“Yeah, can we not do that? You two can drop me off and go spend the next four days fucking all over the fancy hotel you’re staying at. Let’s go before you draw more attention to yourselves, you hoes,” Penny grumbles before flinging herself into the back seat. Oliver opens the passenger door for me, kissing me one more time, before jogging to the driver’s side.
Almost two hours later, we finally walk through the door of Oliver’s hotel room. While he’ll be working in Manhattan for the next few weeks, he chose to stay in Brooklyn, making it easier for us to see each other. He opted for a suite, so he has a sitting room with a sofa, a nice-sized desk, and a small kitchenette. There’s a balcony overlooking the street below. With the doors closed, the traffic doesn’t seem to exist. I know if we step outside, we’ll hear honking horns and occasional shouts, which bring a smile to my face.
I continue my explorations, making my way to the bedroom, where I’m met with a king-size bed with a mahogany headboard. There’s a small chair in the corner, and I have to stifle the laughter bubbling up in my chest, thinking about AJ and Julian telling me that it’s called a “cuck chair.” They would threaten to sneak into the hotel room when Darío and I were asleep so they could watch us from the chair in the corner. Nostalgia settles heavily in my gut as I think about all of the adventures the four of us went on together.
Despite how tired I am from traveling, I approach the floor-to-ceiling windows to watch life happening on the street. There’s a pizza place across the street, a true hole-in-the-wall type, that probably has the best pizza in the city. My mouth waters at the thought. As I’m contemplating running over to get some, Oliver slides his arms around my waist and kisses my neck. I tilt my head, giving him better access.
“If you haven’t made it to the bathroom yet, there’s a Jacuzzi tub waiting for you. I was thinking you can take a bath, and I’ll run over to get that pizza you’re drooling over,” he mumbles against my neck.
“Hmm, that sounds good, but I thought you’d eat me for dinner instead,” I reply. My voice is soft, if a bit needy. If I get to choose between food and getting dicked into the mattress, I’m going with dick. I’ve had food more recently than I’ve had an orgasm. A boy has needs.
“Mmm, is my needy boy feeling neglected?” He starts to suck on my collarbone as a hand makes its way to my throat. I grind against him to show him just how needy I am. “Ok, baby. Let’s get you in the bath, then I’ll worship every inch of you until you’re hungry for more than just my cock.”
“That sounds perfect,” I moan as he applies pressure to my throat. God, I’ve missed this so much. Sinking into the pleasure, I allow Oliver to lead me to the bathroom, where he begins to fill the tub with steaming water. I feel my muscles dissolve their tension before I’ve even stepped foot in the bath. He takes his time washing every inch of my body, but completely ignores my desperate cock. I’m practically sobbing when he wraps me in a towel, leading me to the bedroom.
Before we’ve made it to the bed, his arms wrap around my waist, and he’s kissing me aggressively while I grind against his firm thigh. I’m not above rubbing against him until I come if that’s what it takes. If I don’t get him inside of me soon, I’mgoing to explode. I’m whining and panting as he backs me up to the bed, never taking his lips off mine. “Oli, please. I need it,” I beg. “It’s been too long.”
“Shh, I’m going to take care of you,” he promises before he pushes me to the bed on my back. He doesn’t waste any time taking my legs and folding me in half, exposing my hole for his perusal. “Fuck, you have the most perfect hole, Harlan. I can’t wait until I’m leaking out of you.” I let out a keening sound that should embarrass me, but I couldn’t care less at the moment. Oliver leans in and licks from my balls to my hole and back. He takes his time softening me with his tongue while he keeps my ankles in a firm grip above my head.
My cock is leaking a steady stream of precum as Oli continues his explorations with his mouth. I’m pretty sure I’ll come untouched if he doesn’t stop, but I’m so desperate that I don’t tell him that. “Keep your legs where they are,” he commands, letting my ankles go. Hooking my arms around my knees, I do as he asks, and I’m rewarded with a finger breaching me. I gasp and clench before I relax into the intrusion. “That’s right, baby. Open up for me. I need to get you ready for my cock, because that’s what you want, isn’t it?”
Oliver spends the rest of the night taking me apart; torturing an obscene number of orgasms from my willing body. I’m breathless and completely boneless by the time he allows me to rest. I close my eyes, feeling his cum leaking out of my well-fucked hole. He must assume I’m sleeping, because his voice barely registers in my current state. “I’m afraid I’m falling in love with you, Harlan. I know you’re not ready for that yet, and I don’t want to ruin this.”
If he notices the change in my breathing, he doesn’t say anything. He kisses my forehead and heads for the bathroom. Just minutes ago, I was ready to pass out, but now my head is swimming with guilt. When I check in with myself, to reallytry to understand my feelings for Oliver, I don’t feel confident in anything. I do know that he’s right about one thing—I’m not ready to hear that from him.
