Just Keep Swimming - 5. Chapter 5

LIAM gasped, his own hands dropping to Gabriel’s hips to drag him closer, his thighs parting around the leg Gabriel wedged between them. He kissed back, giving as good as he got. When Gabriel’s gray eyes had turned to gunmetal smoke after Liam had embraced his inner sex bunny, Liam had felt all powerful. Now, with Gabriel trying to swallow him from the mouth down, Liam felt like a god.

Since the beginning of time, jokes had been made about how repressed and awkward some intelligent, socially divergent people could be. The title of ‘nerd’ made the average person think of the unfortunate looking souls in movies and TV shows sporting bottlecap glasses, awkward lisps, high-water pants, and prematurely receding hairlines. A lot of those same people viewed nerds as people who perched on the possible lowest rung of the social popularity ladder. People who’d run away like frightened dust bunnies into the comforting dark beneath the couch.

Especially when sex was involved.

Nerds were supposed to be sex-in-the-dark, if they even had sex, people.

Anyone who believed that prejudicial propaganda had obviously never been in bed with a nerd who’d taken all their intelligence— and often underrated creativity—and assimilated into something awesome, right beneath the critical radar of the popular sects. Those nerds could take over the goddamn world if they wanted to.

Liam considered himself that kind of nerd. He also planned to prove it as many times as humanly possible tonight to Gabriel because he wasn’t afraid of the damn dark. Gabriel had given him permission to breathe, and with so many years spent making bodies of water his second home, Liam had amazing lung capacity.

Liam traded every drugging kiss Gabriel gave him for one of his own, sliding his hands lower down Gabriel’s lean hips, before working them around to knead his taut, muscled ass as he ground up harder against Gabriel’s thigh, sliding up, then down again, with a firm roll of his hips that dragged the slick tip of his cock along Gabriel’s skin, leaving behind a damp trail about as subtle as a fart in church during the opening prayer.

A sound suspiciously close to a growl escaped Gabriel’s throat. Liam grinned against his mouth as he swallowed it, his fingers clenching into the warm flesh of Gabriel’s glutes tighter, encouraging him to make it again. Gabriel complied, the sound harsh and unmistakably male as it vibrated against Liam’s tongue.

Liam’s left hand kept kneading the taut flesh of Gabriel’s cheek on that same side, his fingers skillfully creeping closer and closer to Gabriel’s crease. The other took up the front end of things, curling around Gabriels's rigid, heated length with a skill and dexterity he knew Gabriel wasn’t expecting when the older man gasped all that surprise into Liam’s mouth. Liam swallowed every sound as Gabriel’s hips pushed forward into the unapologetic grip Liam had on his dick, then back again until Liam’s knuckles brushed his hole, almost like he was unable to decide what he wanted more—to be stroked off, or for Liam’s fingers to slide into his body to stretch him in ways he’d probably been deprived of throughout his entire marriage unless he'd done it himself.

Either way worked for Liam. He was more than willing to do both as well as best he could. With Gabriel pinning him to the wall, the angle wasn’t ideal for a hand job, but nerds thrived most when situations required a MacGyver moment.

Flashing the older man a wicked smile, Liam arched up as much as he could to ensure that his thick length—which would’ve made Gabriel very popular if he’d ever been featured in any erotic film about sexy men you wanted to call daddy—rubbed up against Liam’s lean midsection, making gooseflesh break out over his skin because good goddamn, he was hot, and role play was a thing Liam had dipped his toe in before and not minded one bit.

Of course, Gabriel’s actual kids would’ve been mortified if their father had ever shown up in an online meme. Fortunately for Kora and Harlow, ‘take over the world nerds,’ didn’t share, and painting himself with his lover’s precome was getting Liam off on filthy levels of the best kind. Considering the sounds Gabriel was making as he looked down at the shiny wet streaks across Liam’s abs, he was all for Team Fun and Filthy.

Liam nipped Gabriel’s lower lip to cut off the chuckle building up in the space in his own throat that Gabriel’s tongue wasn’t exploring. They exchanged kisses that grew more and more heated as Liam worked his hand around the bell of Gabriel’s cock so he could skate the edge of his thumb around Gabriel’s cockhead, sliding it deliberately through the leaking slit. Liam had promised him a swim lesson, but at the rate they were going, the only water they’d be dealing with would come from the rainfall showerhead in Liam’s bathroom when they had to wash away evidence of 730 days of mutual desire finally being unleashed on the world, starting in his modest kitchen.

Gabriel tore his mouth away from Liam’s to gasp. “Swim lesson’s going to have to wait.”

“Don’t have condoms or lube in my kitchen, Gabe. I wasn’t an Eagle Scout.”

Liam grinned, his own rapid pulse making his tone throatier, shaky around the edges like a proper sex-kitten Boy Friday.

Gabriel didn’t call him out on being a smartass, apparently alright with Liam’s queer version of Marilyn Monroe’s sultry tone if his dilated pupils were any indication of his feelings. Instead, he dropped to his knees, fingertips tracing the computer keyboard keys tattoo on Liam’s upper left thigh. It was only two letters, both of them B’s.

“For Bonnie and Brady?”

Liam nodded, his mouth going dry as Gabriel brushed a kiss over the ink. “Y-yeah… Was going to add my parents first initials, but as open-minded as they are considering they grow weed between their actual culinary herbs, tattoos aren’t their thing. But… I.. figured… if I ever… had…my own family…in the future… I’d add to it…” His breath hitched every time Gabriel pressed a kiss to his skin that slowly moved his mouth away from the safe zone of Liam’s thigh, closer to his dick.

“I like that idea. And G, H, K fall perfectly into alphabetical order right after them.”

Liam didn’t have time to process that, much less comment on it because his tongue was too busy adhering itself to the roof of his mouth while his eyes widened, almost bugged out of his head when the warm mouth that he’d been close to memorizing every inch of just moments ago, opened wide and engulfed his cock between warm, soft lips, until they stretched taught around the stiff length Gabriel was claiming as his.

Although Liam could truthfully say that he’d never taken a tape measure to himself behind closed doors to figure out exactly where he stood on the whole, ‘does the size of a man’s dick parallel the size of his feet’ debate, seeing was believing. In this case, seeing Gabriel kneeling between his legs with Liam’s bare, size 10.5 W feet braced on either side of his hips, was very believable proof that while Liam felt the head of his dick nudging the back of Gabriel’s throat, Gabriel was barely halfway down the length of Liam’s shaft.

Case study officially started, though further research is going to have to wait till much later.

“Sweet hell, Gabe…”

Protective instinct made Liam try to pull back to avoid gagging his lover. Gabriel put a swift end to that intention by splaying one of those big, calloused, and oh so damn capable hands across Liam’s ass so Gabriel could press his hips forward, forcing both the issue and another inch of Liam’s cock down his throat as he licked and sucked at his flesh like a starving man. Liam moaned as Gabriel wrapped one hand possessively around the base of his dick as he indulged an obviously too-long denied, cock-sucking kink. His cheeks hollowed when he used the fist he’d wrapped around the bottom of Liam’s dick, to make up the difference by stroking up and down wherever his mouth couldn’t reach.

The fingers of Liam’s right hand sank into the lightly gelled strands of Gabriel’s hair, his other slapping onto the cabinet closest to his own head. Gabriel made a rumbling noise of appreciation that rolled along Liam’s flesh like the vibrations of Rocket’s purr when the one-eyed hell beast decided he needed an evening snuggle on his master’s chest. Said fuzzy monster was currently hanging out in the guest room with his litterbox, water and food bowls. The last thing Liam needed was a pervy feline audience. There were obvious consequences to being a born-again virgin when your damn hormones were all twitterpated now that the reason for the aforementioned celibacy, was kneeling between your legs looking better than any wet dream version Liam’s mind had ever been able to create. He didn’t need his cat to bear witness to him possibly popping off before things really got started.

“Fuck,” he swore softly beneath his breath when Gabriel finally drew back for a breath, his heated expression meeting Liam’s, voice so thick with arousal, it would’ve been almost unrecognizable if Liam’s very creative nighttime fantasies hadn’t plugged in erotic audio covering every possible sexual scenario he’d imagined happening if he and Gariel ever got together.

“I haven’t gotten to do this in over fifteen years, so we’re going to do it right…” Gabriel murmured. “I hate the flavor of latex. We can use it for fucking, but I want to taste you right now. May I?”

The polite request was followed by a lazy lick down Liam’s length, the wet edge of Gabriel’s tongue flicking over his balls to momentarily clear every possible thought from his head.

Mother, may I? Oh yes, daddy please!

Liam swallowed hard, silent for a moment. Not because he wasn’t all on board with the idea of coming down Gabriel’s throat, or because the huskily spoken request for permission wasn’t easily the hottest thing he’d ever experienced in his adult life, but because the fingers gently stroking teasing patterns along the underside of his balls, were creating a gorilla glue effect between his tongue and the roof of his mouth.

Gabriel tilted his head slightly to one side as if he was trying to read Liam’s thoughts. “If you don’t want to, I’ll respect that, but I’m clean. I haven’t been with anyone since Mary and even though I’ve always loved sucking dick, it’s been more than awhile, for obvious reasons…”

Gabriel paused to press a kiss into the delicate juncture where Liam’s hip and thigh met, and Liam shivered. Aside from the fact that Mary didn’t have the same plumbing he and her ex-husband did, Liam would’ve taken the bet that a woman who was willing to give up full custody of her kids, wasn’t the type who’d be willing to experiment with even fingering her partner, much less pegging him. Though that was her prerogative because hey, different strokes worked for different folks, her loss was going to be Liam’s fucking gain judging by the almost feral expression in Gabriel’s eyes when he glanced up to watch Liam’s face.

Liam considered it a miracle of astronomical proportions that Gabriel didn’t end up with an X-rated facial the moment his words registered in Liam’s lust hazy brain. As it was, it took brain and mouth a few heartbeats to meet in the middle. Liam exhaled hard, turned on beyond words, heart pounding with such a wild beat he almost expected Gabriel to be able to feel it through his dick when he rubbed his cheek against the head of Liam’s cock, turning his face just enough for the tip to paint his lips with the pre already slicking the tip.

And now we match.

Not trusting his voice at that moment considering his current irreverent thought process, Liam just nodded, hoping that the undoubtedly glazed look in his eyes, and the fact he was hard enough to pound nails, would be enough to get his point across. If it wasn’t, he was screwed because he was stuck between thoughts of, ‘is this a dream?’ and ‘Dear God in heaven, or wherever you are, if this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up.’

