Page 106 of Tumbling Hearts

“Oh, Gene, you feel so good,” Ray says between breaths. “I missed this…”

“Ray…” Gene pants.

“You take me so well, darling.” Ray leans down, pushing on Gene’s thigh, reaching even deeper. That gets Gene to moan again. “So naughty, still desiring me like this in secret. I can feel how much you want this.”

Heat bursts throughout his chest, rising to his cheeks. His cock leaks even more, pressed between his and Ray’s abdomens. “I want you so fucking bad, Ray.”

That makes Ray pick up the pace, thrusting even harder. More, more, more, the intensity rises, the pressure almost too much to bear. Gene doesn’t want to come too early, but this likely won’t be their last time. They still have an entire week to themselves. And if Gene has his way, he’ll want Ray with him in this room again and again and again. Even if it is only temporary, even if he has to return to Toshiko afterwards, he wants to hang onto this as long as he can.

Ray pushes deep inside, rocking his hips, holding Gene’s leg in place as Gene claws into Ray’s back. It shouldn’t matter if he makes a mark—Carol isn’t around to scold him anymore. Thrust after thrust, breath after breath, moan after moan, the heat moves lower, pressure strengthening behind his navel. The friction of Ray’s movements against his cock stirs that same pressure even more. He feels so full as Ray continually hits his sweet spot over and over, pushing him over the edge⁠—

Gene digs his nails into Ray’s back as he comes, shooting his release in thick bursts between their bodies. The pleasure consumes him as wave after wave crashes within—each one more intense than the last. The amazing high is elongated as Ray keeps rocking his hips, thrusting even faster now, his vision blurry in an otherworldly haze⁠—

A rush of warmth fills him. Ray moans, his breath warm against Gene’s cheek, breathing harshly, fervently. Gene can feel him shiver against him as he slows his movements, experiencing the same high that Gene himself is feeling. It’s so wonderful—Gene cranes his neck to give Ray another kiss. He doesn’t want to let go. If only they could just stay here, bodies connected like this, Ray lying on top of him, but eventually they’ll have to move. Either way, he holds on and embraces his best friend tightly.

It’s like a bittersweet song. An emotional melody, a major key but despite the beautiful notes, the lyrics leave something unsaid. There’s a longing for more, for things to be different than they are. But the song tells a tale of how maybe this is enough, what they have right now. Gene forms the music in his mind, holding onto this moment and hoping he doesn’t forget. Maybe he can sing it to Ray later.

They part their lips, Ray looking so goddamn gorgeous with the sweat on his skin. “Oh my god, Gene,” he huffs. “That was so good. I… I, um…”

Gene waits, his heart pounding.

“I loved that,” Ray finally says, smiling such a handsome smile it sends butterflies through Gene’s chest.

“I loved it, too. Come here.”

He tugs on the back of Ray’s neck, pulling him down for yet another passionate kiss.

Denny’s lawyer is a true miracle worker, as he was able to get the charges dropped from Nicky’s case. Gene sure is thankful, as now he won’t have to worry if Nicky can come with them to Europe for the next tour. No charges means no holds barred—he’s free to go wherever he likes. Apparently the lawyer was able to convince the judge that the weed Nicky had in his jacket pocket could mayhaps belong to someone else. One can’t exactly prove the jacket he was wearing actually belonged to Nicky; he may have simply borrowed it, and the dope could’ve been planted. The weed was found elsewhere in the house, and if it was in the jacket too, it might as well also belong to the house owner. There was no paper trail to prove that any weed in his pocket was bought and paid for. Furthermore, Nicky is making a name for himself working with the Dusty Brooms—there are fans waiting for him to perform, to record, to meet him even. He has a prolific life to look forward to; he can’t waste his time sitting around in jail for something so small that may not even be his fault.

And so, Nicky gets to come home with the Brooms when they head back to Michigan at the end of the week.

But… so does Toshiko.

She had a productive week with Yasuhiro in LA, booking their own studio time to record a demo for a new English single: the song Gene wrote for her. They pitched the demo to her American label, posed in multiple photo ops, sat down for interviews, looked at sales numbers and negotiated things—all which Gene is proud of her for doing in such a short amount of time. But once done, she returned to be with Gene.

The bustling week of intimacy and music with Ray is gone. It was nice while it lasted. But he knows he can’t have it forever. Toshiko is none the wiser of what happened between them, not having a clue that Ray stayed in his room every night. No, she simply flies back to Michigan with them as happy as can be that she can finally spend more time with her boyfriend.

Oh, it would break her heart if she knew.

As they settle in at their Lake Orion farmhouse, Ray doesn’t say much to him. Every time Gene catches a glance, Ray has this peculiar look in his eyes. One that has melancholy, anger, frustration, and worry. What can Gene do, to mend that? There’s not much he can do, other than live life day by day. That’s all Ray can do, too.

Gene knew it’d be like this. Nothing is necessarily wrong in their lives. But his heart aches for a time that’s different, nostalgia for a feeling he holds dear.

Right now, Gene is sitting on the couch in the living room with Toshiko at his side, watching a game show on television. The rest of the Brooms are elsewhere, either in their own rooms or out of the house for the moment. He knows Ray is just in his room, probably avoiding being anywhere near Gene if Toshiko is also nearby. I can’t blame him.

“These shows are always so funny,” Toshiko says with a chuckle. Her natural black hair is getting longer, past her ears now, mimicking the same bobby style she usually wears with her blonde wig. “Most ‘game shows’ in Japan are quiz shows, and there’s not many. Not like this, where people guess prices.”

“Yeah, true,” Gene says, looking over at her on the couch. “But you guys have much more interesting cartoons than us Americans.”

“Un, you liked watching Mazinger Z a lot at my place. I think there might be some other shows of ours already in America that have English versions.”

“Yeah, I watched Speed Racer as a teenager. But I think that’s the only one… It’d be neat if they made more English versions.”

“In the meantime, you could work on your Japanese,” she says playfully. “I can teach you. Oshieru ga dekiru wa.”

He enjoys it when she speaks her mother tongue, always trying his best to understand what he can. “Ja, dekiru,” he says, unable to roll his R like she can.

They continue watching The Price is Right until the program ends. Another game show takes its place, but instead of focusing on it, Toshiko speaks up again. “I haven’t told you yet, but I will need to go back to Japan for Christmas and New Year’s.”