Chapter 3
David
This is either the best move I’ve ever made or the stupidest. It’s sure as fuck the boldest.No risk, no reward, I remind myself as Chris hails a cab, which pulls to a stop at the curb in front of us.
“514 East 5th Street, please,” I instruct the cabbie as I slide into the back seat.
“The Village?” Chris slides in next to me and pulls the door shut. “Sweet.”
It is. My tiny, third-floor walk-up is nothing fancy, but it’s mine. No roommate. No hour-long commute from Brooklyn. It’s taken me almost five years and more auditions, self-tapes, and resume drop-offs than I can count to get to this point. I may not have hit the big time yet, but I’m busting my ass to get there, and I’m working steadily enough to afford the exorbitant Manhattan rent for the first time since moving to the Big Apple.
I wonder if that’s why I suggested we go to my place and not Chris’s hotel room. To show Chris what a good catch I am. That I may not be a world-traveleddanseur noble, but I’ve done okay for myself. That I’m worthy of him, as worthy as any of the handsome, hard-bodied dancers he works with on a daily basis.
If only I believed that myself.
“You got awfully quiet,” he says, biting his lip. Fuck, that’s sexy. My dick feels heavy and full. “Having second thoughts?”
“No.” I put a palm on his forearm and squeeze. Touching him, even somewhere as innocuous as his arm, feels good. Feels right. I want this—us—so bad, I literally ache for it. “Far from it.”
“Thank fuck. You scared me for a minute there.”
My hand glides up to his shoulder. His muscles are tight, hard knots under my fingers. “Damn, you’re tense. Sure you’re not the one with second thoughts?”
“Hell, no.” He does that sexy lip biting thing again. Now my cock’s like a goddamn lead weight in my pants. “Just nervous.”
“Well, you can’t smoke to calm yourself down this time,” I say, half teasing. “It’s against the law in New York City cabs. But maybe I can do something to help you relax.”
“Oh, yeah?” His shy smile turns seductive and his eyes get heavy-lidded and dark with desire. “Like what?”
I know where his dirty mind is going, but I’m not quite there yet. Okay, that’s a lie. I’m there, but I don’t want to rush things. It’s his first time. With a guy, that is. It should be special. Something he’ll never forget. Whatever happens after tonight, at least I can give him that. And me, if I’m honest. I like knowing that even if I’m not his last, I’ll always be his first.
“Turn around.”
He blinks, confused. “Huh?”
“You heard me. Turn around.”
He does, and I put both my hands on his shoulders, grip them hard, and dig in with my thumbs, working out the stiffness in his neck and upper back.
He groans and lets his head fall onto his chest. “Not exactly where I thought this was going, but . . .”
His voice tails off into another groan as my thumbs work on a particularly tough knot.
“We’ll get to that.” I massage my way toward the center of his back, between his shoulder blades. “Eventually.”
Just not in the cramped, cracked-vinyl back seat of an aging yellow cab with the equally aging driver checking us out in his rearview mirror every chance he gets.
“Holy shit that feels fantastic,” Chris mumbles into his chest.
I can’t help myself. I lean down and kiss the back of his neck, not caring if the cabbie’s sneaking a peak at us. Let him look. A little kiss never hurt anyone. “Magic piano fingers, remember?”
He lifts his head and shoots me a hungry look over his shoulder. “You realize all this is doing is making me even more horny.”
“All? What about my skills as a masseuse? This is professional-level attention you’re getting here. You can’t tell me it’s not loosening you up.”
My fingers inch down his spine to his lower back, just above his waistband. I’m dying to rip off his suit jacket and pull his dress shirt from his fancy pants, to work my hands underneath and feel bare skin under my fingertips. But I’m not willing to give the cab driver that much of a show, so skin-on-skin will have to take a back seat. Pun intended.
“You know what I mean,” he says on a moan. “I fucking need you. Now. I’m not going to be able to wait until we get to your place.”
