Chasing Rusty Parker - 20. If It Fits, It Sits

Chapter Twenty – If It Fits, It Sits

There was this strange thing he hadn’t realized before, how Rusty always seemed to be moving, regardless of what he did, he never left a moment empty, and that striking thought overcame, for a moment, the pleasure he was experiencing as his lips were taken, chewed gently and then licked, making him shiver and groan in overstimulation.

Being with Rusty was like getting on board a rollercoaster. Not one dull moment, but Matty could swear there was something under all that, an undercurrent that could sweep them both off their feet without the possibility of grabbing onto a life-saving branch bent wearily over troubled waters.

Connor was talking about excess, but he had probably never had anything of what he wanted in large enough amounts to understand why it could be sublime and worth chasing. That was also what he was experiencing in Rusty’s strong arms. Everything, from the scent of his skin to the look in the hooded green eyes that promised everything, made him feel dizzy.

“Do you always kiss like this?” he felt compelled to ask.

“Like what?” Rusty hovered close, eager for another kiss.

“Like it’s the end of the world,” Matty explained as he moved his head to meet Rusty’s lips again.

“Sometimes it is,” came the reply.

Each word of that sounded genuine. Matty couldn’t ask for details because Rusty shut him up and explored his mouth slowly, interrupting all rational thought processes.

It was time for him to take a bit of initiative or he risked losing himself completely. He searched lower until his hands found purchase in Rusty’s jeans zipper. They both groaned as Matty felt Rusty’s erection. He let his fingers linger over the fabric of the underwear, enjoying the feel of that hard candy through it.

“Enough’s enough,” Rusty declared. “Show me, Matty.”

“What?”

“How good you are,” the soon to be dethroned king of Sunny Hill said with an all-knowing grin.

Matty smirked, too. Rusty liked to talk big, so it was refreshing to know that he could put him in his place with his oral sex skills. He pushed his bed partner on his back and proceeded to slide slowly over that magnificent body, his eyes never leaving the green ones filled with playful mischief.

He made a show of opening his mouth wide and then planting it over Rusty’s hard cock, still hidden inside the underwear. The head peeked over the elastic band, so Matty took advantage of the opportunity to tease it with his tongue and lick the precum from the tiny eye.

“How do you like my--” Rusty started, his voice soon growing breathless.

“Mighty Thor?” Matty asked with a smug smile.

“I was going to say my bald-headed yoghurt slinger,” Rusty said in a deadpan tone.

Ah, someone was trying to suppress his excitement by introducing comedy into the menu, but this time, Matty decided that he wouldn’t have it. He put his tongue into the slit again. “I can assure you, it’s not yoghurt.”

“Maybe you haven’t tasted it enough,” Rusty threw at him.

“Maybe I need to correct that,” Matty said brightly.

“Then, go on. Release the kraken,” Rusty joked.

Matty made a face. “You wish you had more than one dick.”

Rusty laughed. “True. Then we could make tentacle porn. You’d be the innocent maiden. I’d make sure to check all your orifices with my tentacles.”

“Perv.”

“Aren’t you the pot calling the kettle black?”

Matty sighed. “I guess. But, you know, forgive me for being educated by you in the pleasures of the flesh.”

“Yeah, yeah, put that flesh in your mouth already. That should shut you up.”

A kinky thought crossed his mind. “How about you make me shut up?” Rusty had mostly preferred to let Matty explore him, and in all honesty, he liked it a little rougher on occasion.

“Do you want me to fuck your mouth?” Rusty asked in a heated voice.

Matty shrugged to cover just how excited he felt at the suggestion. He pushed himself up. “How about I sit here?” He sat on the floor, his head resting comfortably against the bed. He closed his eyes for a moment.

“You have very specific fantasies, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Matty admitted. “Ever since I watched my first teabagging video, I wanted that.”

“Teabagging? Wait, that’s not from porn, that’s--”

“Yeah,” Matty said brightly. “A guy gets his inspiration from various places. Problem?”

Rusty laughed out loud and moved to stand in front of him, his cock already pulled out. “I see that you were on your road to hell long before we met.”

“Yeah, I’m full of surprises,” Matty said dryly.

Rusty shrugged. “Well, since we’re talking kettles and tea, I guess I need to get out of these.” He pushed his jeans and underwear down and stepped out of them. Then, he pushed them away with one foot impatiently.

