Tarius had liked Zaq, who gave great hugs, and who didn’t seem put off by Tarius’s simple requests. Zaq had even given him a few massages—pants on, no sexy stuff. He missed their encounters, but as soon as Tarius learned that Zaq was dating and bonding with Caden Cross?
Off limits.
Besides, he got amazing hugs from Branson now. He’d never been bold enough to ask him for a massage, though. That’s whatmassage parlors were for. Or boyfriends. Not necessarily best friends.
Does Branson give good massages?
Not the time or place.
“Tar? I think you need this coffee, because you just zoned out on me.”
“Sorry.” Tarius carefully accepted the steaming mug and inhaled its strong, comforting fragrance.
“What were you thinking about?”
“Selfish things.”
“Hey.” Branson rested his hand on Tarius’s left knee. “Speaking as someone else with two younger brothers I constantly worry about? It’s okay to be selfish once in a while. Do you wanna talk about it?”
“I was thinking that my neck hurts, because I’m stressed out, and I need a massage, which is such a small thing right now.”
“No, it’s not. Sitting around in pain isn’t going to help anyone, least of all you.”
Tarius huffed. “I’ll stand under a hot shower for five minutes.”
“Nah.” Branson took the mug away and put it on his side table. Then he manhandled Tarius so Branson was sitting on the bed behind him, Tarius facing forward.
“What are you doing?”
“Giving you a neck massage.”
“Why?”
Branson chuckled then poked him in the ribs. “Because you need one, and I am fully capable of giving you a simple neck massage. I can get stiff sitting in front of a computer all day, and Rei has given me a few in the past. He taught me some things.”
That was as good of a reference as Tarius needed. Rei Bloom was both legally blind and a professional masseur (the legit,non-kinky kind). Tarius rolled his shoulders once then settled in. “All right, have at it, my friend.”
“Great, my first practice subject.” Branson made a show of cracking his knuckles, which really didn’t crack. “You know, this will be easier if you take off your shirt.”
“Oh, okay.” Duh. He pulled his t-shirt off, shook it out, and folded it before putting it on the bed beside him.
“Try to relax for me,” Branson said with a touch of humor in his voice. Probably from Tarius folding his t-shirt. Maybe it was fussy, but he took care with all his clothes. As soon as he got home from work, he took off his office suit and tie, hung them up, and changed into home clothes.
Tarius rolled his shoulders again then tried to relax. Branson’s first touch was warm, probably from the coffee mug. His palms smoothed across Tarius’s shoulders and upper back, light touches meant to wake up his senses, before pressing harder. Fingers gently dug into his muscles, starting at the top of his spine. Not too hard, working in circles, down each knob to about the middle of his back. Then up again.
Branson focused on his spine for a while, and Tarius closed his eyes, easing into the relaxation of it all. The massage moved to his left shoulder, then over to his right. Back to his neck and spine. Tarius was so relaxed he let out a funny little noise that wasn’t quite a snore, and it made them both laugh.
“Lay down on your stomach,” Branson whispered.
Tarius did without a thought, head turned left, arms by his sides. The bed shifted as Branson moved to kneel over him, hovering somewhere by his thighs, he was pretty sure. The massage began again, more palms than fingers, mostly warming the skin across his lower back and ribs. Never wandering below the waist of his jeans. Then Branson focused on his left arm, from shoulder down to his fingers. His right arm.
“Feels so good,” Tarius slurred. “Mmm.”
“Neck feel better?”
“Heck, yeah.”
“Good, because my hands are cramping, and my knees are about to give out.” Branson collapsed sideways and the bed bounced. “I don’t know how Rei does this multiple times a day.”
