Through Thick and Thin

by J. P. Oliver

  Part of it hadn’t changed—they teased one another as they usually did. They didn’t suddenly start peppering their speech with endearments, the way that Matthew did, nor did they change how they interacted, necessarily. It was just like how things always were, easy and relaxed, except now Travis was touching Lance a lot more, and Lance was happy to let him.

  It made sense, honestly, that Travis would immediately start using physical affection to show his feelings. The way he’d written everything down was sweet, but also showed how he’d struggled with what to say and how to say it. Now that he could apparently touch Lance as much as he wanted, he was taking full advantage, and Lance fully looked forward to a touch on the wrist, or an arm around his shoulders, or a soft, quick kiss to his temple to show him how much Travis cared.

  Of course, just because he was no longer sleeping with anyone else didn’t mean that Travis’s sex drive suddenly went away. The moment that they finished eating, he hauled Lance into his lap. Lance let his legs fall on either side of Travis’s, his arms falling onto Travis’s shoulders.

  “You’re going to do this a lot, aren’t you?” He said, indicating the whole pulling-me-into-your-lap thing.

  “You fit so perfectly,” Travis replied, grinning slyly up at him. “And hey, you know what else was a perfect fit—”

  “Oh my God, no, dating me does not give you permission to make horrible sex jokes.” Lance laughed, his head falling back, and Travis took the opportunity to start kissing up his neck.

  “I promise you the sex jokes might be horrible, but the sex itself won’t be.” Travis’s voice started taking on that devastatingly low tone, the smooth, rumbling one that had made Lance come so undone the other night.

  Lance settled himself down more solidly, feeling the change in the air between them, the electricity it started to take on.

  “It annoys me that we could have been doing this for years,” Travis murmured, sucking lightly at the skin right where Lance’s neck and shoulder met.

  “And who’s fault was that?” Lance gasped out, feeling that heat inside of him start to make itself known again.

  “Both of ours,” Travis said cheekily, and then swept up to kiss him properly.

  God, Travis could make him melt just with a solid kiss. Lance groaned, the sound reverberating through both of them with how entangled they were. Travis’s hands came up to span the length of Lance’s back, sliding up underneath his shirt and making Lance shiver as the rough, callused hands slid over his skin.

  “This is a do over, okay?” He gasped, pulling away. “Last time didn’t count.”

  “Last time was pretty damn awesome,” Travis countered.

  “Yeah, but this time we’re on the same page,” Lance replied.

  Travis’s smile lit up his entire face. “Okay.”

  Then he moved his hands to Lance’s ass and stood up—taking Lance with him.

  “Holy shit!” Lance yelped, clinging tightly as his stomach flipped with instinctive fear. “Would you cut that out?”

  “But you’re hilarious,” Travis replied, moving them towards the bedroom.

  “I’m going to knee you right in the groin the next time you do that,” Lance warned.

  Travis took on a thoughtful look. “For some reason, that feels like an empty threat.”

  Lance was going to say something very cutting and witty, but then Travis dumped him on the bed, making him yelp in surprise again. “Jesus Christ!”

  “Nope, just me,” Travis said, grinning.

  “You’re awful,” Lance informed him. “I know you’re really handsome and charming so nobody’s ever had the guts to tell you that, so I’m telling you that now. You’re awful. I don’t know why I’m in love with you.”

  His words were pretty easily belied by the fact that he was yanking Travis’s shirt up over his head—one of Luke’s damn too-small shirts that had been driving him nuts the past few days—and yanked Travis closer to him so that he could get his mouth on that gorgeous chest.

  He had sort of let Travis take the reins last time, and he really didn’t mind that—actually he really liked it—but he did want to get the chance to do a little exploring of his own this time. He kissed his way down Travis’s chest, shoving him back so that he lay down on the bed. He knew that Travis was letting himself be manhandled and that there was no way Lance could get him to move if he really didn’t want to, but Travis seemed perfectly content to let Lance do his thing.

