Flux - 39. Chapter 39

August 2, 2002

Boston

Matt

I lay in bed, fighting against waking up from my nap, because I was so enjoying feeling Wade next to me. I let my mind drift back to the first time we’d done this, and how awesome it had been. It still was. I gently stroked his back, even as I pulled him closer, relishing the feel of his skin. I’d thought that I’d never be like this with Wade again, I didn’t think we’d ever be together; yet here he was, his body molded to mine. I forced my negative thoughts aside and heard him murmur contentedly as he sank further into me.

As my mind came out of its hazy sleep mode, I began to wonder what exactly Wade was doing. I mean, he’d dumped me, and dumped me hard in Paris, yet here he was, in a Boston hotel room with me, in bed. I wondered if he was naked like I was, so I let my hand move down his back to his ass, and found out that he was. He’d come into my room, and gotten into bed with me, naked? I was more confused now than ever.

Only my movements had woken him up. “Mmmm,” he said, almost purring.

“Hey baby,” I said, because he pretended to be irritated when I called him that, even though he wasn’t.

“Hey,” he said. “Is this OK?”

“You mean the fact that you came into my hotel room and hopped into bed with me naked?” I asked, chuckling. “Fuck yeah, it’s OK.”

He laughed at that. “It’s not your room, it’s our room. I hope you don’t mind sharing.” He’d gotten us a suite with one king size bed? I had the feeling I was being seduced, not that I minded.

“I don’t mind at all.”

He slid over so he was on top of me, with his hard dick pressing against mine. “I want you,” he cooed into my ear. God, he knew how to excite me.

“Dude, I can’t do that. The risk is too high,” I said, forcing myself to have a moment of clarity.

He pulled out a condom and slid it over my cock, then slathered lube on it. “We’ll be safe,” he said. I wanted to say no, but I couldn’t. I wanted to push him off of me, to save him, but that took more willpower than I had, than I’d probably ever have. He held my dick steady, even as he lowered himself down onto me. “Oh yeah. That’s so good.”

He’d been trying to get me fired up, and I’d been holding back, but now I just became unhinged. I grabbed his hips and pounded into him, then pulled out, pushed him onto his back, bent his legs back almost over his head, and plowed back inside of him. I knew his body so well, probably as well as I knew my own. And I knew his mood. He didn’t want a loving experience; he wanted me to fuck his brains out. I guess Alex hadn’t figured out how to do that yet, or didn’t do it right. For some reason, that made things so much better.

I pinned his arms back over his head with my left arm, then pinched his nipples with my right hand, even as I fucked him, using hard, long strokes, but going slowly enough so I didn’t blow too soon. “Tell me how much you like having my cock up your ass!” I ordered with a sneer.

“I fucking love it,” he cried, then moaned even more loudly. On and on we went, and it was so intense there was sweat pouring off our bodies. “Make me cum,” he begged.

“Anything for you baby,” I said, and picked up my pace, even as I backed off him enough that I could stroke his dick.

“Gonna cum!” he shouted. Damn. He was really into this. “Gonna fucking cum!” And then he did, blasting his load all over his chest and abdomen. I was a pretty volume shooter, so when I came, I could damn near drench someone. Wade didn’t normally blow like that, but he did this time.

“You are so fucking hot,” I said. I made to pull out, but he stopped me.

“Keep going,” he said breathlessly. “You feel so good inside me. So good.” And that did it. If he’d had the orgasm of his life, mine was just about the same. I blasted and blasted and blasted into the condom, until I was spent. Then I freaked out, realizing how dangerous this was, and carefully pulled out of him, making sure not to let the condom slip off. “I need a shower,” he said.

“In a minute,” I said, then I sensuously licked the cum off his body, and sucked the last bit out of his cock, making him chuckle as I did.

He pulled me up so I was lying on top of him, and wrapped his arms and legs around me, making me feel so loved. “You are the most amazing lover.”

“Thanks,” I said, and could feel myself blushing. “You’re not too bad yourself.”

“Not too bad?” he asked, even as he smiled. “What the fuck?”

“You were incredible,” I said, and gave him another nice kiss. We lay there, just enjoying the afterglow, until curiosity overwhelmed me. “You’re confusing the fuck out of me.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, and gave me a loving but apologetic look.

