I find my boyfriend seated at his desk, staring wide-eyed at his laptop screen. His hair is mussed up in every direction like he’s been running his hands through it too much again, and his wide doe eyes slowly turn to me. “What’s wrong?”
He shakes his head and gestures wildly at the computer. He looks melodramatic as fuck right now, but I can’t even make a joke or appreciate it because I’m not sure if whatever he’s looking at is a good thing or a bad thing. “Did you…have you seen…?” he stutters.
I have no idea what I’ve just walked into. Cautiously, I lean over to peek at the screen. At first, it doesn’t register what I’m looking at. Then I realize our locker room video must have gone live, and the numbers look good. “Nice, is this the week’s numbers?”
“No…these aretoday’s.The video just went live this morning.”
Holy shit.
“But…that’s…numbers like these are more than what we usually do in a week!” I’m gaping now, too. Aggie is squirming in my arms, still trapped under the blanket, and I release her to find her way out on her own. I’m too stunned to move.
“And this is just frommypage,” Luke informs me. “I haven’t even looked at yours yet.”
I place both hands on his shoulders to brace myself. My legs are shaking. I don’t expect to have as much traffic, as he’s obviously the much bigger star between the two of us, but if I have even a third of what I’m looking at here…that could be a life-changing amount of money. “Babe…” I breathe. “What…how…?”
He turns back to the screen, shaking his head slowly back and forth. “I’veneverdone numbers like these, Ry.” His voice is even higher-pitched than usual, laced with disbelief.
“Do you think it’s just because Nathan filmed it?” I ask, squeezing his shoulders and relaxing my grip rhythmically. It’s supposed to help calm him, but I think it’s helping me, too. This is crazy. “Or because you bottomed?”
It had certainly been the most intense sexual experience of my life. Once we were cleaned up and finally alone again, I checked in with him to make sure he still felt okay about what we did. I’venevergone completely feral like that before. I didn’t know I had it in me. It was like as soon as I saw him in that outfit, and the reality that I was actually going to get a shot at being inside that perfect, beautiful ass, I just lost my mind. He had definitely seemed into it, but I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t just putting on a show for the camera.
Turned out, hereallyliked it. He’s been leaning more and more submissive each time we’ve had sex, but he seemed toreally open up completely when he relinquished all control to me. And I’ve gotta say…I didn’t hate it either. It’s a dynamic that I’ve never experienced with another partner, and we fell into it so naturally. I guess I always expected that he would top me—apparently, I had the same biases everyone else has when they’ve looked at him for his entire career.
“I think…it was maybe because I bottomed,” he finally answers me. “I had no idea that anyone would even want to see that.”
“Well, it’s something people have never seen you do before, and you aren’t the stereotypical twink by a long shot,” I reason. “We subverted expectations, and I guess it paid off.”
Luke rests his elbows on the desk, cradling his chin in his hand. He’s clean-shaven except for the mustache today, and whether he’s smooth or stubbled, he drives me wild. “People do seem to really like seeing us together, too,” he muses, chewing his lower lip in thought. There’s a sudden tension in his shoulders that I don’t like.
I cuff the back of his neck and turn his head up toward me, leaning down to kiss him soundly on the lips. He sighs into the kiss, and I feel him relax a little under me. “What’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours?” I whisper against his lips when we part.
“Do you have any upcoming collabs booked?”
I frown and pull back to search his eyes. It’s not the question I was expecting. His irises are a rich honey today, and I get lost in them for a second before I manage, “Nothing on the calendar…I have a few ongoing messages and a couple of requests I haven’t gotten to yet. Why?”
“Well…” He pulls his lower lip between his teeth again, and as soon as I tighten my grip slightly on the back of his neck, he releases it. “What if we go exclusive for a little bit? Just the two of us collabing for a while?”
I mull it over. It’s actually not a bad idea. Since our live Q&A, both of our subscriptions are up, and every other message in my inbox seems to be someone asking when they’ll get to see more of me and Luke together. It would also free up some of our time if we’re not both having to network and schedule other collabs. We live together, so that’s an added convenience, and we also wouldn’t have to get tested as often. I’m having a hard time thinking of a downside to this.
I realize I’ve been lost in thought too long when Luke mumbles, “Never mind; it was probably a dumb suggestion,” and drops his gaze.
I run my hand up the back of his neck and into his hair and tilt his head gently toward mine, barely brushing my lips against his. “I think it’s a fantastic suggestion, babe,” I hum. “Just you and me.”
His eyes flick back to meet mine, and there’s a hint of vulnerability swimming in them. “Are you sure? When we met, you said you were looking forward to working with a lot of different guys...I don’t want to keep you from anything.”
He looks away again as he says that last part, and the words don’t quite ring true. He’s been a bit moody when it comes to me working with other people, and it’s only become more evident since that day he was editing my video with Beau. He hasn’t brought up any reservations again, and we’ve always communicated about other collabs like we agreed…but lately, the more we talk about work, the more agitated he seems to become. He’s never said anything outright, but I’ve noticed he always grows more withdrawn and reserved right before I work with other people.
I have to wonder why he doesn’t feel like he can talk to me about any of this openly, but that’s a conversation for another time. Right now, it does seem to make the most sense for us tobe exclusive, and if that eases whatever worries are in my sweet boy’s pretty head for the time being, then even better.
Swinging one leg over him, I settle in his lap and take his face in both hands. I want to be sure he’s looking me in the eyes so that he can see and hear my sincerity when I say, “There is absolutely nothing you’re keeping me from. I love doing this with you. You’re my favorite person to work with, and the only one I want to come home to.”
His Adam’s apple bobs, and I can see the relief in his eyes. His strong arms circle my waist, and he presses his nose to the hollow of my throat, inhaling deeply. He doesn’t say anything, and I let my fingers drift into his thick hair to gently massage his scalp. He purrs like a happy kitten and puffs out a little breath of air against my skin that makes me shiver from its warmth. Something tells me there was more to his request than he let on, but he doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to let me in on what it was, content to just wrap himself around me and exist together for the time being. If it’s something important, I’m certain he’ll tell me.
We stay like that until the loud grumble of his stomach breaks the silence. “Ohh, someone is hungry,” I laugh, pulling back to kiss him on the forehead.
“Yeah, hungry for a load,” he teases, eyes sparkling and lips twitching in amusement.
I lean back against the desk, jaw dropping at his brazenness. “That isnota suitable dinner.” As hard as I try, I can’t keep a straight face. It always takes me by surprise when this playful side of him makes an appearance. “Want me to make us some actual dinner?”