  Lance shoved Travis’s pants down while he was still working his way across his chest, feeling the muscles jump underneath his mouth. He’d seen those muscles just a few days ago when Travis had just shown up in a damn towel from the shower, and for years before that he’d been feeling them pressed against him during football games and at the bar. Now he could taste them, figure out what made Travis jump and what made him groan in pleasure.

  He remembered it from a couple nights ago, because how could he not, but damn. Travis was thick, and already almost fully hard. Lance’s mouth watered. He was definitely getting a taste of that and not waiting another second, thanks very much.

  Some of his thoughts must have shown on his face because Travis said, “You don’t have to—”

  Huh. Lance could see why Travis had been so eager to keep cutting him off the other night, that was fun.

  He sucked on just the head at first, tonguing the slit and feeling his way around, just getting acquainted. As he used saliva to coat more of the shaft and his body started to remember how to actually do this, he was able to start taking more and more of Travis down his throat.

  Travis’s hands came to bury themselves in his hair, his thumb stroking Lance’s temple. “Holy shit,” he whispered, his voice kind of reverent. He knew, had to have known, that Lance hadn’t done this in a while, but Travis didn’t seem out of it or inclined to complain. His eyes were dark and hooded and his fingers kept clenching in Lance’s hair.

  Lance ran his tongue up the vein along the underside, then swirled his tongue around the head. He had to keep from grinning as Travis swore violently, his hips jerking.

  “Fuck, Lance, you gotta—” Travis was breathing hard through his nose, like he was trying to get himself under control. “You’re good, you’re good, you just…”

  He brought his hands down to frame Lance’s face and pulled him off. Lance let out an involuntary whining sound at the back of his throat. He’d liked doing that, liked getting to try and find his rhythm again after being out of practice, and he’d especially liked making Travis shake and swear like that.

  “Absolutely not,” Travis growled, yanking Lance up so that Lance was straddling him. “I’m not coming early and losing out on the chance to fuck you properly.”

  Lance shuddered at that, loving how Travis’s mouth curled around those words and how his voice rumbled low in his chest. He quickly stripped out of his clothes, wanting skin against skin, nearly feverish with it.

  He tried to get onto the bed, but Travis kept him straddling him, staring up at him. It wasn’t as late as last time, and the lights were on in the living room, spilling into the bedroom so that Lance knew he was framed by it and Travis could see everything, just like he could see all of Travis.

  He tried not to squirm. He wasn’t a supermodel, although he’d never had a problem with his looks. But Travis—Travis made men swoon, looked like a wet dream, walked like he was the kind of guy who inspired fantasies for years to come and knew it.

  “I didn’t get a real good look at you last time,” Travis said, running his hands slowly up and down Lance’s body. “I want to look at you this time.”

  Lance rolled his eyes to try and distract from his blush, the one he knew was going all the way down his chest.

  Travis just smiled at him fondly, like he knew what Lance was thinking, and sat up, one arm coming around to anchor Lance so that he didn’t fall off. “You liked it when I talked last time,” he noted, his free hand sliding down Lance’s chest to stroke him slowly.

  �
�Yeah,” Lance admitted, the word coming out shaky. Travis was sliding his hand further down, teasing, and Lance was already almost shaking in anticipation, remembering last time and how desperate he’d been, how good it had felt.

  “Then I gotta tell you,” Travis said, slowly kissing Lance in between every few words, “That I love making you come apart like this. You’re already halfway there, aren’t you? Just from the anticipation.”

  Lance nodded, bracing his knees on the bed and raising himself up so that Travis had better access. He heard the lube open and felt a slick, cold finger begin to push in, making him shudder. Part of him wanted to look but he knew that he would lose it too soon if he did, so he just focused on kissing Travis, and letting the words wash over him.