“You know, you used to give me shit about the roller coaster ride, but I don’t think anything I’ve done is this bad,” I told him, unable to hide my bitterness. “One minute we’re in Hawaii, enjoying the shit out each other, then we go to England and it’s just as good. Then you meet Alex, totally blow me off, then come to Paris and dump me like a rock. Now here we are in Boston, sharing a hotel room, having incredible sex. Tie this together for me.”

“Kind of makes me a hypocrite,” he said, acknowledging that he was spinning me up and down some pretty steep emotional hills. “I need to talk to you about all of this, but I don’t want to upset you.”

“I’d like it if you didn’t upset me too,” I said, smiling. “You’re asking me to be patient with you.”

“I am,” he said. “I don’t want to lead you on, and I need you to understand that I’m really into Alex.”

“Do you love him?” I asked.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “I think I could.”

“Then why are you here with me?” I didn’t understand him at all. If he loved Alex, or wanted to love Alex, why was he having sex with me?

“I thought you probably needed someone to show you that you were loved, and to make you feel like you weren’t a pariah.”

“So this was a mercy fuck?” I asked, getting a little fired up.

“There was supposed to be some patience involved,” he said, chiding me. “Being with you is never a mercy fuck.”

“So you were putting yourself out there, risking your life, to make me feel better?” I had to bite back the tears, thinking that he’d do something like that for me.

“I’m putting myself out there to make us both feel better,” he said. “I’m not risking my life. Being positive isn’t a death sentence anymore. And the risks are pretty low as long as we’re safe.”

“That was a nice thing for you to do,” I said. “It worked. I feel better.”

He laughed, and then got serious. “In Paris, I told you that I couldn’t sleep with you, even though Alex was OK with it. He and I made a commitment to only be with each other, but you were the big exception.”

“So does that mean I get to sleep with both of you?” I joked. I could sense this was a tough conversation for him, so I was trying to keep things light.

“You can try,” he said, shaking his head at me. “Alex and I connect on almost every level. There’s almost a serenity between us, because we’re so in sync.”

“Terrific,” I grumbled, even though I didn’t mean to. “Guess if that saying that opposites attract is true, you two are fucked,” I joked, to make up for my first statement.

“We’re compatible in all but one area,” he said. “We don’t really click sexually.”

In the past, that had been the most important thing to me, but suddenly it wasn’t. Maybe the reality of being positive was just now washing over me, and making sex less important. But I managed to keep my mouth shut about that. “How so?”

“Alex is a really caring and gentle lover,” Wade said. It would have really bothered me to hear about this if I didn’t already know that Wade wasn’t enjoying sex with him. “And he’s not real horny.”

“You’re saying he doesn’t satisfy you?” I asked.

“That’s what I’m saying,” he said sadly. Then I got it. Wade was a pretty calm and stoic person, but when it came to sex, he was pretty active. And he liked it when a guy could make him give up control, and take charge during sex. Alex was a fit guy, but Wade could pretty much overpower him if he wanted to. It was hard to see Alex dominating Wade the way I did.

“I’m probably going to fuck this up, but I’ll say it anyway. So what you’re saying is that you’re really into Alex, and that he’s the perfect guy for you, so much better than I was or am, but that he can’t get you off. So you still need me around for that.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he snapped, getting pissed off at me.

“I thought that patience thing went both ways,” I said calmly.

“I guess it does,” he said, giving me a slight smile. That expression faded, and he got serious again. “You’re telling me I make you feel like an escort.”

“Look, it’s really flattering that you guys made room for me in your relationship, and it’s a real ego boost for you to tell me that you want to keep fucking me because no one gets you off like I do.”

“But?”

“But it’s also pretty sad, like you don’t really like the person that I am, and so you had to go out and find someone else.”

“Come on Matt. You know it’s not like that. I’ve loved you for the past four years. I still do.” He stroked my face lovingly. “I can see why you’d be confused, and feel like I don’t love you, because I really treated you like shit.”

“When we were in Hawaii, you told me that you thought we had an 80% chance of being together in five years. When you met Alex, I felt like the odds just plummeted, and in Paris, I wouldn’t have even given us a 10% chance.”

“Ask me again,” he said.

“Ask you what?”

“Ask me what I think our chances of being together in five years are.”

“Alright,” I said, smiling. “On a scale of one to ten, with ten being for sure we’ll be together and one being there’s probably no fucking way, where do you see us in five years?”

