“Of course.”
Reggie moved closer, bringing his arms around David’s back, pulling their bodies close. David’s eyes slipped closed and he felt Reggie’s lips touch his. The kiss began light and soft, but Reggie deepened it fairly quickly before pulling away again. David opened his eyes and saw
Reggie’s deep blue ones staring back at him. “Your face tells me that you’re in love with your boss and he has no idea how you feel.” Reggie released him slowly, and David gasped, turning away in shame. “Hey,” Reggie whispered, “there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, pressing it into David’s hand. “I think you’re really adorable and someone I’d like to get to know better. But your heart is someplace else, and as much as I’d like to see you again, I think I need to give you the time to figure out what you want.”
David nodded slowly. When Reggie kissed him, there hadn’t been a spark of excitement like he’d expected.
“Could we be friends?” David asked, sad that he might have disappointed Reggie.
“Of course. Let’s get together and maybe we could take in a game or something.” Reggie seemed okay, and David felt better that he hadn’t hurt the other man.
“That would be cool. I like basketball.” Reggie howled with laughter. “Football?”Dang, he should have known he’d get the sport wrong.
Reggie continued laughing. “I’ll get tickets to a Yankees game, and we can watch baseball, eat hotdogs, and drink beer.”
David tried to look offended, but ruined the effect when he broke into a smile. “That would be great.” Reggie continued down the sidewalk, and David hurried inside, climbing the stairs to the apartment. Javier was out and the place was quiet, so David turned on the television. “How’d your date go?” Javier asked an hour or so later as he entered with his current boyfriend/boy toy, Julio, right behind him. David couldn’t figure out if they were really boyfriends or the longest one-night-stand in history. “Fine. We had a nice dinner, and then he walked me home,” David answered as the two of them settled on the sofa. “How’s it going, Julio?”
“Good,” he answered. The man said very little, but from the screams he heard from the bedroom whenever Julio stayed over and David was sleeping on the sofa, Julio’s talents rested in other places besides conversation. “You don’t seem very excited,” Javier pressed. “Are you going to see him again?”
“He’s going to get tickets and we’re going to see a baseball game as friends.” David could never lie to Javier.
Even as kids, whenever he’d tried to lie, David would find his head under Javier’s arm, knuckles scraping the top of his head.
“Uh-huh. This wouldn’t have anything to do with Christian, would it?” Javier accused. “I know you think you’re in love with the guy, but it’s all one-sided, and you’re the only one who’s going to get hurt.”
“Javier,” Julio said, “he knows what’s best for him.”
Those were the most words David had ever heard Julio say at one time, and they both gaped at Julio, but it seemed he’d said his piece, and Javier giggled as Julio buried his face in Javier’s neck. The giggles quickly turned to a soft cry, and Javier’s eyes rolled slightly.
“We’re going to Julio’s,” Javier said a few seconds later just before standing and trying to cover the nearly obscene bulge in his pants as he led Julio toward the door. “This isn’t over, and you know it.” Javier tried to sound serious, but he jumped as Julio grabbed his ass. Once they left and the door closed behind then, David made a mental note to do something nice for Julio. He really wasn’t in the mood to talk about how he felt about Christian right now, especially because he really wasn’t sure how he felt. The man could be thoughtful one minute and surly the next, but mostly he’d treated David very well. It was his own feelings that were complicating things, and that wasn’t Christian’s fault. “Damn it,” David swore to the empty room. Life would be so much easier if he’d felt something for Reggie and wasn’t hung up on his boss. Reggie was nice, gorgeous, and really seemed interested in him. Sure, they’d only had one date, but David had already seen him naked, and after that photo session, it definitely counted for a few dates and maybe even as the first time they had sex. David turned off the television and decided to go to bed. Turning off the lights, he headed to the bathroom to clean up and then stripped down, tossing his dirty clothes in the hamper on the floor of his tiny closet before climbing into bed. An ocean breeze drifted through the open window along with the sounds of the city as he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.
David’s mind twisted and turned, refusing to settle, and he called up images of Reggie from the photo session.
Sliding his hands over his chest, David tweaked his nipples, imagining it was Reggie touching him. He caressed down his stomach before wrapping his fingers around his cock as he thought of how Reggie had looked: hard, thick, and long as he’d flexed his way through warrior poses. David began to stroke slowly as he remembered Reggie writhing on the mat, legs spread wide, stroking himself, every muscle in his powerful body flexed. It was Christian’s voice that interrupted his fantasy, cutting through the images, and when he tried to refocus, it was Christian staring up at him, eyes blazing. It was Christian’s hands that stroked his skin and Christian’s lips that encircled his nipples and Christian who lifted his legs before filling him completely. David went with the fantasy as his body overwhelmed his mind, and soon David was panting like he’d run a marathon as he came with blinding intensity, Christian’s name on the tip of his tongue. David inhaled deeply, his body tingling from the endorphin rush. Keeping his eyes closed, he let the final seconds of his fantasy play out before opening his eyes, let his brain process that he was still in his own small bed rather than being held and caressed in Christian’s luxurious one. As he came back to reality, the memories of his fantasy and how it had changed resurfaced, and he stilled before burying his head in his pillow. He was so completed and royally screwed. He wanted Christian, and there was no way he could ever have him.
Chapter Four
Christian was in the same boat this morning as he’d been a number of times recently—lying in bed with an achy body and head from a hangover, except this time something was different. David wasn’t there with his soft voice and relief. He didn’t want to look at anything, but he knew he had to get out of bed. Pushing back the covers, he cringed and jumped back into bed, burying his head under the pillows as the worst noise he’d ever heard in his life came from his kitchen. “Time to get up,” David said roughly, but it sounded as though he were yelling.