“Words, Liam. I need to know you’re ok with this.”

“I’m clean. Matt was the last person I was with.”

His words were spoken in a rush, but Liam knew the exact moment Gabriel’s mind did the math with impressive, lightning-fast efficiency because his smile curved with slow, obvious pleasure.

Yes, yes, sir, it’s been 365 days since I last had my dick sucked, and my ass fucked, and most of those many hours have been filled with me imagining every possible, wild monkey sex version of me and you…

“Really?”

Liam snorted, surprised he had enough air in his lungs to do it. “Dead Sea, remember? But we can do this in the bedroom. I have carpeting in there. Wood floors are wicked on the knees.”

“Do I look concerned about my knees right now?”

“You will be later when you start to snap crackle and pop like I do every time I have to get up after doing a weekly Cinderella style cleaning on my hands and knees because I hate mops.”

Gabriel grinned. “I’ll get you one of those fancy two-in-one vacuum mops for hardwood and carpeted floors if you shut the hell up and let me blow you.”

Gabriel nuzzled the lightly stubbled side of his jaw against the head of Liam’s cock till Liam felt his breath catch so hard, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to start breathing again without a crash cart. There was a definite tremble to his knees now, and his fingers curled harder around the edge of the cabinet when Gabriel traced the underside of his erection with his tongue almost delicately till a low moan escaped from Liam’s throat.

Fucking tease.

“Like that?” Gabriel asked with a grin that said he knew damn well Liam was silently channeling Oliver Twist’s famous, ‘please sir, I want some more’ speech. Because fuck yeah, Liam liked it. He’d already known how strong and capable Gabriel’s hands were. Now, he knew that fifteen-year hiatus or not, the man’s mouth was just as talented. When they worked together, it was everything.

The hand that’d been splayed across Liam’s backside to hold him in place, suddenly tightened with a more possessive grip as Gabriel’s tongue lazily licked around the head of Liam’s dick once, twice, then again. The third time was obviously the charm and Liam groaned, eyed rolling into the back of his head, and his body melting down from the inside when Gabriel slowly, but very enthusiastically sucked him down again, adding two more inches to his previous attempt. At this rate, Liam was pretty sure he’d be having his first out-of-body experience soon.

Even when they’d been together a little over a year ago, Matt had never liked giving head—though he’d sure as hell loved being a recipient—so it’d practically been an eon since Liam had been on the receiving end of a proper blow job. Until tonight, there’d definitely been a part of him that’d been a little bitter about it. That resentful ship had sailed right out of the harbor like it was part speedboat when Gabriel started stroking him off as he sucked him, twisting just a little as he used a combination of Liam’s precome and his own saliva to his advantage.

Sweet Jesus, this was worth the wait.

“OhmyfuckingGod!” Liam groaned, fingers combing through Gabriel’s hair, trying to resist the temptation to knot them and fuck into the man’s mouth. Eventually they might get there—once they knew one another’s limits better and decided whether or not a yanked-bald Gabriel was still a hot one—but for now, Liam forced himself to let Gabriel go at his own pace. A pace which seemed to be one a relaxed, enthusiastic turtle would approve of.

Liam moaned again when Gabriel did something with his tongue that took him to the stars. He kept his hand lightly tangled in his lover’s hair, holding him with a tenderly firm grip as he rocked his hips forward, letting Gabriel suck his cock in earnest each time Liam’s hips rolled forward, and lick mind-numbingly slow along his shaft each time Liam canted his hips back again. They found and maintained a rhythm, slow but intense, Gabriel’s mouth all firm suction, and wet heat.

Every lick, suck and stroke was interspersed with the low, contented sounds of a man who really did love doing this. There was nothing Gabe didn’t do—deep-throating, circling his tongue around the head, licking Liam’s balls, gently stroking through the seam of his ass when he relaxed the hand back there to tease along Liam’s taint…

“Holy fuck,” Liam hissed. “If this is what fifteen years without a cock in your mouth looks like, I may need to consider employing an occasional dick deprivation regimen for you…”

He squeezed his eyes shut when Gabriel somehow managed to laugh around a mouthful of cock, the vibrations humming along Liam’s skin. If he kept watching, the combination of the visual with the tactical stroking and sucking were going to break him.

“If you keep doing that, I’m gonna come. Do you want me to pull out?”

Sucking hard and deep was Gabriel’s response to Liam’s first foray into a helpful sexual PSA, as if saying ‘go right the fuck ahead because this is what I’m bringing to the table young’un.’

Liam’s eyes opened as his fingers tightened in Gabriel’s hair when he hummed with pleasure around Liam’s dick, seemingly not giving a shit about the fact his lips were stretched and swollen from his efforts, or that an endearing trickle of saliva was dribbling from the corners of his mouth. He fondled Liam’s balls as he sucked him. The climax that’d been building up from Liam’s shaking thighs and afore mentioned balls, tore out of him with Gabriel’s name from his tongue.

Liam’s back arched as he came with a cry he was certain the walls would absorb. Forget talking. These walls would be screaming by the end of the night with echoes of the sounds they’d both make. The pleasure crested hard, slamming Liam into what was easily in the top three of the most intense orgasms he’d ever experiences in his life—definitely number one on the list of those that he’d actually had with another person.

I might never jack off again.

Through half-lidded eyes, Liam watched Gabriel’s throat working as he swallowed everything Liam had released, drawing out the orgasm until Liam couldn’t hear his own ragged breathing over the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears. Instead of pulling away, Gabriel kept Liam’s cock in his mouth, gently suckling like he was reluctant to stop, apparently satisfied on some visceral level Matt was never on, to just have Liam’s flesh in his mouth, against his palate and tongue until Liam squirmed from the over-sensitivity.

Gabriel finally drew off of him, teasing the tip of Liam’s dick with one last flick of his tongue before he smiled up at him, licking his own lips.

“Up,” Liam said, though he didn’t move to help Gabriel because he was still gripping the cabinet. He’d had plenty of practice making his voice sound butch as hell to ensure survival in high school, but his legs had their own mind and he couldn’t take away their tremble.

A knowing smirk replaced the unmistakable pride in Gabriel’s face as his gaze swept the wrecked version of Liam that didn’t give a shit that his plans of seducing Gabriel poolside had gone by the wayside. Not when there was shiny evidence of the fact Gabriel Morgan knew his way around a dick, still glistening at the left corner of his mouth where his tongue had missed that bit of spunk.

“Mr. Morgan, you’ve got my cum on your mouth.”

Gabriel smirked as he got up with surprising grace considering Liam hadn’t been joking about the hardness of the floor, then settled his hands on Liam’s narrow hips to steady him.

“Want some?”

Liam’s arms looped around Gabriel’s neck to help the, ‘make sure Liam’s jelly legs don’t make his ass drop to the floor’ cause. Once secure, he smiled and flicked the tip of his tongue over the spot, wiping away the soft patch of briny fluid with silent promises of filthy things to come—Gabriel included— as soon as his body cooperated again.

Gabriel moaned and Liam echoed it when he dragged the older man’s mouth to his, completely unbothered by the taste of his own pleasure when it was on, and in Gabriel’s mouth. The flavor was stronger when Gabriel’s lips parted and they exchanged kisses that were slower and deeper than their earlier frantic ones, but no less intense. The edge had been taken off for both of them in different ways, but as far as Liam was concerned, they’d barely gotten started.

“Fifteen years my ass,” Liam murmured when they broke the kiss. “Tell the truth, Gabe. Have you been practicing on bananas or cucumbers to keep yourself current? Like that courtesan chick in ‘Dangerous Beauty?’“

Gabriel grinned. “I’ve never even heard of that movie.”

“Circa 1998. Pretty sexy if you’re into chicks even halfway, like you are.”

Gabriel’s grin deepened, mirroring Liam’s. “I have two kids who’ve effectively taken over our Netflix account with an invasion of Twilight, and every other vampire, werewolf and fairy movie and series out there. It’s all about the stupidly written paranormal in our house. How do you know about that movie? You just turned thirty.”

“I’m an old soul who’s dated older guys before including a film buff who had a huge thing for one of the actors in it. But we’re getting off topic. That…was a blowie worthy of the history books. My brain’s still trying to get back online. While it does that….”

Liam gave Gabriel a gentle shove backward, herding him much like Kora and Harlow had, back towards the patio doors that led out to the pool. He turned on the backyard lights which cast the pool and surrounding area into a soft glow bright enough for them to see one another, without putting a spotlight on the upcoming XXX show for their entire neighborhood. Discretion was always a good thing, especially for a dad of two who was just beginning to date again and might be more self-conscious than even the average person about semi-public sexual hijinks In Suburbia. Liam wanted Gabriel as relaxed as possible before he rocked his world.

They made their way outside into the warmth of the evening that kissed their bare skin with that hint of late spring humidity that always deepened at night.

“Top of the line privacy wall, which you probably recognize from your line of work. Thick bushes for an extra layer of ‘keep out’, heated saltwater pool, floaties optional for everyone except Brady and you,” Liam said with a grin before he leaned over to brush a kiss against Gabriel’s mouth more gently than before.

“I’ll be keeping you afloat. The floaties just keep Brady alive.”

Liam hadn’t been joking about the thickness and height of his privacy fence which was partially obscured in an aesthetic way with the dense forsythia bushes that were in front of it, both on his side of the fence, and the street side.

Gabriel huffed an amused sound into Liam’s mouth, then tipped his head back to give Liam full access when he ducked his head beneath Gabriel’s chin so he could splatter kisses over Gabriel’s throat, slowly kissing his way down until he licked over his lover’s frantic pulse. Liam forced himself to keep moving slow, kisses lazily pressed over into Gabe shoulder, followed by a grin when he realized that gooseflesh had broken out all over Gabriel’s skin.

It wasn’t a cold night.

Although he metaphorically fist-bumped the air in metaphorical silence, Liam forced every muscle in his body not to break out into a Snoopy dance when Gabriel moaned, then curled a hand around the back of Liam’s neck to hold him there. Encouraged, Liam licked over that sensitive skin in the juncture between Gabe’s neck and shoulder, then pulled on it with the safe edge of his teeth just hard enough to get the enthusiastic response of Gabriel’s dick flexing hard against Liam’s thigh when his hips bucked forward.

Breaking the skin and marking Gabriel up was tempting, but considering they weren’t in high school, and that Liam doubted Gabriel wanted to explain hickeys to his daughter’s any more than he himself did, Liam refrained.