“Eight,” he said, the same answer he’d given me in Hawaii.

“Dude, I don’t get it,” I said. “You are so into Alex it’s scary.”

“I really like him, he’s really sweet, and he’s got so many amazing qualities. I’m enjoying him right now.”

“But what if you fall in love with him, more than you already have, and more than you love me?”

He sighed at my insecurities. “Do you see Alex and me going down this road where we end up all but married, and living happily ever after?”

“Yeah, I can see that,” I said. “That’s why this has been so hard on me, and that’s why I don’t see how you can give us an eight. I see how you two are when you’re together. It’s like you’re perfect for each other.”

“When I first got into Alex, I didn’t really look at things very carefully. I didn’t think about what us being together meant, or what it would be like. And I didn’t stop and look at things from his point of view. It wasn’t until I left England this morning that the spell was broken, and I had a chance to look at things logically.”

“I don’t understand.” He was confusing the shit out of me again.

“The best analogy I can give you is that it was like I was at a party, drunk off my ass, and now I’m suddenly sober,” he said.

“So it was like there was some magic spell Alex cast on you?” I asked with a smile.

“In a way, he kind of did. We click on so many different levels, but it would never work,” he said. I just waited for him to explain it to me. “Alex has one major obligation to his family. He has to produce an heir. He can’t do that with me.”

“He can try,” I joked.

“He can,” Wade said, grinning. “And even though he’s admitted to me that he’s bisexual, he’s not going to be able to do that publicly.”

“I thought he was just waiting to make sure you two were solid before he did that.”

“That’s what he says, but it’s not true. He’s too honest to lie to me about it, so I think that he must be deluding himself.” I stared at him, asking him with my eyes to make this clear. “He has to have a legitimate heir, and that means he has to be married.”

“He can find some woman to be his beard,” I said.

“In his world, it doesn’t work like that. He’s expected to marry someone like him, someone from his background. Those women don’t need a title, because their father probably already has one. And they aren’t willing to just be a beard.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “It kind of does, but I think it’s just how things are. Alex is great for me, and I’m great for him. He’s opened doors in Britain that would have been closed to me, and I’ll be able to do the same thing for him here in the US. Plus I’ve got a house that will be kick ass if I can get the fucking contractors to get their jobs done, and that means he’s got a cool and free place to stay. He and I make a good couple, and we’ll be able to support each other.”

“So what happens a couple of years from now, when you’ve fallen hopelessly in love with him, and he’s fallen hopelessly in love with you, and he decides to say fuck it, and not fulfill his obligation to marry some society chick?”

“It still won’t work,” he said. “Some people can move to a different country and be fine with it. Alex has told me about other aristocrats who live abroad, and his own father is in South Africa. But Alex isn’t like that. I can’t see him leaving England for anything. I really can’t.”

“You could go with him,” I said nervously.

“No,” he said. “My ties to the US are just as strong as his ties to England, and maybe even stronger in one regard. It’s important to me that I raise Riley to be an American, and to appreciate his heritage. I need to raise him here.”

“So you’re saying Alex is a placeholder for you?”

“I’m saying that right now, the romance with Alex is really cool, and I’m enjoying that feeling of falling in love with someone, and so is he. But in the end, there really isn’t a way for us to be more than really good friends.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me that in Paris? If you would have explained this to me, I would have been able to deal with it so much better.” I was pretty pissed about that, because he had put me through hell.

“Because I didn’t have this all figured out yet. Things were so new, and I was so into it, that I wasn’t thinking clearly. It wasn’t until I stepped back and looked at things that all of this made sense.” I could hear the sadness in his voice, of having his dream busted. Alex must be like a drug for him, and when he’s around Alex, he lives in a love-induced haze. When he flew over here and got away from him, it must have been like it was for an addict who dried out.

“That’s what convinced me you were really falling for this guy. You acted completely out of character.”

“I did,” he agreed. “And the other reason that I was an asshole in Paris was because I was so overwhelmed with guilt over hurting you, that I lashed out at you instead.”

“Dude that is totally fucked up.”

“I know,” he said. “The first night I got together with Alex, he came up and held my hands, just like you did in the apartment. I don’t know why, but when you did the same thing, it really freaked me out.”

