mechanism he had perfected over the years, completely turned to dust.
He let out a soft, surrendered sigh into Ashton’s mouth.
His trembling hands hesitated in the air for a fraction of a second before he gave in, his fingers curling desperately into the fabric of Ashton’s shirt, pulling the taller boy flush against him.
Everything that had happened today—the tension, the arguments, the terrifyingly casual way Ashton had crossed the line earlier—melted away, replaced by the dizzying, intoxicating reality of Ashton kissing him back.
Ashton groaned, a low, rumbling sound in the back of his throat, and wrapped his arms securely around Keegan’s waist.
He kissed him deeper, parting Keegan’s lips and sweeping his tongue inside, tasting the salt of Keegan’s tears and the desperate, hungry way Keegan responded.
Keegan’s knees felt weak, his head spinning as he tangled his hands into the hair at the nape of Ashton’s neck, clinging to him like he was the only thing keeping him upright.
Without breaking the kiss, Ashton took a step forward.
Then another.
He guided them backward blindly, letting the undeniable pull between them dictate his movements.
Keegan stumbled along with him, entirely consumed by the feeling of Ashton’s mouth on his, Ashton’s strong hands gripping his waist, Ashton finally, finally seeing him.
The backs of Keegan’s legs hit the edge of the mattress.
Ashton broke the kiss just long enough for them to catch their breath.
They were chest-to-chest, hearts racing in erratic unison.
“I’m not letting you hide from me anymore,” Ashton whispered fiercely, his eyes dark and dilated in the dim light of the bedroom.
“And I’m not hiding from this either.
I want this, Keegan.
I want you.”
Keegan looked up at him, his breath trembling, his heart so full it felt like it might literally tear his chest open.
“What about Chloe?” he managed to whisper, the painful reality trying to drag him back down to earth.
“I’ll handle it,” Ashton said without a second of hesitation, his tone absolute.
He gently pushed Keegan’s shoulders, easing him backward.
“I’ll handle everything.
I promise you.
But right now…”
Ashton followed him down as Keegan fell back onto the duvet, caging him in with his arms on either side of Keegan’s head.
“…right now, you’re the only thing that matters.”
Keegan swallowed hard, his dark eyes locked onto Ashton’s.
Slowly, deliberately, he gave a small, breathless nod.
The confirmation was all Ashton needed.
With a low exhale, Ashton reached down, gripping the hem of Keegan’s t-shirt.
He pulled it up smoothly, dragging the fabric over Keegan’s chest and over his head.
He tossed it carelessly over the side of the mattress, leaving Keegan completely bare to him.
Ashton let his gaze drop, his eyes trailing over the sharp, defined lines of Keegan’s chest and the carved ridges of his abs.
He reached out, his fingertips tracing a slow, agonizingly light path down the center of Keegan’s stomach.
“You know,” Ashton murmured, his voice dropping an octave, raw with a sudden, heavy awe.
“For every time we went to the gym together over the years…
I’ve never actually seen you like this.
Up this close.”
His finger traced the V-line of Keegan’s waist, dragging agonizingly slow down to the waistband of his boxers.
“I’m pretty sure you have more muscles than me, Sterling.”
He smiled, a dark, heated smirk playing on his lips as his hand moved to slip beneath the elastic band of Keegan’s boxers.
But before his fingers could slide any further, Keegan’s hand shot out, wrapping firmly around Ashton’s wrist to stop him.
Keegan’s chest was heaving, his eyes wide and laced with a sudden, terrifying vulnerability.
“Ash…
if you’re drunk, then please don’t do this.”
Ashton’s smirk faded into a soft, intensely focused expression.
“Keegs, we literally drank the exact same amount of alcohol tonight.
Two beers each.
How am I drunk if I’m sane enough to want to do this with you?”
“Because you’re never dazed or sloppy when you’re drunk,” Keegan argued desperately, his voice trembling as he gripped Ashton’s wrist tighter.
“I can never even tell when you’ve had too much.
And you always remember everything that happened when you’re drunk, so…
so I just don’t think you’re thinking clearly.
I can’t let you do this and wake up tomorrow regretting it.”
Before Keegan could spiral any further, Ashton gently slipped his wrist out of Keegan’s grip and pressed a warm finger directly against Keegan’s lips, silencing him.
“Then that’s exactly my point, isn’t it?” Ashton whispered, looking down at him with unwavering certainty.
“Just as you said, I never forget what happens after I drink, and I’m never dazed.
But I promise you, Keegan…
I’m not drunk.
I just took a cold shower.
I promise you I am completely sober.”
Keegan’s brow furrowed, his breath hitching against Ashton’s finger.
“But, Ash, I just—”
Ashton didn’t let him finish.
He leaned down, pressing open-mouthed kisses against the hard planes of Keegan’s chest, trailing his lips over his abs in a way that made Keegan’s entire body arch off the mattress with a sharp gasp.
“Come on, blue line,” Ashton murmured against his skin, his breath hot and sending violent shivers down Keegan’s spine.
“Don’t start ruining the mood now.
I’m sober, and I won’t forget what happens tonight.
Alright, I promise you.”
Ashton pulled back just enough to look at Keegan’s flushed face, a breathtakingly fond smile breaking across his features.
He chuckled softly, a warm, rich sound in the quiet room.
“After all…
how could I ever forget it after that beautiful confession you just gave me?”
A deep, burning flush spread across Keegan’s neck and cheeks at the reminder, but the last trace of fear completely vanished from his eyes.
A slow smile curved Keegan’s lips.
Suddenly, utilizing the pure, raw core strength of a defensive hockey player, Keegan grabbed Ashton by the waist and rolled them over.
The mattress bounced as they flipped, the positions completely reversed in the blink of an eye.
Ashton hit the pillows with a soft grunt, completely caged in as Keegan straddled his hips, looking down at him with dark, predatory heat.
“Then I promise,” Keegan purred, his voice dropping into a raspy, intoxicating tone that made Ashton’s pulse absolutely skyrocket.
“To make every single moment worth it.”
Without wasting another second, Keegan grabbed the hem of Ashton’s gray t-shirt and yanked it over his head, tossing it onto the floor to join his own.
Ashton’s build was gorgeous—lean, athletic, and carved from years of intense forward drills—but just as Ashton had noticed, Keegan was noticeably broader.
The sheer, imposing width of Keegan’s shoulders and the dense muscle of his chest cast a heavy shadow over Ashton, pinning him down perfectly.
Keegan leaned down, capturing Ashton’s lips in a hungry kiss.
Ashton groaned into his mouth, his hands immediately flying up to map the broad expanse of Keegan’s bare back
While their mouths moved together in a desperate, heated rhythm, Keegan shifted his weight, his hands sliding down to the waistband of Ashton’s low-slung sweatpants.
He fumbled blindly with the drawstrings for a second, his fingers clumsy with adrenaline, before he finally managed to loosen the knot.
Breaking the kiss to trail open-mouthed, wet kisses down Ashton’s jawline and the sensitive column of his neck, Keegan boldly slipped his hand beneath the loosened waistband.
Ashton let out a sharp, wrecked gasp, his hips instinctively jerking upward into Keegan’s touch as Keegan’s fingers found his dick, already straining and growing painfully hard just from Keegan being on top of him.
“Jesus, Keegs…fuckkk” Ashton hissed out, his head falling back against the pillows, his hazel eyes blown wide and glassy with instant pleasure.
“Haaaa” Keegan whispered against the pulse point of Ashton’s neck, his thumb wrapping firmly around Ashton’s hardening dick, drawing a ragged, desperate sound from the star player’s throat.
“I’ll make you see stars Ashton Montgomery.”