It was a hard-won battle.

“My turn,” he murmured, leading Gabriel to a cushioned outdoor lounger that reclined, so he could be comfortable. Liam snagged the cushion from the couch close to it, then set it on the floor so he wouldn’t kill his knees on the cement paving stones of the patio. When they were both settled, Liam leaned forward for a long, lingering kiss, before continuing his erotic journey by licking a slow line across Gabriel’s collarbone, then moving downward. Gabriel’s soft grunt and the fingers he worked into Liam’s wild curls told him that teasing a carnation pink nipple with his teeth, before suckling it between his lips and tongue, had been the right play. He pulled a little harder, and Gabriel’s fingers tightened in his hair as he moaned.

Liam used his lips and teeth interchangeably until Gabriel’s hips were flexing up and Liam had to brace a leanly muscled arm across his lover’s hips to keep him pinned down.

The surprised sound that popped from Gabriel’s mouth and dissolved into a guttural moan made Liam grin into his skin. He might not possess Gabriel’s lack of a gag reflex, but swimming daily laps in the YMCA’s Olympic sized pool wasn’t for lightweights, even though most people underestimated how strong he was.

Liam kissed across Gabriel’s muscular chest, admiring all that toned flesh beneath a light mat of surprisingly soft, dark hair that didn’t have any of the silver that was at his temples. With deliberately slow movements, Liam worked his way down lower, kissing everywhere he could reach: down Gabriel’s sides, along his ribs on the right, then across the upper part of his abdomen to the left do the same. The muscles of Gabriel’s midsection were less defined than they were in some younger men, but Liam didn’t find that subtle softening off-putting. It was still light years away from the dreaded, ‘dad bod’ that every man in suburbia— as well as their wives— feared.

Liam liked it. That slight softness meant Gabriel wasn’t afraid to live life and enjoy weekly French toast Fridays, or to bypass spending hours at the gym so he could watch Kora and Harlow’s soccer games on his days off instead.

Hard bodies were sexy, but the body of a man who cared more about living the life he’d been given, was so much hotter, and Liam felt his dick hardening again, ready for round two.

He kept his kisses descending, following the line of Gabriel’s inner thigh on the left. Liam alternated between damp, tongue-led kisses, and more tender ones that were barely ghosted over Gabriel’s skin. By the way Gabriel was squirming beneath him, he approved of all of the above choices.

Liam’s brown curls tumbled wildly over his sweat dampened forehead, almost long enough to brush his eyebrows when he paused to look up a Gabriel. They’d been set free in their natural and unholy glory by the light rain showers earlier. Having Gabriel suck his brain out through his dick hadn’t helped the frizz situation any. But based on the glazed expression on Gabriel’s face, he was all good with it.

“Anything you don’t like?”

Matt hadn’t been keen on giving blowjobs, but he also hadn’t been thrilled about being rimmed either, much less kissing Liam afterward on the rare occasion Liam got to do it. Some men were into the kinky intimacy while others were less on board, so Liam had to ask, even if he secretly hoped that Gabriel was as open to most things as he himself was. Getting his mouth on every inch of Gabriel Morgan’s body tonight, was Liam’s Holy Grail goal for every atypical nerd on the planet.

“Only things the average person would consider gross, or anything that might require a tetanus shot afterward. Past that, I trust you,” Gabriel said with a soft chuckle, trying to push Liam’s hair back from his forehead with zero success. “What are you planning?”

“Do you want me to tell you, or just show you?”

When Gabriel hesitated, His cheeks slowly flushing a hot pink hue, Liam grinned and stroked his fingertips lazy beneath Gabriel’s left knee.

Sweet sweet surprise…

“Oooo… does someone like dirty talk in bed?”

“Technically this is a poolside lounge chair.”

“Pft. Doesn’t change the fact your pupils blew out like an oil slick on the ocean the moment I said it. Which, FYI, I find very very hot. Just stay there for a second while I grab lube and a condom.”

Gabriel started to protest, probably thinking he was going to be left balls out to the elements while Liam went inside to grab supplies from his bedroom. He paused when Liam instead reached into the shallow wicker basket on the small metal table set between Gabriel’s chair and the lounger on the opposite side. He blinked when Liam smiled as he held up a condom in its blue foil packet, and a small bottle of lube.

“I was never an Eagle Scout, but I believe in being prepared so I grabbed stuff while you were in the car. This all right?”

“Yeah,” Gabriel said, his tone edged with a dark need. “It’s just been a really long time, so we may need to go slow.”

“I’m more than all right with slow, but we don’t have to go all the way ton—”

Before Liam could finish his sentence, and grant Gabriel permission to tap out for now, Gabriel rolled up enough to pull Liam into a kiss so determined, Liam felt it in his soul as much as he did his balls. When Gabriel pulled back, his husky breath warmed Liam’s face.

“Don’t. You. Dare. Stop. I really want, no, I need to feel you inside me, Liam.” Gabriel’s voice was thick with desire, his gray gaze laser focused on Liam.

Well DAMN… Let’s all hear it for the motherfucking nerds.

“Works for me.” Liam’s grin deepened slowly, the confidence that he’d lacked for months around Gabriel, now restored to what the average human being got to see when he wasn’t tripping over himself with nerves. They were in this together, two halves of a whole, finally acknowledging what’d been between them for the last two years.

“Good. I’m all in for any way I can get your hands on me.”

“I’m happy to oblige.” Liam set the foil pocket down on the ground beside his own right knee, then used his left hand to tug Gabriel lower onto the lounger by his ankle, before he pushed the man’s knees up towards him.

“Hold on to these please. Need to see what I’m doing. I want you so soft and wet for me that it’ll be a buttery smooth slide to get my fingers in there. I wonder how many you’ll be able to take before I have to shush you with kisses, so you won’t scandalize the entire neighborhood by screaming my name. Mrs. McCleary would never be the same, but you’d definitely get every single candy bar sold at her place for the next fundraiser.”

Gabriel’s laugh turned into a strangled sound when Liam nipped the underside of his sack, then licked the spot.

“I know it’s been a while so you need to let me know if I hurt you in any way. Okay?”

“Liam?”

Liam’s brow arched at Gabriel’s interruption, a grin playing at his lips when he saw the look of sexual exasperation in the other man’s expression. “Yeah?”

“Come here and kiss me…then get on with it.”

Chuckling, Liam murmured, “Alrighty then.”

They’d barely broken the kiss when he added, “As you wish,” then laughed again when he got the groan from Gabriel that he was angling for. Kora and Harlow had told him about the movie being a favorite in their family, and that they and Gabriel had every line in the entire movie memorized.

“God you’re cute,” Liam said, smoothing a hand down the side of Gabriel’s face before he went back to his planned mission, stealing a minute to explore Gabriel’s body with his gaze before he did it with his body.

Gabriel was so self-conscious about their age difference and the physique that age and time had changed from what he might’ve felt was his ideal, but he didn’t see what Liam did. He couldn’t possibly understand how beautiful he was, on his back, knees up, trustingly offering up that gorgeous ass with a tender, dopey smile that was more anticipation than trepidation. There was definitely no way he could imagine how long Liam had wanted him like this, or that even if Gabriel had asked for a pass on the anal exploration portion of their erotic evening, Liam still would’ve been happy to chase every drop of water down his skin with his tongue when they got into the pool instead.

Thankfully, Gabriel was all on board and Liam wanted to have his hands all over him while his cock slid in and out of his tight hole. They just had to get there first.

Liam ran his palm down Gabriel’s side, grinning when he nipped the soft skin beneath Gabriel’s knees. Gabriel moaned, flopping one arm half across his face, the other hand still supporting his legs to keep himself spread out for Liam even as he shivered beneath his touch. Liam hummed in approval.

He always took his sweet time prepping his lovers when he was given free reign, but he was planning an even slower long game than usual. Nothing was a bigger turn on than a lover who was willing to let you turn them into a trembling, squirming mess. Especially not once they started begging.

Gabriel was almost there.

Liam’s lips curved slowly into an indulgent smile, like a cat content to watch the mouse under his paw squirm. He was all lover not fighter but affectionately toying with someone he cared about as much as he was starting to care for Gabriel Morgan, fed right back into his earlier feelings of god standing.

“Tell me what you want. I have a few ideas of my own, but I want to make this all about you right now.”

“You know what I want. What I’ve wanted since you splashed me with water at dinner because you’re an adorable spaz who—sweetmothermaryjesusandjoseph!”

Gabriel’s rant ended in a moaned protest when Liam ducked his head to swallow just the head of Gabriel’s cock, allowing the safe edge of his teeth to drag along the underside before he released his lover’s favorite part with a soft, deliberate pop. Sucking dick was different than getting your dick sucked, but this slow exploration was firing off nerve endings Liam wasn’t even aware he had, his earlier orgasm becoming a distant memory each time Gabriel made a new sound.

“Tell me, Gabe, or we’re just going to move on to the looking part of our five-senses exploration. As in us both watching TV with some serious blue balls.”

Liam grinned, dragging the stubbly line of his jaw against the tender skin of Gabriel’s balls, steadying him when the older man’s legs wobbled. “Please? I want to make you feel as good as you made me feel.”

“I…Jesus, Liam your tongue should come with a warning— do not use while operating heavy machinery, or any other activity that requires brain function.”

Liam smirked. “Gabe... Tell. Me. What. You. Want.”

Each word was punctuated with a kiss somewhere-inner thigh, sack, tip of Gabriel’s dick, then back in an erotic circuit.

“I…” Gabriel’s gaze was smoked out with arousal, and his dick was definitely on board, but the slow blush crawling across his cheeks spoke volumes: His body was in the game and his head wanted to be, but whatever was suddenly going on in the latter was getting in the way. Whether it was because A)Liam was the first person that Gabriel had slept with since his wife and he was nervous despite that epic show of cock-sucking skills in the kitchen He was self-conscious being outdoors C) Even though he wanted the dirty talk he was hesitant because of A and B, or D) All of the above. Whatever the reason(s), Liam understood.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl too slow for the ticking hands on Liam’s watch to keep up with. The smooth edges of the wooden sides of the lounger were cool beneath Liam’s palms as he braced them there, pressing a light kiss to Gabriel’s inner thigh again before sliding up Gabriel’s body—all those miles of skin heated with both the evening humidity, and his obvious arousal—to slot between his legs, sprawled half on his chest, their bodies molded together, ribcage to ribcage. Liam lowered himself first to one elbow then the other, cupping the back of Gabriel’s head, threading his fingers through the still slightly gelled strands of his hair.