Matty took a firm hold of Rusty’s balls as soon as the guy was on top of him and began licking them. The sharp inhalation that followed assured him he was on the right track. He took one in his mouth, then the other, as it didn’t look like he could fit both of them inside his mouth at the same time.

“You’re good at this,” Rusty grunted from above. “Damn, promise me, Matty, that you’ve never taken another dude’s nuts in your mouth.”

“Never,” Matty replied between slurps. He couldn’t help getting hard while playing like that with the guy he was in love with. Rusty would probably never know just how much Matty wanted him, but if that was all he got… no, he’d never be truly satisfied, but it was still better than having nothing.

“Oh, fuck, I’m so going to give it to you,” Rusty promised and moved to push his cock into Matty’s willing mouth.

That was pretty much what he wanted. Matty took advantage of the position they were in to slide one hand along Rusty’s crack and search for that tight entrance with his fingers. Another thing Rusty had no idea about was how much Matty had been fantasizing lately about exploring such an enticing backside. He liked everything about Rusty’s ass, how muscled it was, how firm under his touch, how strong the heat coming off that tiny opening was.

Tortured by a particular question, he tapped Rusty’s thigh. Rusty understood right away and pulled back. “Too much for you, kinky boy? And I haven’t even started.”

Matty ignored the teasing. “Has anyone touched your ass?”

Rusty grinned and looked down at him. “Why so curious? Ah, I can tell you have some wandering fingers.”

“Can I put a finger in your ass?”

“You can put two,” came the valiant reply.

“How about three?”

“Now you’re pushing it.”

“Just what I plan,” Matty said promptly.

They both burst into laughter at the same time. “Go crazy,” Rusty whispered. “I don’t mind a little surprise now and then.”

“You sure?” Matty made a show of putting two fingers in his mouth and sucking on them with as lewd sounds as he could manage.

From above, Rusty watched him with unfocused eyes. “As long as you don’t plan to put your whole fist in, I think I’ll live through it,” he said, his voice dropping low, filled with promises.

Matty licked his lips quickly. “Okay.” That came out as barely a whisper. They could joke and laugh all they wanted, but the truth was that they were both hot for each other.

It helped to have a bit of confirmation. The Mighty Thor was already leaking precum, making him drool over the promise of all those delights involving Rusty’s little friend. Of course, he’d have a fit over having the Mighty Thor called little, but Matty didn’t care. He planned on teasing Rusty and playing with him until he understood what he did to others by simply being himself.

He cupped Rusty’s buttocks gently and pulled him closer. Rusty manipulated his cock so that it was now aligned with Matty’s mouth, and they locked eyes for a moment. Then, the hard cock passed through Matty’s lips, triggering all those wonderful sensations and flooding his brain with endorphins.

He moaned around the hard shaft, lost in the sensation of having his mouth full. Without meaning to, since this was supposed to be Rusty pretending to get rough on him, he began pulling the other toward him.

“Slow down,” Rusty begged. “Oh, fuck, you swallowed more than half. Now you’re making me feel jealous.”

He had no reason to feel jealous; Matty was sure of it. He used his tongue and bobbed his head slightly to apply extra friction and pressure. Rusty’s hitched breathing let him know that he wasn’t doing a half bad job.

Good on his promise, he advanced slowly toward the main point of interest. His fingers scooted closer and closer to Rusty’s crack and began teasing so that he would be allowed entrance. Matty enjoyed the heat under the tip of a forefinger before pushing slightly in. Above him, Rusty was unleashing a symphony of moans, grunts, and soft curses.

Another thought crossed Matty’s mind. He pushed Rusty slightly back. “I want to eat your ass.”

Rusty closed his eyes. “That should be my line,” he groaned. “I’m too close, Matty. Stop talking dirty already if you don’t want me to spill all over your cute face.”

Matty didn’t have time to explain that he actually meant what he had said, because Rusty pushed his cock into his mouth again, making him take a little more than he could manage. He quickly recovered from the surprise attack and began using his tongue in the hope that it would push his partner over the edge, as Rusty’s urgent grunts of pleasure announced anyway.

His mouth filled with delicious spunk, and he let out sounds of his own as he struggled to eat everything as it came.

