Troublemaker - 15. Chapter Fifteen

Todd

I was working on the final touches to the templates I’ve been working on since noon in hopes that Barrett appreciated my help and that it would help him get closer to finding his mother. I didn’t know all the details surrounding Barrett’s life before he became friends with Anthony, but I heard bits of info over the years such as him being only five or six before he was taken into foster care. Also, the locket he always wore and fiddled with belonged to her as a kind of last memento before leaving him.

Barrett’s desire to reunite with his mother made me think about my own mom and how much I loved her. I could only love the memories I had of her since her passing. I really hoped Barrett reunites with his birth mother and that she wanted to be a mother to him again.

I placed my drawing tablet down and stretched, having sat on the couch in the living room for more than an hour when a knocking sound was heard. I texted Barrett earlier about meeting me at my place thirty minutes after four, and checking the time showed that he was an hour early.

I rose from the couch when Dillon appeared and quickly opened the door.

“Mom! Hi!” Dillon greeted. “I didn’t know you were visiting.”

“Oh, come now, Dill. You should know by now I don’t need an invitation when I bring food. Now hug me for goodness sake.”

I walked closer to see Dillon’s mother hugging her son with one arm and balancing a large tupperware of food in her other arm.

“Hi, Mrs. Picker! I can take that for you,” I said.

“Oh! Good to see you, Todd! And thank you,” Mrs. Picker handed me the tupperware that was warm in my hands.

Looking at the two of them, one wouldn’t have assumed they were mother and son, considering Mrs. Picker’s warm skin tone differed from Dillon’s lighter complexion. But that made sense since he was biracial, his mother being Filipino, while his father’s white. She was married to another man back when she lived in the Philippines and had three other children who were fully Filipino. Then he tragically passed away, and she eventually met and married Mr. Picker. They then had a fourth child who they named Dillon.

“What did you cook up for me this time, Mom,” Dillon asked as we walked to the open kitchen.

“Just your favorite. Sinigang.”

“Thank you. You didn’t have to bring the whole pot though.”

“Nonsense! There’s still plenty back home. And you seem to need it,” Mrs. Picker said, patting Dillon’s belly.

My friend grumbled, always uncomfortable when people talked about his weight. From what I knew, Dillon was overweight as a child and was a prime target for bullying. He lost the extra weight by reducing his food portions and exercising regularly when we first became roommates in college, and he had built some muscle as well over the years since he graduated. How he maintained his muscle mass with his long hours in the nursing home I had no idea. Though his health was at its peak, I could tell he was still self conscious about his appearance, especially when his mom made comments about it. They were generally harmless, but it still bothered my friend to a degree.

“You look tired, Dill. Are you getting enough sleep?” Mrs. Picker asked with concern.

“I am. You don’t have to worry,” Dillon said, smoothing his messy dark hair with his fingers. “So, is the family still getting together next month?’

“Of course. And you’re bringing Todd with you, is that right?”

“Sure. If that’s okay with you.”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I allow my son to bring his boyfriend to meet the family?”

What? Boyfriend?

I looked at Mrs. Picker who grinned brightly at me and then at Dillon, a deep frown warping his face.

I cleared my throat. “We’re not–”

“Oh, don’t be shy about it, Todd! I always believed you two would make a great couple, and I’m so happy you boys finally realized it.”

Mrs. Picker gave me a quick hug, and a strong one too that juxtaposed her small frame. I hugged her back but aimed my eyes at my friend, not boyfriend, for some kind of explanation. He just looked away and focused his attention on placing the sinigang in the fridge.

Releasing me, she said, “Dill’s been working so much lately, I was worried he wouldn’t have time for a relationship. But I’m glad I’m wrong.”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Well, I should get going now. You two better not let that food go to waste.”

“We won’t, Mom,” Dillon said as he guided his mom to the front door.

After saying goodbye, Dillon closed the door and quickly swiveled to face me. “I can explain.”

“Explain what? That your mom said we’re boyfriends and you didn’t bother to correct her?” Then a lightbulb turned on in my head, and I asked, “Did you tell her that we’re dating or something?”

Dillon bowed his head. “Something like that.”

“What? Why?” I exclaimed.

“You heard her. She thinks I’m working too much and that I don’t have time for anything, including a relationship. In the beginning, I just told her I was seeing someone to get her off my back. But soon she kept prodding for more information, and one day I just said I was seeing you. It makes sense, you know. We’ve known each other since college, and we currently live in the same apartment.”