“Hey,” he said, his voice stupidly tender as his fingertips curled around the hard edge of Gabriel’s jaw, stroking lazy random patterns into his skin.

Gabriel turned his head just enough to press a kiss to the tips of those gentle fingers. His smile was sheepishly crooked around a soft, “Hey,” before his lips quirked upwards in an expression Liam recognized as self-deprecation. He’d been there before. Even when the person in your bed had been the secret object of your affection for a long time, being up close and naked with anyone for the first time could be nerve-wracking. It’d been that way for him with his first serious crush, but unlike Danny Harmon, Liam didn’t poke fun at Gabriel, or huff in exasperation about Liam’s ‘slow rise,’ before he’d pulled on his clothes and left.

One, but not done in any definition of the word. History wasn’t going to repeat itself here.

“It’s just you and me out here baby,” Liam said, his expression as gentle as his tone and touch. “But we can go inside if you’re more comfortable doing this in my bedroom.”

Gabriel slid his hands slowly up Liam’s back, his shoulder, then back down to his trim waist before dropping to rest on Liam’s hips, applying just enough pressure to mold their hips together so Liam could feel his obvious interest despite his embarrassment.

“My God…. I’ve become the chick here, haven’t I? I feel like it’s prom night with Kristi Baker all over again.”

Liam grinned. “Loss of virginity story?”

“Yes, I lost my virginity that night, but no, it’s not worth a story. Just the typical awkward fumbling on prom night that got me off in less than ten seconds, and her at a standstill for twenty minutes because That was how long it took for her to come, and that was only after she did most of the work herself. I’d read and watched enough porn by then to have a decent idea of what I was doing. It was just overstimulation, I think. Or maybe lack thereof on both our ends after my initial premature pop.”

“Teenage boys are easier,” Liam offered with a smirk, still stroking Gabriel’s cheek with comfortable content. “Stroke up and down a few times and whoopee, instant fireworks with a wicked fast refractory time to boot.” He nipped Gabriel’s ear after sneaking a peek down between their bodies.

“If it makes you feel better, you rocked my world inside the kitchen, so you’ve already made up for teenage Gabe in spades. You’re also still hard, which is something I want to take care of for you. Just tell me what you want to do. And I don’t mean dirty talk if that made you uncomfortable.

“I liked the dirty talk,” Gabriel admitted with another rueful look. “My issue is I want too many things at once. Your mouth, your fingers, your dick… then a repeat of all the things you do with those, swapping out your pieces for mine …Greedy, I guess. Sorry.”

“Hey, that’s a complete nonissue because you’re spending the night. By my estimation, even taking into account adult refractory constraints, we have at least two more solid orgasms for each of us ahead, plus morning sex, then the shower sex that comes after the morning sex before we have to get ready for lunch with Bonnie, Brady and the girls.” Liam’s grin deepened. “Like I said, nonissue. We’ll get to do all the things. Or at least most of them, then just carry the rest over for the next few…”

“Years,” Gabriel said, chuckled as he filled in the blank himself after Liam gave him a hopeful look.

“Yep, years.”

Thank you, God.

The sudden warmth in Liam’ midsection had nothing to do with the evening temperatures, or the warmth of Gabriel’s skin. It did have everything to do having a sudden glimpse into the future of him and Gabriel eventually developing dad bods together, ad completely serene about it because they were happy with their family.

“So, what next? Do you want to move this inside and get clothes on to slow things down a little while we watch a movie, or move to the bedroom a little less slowly?”

“Can we break up tonight’s next two acts with a pool lesson in between?”

“We’d have to sneak a shower grope in there before we got into the water, but I can work with that if you can.”

“I can definitely work with that, so let’s just move inside. I’m not worried about anyone else overhearing us,” he assured Liam. “I just want to be able to focus completely on you. My virgin ship sailed, but this still feels….”

“Feels like what?”

“Like a first time.”

Gabriel murmured the words, but Liam’s ears were doing supersonic detail right now. He hummed under his breath, then leaned in to kiss Gabriel sweet and tender for about ten seconds—if he was being very generous with his approximation of time—before he deepened it into bold and filthy. When Gabriel gasped Liam’s name into his mouth, Liam pulled back.

“Then let’s redeem teen Gabe and teen Liam at the same time. I’m pretty sure I only made it six seconds on my prom night. To be fair, Frank DeWitt, Jr. lasted one full up and down, so two seconds at most. We totally smoked him.”

Liam blew off the end of the finger guns he made before retrieving the condom and bottle of lube. Gabriel was still laughing when he took the hand Liam offered, so they could head into the house. This time the energy between them was less frenetic than it’d been in the kitchen as they crossed off the accomplished hurdles of A) the first orgasm of the evening—Liam’s, and the first self-conscious hesitation—Gabe’s. They’d settled into that comfortable anticipation where the possibilities were endless now that they knew they were on the same page and could find their way back to common ground even if they drifted off it for a minute.

Gabriel kissed him the moment they entered Liam’s bedroom with its navy-blue walls and white crown molding—neatly organized, though not fastidiously so. Just basic, dark wood furniture with clean lines, including his bed. The desk in the corner was the only one in the entire house that’d never seen either a desktop, or laptop on it. He also didn’t have a TV in the bedroom, and he never used his phone in here, just kept it powered down and plugged in to charge in the kitchen. Bonnie had his landline number in case of any emergencies.

Being in front of a screen for the majority of his day a solid seven out of seven days most weeks, meant that Liam he liked having his bedroom be a sanctuary meant only for sleep and the more active extracurricular activities that started with kisses like the ones Gabriel was feeding into his mouth, and extracting in return when Liam opened for him.

Everything blurred into a jumble of sensation as Gabriel walked Liam backward until his spine aligned with the wall: the insistent, sliding pressure of Gabriel’s hands as they moved up his body to cradle Liam’s face between his hands. The slow drag of his tongue between Liam’s lips. The soft moans coming from both of them: The firmness of the wall behind his back, and the hint of some warm, mellow scent from one of the plug-in wall fresheners Bonnie was always sticking around his house.

It was all amazing, but Liam wanted to give this time, not just take. He nipped Gabriel’s lower lip sharply as his brain reengaged and he reversed their positions, allowing his hands to move boldly along whatever part of Gabriel’s body they felt needed the most attention: stomach, flank, thighs, backside, neck, chest and nipples. Nipples that pebbled up tight again, just like they’d done outside when Gabriel had made the same desperate noises he was making now.

“Do you want me on my knees as I suck you off, or something else as long as it ends with you coming?” Liam asked once his lips were content enough—for now—to leave Gabriel’s long enough to ask the question.

The lighting in the room was low because he kept the LEDs out of the bedroom just like he did his electronics, but he could still see the endearingly shy smile that curled the corners of Gabriel’s smile.

“Can we revisit… your intentions outside?”

“My intentions…?”

Gabriel’s blush was back, deepening as he nodded, his smile going slightly crooked at the edges. “You said you had some ideas and I said I was good with anything you want…I was…very thorough with my shower before I got here.”

Liam grinned as he read between the lines, his dick just as delighted as the rest of him. Fuck, Matt. This was officially the, all about Gabe show now.

“Good to know… So was I, just in case you’re a man who likes options.”

“Considering my options were limited for fifteen years, multiple choice in whatever configuration it takes sounds amazing, Liam.” He smiled. “But… I think I still have a back tattoo left to examine first. Is that alight?”

“Are spicy brown mustard and relish the only condiments that belong on a hot dog?”

Gabriel chuckled as Liam nodded yes like a bobblehead doll, then leaned in for another tender kiss that became lazy groping as he walked Liam backwards again, this time toward the bed. Liam dropped the condom packet and bottle of lube on an easily accessible corner of the bed, then rolled to his belly, arms stacked and tucked beneath his chin so Gabriel could have a clear view.

Hard as he was, laying like this wasn’t the most comfortable position, but at least with his dick squished into the mattress, it wasn’t siphoning all the blood from Liam’s brain and he could actually focus on the warmth radiating from Gabriel’s skin as he traced the outline of the intricate compass tattoo on Liam’s back. It was the only one other than the tramp stamps he and Bonnie would both be forever haunted by, that wasn’t inspired by technology in some way.

Then again, part of the reason that Liam was so drawn to technology was because it was always a step forward into the future, and adventure. As JM Barrie had said, to live was an awfully big adventure. The only way Liam knew how to do that was by following due north.

“I like this one,” Gabe murmured. “But...” He paused and Liam could practically hear the frown in his tone as he noticed a detail that was obvious, yet subtle enough to be missed, because the human eye was biologically trained to fill in the appropriate blanks with what should be somewhere, when it was a familiar image “there’s no south.”

“I know. Bonnie came with me to get it done and she said that after all my breakups and her divorce, we needed to always move in whichever upward direction we could because looking back never helped anyone.” He grinned, eyes half closing. “Of course, I immediately pointed out that It would’ve been pretty helpful if she had that epiphany before we got KISS tattooed just above our asses.”

Gabriel chuckled. “Exactly why I don’t have any tattoos on my body. Everyone I meet around my age always seem to have regrets about the choices they made when something they thought was cool twenty years ago, is currently obsolete because it was chosen at random off a tattoo shop’s board of inspiration. It’s also the reason I told the girls they won’t be able to get tattoos until I’m done paying their college tuitions.”

“Says the man who wants to add letters to my keyboard keys tattoo.”

“I told you Liam, I’m greedy.”

“Yeah well…” Liam didn’t finish that sentence. Instead, he used the element of surprise to his advantage as he rolled over into, then on top of Gabriel who’d been propped up on one arm until Liam's weight flattened him back onto the mattress. His long lashes fluttered closed over his eyes before they widened again to take Liam in, pupils inking out blackness till the gray was almost obscured.

Somebody definitely has a thing for being manhandled by nerds.

Liam smirked his words practically purred. “So. Am. I.”

There was something almost innocent in in Gabriel’s eyes—an earnest wonder despite his obvious arousal, that did funny things to Liam’s insides. He rubbed his thumb over Gabriel’s cheekbone, the calloused pad moving smoothly over the damp. “Weren’t expecting that, were you?”

“Nope, and I can hear Harlow and Kora’s voices in my head telling me not to judge a book by its cover. I can also hear the words of my future therapist when they ask me why my kids are talking to me in my head, when my boyfriend’s about to do some amazingly filthy things to me.”

Liam grinned. “Maybe we can start a retainer for when the girls enter their teenage years when every ‘crisis’ from life’s natural hurdles have your face on them.”