“You’re so fucking good,” Rusty praised him while voicing his orgasm, “you’re the best at sucking cock.”

***

Had he ever paid so much attention to how someone went down on him? It felt like all the cocksucking he had gotten over the years faded like pencil sketches in an old textbook. What he was getting now instead was a harmony of colors of the brightest kind, and he only had to look down to see Matty licking his cock slowly, his eyes hooded and dreamy, staring up at him, searching for approval.

Rusty patted his head. “Fuck, you really got me going with that ass-eating thing.”

“I meant it,” Matty said. “And I barely got the chance to finger you.”

Rusty tipped his head back and groaned. “Fuck, you’re an expert at talking dirty. And I could totally feel your finger, trust me.”

Matty threw him an annoyed look. “You so totally wiggled your way out of getting some ass action.”

Well, that was true, and Matty was getting a bit close to stuff that Rusty still shied away from, despite being totally comfortable with all things sexual. Sure thing, he had put his own fingers in and some girls played around that area, but it wasn’t the same. That made him think that it had more to do with who was doing the fingering than the act itself.

Whatever it was, it could put him in a vulnerable position, and he had had enough of that to deal with today. Now, he was all for having fun. “Come here.” He helped Matty to his feet and pulled him into a hug. “I’m your teacher,” he said. “I’m going to be the one to eat your ass,” he promised.

It was supposed to be a joke, but his mouth went instantly dry at the vivid image that popped into his head, Matty on his belly, only his ass raised, all red in the face, pulling at his glorious ass cheeks and exposing his cute little hole. Oh, fuck, damn; now, for real, he wanted to eat Matty’s ass, to see what it was like, and how undone he could make the other come.

“You’re no fun.” Matty pushed him away playfully.

“Really?” Rusty pulled him back, making their bodies clash and Matty lose his balance. Good thing he was there to catch him. “I’m all fun, and I assure you that when I eat your ass, you’ll totally see what I mean.”

Matty shook his head and moved it to the sides while Rusty tried to kiss him. “Weren’t you the one who thought I didn’t like his ass? Let me prove to you how much I like it,” Matty insisted.

“You’re quickly becoming ass-obsessed, you perv,” Rusty accused him.

“It’s your fault. You dangle the goods in front of me.”

This wasn’t a fight Rusty intended to lose at the moment. He released Matty from his arms and took advantage when the other turned to sink his fingers into his flanks and start tickling him. Matty howled and laughed as he fell to his knees and over the bed.

A knock on the door stopped both of them.

“Come in,” Rusty shouted without thinking.

Jonathan was the one to stick his head through. “I’m making dinner--”

All three of them fell completely silent. Only then Rusty realized that he was naked and all over Matty, who was also naked.

Jonathan reacted first and pulled back, closing the door. “Just come down in about half an hour,” he shouted from the other side.

“Oh, fuck,” Rusty whispered. “I guess the cat is totally out of the bag.”

Matty was conspicuously silent.

Rusty poked him tentatively. “Did you die of shame?”

To his dismay, Matty began shaking with laughter. “O. M. G., Jonathan’s face was priceless!”

“Well, I guess it’s not every day that he walks in on some dudes who look like they’re just about to become buttfucking friends,” Rusty said matter-of-factly.

“Are we going to be that, though?” Matty wondered. That sounded like he doubted such a thing was going to happen very much.

At that very moment, Rusty noticed how comfortably his cock lay against Matty’s balls. The Mighty Thor twitched in acknowledgment. “Why not?” he said casually.

Matty turned so fast, his neck made a strange sound. He quickly brought one hand up and began rubbing his nape. “Are we going to… I mean… Um, Rusty…”

“Why not? Are you worried that it’s not going to fit or something?”

Matty turned to face him and now lay with his back against the bed. Rusty found it the most natural to sit in his lap, given their new position.

“That’s sort of a big step,” Matty mumbled and his eyes darted sideways.

Yeah, sure it was. But Rusty felt like he couldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. “What’s big is my cock. What’s small is your asshole. But we will make it work, I promise. There’s nothing I want more.”

Matty chewed on his bottom lip. Finally, his pretty eyes met Rusty’s stare. “That’s my V-card we’re talking about, though.”