I didn’t haveto wait long to hear back from the rescue about Craig. After they checked my references and had a virtual home tour, they told me I was approved and that I could pick him up the first week of September. Now, I’m headed to Albany with Jules to meet my new dog. I spent the last week making sure the house was puppy-proof and buying everything he could possibly need, and likely things he definitely doesn’t.
AJ came with me to the pet store, where I bought a dog bed, a crate, a variety of chew toys, treats, nail trimmers, a sweater for the fall, a collar, a leash, a food dish, a water fountain, and some balls to play fetch. I also got doggy stairs so Craig doesn’t hurt his legs or back trying to get in and out of my bed. That selection earned me a side-eye. I spent hours researching the best food for corgis before we went to the store. Who knew there were so many options?
“We have the leash and the collar, right?” I ask Jules, who is scrolling through my playlist, while I merge onto the thruway.Rather than answering me, he gives me the side-eye and continues his scrolling. “Bro.”
“Jesus, Darío. I told you I had it when we were walking out of the house. I answered you again before you pulled away from your house. If I tell you yes for a third time, will you stop fucking asking?” He grabs the items in question from the floor and waves them mockingly at me. “Yes. The leash and the collar are still in the car.”
“Fuck off, Julian. I just don’t want to fuck anything up,” I grumble. I’m not sure what has me so nervous, but I am. Craig has had a rough start to life, and I want him to be happy with me. That shitty breeder should be shut down for how they treat their dogs.
“Hey, calm down. Everything is going to be fine. You’re bringing home a dog, not an infant. At least dogs listen. Kids are a nightmare,” Julian jokes. He’s not wrong, but the mention of kids makes me think of Harlan. We hadn’t discussed it much, but we agreed that after I retired, we’d foster older kids. Babies are weird. They smell weird, and they’re really floppy. Floppy babies make me nervous.
“I know. Anyway, what’s up with your party?” Jules turns thirty in a few weeks, and he’s planning a huge party to celebrate.
“Actually,” he hedges, “I wanted to talk to you about that. Two things, really. The guest list has gotten a little bigger than I expected, and I don’t think my small-ass condo is going to cut it.”
“Your condo isn’t small,” I tell him. It’s really not, but I do understand. It can get pretty crowded even with a small group of us hanging out. “If you want to have it at my place, you know you’re more than welcome. You are on cleanup duty, though.”
My living room is spacious, and the sectional that Harlan and I picked out seats eight people comfortably. I also have anoversized recliner. The basement is an open-floor plan, with a theater-room setup that has a lot of seating, too. It’s way too much house for one person, so I’m happy to host. The space was one of the selling points when I bought it. Being there alone feels lonely. The emptiness mocks me—another reminder of what it was supposed to be.
“Thanks, Dare. The other thing is maybe not going to be so easy. So, I want to start by saying you can say no, and I won’t be upset.” I take my eyes off the road briefly to see Jules wringing his hands in his lap. “With Harlan being back in New York, I’d like to invite him to the party. I already asked Penny if she’d like to come, but I didn’t want to ask Harlan without checking with you first.”
I don’t even have to think about it. “Relax, Julian. Of course you can invite him. I’m not sure how he’ll feel about it, but I have no issues with it.” I hear him release his breath, and I think we’re done with the conversation.
“You realize that his boyfriend is in New York, yeah?” he asks.
“No, I actually had no idea. Other than a brief text last month, I haven’t talked to Harlan at all. Does he live here now?” My stomach twists in knots at the thought, but I shake it off. It’s none of my business. “Are you asking if you can invite his boyfriend?”
“I mean, I feel like it would be a dick move to tell Harlan he can come but Oliver can’t, you know?” Julian sounds unsure. “And, to answer your question, no, he’s not living here. He’s working out here for the month, but he’s going back to San Francisco.” It would obviously be a bit strange to have this man in my house, but it’s not like he’s the one Harlan cheated on me with. And it’s been almost a year since we split up, so there’s no reason for me to care.
“If he wants to bring Oliver, that’s fine. We’re all adults, and it’s not like Harlan and I are on bad terms,” I say. The thought of Harlan stepping foot in the place that we called home together for over two years weighs heavily on me. “Just let me know how many people to expect and warn them that parking can be a bitch.”
Switching topics, I recap what the doctor said about my hand. It finally healed enough to remove the cast, and I’m starting therapy. It took longer than the doctors expected, but at least I’ve avoided surgery. When we fall into silence, I mentally check off all the things I’ve done to make sure I’m ready to bring Craig home. Almost two hours later, we are pulling up to a white farmhouse, complete with a wraparound porch and a porch swing. The house is surrounded by green grass and fruit trees for as far as the eye can see. Upstate has clearly had a rainy summer for their grass to be this green in early September.