“Not funny Liam.”

The twitching of Gabriel’s lips called his bluff, and Liam gently patted his hip. “Roll over onto your stomach so I can shut your mind down. Though to be fair, this is probably the most I’ve ever talked to someone in my bed.”

“Not one for pillow talk?”

The way Gabriel obeyed him immediately, turning around to stretch out on his front, hands resting on the pillow on either side of his head even as he asked the question, wasn’t something Liam was used to. He could get used to it though, especially the way it made his breath catch, and his dick twitch. Liam straddled Gabriel’s hips, stroking both hands firmly down his lover’s spine as he leaned forward to kiss the back of his neck, before nuzzling against his ear.

“With them? No. It wasn’t like that. I’m not against it obviously, but I guess it didn’t feel natural most of the time, if that makes sense?” He shrugged, “Anyway, just relax. We can do all the talking that you want—voices of your kids excluded—after I make your head pop off.”

Gabriel made a muffled noise of assent into the pillow. Liam kissed the side of his neck, then moved to Gabriel’s shoulders. Broad and strong, the muscles in his shoulders and back were more sharply defined there than in Gabriel’s midsection. Muscles that were probably used to a different kind of daily contractor’s routine of working for a living, rather than living just to work out. Liam massaged that wide expanse, pressing his thumbs into the muscle firmly. Judging by Gabriel’s little intake of breath, he was all on board.

Liam kissed the nape of Gabriel’s neck as he rubbed his back, eventually working his way down Gabriel’s body when he felt his body going pliant, any lingering traces of nerves released from his muscles. Liam kept kissing down his spine, feeling Gabriel’s soft exhale sink them deeper into the mattress, just letting go.

Considering that he’d been married to a woman for fifteen years, Liam doubted that Gabriel ever really got to just let go while someone else did the work, even if Mary might secretly have a dominant streak in bed. Liam didn’t know and didn’t care. Having Gabriel follow his lead right now, allowing Liam move and maneuver him any way he chose – there’d never been anything hotter.

Liam moved down Gabriel’s body, noting and avoiding a tender-looking bruise that curled over Gabriel’s narrow hip—as if he’d walked into something unexpected. Liam had his share of similar injuries from moving around in his darkened bedroom without his glasses on. Walking into his bed frame was an almost weekly occurrence. Gabriel’s boo-boos were more likely work-related, but Liam still felt a lazy sense of possessive amusement that they might match now and again, in colorful black and blue.

He paused at Gabriel’s hips, taking a moment to dip his thumbs into the dimples there, indulging in Gabriel’s soft groan before his hands moved again, the heels of his palms resting on Gabriel’s firm ass.

A peek over Gabriel’s body at his face revealed his eyes were closed, lips slightly parted: the epitome of relaxed anticipation. Ready for anything that Liam wanted to do.

Yahtzee.

Matt had been his last lover, and it’d been so long since Lam had slept with the man who’d come before him, that his tongue hadn’t had a workout in a while. At least not the kind that would make Gabriel’s head pop off. Liam’s lips curled slightly. This was his moment to redeem nerds around the world who hadn’t yet been able to convince most people that a combination of learning to read when you were four, and never really having many friends, or anywhere to go on Friday and Saturday nights when you were in your formative years of experimentation—and occasionally made poor choices in middle school and high school— meant you had a lot of time to read and fantasize. Liam had eventually lost his virginity. He also had his share of former lovers, so he’d gotten the hands-on-practice needed to scale the nerdy sex tower. And right now, he got to take all that experience and focus it on one very deserving daddy of two.

He'd asked Gabriel his preferences because as cheerfully depraved as some of his previous lovers had been, this was always the bit that many of them had been unsure about. To be fair, Liam had been too: both the first time It’d been down to him, and the first time he’d gotten to return the favor. Before he’d actually experienced a proper rim job, Liam hadn’t been to get past the idea that licking someone there just seemed unsanitary. Most of the men he’d been with had liked him to finger their ass. Rimming was on a whole other level and until Xavier Braemer, Liam had doubted he’d level up to it. Afterwards… it was all, new game on, because Liam was ready to play ball.

Beginning with Gabriel’s balls.

A slow lick along the underside made Gabriel’s breath catch. A little pressure from his hands to push Gabriel’s cheeks apart, exposed the sensitive skin there—a furrowed, crinkled spot, darker than the pale flesh around it— before he leaned down to warm Gabriel’s flesh with his breath before helping him adjust on his knees at an inverted angle that gave Liam more access.

Gabriel reacted immediately at the first touch of Liam’s tongue—first a gasp that was shock and pleasure combined. Though there was the faintest hint of Gabriel’s natural male musk beneath the flavor and scent of a crisp, fresh-scent soap, it wasn’t a turnoff. Gabriel had been considerate to a fault.

Liam licked again, slower. Gabriel’s moan was even louder this time, strong thighs spreading apart wider with just the lightest encouragement from Liam’s hand. Apparently, he was all on board, so Liam got to work in earnest.

Having known he was gay since he was old enough to ask Bonnie her thoughts on his theory—since her being older had translated in his teenage brain to his sister being better than Google for information like that—Liam had never gone out on a date with, or kissed a girl, much less gone down on one. But having as many straight friends now as he did gay ones, he’d heard the rumors—and complaints—that they could be a lot of work with trying to find the right pace and pressure. It was probably because men didn’t know what it should feel like because they didn’t have the same equipment. He and Gabriel did though, and while Liam didn’t know exactly what Gabriel liked yet, he did know what he liked. So, for a guy who hadn’t been on this end of things for at least fifteen years, tender, sensual and downright filthy were tonight’s game plan.

Every little touch, whether it was the flat of his tongue over the area, or the tip just circling the rim, got a sound from Gabriel—sometimes a slight hitch in his breath. Other times a full out gasp. Those and the long, almost pained ones, those were the money shots Liam was aiming for. He was so used to seeing the perfectly controlled, responsible adult side of Gabriel, that right now, when it was just the two of them, he wanted to see his lover lose all that control. Reducing him into whimpering goo was his ultimate goal. He was doing alright so far judging by how noisy Gabriel was being—probably one of the noisiest partners Liam had ever had.

And it was So. Fucking. Hot.

Each exploratory sweet of his tongue, each suckling kiss, made Gabriel cry out with unrestrained pleasure, Liam’s name interspersed between his moans. Liam knew that he’d always enjoyed making his lovers feel good, but he hadn’t been prepared for just how much his sexy, buttoned-up neighbor begging with unguarded pleasure, would turn his crank. Each time the smallest movement of Liam’s tongue over the sensitive, private skin made another layer of Gabriel’s willpower fray, Liam felt his preening ego pat his prick on the head to whet it’s enthusiasm for act two.

Liam pulled himself up Gabriel’s body to press a kiss to his sweat-dampened shoulder. Gabriel turned his head slightly, just enough to see Liam, hands curled into fists by the sides of his head, the hunter green and gray fabric of Liam’s flannel pattern duvet between his fingers.

“We still good, Gabe? This good for you?”

Gabriel nodded, and Liam gently nipped his ear. He and Gabriel shared an interest in dirty talk for the fantasy, but past that, Liam just wanted to find the traces of blatant desire in Gabriel’s voice due to what Liam was doing to him. To have the reassurance this first time out, that he was giving his partner exactly what he needed.

“God yes,” Gabriel choked out, giving Liam everything he wanted, “Please don’t stop. Please, Liam.”

Liam didn’t need to be told twice. He slid back down Gabriel’s broad frame, returning to his self-appointed task with single-minded focus. Gabriel made a noise that was as much relief, as pleasure in response. Liam could feel that tense muscle under his tongue seemingly soften as Gabriel relaxed, allowing for his tongue to channel the Princess Bride’s infamous line, silently this time.

As you wish.

Gabriel’s reaction was muffled by the pillow as Liam repeated his earlier tricks, then leveled up, feeling Gabriel shudder beneath his hands and mouth, teasing his rim and experimenting with different touches of his tongue, figuring out which movements made Gabriel melt like ice cream left out in the sun.

Feeling the tiny tremors of Gabriel’s skin against his tongue, and the shaking of his body beneath Liam’s hands, was the real reason Liam had wanted to do this: more personal than even fucking was, because there was a level of intimacy that came along with the vulnerability of being on either end. Knowing he was the first person who got to see Gabriel like this in at least a decade and a half, was a special kind of delicious, mind-melting reality.

For a first time it should’ve felt awkward. To a degree, it probably would later as they dealt with the ‘afterglow’ that could always alter the course of an evening with plot twists if there were any regrets, but Liam wasn’t going to worry about the what-ifs. Right now, all his focus was on Gabriel, and the comfortable feeling of familiarity and rightness despite their new dynamic.

Gabriel’s moans started to speed up into frantic pants he fed into the pillow—probably from over-sensitized stimulation—and Liam had to use a little pressure to hold Gabriel’s hips in place. He would’ve been happy to keep going to toy with him simply because he could, and Gabriel would let him. He could tell by the way the older man was pushing his hips back against Liam’s mouth.

It was tempting to keep going since Liam was pretty damn sure his nerd stealth was up for the task. But good things came to those who are patient, and they had time.

Liam reluctantly stopped after pressing a kiss to Gabriel’s sweat dampened shoulder. He pulled himself up the bed, then grabbed the lube and condom packet before moving to kneel between Gabriel’s legs again. He dealt with the condom first, skillfully tearing the rapper open with his teeth like a Nookie Ninja, before he rolled it down his length so he wouldn’t have to fuss with it once he had lube slicking his fingers. Once he was situated, he squeezed out a generous amount onto his fingers, then rubbed it slowly between his fingers, allowing it to warm.

“If this hurts or you just want me to stop, let me know, okay?” Liam barely recognized his own voice, low and raspy from his dry throat.

Gabriel nodded, not moving his head from the pillow that he still clung to. “You won’t hurt me, Liam.” Gabriel sounded so certain, that it made something catch in Liam’s chest. There was no way in hell, even if there was an awkward afterglow, that he was letting this man out of his bed except to piss, shower, and eventually let his kids, Bonnie and Brady in for lunch tomorrow. But until then…

“Exhale,” Liam murmured, before carefully sliding one finger inside the heat of Gabriel’s body, watching him for signs of distress even though his internal muscles were offering very little resistance after all the ass play. After Gabriel started a new steady stream of mumbled encouragement and profanity, Liam removed the finger and carefully replaced it with two, moving with slow deliberation. Gabriel’s body wasn’t actively resisting, but he was tight enough that Liam would’ve taken the bet that the older man hadn’t used his own fingers in a while— if ever— when he jerked off after his divorce.

