Obvious

by R. G. Alexander

  “You know it is. And as soon as we’re done, I’m going to want you a second time. Then a third. I want to wake up inside you in the morning and have you again. Which means we need to renegotiate this date. It won’t be over until we both agree it is.”

  “Oh God,” Oliver cried, his hands clawing at the coverlet. “Harder.”

  “Are you going to give me what I want?” Matthew pressed, his thrusts so deep and jarring they shook the bed. “Tell me our date won’t be over tomorrow.”

  “It won’t,” he gasped. “I swear. I’m so close, Matthew. Please.”

  They came together, Oliver crying out his name and Matthew trembling with the force of his own climax. He was buried in his lover, reveling in the feeling of Oliver’s come drenching his fingers, and knowing that nothing that came before could have possibly prepared him for this.

  He lowered Oliver’s legs reluctantly, lowering his head to kiss him breathless.

  He couldn’t lose this now. One date, one kiss, one thunderbolt from the blue and Matthew knew he wouldn’t have this with anyone else. Wouldn’t want to.

  He’d be lying if he said it didn’t scare him. But the idea of not feeling this again was infinitely worse.

  He kissed Oliver’s shoulder. “You still with me, Legs?”

  “I’m not even back in my body yet,” he said softly, staring at the ceiling. “I’m not usually so…vocal.”

  “I liked it. Especially the part where you were screaming my name.”

  He grinned weakly. “Heat of the moment, Finn. Don’t get a big head about it.”

  Matthew brushed his hardening cock against Oliver’s hip. “Too late.”

  Oliver groaned and he chuckled in response. “I like having you in my bed.”

  “It’s a nice bed. Feels new.”

  Matthew narrowed his eyes. “There’s no way you could tell that.”

  He placed his lean arms behind his head and smirked up at him. “There isn’t a single lump or dip in this thing. The bounce factor is off the charts and I’m very sensitive. Prince-and-the-pea-level sensitive.”

  Matthew stared until Oliver started to laugh. “Fine, there’s a sale’s tag still attached to the frame.”

  He shook his head. “If you noticed that tag, I need to up my game. I say we practice every day. All I have to do is get my sister to think moving out is her idea, add a few more locks and we can christen every room in the house.”

  Oliver’s smile wavered. “You wouldn’t do that to her.”

  Matthew sighed. “You’re right, damn it. We will have a few new house rules, however. No more wild parties. And she can have her girlfriend for a sleepover whenever she wants, as long as I can have you.”

  Oliver’s eyes widened. “Your Calamity has a girlfriend?”

  Matthew nodded. “She prefers matching sets, and she used to have a boyfriend as well, but they fought, I suppose. I haven’t seen him for a few months.” He paused. “Nobody else in the family knows that. Back home we got used to keeping personal information hidden, so it couldn’t be used against us. Or to hurt William.”

  It would break his brother’s heart to know he hadn’t been able to shield them as much as he’d thought.

  “I don’t think a lot could hurt him. I saw your brother nearly fell a giant redhead like a tree last week,” Oliver offered into the silence.

  Legs was obviously paying more attention than he’d realized.

  “That would be cousin Brady.”

  “He was really good, but your brother still managed to run circles around him. How did he learn to fight like that?”

  Matthew traced lazy patterns on Oliver’s chest. “I told you most of my dirty secrets at coffee. That one isn’t mine to share.”

  Oliver bobbed his head in understand, turning to nuzzle Matthew’s neck. “One of my uncles boxed when he was young. Pretty good at it, from all the stories I’ve heard. He hangs out at the boxing club in my neighborhood, offering tips.”

  This new insight felt important. “Is that what made you want to learn how to fight? Your uncle?”

  “He’s why I signed up at Finn’s,” Oliver sighed. “I didn’t want the whole neighborhood knowing what I was doing. Telling my grandmother. They wouldn’t understand.”

  Matthew wasn’t sure he did either. “That you wanted to learn? Why not?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Well, William wants to train you. He’s been waiting for you to ask him, and you’ve already seen how good he is.”

