Greg bolts out the door, gets in the car, and sings along to his playlist the whole ride to Julien’s place, renewed in his mission to be open with Julien about these emotions he’s harboring.
He’s mid-belt of a Billy Joel song when his phone chimes with a notification. At first, he assumes it’s TikTok again, but when he pulls into the parking lot for Julien’s place, he notices it’s an email from an address he hasn’t seen in a while.
The message is an interview offer from one of the bougie bars he used to frequent with his Manhattan friends—the kind with velvet-roped VIP sections and celebrity DJs on rotation. The club cites his recent TikToks as the main reason they’re contacting him.
Last year, Greg would’ve done a bell kick if he got this news. What a perfect way to extend his brand, his reach, his influence. Now, he’s conflicted.
He’s sitting in his idling car outside of his friends-with-benefits-maybe-soon-boyfriend’s apartment in Pennsylvania, a place and a state he’s grown accustomed to.
In the back of his mind, a small voice pipes up and whispers how pricey that bar was, how much the clientele tipped on a busy night. He might be moving toward even ground with his debt, but he’s barely making the kind of money he wants to be. He probably can’t make that kind of money at Martin’s Place ever, sadly.
He shuts up that small voice by reminding himself that insightful, diligent Julien is inside. Who better to ask about this than him? Maybe it’ll be a good segue into sharing his feelings. Listing his wants for a relationship with Julien as a con for leaving, a strike against taking the interview.
Ignoring his head and leading with his heart (and a member farther south), Greg shuts off the car and heads inside.
When he arrives at Julien’s door, he knocks but there’s no answer. He tries the knob, and it’s unlocked. He lets himself in, takes off his shoes, and follows the sound of running water to the bathroom.
Julien must still be showering, which is odd because Julien is usually sparklingly clean by the time he arrives. Then, he hears Julien’s voice, “Come in.”
Adjusting to the humidity and peering through the steam, he finds Julien naked and wet in the glass-walled shower.
“Join me,” Julien demands.
Greg strips as fast as possible. Opening the door, he’s greeted by the sight of Julien facing away, palms splayed on the white tile, a stream of water sluicing down the arch of Julien’s back and disappearing between his two perky ass cheeks.
Greg has never been more aroused.
Greg has never been thishard.
Seriously. He looks down and he could hang a damp towel over this thing, and it wouldn’t dip a bit. The new medication he’s been taking must be working a unique kind of magic. He’s enchanted.
Questions, big conversations, and potential interviews fly out of Greg’s head. His sole focus is on Julien’s eager, pliable, accommodating body as he steps into the spray. Every cell inside him is vibrating on high. Gently, he runs his fingers along Julien’s entrance, eliciting a light gasp.
Greg can tell he’s already open, already lubed. Julien prepared and is ready for him. Greg feels the same.
They had the discussions. They both went and got tested recently, they are both taking PrEP, and neither of them are sleeping with other people. Their safety is assured, but Greg asks anyway in a throaty, needy whisper, “Do you want me inside you bare?”
He steps closer to Julien so his upward curved cock brushes the cleft of his ass. Julien shudders at this. Gulps loudly. Nods.
“I need to hear you say it.” The verbal confirmation will help Greg relax and enjoy this the way he knows they both want to. Screw his jumbled feelings for now. Lust is writhing back into his lap, and he’s grabbing it by the hips.
“Yes,” Julien says, breathy. “Fuck me bare.”
Greg could explode from the amount of desire ticking away inside him right now. After a brief exploration with his fingers and a trail of kisses up Julien’s neck, stopping briefly at his earlobe to nibble the way Julien likes, Greg lines his erection up and very slowly enters Julien for the first time. Without a dildo. Without a barrier.
Overexcited, Greg stops once Julien has taken him to the base. Julien must know—of course he does, Julien knows Greg so well—what Greg needs because he doesn’t move an inch. He just holds there. And they breathe together. Chest to back. Greg’s hands on Julien’s pecs.
“Is it everything you imagined?” Julien asks, even though he must know the answer. He has to.
“Everything,” Greg replies, sinking almost imperceptibly deeper into Julien.This is such a gift. Getting to do this with him.He wants to do this time and time again. “Absolutely...” Greg rolls his hips back “...everything.”
And then—head empty, body alight—he bucks back inside.
Nineteen
JULIEN
It’s Sunday, and Julien’s panic packing.