Liam hummed, the discovery as much a part of the intimacy as the act itself. When he felt that subtle, raised bump, he barely grazed it with the edges of his fingertips to see what Gabriel would do with that minimal application of pressure. The response from Gabriel was immediate, and almost disproportionate to the tiny touch—If the fact he hadn’t slept with a man or even a very adventurous female hookup wasn’t being taken into consideration—his curled fists pounding into the sides of the pillow with a cry.

Yes sir, there we go.

Liam licked up Gabriel’s spine slowly following the knob of each of his vertebrae up to midback. He kept his fingers buried inside that tight heat, but didn’t move them, wanting to give Gabriel time to adjust before he went for three.

“We still okay? You’re so tight.”

“I know. It’s been years since I’ve done this, even to myself,” Gabriel admitted, confirming Liam secret suspicion. “But I don’t want you to stop.”

Liam felt his breath hitch again at that. He might not have experienced the same length of celibacy that Gabriel had, but he hadn’t heard that kind of neediness in a lover’s voice in years.

Liam wanted to hear it in Gabriel’s voice every fucking night from now on.

He pressed down on the hidden spot a bit more confidently. Gabriel fell apart again, hands squeezing the pillow tight enough that Liam assumed it might eventually explode apart In a flurry of downy feathers.

Liam thought he’d felt powerful when he was using his mouth on Gabriel, but it’d been nothing compared to this: turning Gabriel into a wreck over and over with the most minute movements of his fingertips.

Two fingers eventually became three. This time, Gabriel made a soft sound of discomfort at the stretch, so Liam pressed apologetic kisses into Gabriel’s lower back as he slowly worked his fingers in and out, scissoring them carefully when he felt the release of tension in Gabriel’s spine as pain was traded for pleasure each time he skated along his lover’s prostate.

Gabriel’s face was still pressed into the pillow, but Liam could still hear enough to tell Gabriel was swearing each time he crooked his fingers. Gabriel, a man who was normally so respectable, solid and a dedicated daddy, who was always seemingly in control, had been reduced to a desperate mass of raw need guided by Liam.

And God, it was intoxicating.

If this was how Gabriel reacted to just fingers, Liam wondered, just how needy he’d be when he was being fucked.

His dick twitched at the thought, rock-hard and feeling turned on as all hell. Gabriel was on the same page judging by how easily Liam was able to move his fingers in and out now. He wanted to keep exploring that just because teasing him like this was a bigger turn on than Liam would’ve ever anticipated. Watching Gabriel tremble and squirm, begging for filthy things, just about gave Liam a coronary from the sudden readjustment of blood flow from anyplace in his body not directly associated with his dick.

“Liam.” Gabriel rocked back against Liam, driving his fingers deeper. “Just fuck me already.”

“You sure you want me to? Because I’m enjoying—” “

Gabriel’s low growl made Liam’s heart wag it’s horny tail. “Liam, now.”

Technically, Liam had the control right now, yet when that desperately authoritative note entered Gabriel’s tone, Liam was completely happy to sign off on a new ‘owned’ status.

Topping from the bottom was definitely a thing.

Slowly, he slid his fingers free. Gabriel huffed out a frustrated sound, rocking back and forth a little as if he was already imagining what it’d feel like to have Liam inside of him.

I can relate, baby.

Liam pulled his fingers out. Gabriel tried to move backwards with them, but Liam just shifted his position on the bed. “Greedy,” he teased. “Roll over for me, okay? I want to see your face.”

Gabriel nodded and made a sound of vague assent, as if forming real words wasn’t a priority for him right now. Liam picked up the tube of lube from where he’d unceremoniously dropped it on the bed earlier, squeezing out more so he could coat the condom. There was never such a thing as too much lube, especially for a middle-aged-, born again virgin.

A middle aged, born-again virgin who was stupidly hot despite the fact his hair so damp, the gel was toast, and the dark strands clung to his forehead in clumps. His broad chest was flushed with arousal, heaving as Gabriel tried to catch his breath. His cock was just as reddened, and hard against his stomach.

Michaelangelo’s David had nothing on Gabriel in terms of perfection.

Liam took hold of Gabriel’s legs and hooked them around his own torso, marveling at how the heavily muscled legs trembled under his touch.

“Gorgeous,” he murmured before kissing the outer corners on either side of Gabriel’s mouth. Gabriel’s hand lifted to sink into Liam’s hair, the wild, springy curls apparently good for something after all: the strands curled around Gabriel’s fingers, tangling so he could take control of the kiss, sucking Liam’s bottom lip between his teeth. He bit down, increasing the pressure until Liam gasped, then licking over it in sensual apology, obviously not concerned in the slightest about where Liam’s mouth had just been.

“Do you know how many times I’ve pictured this?”

“This particular situation, or a different combination of peg and hole? And no, it’s not a trick question because I plan for us to get to every variation under the sun at some point.”

Gabriel grinned, the thumb of his other hand swiping across Liam’s lower lip.

“I’ve wanted your clumsy, silly ass in a bed long before the tween matchmakers intervened, Yours, mine, the logistics didn’t matter. I just wanted us tangled together all naked and wanting. Every way I could possibly have you, I’ve imagined it.”

Liam grinned back, not taking any offense to the first part of that sentence. Other people had descried him as clumsy before—among other things—but the hungry affection in Gabriel’s tone was obvious and made the words endearing. Liam felt…desired on more than a physical level when Gabriel looked at him like he was the center of his world.

“And now that I do have you …” Gabriel murmured, “Same page check… This isn’t a one-time thing.”

It should’ve been a question considering the first part of the sentence, but Liam refused to take it that way after their earlier conversation in the kitchen.

“Bonnie’s always wanted to create a food blog based around family friendly meals, especially breakfast. She has an entire section planned around variations of French toast. Us being together means she gets new taste testers, two of whom she can take with her to her place to entertain while you and I are left to our own devices here, or at yours.”

He smiled when Gabriel’s expression relaxed. “It’s you and me until we have some kind of undefinable brain fart and decide all this chemistry between us should be wasted.”

Liam leaned in for another kiss that went from teasingly tender, to sizzling within seconds. Gabriel returned it threefold, breaking it only when his body suddenly stiffened beneath Liam’s when he shifted as if to try to press their bodies closer together, and the bed decided now was a good time to start vibrating.

Gabriel frowned when he felt subtle vibrations at his back. Vibrations, that Liam also felt when he placed one hand down on the mattress. He blinked then grinned as reality worked itself through the lust-driven brain fog that was being supported by Gabriel’s big, warm, and very confused body beneath his.

“Liam?” Just his name alone was a question, but for clarity, Gabriel added, “Why is the bed moving?”

Liam smirked, patting around on the mattress with one hand, refusing to pull his body from the comforting little nest of Gabriel’s. After a minute, he held a small, white and gray remote control for Gabriel’s impatient gaze to process.

“You were lying on the remote—it’s a sleep number bed. You know, you can adjust the mattress stiffness to your personal preference.”

“Seriously?” Gabriel’s flush drew another grin from Liam who grinned as he nodded. “Well, we’ll definitely have to test that out later, but right now I have exactly my desired stiffness.” He shifted, one hand reaching for the little remote to unceremoniously toss it over his head somewhere into the corner.

Liam snickered. “You break that, you buy it. Be warned, the cost for a replacement remote is obscene.”

“Or I just could just move up the timetable from the ‘acceptable,’ one year timeline most relationship therapists agree is the sweet spot for a couple to wait before they shack up together, by at least six months. Maybe earlier, if Bonnie really needs those taste-testers available at a moment’s notice.”

Liam could feel a flush crawling up his cheeks before he offered Gabriel a dopey smile.

He likes me. He really, really likes me.

“You like me.”

“I do,” Gabriel agreed. “Want to know a secret?”

When Liam’s brow arched curiously, Gabriel slid his hands down to Liam’s hips, aligning their bodies so Liam’s sheathed cock brushed his entrance. “I’ll like you even more once you bottom out inside of me and make come my brains out before you attempt the impossible—teach me to swim, or at the very least, just show me how to keep afloat.”

“Considering my refractory time might not cooperate with our intended timeline after orgasm number two, keeping you afloat on my dick might be an issue, but I’m sure Brady wouldn’t mind you borrowing his swim floaties.”

Gabriel’s laugh was muffled in Liam’s mouth, his hands tangling into those thick curls again as Liam slid a pillow beneath his lover’s hips one handed, then pressed into him so slowly that he knew Gabriel felt every centimeter when his hole clenched involuntarily around the head of Liam’s cock. His body was hot and tight, the entry relatively smooth—Liam had been generous with the lube—but the slow penetration was at once nerve-wracking and thrilling.

The light dusting of hair on Gabriel’s chest teased against Liam’s midsection, drawing a whimper from him. Combined with the tactile stimulation of Gabriel’s long, strong fingers clenching at Liam’s arm when Liam bore down, put Liam’s brain out of order for the foreseeable future.

“Soooo fucking tight,” Liam moaned, “And way too fucking hot—to be all this and a dad…it should be illegal.”

Gabriel’s fingers tightened on Liam’s bicep like he was grounding himself as he pushed his hips down, trying to take more of Liam’s welcome intrusion, hungry for everything Liam wanted to give him, but was holding back with a razor thin effort to go slow. The condom dulled the sensation just enough to keep him from going off too soon. Turned on as he was, Liam needed all the help he could get. He wanted to savor every stroke and moment until neither of them could take anymore. Pressing one hand onto Gabriel’s left hip to steady himself, he slid the other up and down his back as he slowly rode that perfect ass with just the tip inside.

Slow, Liam. Go slow.

“You’re so fucking hot, he ground out between clenched teeth, as the devil on his one shoulder tried to drown out the angel on the other one. ”Jesus, Gabe.”

“I’ve dreamt about your body,” Gabriel admitted on a breathy exhale, a hint of amusement in his tone, “Woke up with sticky shorts a few times.” He laughed ruefully, then made a low sound deep in his throat when Liam’s cock twitched deep inside him, wholly interested in that bit of information. “I haven’t had wet dreams since I was a kid, but fuck, when Harlow and Kora told me about the ink and muscle… Let’s just say it was a hot enough visual to remove the ick factor from the fact my tweens think you’re cute.”