“Yeah, but we’re not dating,” I said, emphasizing the last word.

“I know that. I just told her that lie, thinking she would finally stop bothering me. And then… Well, you saw it.” Pinching the bridge of his nose, he said, “Just go with it, please. We’ll get through the party with my family and it’ll be over.”

I huffed and crossed my arms. “Why couldn’t you rope Channing into your fake-boyfriend scheme?”

“Because Channing’s a player. Nothing wrong with that, but he’s not exactly dating material.”

“That’s funny considering I just went on my first date with Barrett and planned on having a second one soon.”

“I made up that lie before I knew anything was happening between the two of you.”

“Oh, that makes it all better then,” I deadpanned.

“Just come to the event with me as my boyfriend. We don’t have to hold hands or kiss since my family isn’t big on PDA anyway. And Barrett doesn’t even have to know.”

I shook my head, still not in with pretending to be Dillon’s boyfriend and lying to his family that we were together.

Dillon opened his mouth to say something else when knocking was heard again, and I realized Barrett was here. I eyed my friend, signaling that I wouldn’t budge on this issue, as I approached the door and opened it for Barrett.

I pulled out the ingredients I bought for the special sauce, which helped distract me from the conversation I had with Dillon. He needed to tell his mom not only the truth, but also to admit that he was indeed working too much and he needed a break from his job. He was always a workaholic, and he focused deeply on his studies back in our college days. Sure, he was making plenty of money from both his shifts and overtime, which I knew he was saving up. But taking just a week off of work, even just to catch up on sleep, could do him a lot of good.

All the ingredients were set up on the countertops and ready to be prepared. I wore a plain blue apron, while Barrett wore a frilly pink apron with a floral pattern that once belonged to Dillon’s mother. Though it would look ridiculous on most people, somehow the apron made Barrett look even sexier since a man who was secure in his masculinity to not be bothered by wearing feminine attire was always a turn on for me.

“Ready to start chopping?” Barrett asked.

I nodded.

I was happy to spend this Friday evening with Barrett, especially since this day was usually when my best friends and I spent our time at Bottoms Up. However, Dillon offered to take another shift for a fellow coworker and Channing had a job interview that he had to schedule today. We rarely canceled our meetings on Fridays, but today was just one of those days when both of my friends were too busy to hang out. Seeing Barrett chop up cilantro with that apron on like he was some fifties housewife made up for that though.

I played songs through my phone’s speaker, while we worked on this sauce.

As Barrett worked to open a can of crushed tomatoes, I got busy with cutting some onions, which proved a little difficult since I was already tearing up from just the first onion.

“Hey, you need help?” Barrett asked.

“Nah, I’m good. This always happens when I cut onions,” I said, wiping my eyes with my apron.

“Cool. But may I make a suggestion on how to cut them up more properly?”

“Am I doing it wrong?”

“No, but there’s techniques that can help you not cut yourself. Can I show you?”

“...Sure.”

Barrett was soon right behind me, his hard body pressed against my back. I stiffened as he placed his warm hands on top of mine.

Resting his chin on my right shoulder, Barrett said, “All right, for starters, you should be holding the knife with your thumb and index finger pinching the back of the blade, while the rest of your fingers wrap around the handle. Good. Now your other hand should be holding the onion with your fingers bent like claws, so the knife does cut your fingertips as you’re chopping. Yup, just like that.”

“Now what?” I asked.

“Now you make a rocking motion with the knife to get nice cuts. Good. And make sure to cut along the curves of the onion. Don’t just cut vertically.”

I smiled as Barrett pressed even closer to me to get a better look.

“Great job. The onions are done.”

“Where do I put these tearjerkers?”

“Just toss them in the blender, and I’ll grind them with the rest of the ingredients.”

I raised an eyebrow. “There was no point in chopping the onion, was there?”

Barrett chuckled. “Hey, at least you learned how to hold a knife.”

“Got any more lessons you want to teach me?” I said, stepping closer to him.

Eyeing my lips, Barrett then said, “I can teach you how to remove the seeds of the chili peppers. We don’t want the sauce to be too spicy.”

I smirked and allowed Barrett to show me how to properly deseed the chili pepper with his body pressed snugly against me like before.

All the ingredients were eventually uncanned, cleaned, and chopped small enough to fit inside the blender where they blended into a fine paste. We then poured the spicy, red mixture into condiment bottles that I also bought from Marty’s. Enough was made to fill four bottles, and I quickly reheated the grilled chicken with rice in the microwave. Barrett placed two plates with eating utensils on the kitchen island, while I pulled a couple bottles of water from the fridge.