Rusty rested his arms on Matty’s shoulders, putting some weight behind them and making the other grunt. “Yeah, I know, but, let’s face it, you’re way too pretentious when it comes to dudes, and that means that you’re at risk at finishing college with your cherry still intact. Is that really what you want?”

“Are we seriously rationalizing why I should lose my virginity to you?” Matty asked, again sounding like he didn’t actually want to wait for an answer.

Rusty rested his forehead against Matty’s. “Would it be so bad? I mean, you might end up waiting for a very long time for that guy with--”

“Yeah, Lexus, big schlong, Ivy League, all that jazz,” Matty finished his argument with a roll of his eyes.

“I do have a big schlong,” Rusty pointed out.

“Good enough for me,” Matty said simply.

“As for the rest--” Rusty continued, bent on convincing Matty. “Wait, did you just say ‘yes’?”

“As much as that might surprise you, I’m not interested in those things that you mentioned when it comes to guys.”

Rusty threw Matty a suspicious look. “Not even the big schlong?”

“As long as it’s attached to the right person, the length doesn’t matter,” Matty explained.

Rusty made a sour face. “You don’t even want me for my big--”

“Oh, gawd, Rusty,” Matty moaned. “Do you want me to spell it for you? I do want to become your buttfucking friend.”

It was obvious Matty struggled to keep a straight face while continuing their conversation, munching on his lower lip and grimacing from time to time.

“Super-duper,” Rusty declared and made a move to stand.

“On one condition,” Matty said.

“Shoot.”

“You’ll let me play with your ass. This isn’t going to be a one-sided buttfucking friendship.”

“Do you plan to fuck me in the ass?” Rusty asked, his eyebrows shooting up so fast they pulled half the skin on his face along.

Matty let out a suffering sigh. “Did I say that? I just asked you to let me play with your ass. I’m going to use only my fingers,” he flicked his index and middle fingers in a gesture that caused funny things to happen in Rusty’s belly, “and my tongue. Do we have a deal or not?”

“And I get to fuck you,” Rusty took care to make clear. “In the ass.”

Matty’s face was so neutral, it could act as a mediator between warring countries. “Yes.”

“With my cock,” Rusty insisted.

“I hope you weren’t planning to fuck me with the wooden leg of an old pirate.” The neutral façade still resisted. How did he manage it? Rusty was beyond astonished. That was one mighty opponent he was going against.

“I have no such thing in my arsenal of sex toys,” Rusty hurried to assure him. “Deal?” he asked anxiously and pushed his open hand into Matty’s chest.

Moving awkwardly, Matty managed to shake on it. Their eyes met. Wow, now that was a worthy adversary. Rusty could barely wait for them to put their plans in action.

***

His heart was beating wildly to compensate for his efforts at keeping calm and steady while negotiating with Rusty the details of starting their buttfucking friendship. Matty had no idea he had it in him, but ever since he had met Rusty, that appeared to be par for the course. To catch an elusive target such as the king of Sunny Hill, he needed to bring out the big guns.

Therefore, it was excruciating to keep the same cool and collected demeanor when his heart was doing a crazy victory dance in his chest.

Caught up as he had been in getting Rusty to agree to the next level of their intimacy while accepting certain compromises, he hadn’t quite realized what it meant. And now, everything came crushing down, but in a fun way.

He would lose his virginity to Rusty Parker.

He would be allowed to explore Rusty Parker’s gorgeous ass. Hopefully, he would make him come undone so hard he’d want something bigger to penetrate him. Hopefully, that something would be Matty’s cock.

Hell, what was he thinking? Matty caught his face in his palms, only to realize that his face was burning. Rusty had left him alone for a moment as he had gone to ask Jonathan about something, and now he was by himself.

He stood to his feet and looked around. Where was it going to happen? Right here, in Rusty’s room? It had to be here, because Matty’s room was out of the question, now that obnoxious roommate of his was present.

To test something vital to the said plan, Matty began checking the bedsprings. How much action that thing must have seen. Well, he wouldn’t let anything bring him down from his high spirits. At least, Rusty hadn’t fooled around with a guy in that bed.

Next, what position would they use? Matty first lay on his back on the bed and looked at the ceiling. Missionary? It would be nice, but he might combust if he looked at Rusty while getting fucked. Staring at the ceiling was hardly an option; Rusty might worry that he was getting bored or something.