“It killed me to think of you with him,” I admitted. “Even when I was on my way to Paris, I took the long way, because I just couldn’t stand to face everyone and tell them about it.”

I was really surprised when a tear fell out of his right eye. Wade was such a rock, so to see him crying, that told me how badly he felt about this, and how sorry he was for hurting me. “I don’t know if this matters, but I didn’t fuck him until after we talked in Paris.”

“You said you slept with him,” I accused.

“I did. We messed around, blowing each other or jacking each other off, but we didn’t fuck. Not until I got back.” That didn’t really make things better now, but it might later, when I thought about it.

“How’s that supposed to make me feel?”

“Matt, I’ve only done this once before, where I totally lost it, and did stupid-ass shit because I was really into someone.”

“When?”

He rolled his eyes at me. “When I met you. Don’t you remember what a total idiot I was? How I ran off to the library instead of just staying with you, because you found out I liked you? How I slept with those hos when we were out at parties?”

“You’re trying to tell me you love him that much, as much as you loved me?” He was just making me feel worse now.

“I don’t love him as much as I love you,” he said, emphasizing the present tense. “I don’t know if I love him at all. I know I’m infatuated with him, but I don’t know if it’s love. Like I said, I have fun with him, and we’re good together.”

“Until you fuck,” I said, much too bitterly.

He sighed. “I’m here, trying to tell you how sorry I am for hurting you. How it’s eating at me like a cancer. And I’m trying to tell you how much I love you, because I do.” He leaned up and kissed me. “This deal with Alex is fun. It’s exciting. But it’s not what we have.”

He was making it sound like Alex was just a temporary fling, the kind of guy he could enjoy for a while, but then it would be over. If I believed him, and I wasn’t sure that I did, then his relationship with Alex should make me happy. This whole thing was just too fucked up. It was kind of like that deal with me and Tony, and Wade and Brad. And just like that, where it had fucked up all of our lives for a long time, it was time to seal it off, write off the bad feelings, and move on. It was time for closure.

“Here’s where I’m at. I really fucked you over after 9-11. And I really messed up when I tried to sleep with you last Christmas. But this has been really fucking tough on me, so from where I’m standing, I’d say we’re even.” I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction I’d get from him, but the smile he hit me with sure as fuck wasn’t it.

He held out his hand. “We’re even. And that means no guilt.”

Then I got what he was doing, and smiled back just as broadly. “No guilt.” Then I got sad again, and he looked at me curiously. “I’m not even sure how much longer I’ll have. Or even if I do live, how healthy I’ll be. What if I end up in a hospital, hooked up to machines?”

“The last time that happened, I was there for you,” he said. “If it happens, I’ll be there for you again.” Instead of trying to address my paranoia, and irrational fears about HIV, he’d said he’d be there for me, no matter what happened. I was overcome with emotions, and made love to him again, only this time it was even more sincere, and more desperate.

“We definitely need a shower now,” I joked when we were done. “Thanks for showing me how much you care about me.”

“I love you,” he said. “That hasn’t changed, and it’s not going to. Not even if you end up really sick.”

“It could happen,” I said morosely.

“We’ve fought this before,” he said. “Remember when you were sick, and Jack thought that you might have strep, leukemia, or AIDS?” Then he completely froze up on me. When I looked into his eyes, I could see his brain functioning like a computer as it frantically processed information.

“What?” He was freaking me out.

“What kind of test did they use on you, for HIV?” He asked that question like a prosecutor would ask a witness in court.

“I don’t know,” I said dismissively.

“Was it an ELISA test?” he demanded.

That sounded like what they’d told me. “I think that was it.”

“You need to call Jack.”

“Why?”

“Because they gave you one of those when you were in the hospital, and your antibodies completely fucked it up. You got a false positive.”

“So?” I didn’t get what he was talking about.

“Maybe it’s the same thing. Maybe your body generates false-positives on an ELISA test,” he said.

“Yeah, but I’m not sick now like I was back then.”

He pulled out his phone, totally focused. “If you won’t call him, I will.”

August 2, 2002

Teterboro Airport, NJ

Brad

I waited impatiently for my plane to pull up to the terminal. As soon as it did, one of the ground-crewmen zipped me out to it in a glorified golf cart. I would have just walked out there, but I still had a big suitcase from my trip to Paris, so I relented and graciously accepted the ride. The door opened and the stairs lowered, and I saw Will peering out, and then hurrying down the stairs when he saw me.