After placing a good amount in each of our plates, we sat down side by side and squirted a generous amount of our homemade sauce before digging in.

I hummed in delight. “This tastes just like the one we had back at the cafe. Thanks for helping me make it.”

“You’re welcome. It was fun cooking with you,” Barrett said. “I can show you how to cook one of the other recipes I texted you next time.”

“I’d love that.”

I leaned forward and kissed Barrett’s cheek. He looked at me with wide eyes, and I wondered if I did something wrong or–

Barrett leaned forward and kissed me back.

He then licked his lips and said, “Very tasty.”

We continued to eat and chatted about what was going on with our lives such as me still working on the art piece that was going to be showcased at that art gallery soon and Barrett’s appointment at that agency.

It didn’t take long for our plates to be cleared, and Barrett offered to wash the dishes, while I dried and placed them back in the cupboard.

“That was a really good meal,” Barrett complimented as he dried his hands on a small kitchen towel.

“Do you want to take a couple of bottles with you back to your place?” I offered.

“Nah. You can keep them. The sauce pairs well with creamy pasta.”

“Cool, cool.” I leaned against the island. “It’s a shame I didn’t buy any desserts.”

“What kind of desserts are you thinking of? I can bring some the next time we cook together.”

“The one I’m looking at right now, perhaps?”

Barrett’s eyes widened, and I approached him until our faces were only a couple inches away.

I gazed at his handsome and scruffy face. “You’re so sexy.”

Barrett released a shaky breath. “You’re not bad yourself.”

“Want to come to my bedroom? I want to see your body completely naked and pressed against mine. Would you want that?”

“Y-Yes,” Barrett stuttered. “But…”

I frowned and took a step back. “Something wrong?”

Barrett sighed and squeezed the kitchen towel still in his hands. “Nothing. It’s just…It’s been a while since I’ve been…intimate with someone. I don’t want to mess things up by getting too excited, too soon. Oh, God…” Barrett bowed his head.

“Hey, it’s okay.” I reached my hands to Barrett’s face. “Whatever we do, I’m sure it’ll be amazing.”

“I also haven’t been with another man before you… You’re going to be my first, and I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Then I guess I’ll be the one giving the lessons then.” I chuckled, earning me a small smile from Barrett. “And we won’t do anything that you’re uncomfortable with. We’ll take this slow, okay?”

Barrett gazed at me, those warm chocolate brown eyes expressing nervousness and also hope. He then nodded, and I held his hand as I guided him from the kitchen to my bedroom at the end of the hallway.

I closed the door behind me as Barrett looked around the room. I reached for his hand again, and he refocused his eyes back on me.

“What now?” Barrett whispered.

“Let’s start with kissing and we’ll go from there. And there’s no need to be quiet. We have the whole place to ourselves.”

Barrett’s big hands touched my face, and his mouth quickly descended onto mine. Just like last night, our kisses soon became ravenous. My hands were already venturing around Barrett’s muscled torso, and I was so thankful that we weren’t going to be interrupted as he grabbed my ass again and deepened our kisses further.

My hands slipped under Barrett’s shirt, and I groaned as fingers traveled on hard curves of his muscular back to the even harder ridges of his shoulders. His hands continued to squeeze my ass cheeks, his fingers kneading the soft flesh that contrasted with the raging hardon pressed tightly against my zipper. Desperate for attention, my groin started grinding against Barrett’s who was equally as hard. It wasn’t enough though, and the last thing I wanted was to climax with us still fully clothed.

Breaking the kiss, I rasped, “Let’s take these damn clothes off.”

Tugging the hem of his shirt, Barrett nodded and lifted his arms. I pulled his shirt in one quick move and was left gobsmacked by his muscled torso. Pecs, abs, the defined V, he had the whole package. Barrett pulled at my shirt, and I hesitantly allowed him to take mine off as well. Though I had some muscle definition, my body wasn’t even close to the sculpted perfection that was Barrett Jones.

However, Barrett’s hands began caressing my chest and he said, “God, you’re beautiful.”

I chuckled and rubbed a hand on his thick pecs. “Says the literal Adonis.”

Barrett shook his head. “You don’t need a lot of muscles, Todd. You’re gorgeous in my eyes.”

His hands moved to my obliques, and I shivered from his touch.

“Do…Do you want to take this to my bed?” I asked, his hands gliding against my stomach.

“Y-Yeah. Sure.”