  “God, look at you, you’re made for this,” Travis growled, carefully working him open. Lance groaned, wanting more, wanting it all. “Now, now, you were impatient last time too. I told you I’m taking my time with you. It’s been a long time, I know, I’m not risking hurting you.”

  “I’m going to hurt you if you don’t hurry the fuck up,” Lance grit out.

  He was instantly rewarded with another finger and spread his legs, kissing Travis deeply to show his appreciation.

  “So many things I want to do to you,” Travis murmured, sounding almost in awe. He added a third finger quickly, and Lance went hot and cold at the same time as it burned through him. It hurt, a little, but it also felt good, so good.

  He had no idea what sort of things Travis might have in mind. He could imagine, but his imagination was rather limited—vanilla sex with two boyfriends and some porn now and again were nothing compared to the experience that Travis had, and Lance felt a shiver of pleasure crawl up his spine at the thought of all that Travis might be thinking of and planning for them.

  He rocked back on Travis’s fingers, the initial burn fading into a pleasant, liquid slide, one that only made him want more. He knew that he could sink in deep from this position, all the way to the hilt, and he was almost panting with desire for it. He wanted to feel this, wanted Travis in him so deep he hit the back of his throat.

  “You good?” Travis asked, kissing his way up to Lance’s ear. “You gotta tell me, you ready?”

  “Yes,” Lance promised. “Yes, God, please, c’mon.”

  Travis lay back with Lance on top, letting Lance slowly sink down onto him. It was a stretch and a bit of a burn, but Lance welcomed it, letting himself go slow so that he could see Travis slowly losing his mind over the sensation. This was the part he had always liked best about sex, the idea of being filled and taken, and sometimes there was no better position for that than this, letting himself slowly sink down until he felt like he could taste it.

  It took a bit of working up and down, but then Travis bottomed out inside of him. In this position he was pressed right up against that sweet spot, so that every thrust was hitting it dead on. He started to move properly, letting Travis thrust up into him, working together so that he hit that point inside of him each time. Lance’s mouth fell open as he was reduced to gasps, and he had to brace his hand on Travis’s chest.

  Fuck, it felt good. It had felt good the other night, but now he could look into Travis’s face and see the way he was coming apart beneath him, watch as Travis’s eyes locked onto his and all of that affection and arousal were mingled together in an unending loop.

  Sparks were flying all over him and his body was jerking each time that part inside of him was hit, until it felt like he wasn’t in control anymore and just reduced to the act of it, the only thing that he knew, his body moving forward without him while his brain turned to mush.

  He had to slide his hand off of Travis’s chest to claw at the sheets, still dirty from the other night, crying out as Travis drove up into him over and over again. Travis looked glorious, completely gone but also determined, like he was going to make Lance’s brain leak out his ears if it was the last thing he did.

  “Please,” Lance begged, although he didn’t know what he was begging for or why. His legs burned, everything burned, but in the best way. He never wanted this to end and yet he wanted to reach the peak he was racing towards.

  Travis reached up, sliding a hand around Lance’s leaking dick and stroking it firmly. “Just like this,” he growled. “I want you to come just like this.”

  The hand on his dick coupled with Travis filling him up and slamming right into his prostate over and over was too much, and Lance came, a groan ripped out of his throat as it felt like every bone left his body.

  Travis grabbed his hips and slammed up into him, gritting his teeth and grunting as he came as well. Lance slid down onto his chest the second that Travis let go of his hips, unable to muster up the strength to hold himself upright anymore.

  Fuck. He couldn’t think of a time when sex had left him this mindless or his body so completely unable to move. His limbs felt like lead.

  Travis looped an arm around him, as if Lance were thinking of moving. “I don’t know if I should ever let you out of this bed,” Travis drawled.

  It took Lance a few tries to get enough control of his mouth to speak. “You sound a little too coherent for my tastes.”

  “Trust me,” Travis replied. “I think you broke my cock. I’m going to spend the rest of my life with a broken cock and it’s totally going to be worth it.”