I had been pretty annoyed with him, but I’d largely worked my way out of that, especially after Stef had busted my balls about the same thing last night. He’d asked me in a pretty pointed way how I’d feel if Will followed my lead on this and was secretive about being tested. “Hey there! Welcome to your plane!” he said, and gave me a big hug.

“It’s good to see you,” I told him. We climbed up the stairs and settled into our seats. The pilot came back to talk to me, even as the Gulfstream’s engines were fired up again.

“Mr. Schluter, we’re going to run into FAA hour limits on this flight to Hawaii. Our plan is to stop in Palo Alto and get a relief flight crew,” he said. That made sense, since Palo Alto was the home base for the plane.

“I understand,” I said. He left us, and the plane started taxiing shortly after that. We were airborne in no time at all, which I thought was pretty miraculous for the New York area.

“How’s Matt?” I asked Will.

“He’s pretty depressed, but he was kind of excited to see Wade.”

“That was a surprise,” I said. I didn’t get why Wade, who had been doing nothing but pushing Matt away, would suddenly ask him to come to Boston to be with him.

“It was,” he said. “Hopefully Wade won’t fuck him over again.”

“We can hope,” I said. “They’re doing some confirmation tests for HIV?” He nodded. “When are those supposed to be done?”

“Who knows,” he said. “In the meantime, it’s totally blown Matt’s confidence. Cam bailed on him yesterday, which was pretty fucking raw. If Wade plays more bullshit games with Matt, he’ll probably turn him into jello.”

“I think Wade will make sure he doesn’t hurt Matt.”

“What do you base that on?” he asked. He was pretty pissed off about this. “He’s done that pretty much non-stop since he met Alex.”

“Let’s see if he learned how to do better,” I said. I knew Wade was beating himself up with a lot of guilt, but I also knew that he’d get how vulnerable Matt was. I couldn’t help but think that he was doing this to try and reach out and help Matt.

“So why are you going to Maui?” he asked.

“To surf,” I said, which wasn’t really the reason, but it was a nice benefit. “What did you do in Chicago?”

“Saw the city,” he said, the same kind of dismissive answer I’d given him. It sometimes irritated me that he was so smart. He wasn’t going to open up to me unless I opened up to him.

“Surfing is only part of the reason. The other reason is to see Scott Slater.”

“Why are you going to see him?”

I sighed, knowing I’d have to explain everything to him. “I was a dick to him, and I need to apologize.”

“By sleeping with him?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Probably,” I said, as if it were some great effort.

“You don’t sound very pumped up about it. Is he a bum lay?”

“I haven’t slept with him for a really long time, since I was in college, but based on how good he was then, I doubt he’s a bum lay.”

“I figured you’d be pretty stoked about finally getting some,” he said, teasing me.

“Who says I haven’t been getting any?” I challenged, then immediately regretted it, knowing that he’d figure out who I slept with, and he did.

“So you finally hooked up with Chris Mendoza?” I frowned at him. “Dude, he’s smoking hot. You can’t look unhappy about that. Unless he was a bum lay too?”

“No, he wasn’t a bum lay. He was pretty fucking impressive,” I said, smiling. I’d finally given myself permission to let Chris fuck me. It had been worth waiting for. Damn.

“I’m glad,” he said, smiling at me. “So why aren’t you excited to see Scott?”

“I’m excited about it; I’m just not excited about the talk I have to have before we fuck. It’s another deal where I have to apologize for being such a douchebag, and face the fact that I hurt all these people I love.” I sighed again. “That probably makes me sound even worse. I know I have to do it, but it isn’t fun.”

“You know, after you fix things with Scott, you’ll pretty much be done with groveling, right?” I thought about what he said, and then smiled. He was reminding me that as painful and annoying as this was, it was almost over. I’d had to deal with Matt, with him, and with Cody. After I dealt with Scott, I’d finally be done.

“I do believe you’re right,” I said, making sure he could hear the appreciation in my voice. “Thanks for reminding me that this is my last hurrah at self-abasement.”

“I don’t think that’s what I said,” he told me playfully. “I think you will have many opportunities in the future to apologize and humble yourself. I think there are limitless options for you to piss people off.” That really cracked me up.