  Oliver lifted his head to meet his gaze. “Let’s talk about something else, okay?”

  “No,” Matthew lowered his voice, striving for calm. “Talk to me, Oliver. Tell me what this is about.”

  “You’re so stubborn. Most of the men I’ve been with don’t want to know the details. Especially after they’ve gotten what they wanted. You admitted to that yourself. What’s different now?”

  Matthew lowered his hand to grip Oliver’s growing erection. “For future reference, don’t tell me about your previous conquests while we’re naked in bed. And this is different for both of us because we fit. Because it’s right.”

  Oliver started to look away. “Okay, you’re obviously caught up in the afterglow of your first—”

  “No.” Matthew reached up to grip Oliver’s chin. “I know all the excuses. I’ve used them. But none of them explain away what I’m feeling, and I won’t deny it just to make you comfortable.”

  He let him go and sat up, running his hands through his hair. “This is a day of firsts for me, isn’t it? I never thought I would be the one demanding to be in a relationship. That I’d want more than sex.”

  “Is that what’s happening?”

  Matthew shook his head. “I’m fucking that up too. Brilliant. Until recently, all I knew about love and commitment was that I wanted no part of it. Feeling that much, enough that you’d rather die than be without that one person? It’s selfish to everyone else, isn’t it?”

  His parents had been his only example for most of his childhood. Grump had never spared Matthew the truth about what really happened to them.

  Tommy Finn had fallen for Lily on their first date and she’d loved him madly, despite his gambling problems. They had three children and were blissfully happy, until money got tight and sweeping the addiction under the rug stopped working. Wanting to give his family more than his job would allow, he’d started borrowing from unsavory characters, thinking a few good runs of luck would even things out. That luck never showed up. When he finally came clean, Lily was so determined to help him that she went with him to work out a payment plan instead of staying home with her children.

  “What happened?” Oliver asked softly.

  “My father couldn’t pay his debts and my mother was collateral damage. But at least they died in each other’s arms.”

  Grump had always believed she’d brought her death on herself after seeing her husband fall. That Lily had loved him too much to go on without him. Maybe it was true.

  Oliver pressed himself against Matthew’s back, and he leaned into that heat.

  “You think they chose each other over you.”

  “I know they did.”

  “I lost mine to an impatient driver and a slow red light. Senseless. I was a baby, so it doesn’t compare, but no child ever wants to lose their parents.” He hesitated. “Until recently? You mean seeing your cousins find happiness? Your brother falling in love?”

  “I mean you.”

  Matthew dragged him onto his lap and wrapped his arms around him. Oliver could have struggled, but he leaned against him instead. Giving him what he needed.

  But his words were troubled. “You didn’t know me a week ago, Matthew. Didn’t know you’d like sex with men a week ago.”

  “Telling me to slow down?” Matthew smiled against his skin. “I can do that. As long as you’re willing to stick around for a while so we can see where this goes.”

  “Are you asking me out again?”

  “Oh, we’re
not done with our first date yet, Legs. But I think it’s safe to say that you’ll be seeing a lot more of me.”

  “If I agree to that, you know my family isn’t like yours. My life isn’t like yours. Things could get complicated.”

  “Grand. I’m brilliant at uncomplicating things.”

  Oliver rubbed his ass on Matthew’s lap, making his erection flex in reaction. “What is it about you, Finn? Why do I want to say yes?”

  “Black sheep, easy virtue, boring job, and good in bed? I’m the whole, impossible-to-resist package, remember?”

  “You shouldn’t be,” he murmured. “You should be the last person I want, especially now. When you said you weren’t gay, I thought it had happened again. That you were just another aggressive straight guy who wanted to get in my pants.”

  “You’re not wearing pants,” Matthew said helpfully, sucking on the skin of his neck. “And I believe we’ve established that I’m not straight so much as adaptable.”

  He stopped kissing Oliver and leaned back, looking into his eyes as his words sunk in. “Especially now? Another aggressive straight guy?”