There were alternatives. Matty moved on all his fours. He would have to keep his ass up, for the perfect angle. He grabbed a pillow and stuffed it under his belly. Would this be good enough? Rusty was so tall, he would have to part his legs for his cock to end up on the same level with Matty’s ass. To make things perfect, some simulations were needed.

He pulled out his phone and began drawing stick figures on the screen. He had always been reasonably good at math, so figuring out the perfect angle—

“What are you doing there?”

He had been so caught up in his calculations that he had missed Rusty coming back. He didn’t have time to hide because Rusty grabbed his phone and studied his drawing with keen eyes.

“I think,” Rusty said slowly, “that you should stick to your major, Matty. This lewd artwork leaves a lot to be desired.” Then, he looked at him.

Rusty’s eyes filled with interest as he took in Matty’s position. Then, he looked at the phone again.

Matty felt his face heating up. “That’s not what it looks like.” He had no idea why he wanted to hide. Maybe he looked way too eager, and Rusty would think he was a bit too much to handle.

“I have no idea what you mean by that, but how you lie there right now makes me think that if I move behind you,” Rusty did just that, “and I grab you like this,” he planted his hands on Matty’s hips, “I could give you the perfect dicking.” To finish his demonstration, he moved his hips forward and slammed into Matty’s thankfully clothed butt.

A playful slap on the ass followed and Rusty moved away. Then, he suddenly leaned forward and whispered in Matty’s ear. “I think your calculations are correct. And don’t worry, your ass is perfect for my cock.”

There was nothing left for him to do but bury his burning face into another pillow. Rusty laughed and ruffled his hair. “I so knew you were bluffing by keeping that straight face and talking dirty to me. I’ll make sure it’s going to be perfect, what do you say?”

Matty just nodded, without removing his face from the pillow. Rusty continued to caress his head and back. “Let’s go down to dinner. Jonathan outdid himself. He made some crazy steak and some mad sauce.”

“Is that safe to eat then?” Matty finally recovered and thought his face was not so red anymore so that he could face Rusty and his cocky teasing.

“Totally. Come, upsy-daisy.” Rusty pulled him to his feet.

“What about Jonathan? He practically saw us in a very compromising position.”

Rusty shrugged. “I suppose he’s going to stare at us a bit. Although he had a good upbringing, as they say. He might not do that. I can’t say the same about the others.”

Matty remained a bit nonplussed and gawked at Rusty. “They all know we…” He couldn’t find the right words.

“Not exactly. But I’m not going to hide from my bros. Do you want to hide from my bros?”

“No, I don’t see why,” Matty said slowly. “But wait, aren’t they going to find it weird? That you’re straight and you want to--”

“Fuck you in the ass? Don’t worry. I won’t bring it up. They won’t either because apparently anal sex is not exactly a good conversation topic to discuss over dinner. That’s what people say, at least.” Rusty nodded and raised an eyebrow while closing the other eye, as if Matty had to understand what he was trying to say with that.

“I suppose so. But I’m not exactly talking about that. I mean, you and me, we’re dudes.” Matty gestured between them to make a point.

Rusty gave him an appreciative once-over. “Yeah, you’re one fine dude, if you ask me.”

“Yeah, you too,” Matty couldn’t help saying. Then, he shook his head. He couldn’t allow Rusty to derail him like that, not when it was so important to get things right. “Rusty,” he said, drawing a breath to get him through what he was about to say. “You’re the straight king of Sunny Hill. I’m your tutor, and I’m gay. What are your friends going to think?”

Rusty shrugged. “They won’t think you seduced me and gave me the gay, if that’s what you’re worried about. By the way, Jonathan gave me the gay, and I’m sticking with it.”

“Jonathan,” Matty repeated slowly, “gave you the gay. How?”

Rusty pondered for a moment, but as much as Matty was waiting with bated breath, what followed was disappointing. “I’ll tell you another time. Now, let’s get down to dinner.” He stopped for a moment, then he turned toward Matty, who was already following him. “One more thing. You can’t back away from it.”

“Did I say anything? Why do you worry so much?” Matty asked.

Rusty looked at him with shiny eyes and a dreamy cartoon character look on his face. “Because I’m a poor sensitive soul and I need reassurance at every step.”

Matty groaned and pushed Rusty toward the door. “I’ll give you some reassurance you won’t forget.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Rusty pointed out but dug his heels into the carpet to stop Matty from pushing him forward.