Liam chuckled. “Well, considering they’re the reason we’re even here, I’ll give them a pass on that scarring information.”

He paused to glance down, using Gabriel’s still present erection as his meter for judging if he was hurting him. So far, things looked green as emeralds for Go.

“Fuck, Liam… I missed feeling full like this.” Gabriel said, his voice husky as it dragged Liam’s attention back to his face.

“Let’s aim for much shorter hiatuses then.”

“Sounds good. We can start right now with you fucking me so hard through this ridiculous, self-adjusting mattress, that the neighbors call the police.”

Liam’s pelvis pressed snugly against Gabriel’s ass, and he hummed beneath his breath when Gabriel slid his hands down further to curve around Liam’ ass so he could encourage the younger man to bottom out, every inch of them pressed in a heated, full-body caress. When Liam immediately rocked into him, they groaned in tandem, all rational thought and teasing words fleeing their minds to disappear in a white-hot wave of need.

“You feel amazing.” Liam leaned down to mouth at Gabriel’s shoulder, nibbling at the skin just hard enough to make it sting before soothing the spot with his tongue. “Can I move?”

“Let the 911 calls begin,” Gabriel said, his smile cocky.

The cockiness morphed into glazed pleasure when Liam pulled out slightly, just far enough that it matched the power of his exhale, before he angled his hips back in with a steady deliberation directed at finding Gabriel’s prostate. Something he patted himself on the back for getting the first time around when Gabriel’s body confirmed Liam had nailed his target by clenching around him as he choked out a gasp.

Liam groaned then pulled out entirely, creating an extra ring of friction with his hand curled against Gabriel’s ass before he shoved back in.

“Shit,” Gabriel grunted. Liam mumbled made a sound of agreement as he fucked into Gabriel, pulled out into his own hand, then did it all over again.

“We still good?”

When Gabriel shook his head no, Liam froze, mentally whipping through the last half hour to make sure he hadn’t missed something. He was going at lightning speed, but when that still didn’t feel fast enough, he began to pull out. Gabriel stopped him with a smile and a hand curled around his cheek to shush the uncertainty in his lover’s eyes.

“Not hurting me,” he clarified. “I…”

“Safe space, remember?” Liam said, trying to encourage him. “You can just tell me what you need.”

Gabriel made a circular gesture with his pointer finger. Liam moved back, only to find Gabriel still beneath him, but on his hands and knees in a crouched position. Liam didn’t ask for clarification as he tugged at Gabriel’s hips to get him into a better position, one knee gently knocking Gabriel’s aside to spread him wider. Before Gabriel had finished exhaling a shaky breath of gratitude, Liam’s hand came up to Gabriel’s shoulder and shoved him down into the pillows. Gabriel turned his head to the side to gasp out a breath and looked at Liam from the corner of his eye, lips curving into a grin so sexy Liam wished he could bottle it for a rainy day when he was horny and home with nothing else to do.

“I like how you think…” Liam teased Gabriel’s hole, sliding the length of his cock against it, but not allowing it to catch and push fully inside just yet, despite the disgruntled litany of profanities bouncing around in his skull.

His hair stood up on end along every part of his body when he felt Gabriel push back against him after Liam tapped his sheathed cock against his ass cheeks. “Is this what you want?” Another tap. Gabriel curled his fingers into the pillowcase until his knuckles went white.

There was a moment of silence in the bedroom, Liam’s frantic heartbeat all he could heard until Gabriel nodded and said, “Yeah. Fucking go, Liam.”

His voice was softer than the wet, squelching sound the excess lube made when Liam pushed back inside. As soon as Liam was balls deep, a relieved sound escaped Gabriel’s throat. The pace Liam immediately set after taking that sound as a full green light, was a solid pounding one that drove Gabriel’s hips forward each time.

Gabriel shuddered under his hand when Liam spit into his own palm then began jerking Gabriel off after wrapping his hand around the length, using the constant leak of pre to aid his strokes. The additional stimulation dragged a rough sound from Gabriel, something he couldn’t understand, though in the headspace they were both in, Liam doubted it was anything he really needed to make out because Gabriel was rocking back to meet his stokes.

Liam’s brain was so scrambled at this point, so focused on how good it felt to be moving in and out of Gabriel, that he couldn’t process much past that, and his need to make Gabriel come apart for him.

“Too good,” Liam mumbled, nuzzling the side of Gabriel’s neck as he wrapped his free arm around Gabriel’s waist, then kissed the back of his neck as he kept slowly rocking his hips. “Ungh… This is going to be over embarrassingly soon. You close?”

Gabriel grunted his assent.

“Thank God, because I want you to come,” Liam panted, “with me inside you.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel groaned, struggling to get an arm under him so he could press up on the bed. He supported his weight with one hand underneath, the other splayed in front of him against the solidness of Liam’s headboard. He pushed back harder, able to meet Liam’s thrusts better in this position. Liam admired the strength corded through that arm before he picked up the pace as his own orgasm started to close it on him fast.

Liam’s fingers went from base to tip, sliding over the top of Gabriel’s cock, then circling in a tight ring below the curved bell, before repeating variations of that circuit that he timed to the thrust of his hips. The constant changes in pressure and technique reduced Gabriel to a pile of need that alternately praised and cursed Liam for the pleasure whipping through both their bodies.

Liam leaned forward, thrusting faster now, feeling the finish line coming up on him hard.

“Liam,” Gabriel ground out, his frustration obvious. Liam grinned as he tightened his fist around Gabriel’s cock, moving fast and firm as he tugged at the sensitive flesh. “Oh my God,” Gabriel breathed out, his words murmured, but much clearer than when his face had been buried in the pillow and muffled by the Egyptian cotton determined to entomb him like some past Pharaoh.

“You gonna come for me, Gabe? Come on. Let me feel you.”

The sound Gabriel made as he came was a punched-out combination of pleasure and relief, belly contracting hard as he soaked Liam’s hand with his cum even as Liam kept working him through the orgasm until it became too much and he released his grip on Gabriel’s cock, needing both hands to grip his hips and drag Gabriel’s boneless, compliant body back to meet his desperate thrusts.

Gabriel moved, clenching his internal muscles in a way Liam couldn’t quite define, because words eluded him completely when Gabriel’s body shuddered, prompting Liam’s climax to slam into his do hard, he was convinced that while he’d been trying to fuck Gabriel blind, he himself had actually gone blind for a moment. It was the scent of Gabriel’s cologne wafting up to him from the pillows that made him realize they’d both collapsed forward, his fingers clenched hard enough on Gabriel’s hips as he stuttered through his orgasm, that Liam was sure there’d be marks left behind.

He leaned forward to rest his forehead against Gabriel’s sweaty back, muttering, “Damn,” though he didn’t move when Gabriel began to chuckle softly. He did murmur an agreeable sound when Gabriel laced their left hands together. The visual of Gabriel’s darker, work-toughened skin against his own lightly sun-freckled hands, went straight to Liam dick.

He’d never thought of himself as needing protection—except from himself—but with his fingers held willing prisoner between Gabriel’s, he did feel felt safe and protected. Apparently, Gabriel felt the same way, his body wiggling a little beneath Liam’s weight—not to push him off or get away, but just to press them together more securely. Liam’s own body relaxed, laying across Gabriel’s broad back like a living, sweaty, completely fucked out, human blanket until his dick finally softened enough for him to have to pull out so he could address the condom situation.

He tied the now full raincoat off, then dropped it over the edge of the bed, since the nearest wastebasket was all the way across the room in the bathroom—a situation they’d have to change soon—before wiping his cum coated hand on the edge of the duvet that was furthest from them.

It was laundry day tomorrow anyway.

With all the messy necessities out of the way, Liam gently patted Gabriel’s hip to get him to roll over onto his back. When Gabriel complied, Liam immediately held down Gabriel’s hips and lick a stripe up Gabriel’s cock, then closed his mouth around the softening length, suckling softly to get the last string of spunk that connected Gabriel’s cock to his stomach.

That he wouldn’t waste.

“Fucking hell, Liam.” Gabriel’s words were choked but Liam was content to suckle at the tip until Gabriel was obviously oversensitive, judging by his softly grunted eep.

Liam smirked because yep, he’d made the nerds of the world proud.

“Worth the wait?”

“If I say n, will you try again?”

Gabriel’s grin turned into a laugh when Liam goosed his ribs. Before he could get a second jab in, Gabriel tugged Liam down to his side so he could wrap around him as he rolled over onto his side, his strong-arm bringing Liam along for the ride as he claimed the big spoon position without so much as a, by your leave.

They lay in sated, sleepy silence for a few moments, Liam’s body relaxing back into Gabriel’s a little more with every soft exhalation of Gabriel’s breath against his jaw.

The sound of Liam’s cell phone going off down the hall abruptly interrupted the intimate moment, the cheerful electronic tone of the music making him groan.

“Should you get that?”

“Considering it’s probably just Bonnie being nosy, that’s a hard negative.”

Gabriel chuckled and kissed his shoulder. “As much as I’d love to keep you trapped in this bed right now, the ‘dad code’ ingrained in my DNA can’t let go of the, ‘what if it’s important?’ mantra.” He kissed the back of Liam’s neck this time, teeth grazing the top of his ear.

“Go answer it. I’ll be right behind you as soon as my jelly legs are steady enough to move me into the bathroom so I can clean up, and we can continue our night.”

“Or I could just get into the shower with you now so we can conserve water?”

Liam made a ‘see’ hand gesture when his cell stopped ringing. He rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat when the phone chimed with a text notification.

“Go,” Gabriel said snickering as he rolled away to get out of bed, slapping Liam on the ass to encourage him to do the same.

Grumbling, Liam followed suit. Logically he knew Bonnie and Brady were fine, but his internal code of brother and uncle, were similar to Gabriel’s. That didn’t mean he loved having to leave the warmth of Gabriel’s arms to wipe the tip of his dick off on the same spunk soiled edge of the duvet, before pulling on a pair of sweats that’d been resting on top of the hamper.

Definitely laundry day tomorrow.

Liam padded to the kitchen to grab his cell. When he read his sister’s message, his lips curled into a smirk before he took the phone back to the bedroom with him.

Gabriel was just turning on the shower when Liam walked into the bathroom.

“Important?” He asked, spying the phone in Liam’s right hand.

“That depends on your definition of the word.”

Smiling, Liam handed the phone to Gabriel before he stripped off his own sweats. Liam knew the moment Gabriel finished reading, because he laughed: a slow, rumble of sound that felt as perfectly at home in Liam’s bathroom, as it had in his kitchen, and his bed.

