Ian tongued the base of his spine.“You can breathe.”
“’Kay,” Sam said faintly.Ian started kissing and nibbling up his back, until he lay all along Sam’s body.He thrust his cock into Sam’s slicked-up crack, working a hand under him to fist Sam’s dick, then he slowly rocked them both to orgasm.Sam seemed to appreciate it, and Ian’s eyes nearly rolled back in his head when he shot all over the small of Sam’s back, watching his cum spill out onto all that skin he was worshipping.
Sam’s hands fisted the sheets and his muscles spasmed as he moaned and rocked under Ian.Ian ripped the pillow off his head and kissed him through his orgasm, gripping Sam’s chin tightly and cranking his head too far back, feeling wet heat hit his palm.
Then he lay panting half-on and half-off Sam, hand crammed under the weight of both their bodies.Sam smiled sleepily and blinked at him, until he closed his heavy eyelids and didn’t open them.“Sorry I woke you up,” Ian murmured, kissing Sam’s ear as he finally rolled off of him.
Sam lifted his head and yawned until his jaw cracked.He leaned over and kissed Ian on the cheek, then lay back down, wiggling until they were skin-to-skin from shoulder to toes.“I’m not,” he mumbled before he fell back asleep.
Ian didn’t wake Sam again before Tierney picked him up for their Sunday rugby game.He knew what he was doing.Sort of.He had a good idea how things were going to go, and it happened pretty much the way he expected.
Just after Tierney knocked, Sam stumbled into the living room, wearing a T-shirt and boxers.Ian looked over at Sam, waiting until he saw comprehension in his eyes, then opened the front door and swung it wide.
“Nice of you to answer on the first knock this time,” Tierney bitched, stepping into the room.“Are you all ready to ...Dude?”He spoke to Ian, but stared at Sam.
Ian took a slow breath.“Just a sec.Almost ready.”He sounded steady to his own ears; God knew if he sounded steady to anyone else, but Sam and Tierney weren’t paying much attention to him.He turned his back on Tierney and walked across the room toward Sam, who looked at him with wide eyes.
Ian stopped just in front of him.“There’s stuff for breakfast in the kitchen, kiddo.I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“I really should go home.I have homework and a class to prepare for ...Are you sure about this?”Sam asked quietly.
Ian shrugged with his eyebrows.“Not really, but it’s better than hiding,” he murmured.“I’ll call you, okay?”
Sam laid his palm on Ian’s chest and nodded.“Okay.”
His eyes got even bigger when Ian grabbed his hand, pressing it into his chest, and leaned forward to kiss him.It was a quick kiss, and Ian’s slamming heartbeat distracted him so much he barely felt it, but that wasn’t the point.
“Be careful,” Sam whispered.
“I will.”
Tierney’s shock lasted awhile.Ian had to prod him to get him moving, and then Tierney nearly stumbled over his own feet.He followed Ian out to his pickup and got in without protesting once that he wanted to drive.
That’s when Ian realized just how much his big, gay display had knocked Tierney on his ass.He purposely drove by the T-boner-mobile to get a reaction out of him.Nothing.Tierney didn’t even glance at it.
Ian drove in silence.At some point, Tierney had lost his dazed look; now he looked like steam would start boiling out of his ears any second.Whenever Ian had to stop for a light, he’d glance over and see some new muscle twitching in Tierney’s face, or his pulse pounding in some usually hidden vein.
As soon as Ian came to a rolling stop at the field, Tierney slammed out of the truck.Ian parked carefully, wondering just how bad T’s reaction would get.So far, it seemed over-the-top, even for him.
Ian had gone into this figuring he could pretty much write off their friendship.Maybe these rugby games, too, since Tierney would never keep his damn mouth shut about Ian’s queerness.He’d take every opportunity to deride Ian as a faggot and worse from now on.
It wasn’t like T was such a great guy.What kept them hanging out was history and Tierney’s stubborn refusal to let the relationship fade, unlike most of Ian’s college friendships.
This level of anger—T so mad he was shaking with rage, so mad he couldn’t even speak—was more than Ian had expected.Did their friendship mean more to Tierney than he’d realized?When he finally left the relative safety of the truck to walk toward the guys—stalling as long as he could—he felt like he might be walking into an ambush.
As usual, the players had left their packs on the side of the field, along with the sweats they wore over their shorts.Most of them were out warming up already.A couple of guys were still on the sidelines, watching with wide eyes while Tierney paced and muttered to himself.He hadn’t taken off his sweats, and was running agitated hands through his hair.From twenty feet away, Ian could see him getting red in the face.
It really brings out the auburn in his hair, he thought.As if it mattered.
Guys were starting to drift in from the field, likely sensing something was not right.Maybe hoping for a fight; they played rugby for fun after all, and fights were a not-so-secret pleasure for all of them.
Tierney stopped his pacing and turned to stare at Ian, lip curled in disgust and possibly hatred.The guys came up behind him, as if they were on his side.
It all reminded Ian why he hadn’t ever wanted to come out before, because of this possibility.Being the odd man out on the team, any team.It was so easy for him to pass for straight, and he could get along with all these guys without anyone wondering about him.No one questioned that he never brought a girlfriend or wife along to watch—neither did they.Even at the fire department, no one had thought it weird when he’d just given up bringing along a token female to social things in his late twenties.They’d figured he didn’t like to get tied down.
If Ian hadn’t kissed Sam this morning in front of Tierney, he could have been that undercover queer guy for the rest of his life and never raise a blip on any hetero radar.Never have to face this.Hide who he was.
Sam could never hide it.He’d lived with being odd man out since puberty, probably before.