I locked our lips again as I gently push him towards the bed. There, I gave him a playful shove, and Barrett landed on my bed with a slight bounce. I crawled up to him, and we kissed and kissed. I reluctantly broke our kiss again and started brushing my lips along his scruffy jaw and to his neck where his Adam’s apple bobbed as I licked the warm skin. I gradually descended to his pecs and all the way to his navel, leaving a trail of kisses behind.

Grabbing the waistband of his jeans, I looked up and said, “Do you want me to suck you off?”

Barrett’s eyes were so wide, his pupils completely dilated. “Yeah, if you want to, of course.”

I smiled and made quick work in unbuttoning and unzipping his fly and tugging them to his knees. I spotted the impressive mound underneath his boxers and slowly lifted the fabric, the anticipation exciting me like I was unwrapping a birthday present.

His dick was then exposed, and I gasped at not only how big he was, but also…

“You’re uncut?”

“Huh? Y-Y-Yeah…Is that a problem?”

Barrett looking embarrassed as if his dick wasn’t the most perfect thing in the world made me grin. Without answering, I tugged his boxers down to his ankles along with his jeans, and didn’t waste time as I wrapped my lips around his hard shaft.

Barrett made a choking sound, and his hand gripped my hair as I suckled on the engorged head, the saltiness of his precum coating my tongue. I then guided his cock deeper into my mouth that salivated around the prime piece of meat until my nose touched his pubic hair. His hip bucked, causing me to gag.

“Shit! Sorry.”

I laughed and said, “Don’t be.”

I nipped at the foreskin, pulling it gently with my teeth. Barrett hissed in response, and I already had plenty of ideas of what I could do to the sleeve of skin that would make him go crazy.

However, I decided to keep it simple and returned to sucking him off, while I rolled his balls in my hand. Barrett panted and whatever words he said came out a jumbled mess, clearly enjoying getting his dick sucked and lavished. As I sucked him from head to base, I pulled out my own cock and whimpered at the much needed touch with enough precum to stroke it without any lube.

“Fuck! Shit! Todd. You’re going to make me cum,” Barrett blurted.

“You want to cum in my mouth?” I asked.

“No. I mean, yes, but…”

I smiled. “Tell me what you want, Barrett. Do be afraid to tell me.”

Biting his bottom lip, Barrett said, “Can we… Can we rub our dicks together? I want to kiss you and come together.”

I felt my heart swell, and I kissed his dick, promising to give him head next time, and kicked off my jeans and underwear. I was on top of him again, our dicks pressed together. I spat in my hand, and grabbed both of our hard lengths and started stroking. Barrett gasped from the action, and I claimed his mouth with mine.

Our kisses became so wild and untamed, our tongues just as slick as our cocks.

“God! Fuck!”

Barrett cried out as he shot his load, his cum splattering on his chest and neck. That sight was enough to take me over the edge as well, and I choked when my own orgasm hit me, so hard that I saw stars in my vision. I collapsed onto Barrett, not caring about the mess between us.

I took deep breaths, trying not to have an asthma attack.

“Are you okay, Todd? Do you need your inhaler?”

I shook my head, my breathing becoming more even. “No, you’re good. It’s been a while for me too. A long while actually.”

I pressed my cheek against his shoulder and just relished in the afterglow.

“So…was it good for you?” Barrett asked.

I faced Barrett who looked sated but also nervous. “Hell yeah, it was. What about you?”

Barrett closed his eyes and grinned. “That was incredible. You gave me the best blowjob in my life.”

“You’re exaggerating!”

“No, seriously. Not to demean what Sabrina and I shared, but I never got head like that before.”

I smiled against his skin. “There’s many more things I can give you when you’re ready. Like my ass.”

I felt Barrett’s softened dick perk up between us, and I knew that was something he wanted.

“I’d like that,” Barrett whispered.

He tried to suppress a yawn, but I knew he was ready to pass out. Great sex tended to do that. I reached for the nightstand and pulled out a clean washcloth from the drawer. I proceeded to wipe away most of the mess we made.

“Do you want to take a shower? You can use my body wash if you want?”

“Sure, but not now. If you want, let’s just stay here for a while.”

“Or the whole night?” I asked.

Barrett smiled, and I just tossed the washcloth to the floor before snuggling against him. I sighed with contentment with my face resting on his shoulder, while he lazily stroked my hair with his fingers. It didn’t take long for sleepiness to take its hold, and the soft breathing of Barrett lulled me to sleep.