20
Oscar panted to catch his breath, a broad smile spreading across his face as the room stopped spinning. Ryan was gettinggood. A little patient instruction here and there, and he was quickly turning into the perfect boyfriend. Oscar could hardly remember being so satisfied so often.
Muscles he’d just about forgotten he had ached, and he felt a little like he’d just run a marathon, and he wouldn’t have traded any of it for anything right now.
Obviously, he liked Ryan for reasons other than sex, but the sex wasverycompelling.
Just as Oscar was thinking that, Ryan’s hand brushed against his. A silent reassurance, or a silent plea for it. Whichever one it was, it made his heart clench in his chest as he linked their fingers together, thrilled to have this simple affection for the first time in a long time.
If Ryan wastryingto get Oscar to fall in love with him, he was definitely going about it the right way.
Letting his eyes fall closed for a moment, Oscar took a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling the satisfaction of being well and truly fucked by someone who had fifty pounds on him settle into his bones as his heartbeat returned to something like normal.
“You sound happy,” Ryan said, joy in his voice. Oscar loved it when he could hear Ryan smiling. He could picture it so clearly in his head now, a rare, hard-won expression, still shy, still almost exclusively for Oscar.
Well, Oscar, and the new babies.
“I am,” Oscar agreed. “Did you get pictures of the gators?”
“Yeah. They’re a little dark, I wasn’t sure if a flash would scare them.”
Oscar laughed at that. “You’re so sweet,” he said, feeling another wave of affection toward Ryan washing over him. “Have you picked out the ones for the Facebook page, yet?”
“I could use a second opinion,” Ryan said. “Did you get any?”
“Yeah, I got a couple. Should we compare notes?” Oscar asked.
This was, in some ways, even better than the sex. The easy friendship that’d sprung up between them, the way Ryan was coming out of his shell. Oscar was watching him transform into an outgoing, happy person from the shy introvert he’d been when he showed up.
At least, he was watching him get more comfortable withhimself, which was the main thing. Ryan was one of the good guys. He deserved to be happy.
Oscar was expecting, any day now, to hear that Ryan’s divorce settlement had come through and he was leaving.
That was a whole lot less fine than it had been when they’d started all this. In the beginning, it had seemed like a good thing. No strings, just a fun journey of self-discovery. And Oscar had gotten that part.
He’d just also… gotten attached.Veryattached. And as much as he liked to think that Ryan might stay for him, he didn’t hold out a whole lot of hope there. If happiness was what he deserved, then being stuck living in his aunt’s wildlife sanctuary probably wasn’t it, for him. This wasn’t his home like it was Oscar’s.
Oscar shoved the thought aside, not wanting to dwell on it. It hadn’t happened yet. They still had time.
Rather than letting himself freak out over the future, he leaned over to grab his phone from where he’d set it down on the nightstand, listening to the sounds of Ryan grabbing his discarded jeans and going through the pockets until he found his own.
Once Ryan had made himself comfortable on the pillows, Oscar shuffled back to rest against his chest, encouraging Ryan to wrap an arm around him. Oscar’s narrow twin bed wasn’treallybig enough for the two of them, but that made sharing it all the more fun.
“I kinda like this one,” Ryan said, holding his phone up so Oscar could see a photo of a baby alligator with its mouth open, which made it look like it was grinning enthusiastically. He couldn’t help smiling back at it, a tiny whine sounding in the back of his throat.
“Cute,” he said. “Seriously cute. Definitely post that one.”
“I’ve got a few more,” Ryan responded, scrolling through the photos one by one, giving Oscar a moment to coo over each one, even the ones that had come out too blurry or dark to be ideal for showing the world.
He’d made an album of them, Oscar realized. Ryan had saved all these pictures and sorted them carefully so he’d have them to look back on. Dragging him out to see it happen had been a good call.
It wasn’t as though Ryanneededto be an animal guy, but Oscar kind of wanted him to be. He wanted to share his joy over moments like this with someone else, someone who was new to the whole thing. Ryan’s enthusiasm made him happy all the way in the depths of his soul.
That was why he’d gone into zoology in the first place. He wanted to share the joy of animals with other people. Once upon a time he’d imagined himself as a zookeeper, but now… now he thought maybe he’d found his real calling. He was doing his part to ensure that there’d be wildlife for future generations to enjoy, and it didn’t matter that he wasn’t spending his days showing people the animals he loved.
But it was still nice to havesomeoneto show.
“Please email me literally all of these,” Oscar said as Ryan came back around to the one of the smiling alligator. “They’re so sweet.”