  Oliver scowled. “Are you always going to ask this many questions?”

  “Probably, but I’ll make up for it. Now tell me this prick you tried to compare me to doesn’t have something to do with you borrowing Ruben’s car to show up at my brother’s gym.”

  Based in his expression, Matthew had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer.

  Chapter Five

  Rory: If you go down the handcuffs-and-leather-paddle-road, don’t be too rough with him. He looks like he might bruise easily. Then again, he might like that kind of thing. If he does, I want details.

  Robert: Leather paddles? Matthew, this was a bad idea. Under no circumstances should you take any more advice from your cousin. I’m not sure how Rig and David deal with him on a daily basis, but it’s just a coffee date, for God sake. Try to keep things in perspective.

  Rory: Consent, Matthew. Always get consent.

  Robert: Leftovers might not be enough to put up with this shit.

  Matthew reached down to help Oliver off the mat. “That was good. Lord knows you’ve got the strength to do this, Legs. And the agility. It’s your reaction time that could use a little work.”

  Oliver glared up at him balefully. “If I’d gotten enough sleep, my reaction time might be better.”

  Matthew tried not to smile at that. His fault. After their talk, he’d taken Oliver again in the shower. Then woken him up a few hours later with a blowjob that Oliver had been inspired to reciprocate. He’d reciprocated so well that Matthew had lost time, forgotten his name and possibly seen God.

  And now this. Before the sun was up, he’d decided to drag Oliver over to the gym to show him some defensive moves.

  “We have the entire house to ourselves,” Oliver had argued. “Show me here.”

  But Matthew had known if he touched him anywhere near his bed, even with the best of intentions, he was going to take him again.

  And they were here for a reason.

  “You’ve been showing up for weeks and your endurance was already above average. You don’t need to build more muscle or strengthen your core. You really don’t even need to know that much about boxing. What you do need is to learn a few dirty tricks to protect yourself. No one will be able to touch you after you learn my dance.”

  The fact that anyone had tried made him angrier than he ever wanted Oliver to know.

  Oliver was watching him as he dragged his hair into a small bun to get it out of his face. “Fine, Matthew. But after this I’m teaching you how to waltz and you can’t complain once. That’s the deal.”

  “I can take it if you can. Now let’s try something new. When I pin your arms, you drop your body weight and step on my foot. When I’m distracted, you twist and place one of your legs behind both of mine, trapping me so you can toss me over your back and onto the ground. Easy as that.”

  “Easy? Sounds like evil twister,” he muttered. “This is why I don’t share.”

  But Matthew was grateful he knew the truth. His initial instincts were to find the piece of shite that had been harassing his man and beat the bloody hell out of him. His second was to call his cousin and get a restraining order. Since Oliver had vetoed both of those ideas, this would have to do. For now.

  He wrapped his arms around him, approving when he dropped and bent at the waist. “Good. That’s great. Now what do you do?”

  Oliver paused, wiggling his ass against Matthew’s inappropriate but unrelenting erection. “I wonder if you don’t want to be doing something else?”

  He ground his teeth together. “I’m like this whenever you’re around, of course I want to be doing something else. But this is more important.”

  In a quick motion that showed he’d been paying attention, Oliver executed the move perfectly, stomping on Matthew’s foot, trapping his legs and flinging him over his back before he knew what hit him.

  Oliver straddled him, those clinging shorts of his riding up indecently and making Matthew groan. “You’re killing me.”

  He lowered his mouth until their lips were a breath apart. “No, I’m incapacitating you and escaping your evil clutches.”

  Slipping his hand into Matthew’s sweatpants, he started stroking him with a skill that left him gasping and reaching for his wrist. “You’re supposed to run and call for help now, Legs.”

  “Why would he need help?” The familiar voice with a deep, amused lilt made them both freeze in place. “You’re the one caught with his pants down.”

  Fuck.

  “Billy. I thought you’d be asleep for another hour or so.”