“Good point,” I said. And just like I’d opened up with him, so he opened up to me, and told me about the hot bartender he’d been hanging out with in Chicago. I managed not to get all fired up about the fact that my not-quite-sixteen-year-old son was picking up dudes in Chicago gay bars and fucking them. I was learning to give him some credit for being smart enough to not get into a tough situation, and if he was, to work his way out of it.

I got some work done, while he went back and slept. After we made our pit stop in Palo Alto, I used the flight to Hawaii to get some sleep too. We were both pretty groggy when we landed, and hauled ourselves from the plane into the car. The car whisked us toward my villa, even as we both looked longingly toward Will’s place. My villa was nice, but I had to admit that I liked Will’s house better. Despite that, my main mission was to see Scott, and he was at the villa, so that’s why I went there.

The car pulled up to my villa, I tipped the driver, and we grabbed our bags, and strode confidently into the house. I had expected Scott to be up, kind of waiting for me, since I’d called him when I landed, but he was nowhere to be found.

“I’m going downstairs,” Will said. “I’m going to call Kai. If you’re busy, I’ll leave you a message and let you know what I’m doing.”

“Sounds good,” I said. I put my bag in my room, and then wandered around the house, looking for him. I checked the main rooms, especially the kitchen, then went into his bedroom and found him lying in his bed on his side, stark naked, looking sexy in a sleazy kind of way. I saw him and I just started laughing.

“You’re supposed to think I’m hot, not that I’m funny,” he said, being slightly bitchy.

“I do think you’re hot,” I said, as I walked over to the bed and sat next to him. “I also think you’re funny.”

He smiled at me, and reached up and ran his fingers around my neck, in a very soothing but erotic way. “I can be those things, and more,” he said, being corny.

“So what’s with the reception?”

He sat up, leaning against the headboard. “You’ve treated me like shit. You came here to apologize to me. You’re going to tell me how fucked up you were; only it will go on for a long time.” I scowled at him for giving me shit about being longwinded, which I didn’t think I was. “Then I’ll tell you that I understand, and that I forgive you, but you’ll want to drag that conversation on for a really long time too. Then when we’re done with that, I’m gonna fuck you. So I figured we could just dispense with all that other shit, and go straight to the sex.” He was too funny.

“You know, this is starting to freak me out,” I said to him, getting off topic. “The last few times I’ve tried to have one of these long, drawn out, groveling apologies, the person basically tells me what I’m going to say.”

“Maybe that’s because the people you’re apologizing to know the person you are and love you anyway,” he said.

“Maybe,” I said. “Or do you think they can read it in my face? Do you think it’s my eyes that give it away? Or do I twitch my nose or something?” I was messing with him, just continuing to make inane conversation, but he didn’t get that until I smiled. “Wanna fuck me?”

“Yeah,” he said, with the same tone Will would have said ‘duh’. I took off my clothes and climbed into bed, and wrapped myself around him.

August 3, 2002

Maui

I woke up, my eyes blinking at the sunlight that flowed into the room through gaps in the curtains. I smiled at Scott, who lay sleeping next to me. We’d fucked, taken a break to bullshit, and then fucked again. Like all things about my relationship with him, sex was both different and familiar. He hadn’t fucked me for a really long time, not since college, so being with him felt kind of familiar, but really different from what I remembered. He was part enthusiastic college fuck, part mature lover, and part straight guy. I noticed the straight guy part when he played with my nipples, treating them like a chick’s. I watched him sleeping, and he looked so angelic and innocent. The thought of that almost made me laugh, but I managed to restrain myself.

I reached down and gently stroked his hard cock, giggling as he moaned and spread his legs wider. He was a pretty sound sleeper, so I managed to slip a condom on him, kneel over him, and slide his dick into my ass before he woke up. “Rise and shine!” I said cheerfully.

“Totally,” he said, with his surfer’s drawl. I slid up and down on his cock, reveling in how good it felt, and how nice it was to be in a cool place with him. He let me go, doing almost what Kevin had done to me the first time we’d fucked, letting me take charge. I knew he was close when he reached up and started stroking my dick. It was impressive that he managed to bring me off right before he came.

“Good timing,” I said, as I leaned in to kiss him. “Now we eat.”

“Then we surf,” he said. It was our common passion, our bond, and actually worked kind of like it did with Will. Even when we were slightly annoyed with each other, we could surf together and it would help bring us closer.