It just felt right.

Liam foresaw very generous gifts for every Christmas and birthday that Kora and Harlow had, for the next umpteen years at least.

“Yes, yes you did, and so did I,” Gabe said with a wide grin.

Liam squeaked as he was tackled with kisses after Gabriel sett the phone safely on the edge of the sink. Laughing and kissing they stepped into the shower, Bonnie’s message visible until the screen went dark.

Bonnie: Liam, did you finally find someone who always catch you when you fall?

 

* * *
Epilogue:

 

FROM his view on the edge of the soccer field, everything looked perfect to Liam. Their team was up high enough in scored goals that they could’ve coasted at this point, but the kids were having too much fun, relishing in the competitive athleticism they embraced.

Liam couldn’t blame them. It was a perfect 73° day in late spring, with blue skies perfectly dotted with white clouds, and just enough of a breeze to cool off the damp base of Liam’s neck. He considered that a deity’s gift since it wasn’t hot enough to justify him breaking out into a sweat. Unless of course anyone who noticed that, also noticed that the man wearing a hunter green t-shirt and jeans slung just low enough to make him relevant to the modern world’s fashion trends, was the reason for Liam’s tail-wagging lust.

To be fair, after a year of him and Gabriel coaching big games together—the last six months of that being done with matching jewelry on their left hands—well, the lust was expected by everyone, especially the Boomers in their neighborhood who alternated between awwwing the newlyweds and offering their personal best advice for a long and happy marriage. Only Mrs. McCleary’s words of wisdom needed to be drowned out around little ears on occasion—as well as Gabriel’s, since he always blushed with the vividity of radishes—even though Liam was always fascinated by how well versed in ‘queer speak’ an almost eighty-year-old was.

Most of the time it was a soft, steady simmer from both sides between them. Occasionally Liam stoked that comfortable desire like a fireplace by lightly dragging his knuckles along Gabriel’s lower back where a thin strip of his skin sometimes became exposed between the hem of his t-shirt and his jeans when he moved around a lot or bent to grab bottles of water from the team cooler. Now that Kora and Harlow had been able to convince Gabriel to stop tucking his t-shirts into his jeans with a belt, Liam lived for those brief peek-a-boo shows.

Other times it was Gabriel who slid one hand casually into the back pocket of Liam’s jeans, or just leaned in close to him with his arms braced on the bleacher railing, so that whether he tapped the gold ring on his left hand against the metal, or just let it reflect the sunlight, the subtle reminder that Liam’s dedication to just keep swimming, had ended with him living his, oh so cliché, ‘best life’ that was better than anything he could’ve ever imagined, with Gabriel, Kora, and Harlow.

His family.

Their French toast Fridays were now also being attended by Bonnie and Brady on a weekly basis, and every Friday night, Brady happily regaled them all with stories about how he spent his days at kindergarten. Show and tell was always his favorite. because he got to tell his teachers about his uncle Gabe, the ‘Candy Man.’ Harlow and Kora were just excited to have Liam as a permanent part of their lives, though they’d been a little less than thrilled the one time they’d had friends over of the penis variety, and Liam had reminded him from the office, through the Nest cameras, that it was two feet on the floor, and one blanket per kid household. Considering the scowls he’d gotten, he’d gone for broke at that point, and run background checks on both the kids and their parents.

Everyone had come back clean.

There were always adjustments to be made when you were merging families, but it was a lot easier now that Bonnie had sold her house and bought Liams after he’d moved in with Gabriel and the girls. It kept them on the same block, close to Liam and Brady’s two newest babysitters who vehemently reciprocated their new little cousin’s adoration.

Especially Harlow.

Liam had given his spunky stepdaughter her own set of orange floaties for Christmas last year, along with a matching t-shirt that said ‘Don’t let the cute face fool you. I’m a soccer beast.’

The floaties weren’t because she couldn’t swim, but simply a gag gift because it was easier to keep track of both her and Brady when they were giant blobs of fluorescent color as loud as their laughter out in the backyard. Harlow, being Harlow, had found it funny, so she wore them out of the pool with Brady, even when they were safely away from the water, playing ‘superheroes’ on the grass.

Sometimes Kora would join in. Other times she preferred hanging in the kitchen with Bonnie trying out new recipes from Pinterest. Liam had set up their YouTube Channel For them after explaining to his sister how outdated blogs were, then gotten them started with basic recording equipment as a joint Christmas present. Gabriel had given them both custom aprons, and redone Liam’s former kitchen to Bonnie’s style so she and her nieces could create new versions of overnight French toast to their heart’s content.

Gabriel had also given Brady and Harlow matching hard hats—Harlow’s still had a hole cut out for her ponytail—and kid’s sized versions of Gabriel’s tool belt, filled of course with one of every single fundraising candy bar type, as well as the Christmas Peeps that he showed the kids how to enlarge in the microwave.

Gabriel had gotten a t-shirt as a joint Christmas gift from Kora, Harlow, and Liam, with a printed picture of a cat that looked suspiciously like a cartoon version of Rocket—one eye and all—that said, ‘Tech Nerds Do It Best.’

It was the t-shirt he was currently wearing right now.

Liam grinned. He’d deliberately picked that shirt out a size smaller than Gabriel would’ve chosen for himself, but the girls had approved. To be fair, so did every female member of the cheering section for their team as well as the opposing one, judging by the way that no matter how often Liam glanced over at his partner, he always caught at least one set of fascinated female eyeballs watching Gabriel’s ass.

Liam couldn’t blame them. Although he hadn’t seen a lot of the inner workings of Gabriel’s marriage to his ex-wife, he now officially had six months-worth of ample, up close and personal data, to confirm that marriage agreed with Gabriel. He was as considerate and loving a husband, as he was a father, making sure to set aside time for just the two of them as often as he did for all of them together as a family. Having Bonnie living down the block from them meant the girls now had a ‘cool aunt to hang out with’, as opposed to a babysitter, and Gabriel and Liam got to spend some private time redefining the Nerdverse.

Still, not blaming the thirsty Suburbians wasn’t the same as not wanting to place an obvious stamp of possession across Gabriel’s ass when the rings weren’t enough.

Liam kept his attention on the field, calling out play directions as he unzipped his burgundy soccer team hoodie. Although he still wore the one-piece short wetsuits that his supervisors at the YMCA preferred when he taught classes, it was mostly a moot point now that the general masses—including the parents who had kids on the soccer team as well as in his swim classes—had learned just how much tattooed mystery was hidden beneath the long-sleeved black suits the last time, a month after they’d gotten married, Liam had staked a public claim. He’d done it at least twice a month since then, so the ink itself wasn’t a surprise, but people always looked anyway because while the ink didn’t change, his t-shirts did.

Todays was a dark heather gray printed with the words, ‘I keep all my Dad jokes in a Dad-A-Base.’

It’d been his Christmas gift from Bonnie and Brady and was wrapped around Liam’s lean upper body with the same, one size two small stealth, that Gabriel’s did.

Bonnie had always wanted an older brother as much as Gabriel had wanted a younger sister, so whenever they went shopping together or with the kids, Liam always ended up with a new fashion possibility to casually—and silently—proclaim, ‘This is all mine bitches.’

Liam stretched his arms over his head, then leaned over to ‘casually’ touch his toes in a carefully planned, bendy stretch. A casual gesture that made the hem of his own t-shirt lift up just enough for the KISS tramp stamp to be exposed, as well as the newer, three keyboard keys tattoo that had the letters, G, H, and K on them.

He’d originally intended to add the keys to the one on his thigh, but Bonnie had encouraged him to place it higher. Both to represent and celebrate his new beginnings with Gabriel, Kora and Harlow, as well as to remind the horny housewives, and house husbands of Portland, that Liam already belonged to three people.

A wolf whistle made Liam peek between his legs at a grinning Bonnie, who was sitting on the first row of bleachers with Brady. The little boy’s wild blonde curls were a halo around his head, as he ate a bag of Cheez-It crackers, apparently already having finished the Snack size bag of Oreos that Gabriel had given him earlier when the game had started.

When Liam shot her an amused look, Bonnie pointed over to his other side with absolutely zero discretion as she wiggled her eyebrows.

Liam turned his head to follow her line of sight, grinning when he met Gabriel’s focused gray gaze. Liam’s smile slowly widened as he winked at his husband before straightening up as slowly as an armadillo unrolling itself in the sun. Stretching his arms overhead again while he bent his back just a little, gave Gabriel a brief peek at the lower part of his abs where his belly button was pierced—the consequences of yet another bet he’d lost to the girls within the past four months, but one he was okay with because the appearance of the small piecing always made Gabriel’s eyes go hooded and the air between them crackle with the kind of sexual energy Mrs. McCleary would approve of.

“Hey, Coach Morgan. Need something?

“Other than the sudden need to put a bell on you so I have time to put my, ‘nothing to see here, folks,’ dad face on, Coach Morgan? Which by the way, is one you should work on too.”

Gabriel’s grin matched Liam’s as he pulled his partner closer after hooking a finger into the belt loop of Liam’s jeans. When their lips met, the PDA was received with whoops from both bleacher sections, even though it was a PG-13 rated kiss at best.

Gabriel pulled back, his expression amused when Harlow’s voice cut through the lively commotion around them with her yelled announcement of, “Hey, impressionable eyes out here!”

“Eyes that should be focused on the field, mini-Morgan,” Liam called back, earning himself a glittering smile as Harlo’s braces reflected the sun. She offered her dads a thumbs up with both hands, then whooped as she rejoined the game with the ferocity of the little soccer beast she was.

Gabriel brushed his thumb across Liam’s cheek lightly, earning a warm smile when Liam met his eyes.

“How does Family Pizza dinner sound for tonight? We can ship the peanut gallery off to Bonnie’s with the leftover Easter peeps for dessert.”

Liam snorted. “Love the first part of that plan, but Bonnie would disintegrate us with laser eyed scorn at that dessert plan. You know she keeps her cabinets carb-loaded for the kids. I think they actually made brownies last night.”

“Whatever they want to do works for me as long as we have the house to ourselves tonight. I think I could use another private swim lesson…”

A smirk curled Liam’s lips as he nodded. After a year of both public and private swim lessons, Gabriel could handle his own in the water, even when Liam wasn’t the one holding him up with his dick buried inside Gabriel’s ass for extra buoyancy.

He leaned forward immediately to steal a kiss, laughing when Gabriel groaned as Liam murmured, “As you wish.”

END