  “Sometimes I wonder why I’m in love with you,” Lance said, rolling his eyes, but he knew that Travis could feel the smile that he was pressing into his chest.

  They lay there for a moment, content and satisfied. Lance knew, in the back of his mind, that they needed to get up and shower—shower together, though, that would be nice. He could brace himself back against the tiles and let Travis drape himself over him like the other night, or maybe just jack them both off while they kissed under the spray…

  It didn’t matter, really, how or when they next had sex—although they were definitely going to be doing a lot of that—because it wasn’t going away. Travis wasn’t going away. He could touch Travis all that he wanted, look at him all that he wanted, in the way that he had always wanted.

  Lance made himself a little more comfortable on Travis’s chest, glad of their difference in size, since it meant he could lounge comfortably without being too heavy for Travis.

  He was just starting to drift off, just a little, when Travis spoke. He’d been stroking his hand up and down the length of Lance’s spine, but his hand paused...or, rather, it froze.

  “I forgot,” Travis said, in the tone of one who has just remembered that their taxes are due the next day, “We have to tell the others.”

  Lance’s entire body went stiff.

  Ah, fuck.

  Epilogue

  They ultimately decided to just get it over with. Lance had kind of wanted to just hole up in the apartment for a week and avoid everybody, but Travis had managed to persuade him that it would be better if they treated it like ripping off a band aid.

  He could leverage sex to help convince Lance of things now, and it was fantastic.

  So the next night, after work and getting cleaned up and all, they met up in front of Joe’s. Everyone else was already inside, or so Adam had said when Travis had texted him, and if Adam was there, then it was pretty much guaranteed that everyone else was since Adam, with his commute, was generally the last person to arrive.

  Lance looked like he was considering just making a run for Canada. “We can still just avoid them,” he offered.

  Travis looped an arm around Lance’s shoulders, pulling him in and tucking him against his side. “Nah. It’ll be fine. They might not even notice.”

  After all, he and Lance had been pretty much dating already, just without acknowledging it. Maybe their behavior would be so similar to how they were before that none of the others would pick up on it.

  Then they stepped inside the bar and it was all blown to hell.

  They reached the bar top, where the others were all gathered, and immediately Jake—the little s
hit—stood up and started clapping. “It only gave me one sleepless night, bravo,” he said.

  “For crying out loud,” Travis snapped, yanking at Jake’s shirt until he got down. “See, this is why Lance wanted us to camp out in his apartment for a week.”

  “That’s adorable,” Davis said, grinning.

  Travis pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you start.”

  “So, wait, what does this mean?” Matthew said. “Who owes who what?”

  “Wait, what?” Lance asked.

  Travis couldn’t completely hide the way that he stiffened up next to Lance. He’d honestly forgotten what Luke had told him about everyone betting on how and when he and Lance would get together. “Um…”

  “There’s a pool,” Jake said, because he was merciless. “A betting pool, about you two. It’s been going on for years.”

  “Luke, you’re in charge of it, bring up the stats,” Davis said.

  “Hold on, hold on,” Luke groused, pulling out a small notebook. “Okay… Bill! Nancy! Get over here! You both owe Adam fifty bucks!”

  “What?” Lance yelped, launching himself forward and trying to reach the notebook. Luke stepped back and held the notebook up high and behind his head, out of Lance’s reach. “Luke Markum, what the fuck? You guys were betting on us?”

  “Oh yeah,” Jake said.

  Matthew grinned. “I think I should get some credit here guys, for putting up that sign.”

  “That’s cheating!” Davis protested.

  “No, no, that wasn’t direct interference according to the rules,” Adam said.

  “Of course you’re on his side, that sign helped them do it within the month, you won the pool,” Jake groused.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t try and argue the rules with the lawyer,” Adam said, his tone mild but his eyes dangerous.

  “Wait, did Travis not tell you?” Davis asked.