  William Finn ducked under the ropes and joined them in the ring. “I was asleep,” he said easily, gesturing towards his white undershirt and the pajama bottoms that were covered in shamrocks.

  Matthew smirked. “Nice outfit, old man.”

  “Comfy too. Like I was, cuddled up with my beautiful wife, until that alarm Tanaka installed went off on my phone.”

  Red-faced, Oliver slipped his hand out of Matthew’s pants before they both rolled away from each other and got to their feet.

  William pretended he didn’t notice the move, or their matching erections.

  Thank God for small favors.

  “I used my key,” Matthew said stiffly. “You said I was free to.”

  “I did and you are.” William nodded easily. “But Ken just added an extra security code for when I lock up at night, knowing I’d be worried about my wife and child upstairs. Until I disarm it in the morning, I get a ping anytime a window or door opens up in the gym.”

  He should have remembered Ken had installed the security system. “That’s ingenious.”

  “You say that about everything the man does.”

  “I’m sorry we woke you up. I wasn’t thinking.”

  William was leaning back on the ropes now, studying Matthew with an enigmatic expression. “That’s not what you should be sorry about, Matty.”

  Oliver tensed beside him and Matthew slid an arm around his waist. “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah,” he repeated firmly. “You’ve been keeping secrets and I’m not happy about it. Where exactly did you learn the moves you’ve been teaching our Mr. Garcia this morning?”

  “Moves?” For a second, Matthew wasn’t sure which moves he was talking about.

  His brother’s eyes twinkled at his look of confusion. “Oh, didn’t I mention? He added a video feed. Tanaka thinks of everything. Genius, that one. Like you said.”

  Oliver groaned softly into Matthew’s shoulder, but he couldn’t hide his relief. He should have known William wouldn’t have a problem with who he was dating. He was far more upset that Matthew had learned to fight without him.

  “Guys from our old neighborhood,” Matthew said vaguely. “Grump didn’t like it and I knew you were busy, but I wanted to learn the basics to make sure I could take care of Calamity if the need arose.”

  Tha
t wiped most of the amusement off William’s face. He nodded grimly. “Good man.”

  “He is,” Oliver chimed in, sounding oddly protective. “He’s a good teacher, too.”

  Matthew made a face. “Wouldn’t go that far. This isn’t boxing, bareknuckle or otherwise. It’s messy and quick, but it should get the job done.”

  William scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I’ve been considering adding a self-defense class or two to promote at the opening, but with the baby coming I didn’t want to overextend. I’d be proud if you’d consider lending me a hand with that.”

  Matthew’s throat tightened. When was the last time William had asked him for help with anything? “I think I could work that into my schedule. Maybe take a few shifts at the counter, too, so Nora gets a break now and then.”

  His brother nodded brusquely, eyes bright with emotion. “That’d be grand, Matty. Just grand.”

  Then he clapped his hands together, expression serious as he studied Oliver. “It looks like my first instinct about you was right, wasn’t it, Garcia? You came here with a purpose. Someone’s bothering you and you want him to piss off?”

  Oliver instinctively started to shake his head and Matthew sighed. “Yes, someone’s been bothering him. The guy works with Oliver’s favorite cousin, Ruben, and he’s a macho arsehole that thinks his size makes him intimidating. Thinks he can make Oliver do whatever he wants.”

  He ignored the glare Legs tossed his way. William was a good man to have on their side, especially if the shit-heel decided to step over the line again like he had three weeks ago.

  Oliver told him the whole story—how it started with the muscle-bound Emilio showing up at the dance studio, then his grandmother’s house, each time insulting Oliver’s sexuality after trying and failing to get him alone. Then the arse had gotten drunk at a family party and snuck into Oliver’s room.

  If Ruben hadn’t been looking for him, shouting from the hallway… Matthew didn’t want to think about what might have happened.

  Oliver had been using the gym as an escape, as well as a place to train. The closer the bastard got to his family, the harder it was to avoid him.

  Why he hadn’t told his cousin or any of his uncles, Matthew couldn’t understand. But he wasn’t going to keep it from his brother.