After he came home, drained, hurting, and faintly disgusted with himself, Sam vowed to remain celibate. And so he had until he walked up to the bar in Atlantic City and got drawn in by blue eyes he couldn’t forget and a sad but sweet smile.
“I don’t think it’s so strange.” He chugged down half the bottle of water and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “Zach’s a family man, and his mother is a widow. It’s only natural he’d want to be close to watch over her.”
A speculative gleam entered Henry’s eyes. “You seem to know more about him than you did last time we talked.” He tossed his empty water bottle into the recycling bin. “Something you’d like to share?”
Like hell he would. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He blinked at Henry and finished his water.
“Don’t you bat your eyes at me like you’re trying to be all innocent and shit.” Henry’s grin turned crafty. “Tell me, there’s something going on between you two, isn’t there?”
Time to go before Henry attacked him like a jackal with a carcass. Sam hefted his gym bag on his shoulder and settled his baseball cap on his head more securely.
“I gotta go. I’ll call you about that new job you mentioned.”
Before Henry could respond and pounce on him for details about his relationship with Zach, Sam sprinted out of the park and jogged down the block. It was nine thirty and he needed to shower and change before meeting Zach in about an hour. It surprised Sam how much he was looking forward to not only spending even more time with Zach, but also meeting his friends. It was a step back into the social life he’d shunned for so long.
Thinking back to how he’d spent the last few months, holed up in his apartment with only the television and takeout to keep him company, Sam hadn’t realized how narrow and gray his life had become. Isolationism was never the answer and didn’t aid in recovery. Without Henry stopping by to haul his ass out at least once a week, Sam was certain he would’ve formed a permanent and unhealthy attachment to his sofa.
He entered his apartment and headed straight for the shower, washing off the sweat and grime of the one-on-one basketball game he and Henry had played. The hot water beat down on his sore muscles like tiny massage fingers, and by the time he’d finished, Sam wouldn’t have minded spending the day stretched out in bed, Zach beside him, underneath him, or on top of him.
No one could fault him for that reasoning. Grinning to himself, he brushed his wet hair and pulled on shorts and a shirt. Zach had said he’d be by around eleven, so Sam figured he still had enough time to check his emails. He scrolled past the advertisements for penis enlargements, Viagra, and triple-X hook-ups. Damn, he needed a better spam filter.
One email that wasn’t junk stopped his scrolling short. Why the hell was Andy emailing him? They hadn’t spoken since the breakup when he’d moved out to be with the other guy. The bell rang, and when he checked his watch it was exactly eleven o’clock. It had to be Zach to pick him up. For some vague reason Sam felt guilty knowing Zach was outside waiting for him while he sat in front of the computer with an email from Andy staring him in the face.
Common sense kicked in then, and kicked him in the head. The man was a serial liar, and Sam wasn’t about to jeopardize the tentative beginnings of whatever he and Zach might be building together, to hear some bullshit spun by a master storyteller. Without sparing a second thought, he pressed Delete and hurried to let Zach inside.
“Hi.”
He held the door open, and Zach passed in front of him to enter the apartment.
“Almost ready to go? Marcus is already at the restaurant, and Julian just texted me that he and Nick are on their way.”
With Zach gazing up at him expectantly, an inexplicable sense of guilt swelled in Sam’s chest and without knowing what else to do about it, he took Zach by the shoulders and kissed him. Almost immediately and without any hesitation, Zach sank against him, sliding his hands up Sam’s chest, and tangling his fingers in the hair curling at the nape of Sam’s neck.
“Mmmm.” Zach virtually purred into Sam’s mouth, then broke away to kiss along his jawline before nuzzling into the curve between his neck and shoulder. “What brought that on? Not that I’m complaining, of course.”
The curve of Zach’s lips imprinted his smile against Sam’s shoulder, and he held Zach tighter against his chest. The delight in holding someone who felt so special, sorightin his arms was such a new experience for him, Sam wanted to grab on to Zach, keep him close, and not share him with anyone.
“Why not?” Sam slid his arm around Zach and steered him into the living room where they sat on the sofa next to each other. “You look good, and I wanted to kiss you.”
“Well,” said Zach smiling up into Sam’s face, his eyes sparkling behind his black-framed glasses. “Who am I to deny you that pleasure?”
This was the way he liked to see Zach: happy, light-spirited, and eminently desirable. “Good,” said Sam, returning the smile. “Because I’m about to do it again.” He bent and took Zach’s mouth like he owned it. Zach grabbed on to his shoulders, his hands splaying across Sam’s back, and returned the kiss with equal fervor. Sam could taste Zach’s need in his kiss.
For the next few minutes their mouths pressed together, hot and hard, tongues wetly sliding and teeth clashing, nipping at each other’s lips until they drew apart laughing and gasping with their rising passion and from the knowledge they had to put a hold on their groping, but only until later.
And Sam didn’t stop to question how secure and happy he felt, knowing there was going to be a later.
“Come on,” said Zach, pulling him toward the door. “We need to go, or we’ll never get out of the house.”
“Wouldn’t be such a bad thing,” said Sam, swatting Zach on the ass. He grabbed his phone and keys and locked the door behind them.
Instead of walking, they decided to take the train and had to wait almost half an hour in the hot and airless subway station, so by the time he and Zach reached the restaurant, Sam was sweaty, irritated, and thirsty. That didn’t stop him from smiling however, when Zach slipped a hand in his and gave it a slight squeeze, which he returned.
“There they are.” Zach waved at the table of men, his voice light with happiness. “You remember Marcus. And Julian is the blond and his boyfriend is Nick.”
Sam remembered all of them. Julian eyed him with a serious, assessing gaze, while Nick seemed friendlier and more welcoming.
“Hi, everyone. Sorry we’re late, but you know the trains.” Zach sat in the chair next to Marcus, leaving Sam to sit in between him and Julian. “Everyone remembers Sam, right?”