Matty didn’t have to ask what that was all about because Rusty took him by the shoulders and gave him his most amazing smile.

***

Dinner had been a pretty normal affair, and no one had questioned why Matty was joining them. They were all pretty chill, and Rusty thought it was just like his friends not to think it weird that he had a dude over instead of a dudette. Not that he usually invited girls over to dinner. Technically, Jonathan had asked them to join the rest, so—

Maddox put a heavy hand on his shoulder and sat by his side. Oh, damn, here came the lecture or whatever. Matty was taking a shower upstairs, and Rusty, while he much wanted to join him, had decided that he might just push the guy too much to be considered cool.

Therefore, he was alone with his roommates. All of them. Even Dex stood like a pole in the middle of the living room and stared him down like he wanted to extract vital information.

“So, you and Matty,” Maddox said. “By the way, they asked me to conduct this intervention.” He pointed at Kane and Dex.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Rusty crossed his arms and smiled cheekily at Kane, knowing how much his attitude usually got on the guy’s nerves when it came to doing the right things, like studying and the like.

Kane grinned back and winked at him. What was that wink about? Rusty moved his eyes to Dex, who also smirked like he knew shit.

Jonathan, at least, looked like he was siding with him, because his eyes were warm, just like his smile. Ah, so they were all going to make fun of him, except for Johnny boy.

“All right, boys,” he said cheerfully, “what do you want to know? Want me to give you the spiel about the bees and the bees?”

At least, that seemed to rattle Kane’s cage for a change. The guy made a shocked face. “Have the two of you already gotten there?”

“There where?” Rusty asked, offering solicitude and openness with the charm of a middle-school teacher.

“Stinging each other,” Kane said in a deadpan voice.

Rusty waved. “Not yet. I hope you assholes don’t plan to ruin it for me, though.”

“We don’t even know how we could do that,” Dex intervened. “What’s the deal with you two?”

“We’re friends,” Rusty pointed out. “Really close friends, if you catch my drift.” He batted his eyelashes, making them all roll their eyes. Save for Jonathan, of course, who knew a great deal more.

“How close are we talking about?” Dex questioned.

“Are you asking about the distance between my dick and Matty’s sexy butt?” Rusty inquired politely.

“Seriously, dude?” Dex looked exasperated already.

“Eh, you know how it is. If it fits, it sits,” Rusty said with a shrug.

That earned him a collective chuckle. Rusty bowed slightly in front of his audience.

“Matty looks like a good guy,” Kane said. “Don’t do anything to hurt his feelings.”

“I’m going to use lube, what the hell?” Rusty thought it appropriate to show how scandalized such an accusation made him be. “Why are you all so interested in my sex life again?”

Dex came closer and squeezed his shoulder to make him pay attention. “We’re interested in your feelings, asshole. Feelings.” His mate repeated that word slowly as if he was in first grade or something.

“Yeah, yeah, feelings,” he agreed since Dex could get pretty mean and physical when he wanted to convince Rusty of his point of view. He had to admit that it was a good tactic. It usually made him yield. “We’re cool. We’re friends. We’re experimenting.” He enunciated the last word while wiggling his eyebrows. “Stop looking at me like that. I’m not going to go down the Maddox way,” he pointed at his bestie, who grunted to express his annoyance.

“Are you sure?” Kane asked and stared him down.

“Totally. You won’t hear me about boyfriends, engagements, and whatnot from me. Matty and I are just friends. And we’re going to stay that way. By the way, what got into you to think about stuff like that?”

Kane gave him a lopsided grin. “Let’s say you two were anything but discreet.”

“Did we make that much noise?”

“You kissed him when he left his last tutoring session here.”

He did? He didn’t remember that. Hell, he was losing it a bit.

“And you were making noise,” Kane added promptly.

“Hmm, I see. Well, I’ll let you live more exciting lives vicariously through me,” Rusty offered.

“Generous of you. Not really. Just don’t do anything to upset Matty, okay?”

Yeah, it was totally okay. Matty would never get upset with him.

***

Eavesdropping wasn’t the polite thing to do, Matty thought as he moved quietly on the landing to go to Rusty’s room. So, they were friends. They would always be friends. That didn’t hurt.

Much.

TBC