by Nikko Lee
Immediately, Jaime’s grip loosened. Jaime let out a heavy sigh but continued to hold Tyler. Tyler lay there as he struggled to clear his thoughts, unable and unwilling to lose this closeness.
They stayed that way until Tyler was aware his breathing was returning to normal. He would have stayed in Jaime’s arms all night if he didn’t fear someone might walk into the dojo and misinterpret what they saw. Jaime might have won, but he hadn’t forced Tyler into anything Tyler didn’t want.
“I think I owe you a drink,” Tyler said as he finally disentangled himself from Jaime, who looked at him with no small amount of concern. Tyler avoided Jaime’s gaze by offering the man his hand to get up.
“I could use a drink after that.” Jaime took his hand. His cheeks were red from exertion and a blush that even his long bangs couldn’t hide. “What’s gotten into you tonight? You’ve never fought that hard before. I’d hate to see what you’d do if you were actually trying to hurt someone.”
Tyler bowed but couldn’t bring himself to meet Jaime’s eyes.
“It’s been a long day.”
“Want to talk about it?”
Tyler nodded. “Yeah, but not here.”
Chapter 7
They changed in silence and Tyler tried not to think about anything but the moment. There was nothing quite like being pushed to your limits and no words could express that.
When they arrived at Chummy’s, Jaime and Tyler headed for one of the tables in the back where the music was low and the crowds were thin. It wasn’t until they’d downed a couple of quarts of water that they started in on the beers and the serious conversation.
“So what’s with the extra piss and vinegar tonight?” Jaime asked, finally turning their conversation from karate to more personal matters.
“Jenny dumped me.”
Jaime let out a long whistle. “Sorry, man, that’s gotta be rough. Not that I’d know from experience.”
Tyler chuckled. Somehow it didn’t surprise Tyler that Jaime wasn’t the one who got dumped.
“So you’re usually the dumper and not the dumpee?” Tyler asked as he traded his glass of water for something stronger.
“Actually, I never sleep with a guy more than once.” Jaime shrugged and took a sip of his beer. “It’s a policy that’s served me well for the most part.”
“Really?”
It hadn’t occurred to Tyler that Jaime was such a player. Although given his looks and manners, Tyler couldn’t imagine any guy refusing Jaime if the guy were inclined that way.
“Relationships are just not my thing,” Jaime admitted with a playful smile. “I have my fun and go home before anyone gets hurt.”
Suddenly the distant thumping of the dance music was replaced with the beating of Tyler’s heart. The questions he wanted answered lingered on the edge of his tongue but refused to go any farther.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure we can find some pretty thing to distract you.” Jaime looked around the bar. The idea of Jaime picking out a woman for him to sleep with was oddly arousing. Images of Jaime watching and joining the fun tumbled through Tyler’s brain. “You know what they say. The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.”
The problem was, Tyler knew who he wanted to get under. He just didn’t know how to go about getting there. Even though Jaime sat across the table from him, more than just the distance between them seemed insurmountable. They attended the same dojo. Tyler outranked Jaime. Tyler was also nearly eight years older. Not to mention Tyler wasn’t sure if he was gay or just out of his mind.
“How did you know?” Tyler said while Jaime’s stare honed in on a busty brunette with long hair and a short skirt.
“She looked like your type.” Jaime looked pleased that Tyler approved of his selection. “And easy.”
“No.” Tyler shook his head. “I’m not talking about the girl at the bar.”
Jaime gave him a puzzled look while Tyler tried to summon the courage to cross the void between them. Once he opened up to Jaime about what he was going through, there would be no going back to the way things were. Tyler wasn’t sure if he wanted to risk losing a friend and sparring partner. He certainly didn’t want Jaime to think, just because he was gay, Tyler assumed Jaime wanted him. But Jaime was the only person Tyler trusted to express the doubts that were plaguing him, the doubts that had never crossed his mind before he’d met Jaime.
If Tyler kept his thoughts to himself, they were going to eat him up from the inside. As it was, Tyler was having a hard time thinking about Jaime as just another student. He had to settle this, or it would continue to haunt him.
“How did I know what?” Jaime prompted Tyler when he kept silent.
Tyler took a drink from his beer as much to buy time as to steel his courage.
“How did you know you were gay?” Tyler couldn’t even look at Jaime as he asked the question.
Jaime laughed. “I think I always knew. Why?”
“So women never appealed to you?” Tyler continued to prod Jaime, although he wasn’t sure what he was searching for.
“Not really,” Jaime replied and blushed sweetly. “Once in college I had a girlfriend who wanted to be more even though I was up front about my interests. We fooled around a little, but other than the eroticism of the motion, I really wasn’t into it. I’m a man’s man. I like rough and ready, not soft and pliant.”
“Not every woman is soft and pliant.” Tyler thought about some of the more aggressive women he’d been with. They hadn’t been able to kindle the kind of passion that Jaime started in him.
Jaime flashed Tyler a wry smile. “Maybe, but I know what I like. Now tell me what kind of woman you like, and I’ll play wingman. Women dig the gay friend routine.”
“I don’t think a woman is what I need right now.” Tyler sighed. This was harder than he could have ever imagined. Tyler might as well be naked for the exposure he felt at laying bare his deepest secrets. “I was thinking maybe I should try hitting for the other team.”
* * * *
With a choke and a sputter, Jaime set down his beer and struggled to keep a straight face.
“Come again?” Jaime asked. Maybe he’d misunderstood what Sempai Tyler was getting at. Sempai Tyler’s unwavering gaze was all the confirmation he needed to know he hadn’t misheard. “You don’t mean that. It’s the breakup talking. Just give it some time, and you’ll be back to your skirt-chasing self in no time.”
“I don’t chase skirts.”
“I know.” Jaime stared at his beer with a wan smile. He had to be in a pretty bad place to be saying something so drastic. Even though Jaime had only known Sempai Tyler a couple of months, he’d never heard or seen anything to indicate the man was anything other than a red-blooded heterosexual. “You’re a good guy. The kind that’s few and far between. Any woman would be lucky to find herself in your arms.”
“What about you?”
“I told you, women aren’t my thing,” Jaime stopped short and looked at him. Sempai Tyler couldn’t mean what he just said. Jaime felt his mind freeze on the possibility of a thousand what ifs and if onlies. “You mean, literally me? In your arms?”
Sempai Tyler nodded.
Jaime opened his mouth then closed it again. He made another aborted attempt at a response while he continued to stare. Leave it to him to find the one bi-curious guy to have a crush on. The unobtainable was suddenly within his reach. That was if Sempai Tyler really meant what he was saying and wasn’t just having a momentary crisis. Although Jaime had never heard of someone turning gay from stress. A faint blush touched his cheeks, but he didn’t look away. Sempai Tyler was being honest with him.
“I need to know.” Sempai Tyler started and struggled to find his words. He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. “I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
Jaime longed to reach out and put his hand on Sempai Tyler’s arm if only to ground the man. The poor guy must be feeling pretty confused and lonely. Jaime felt compelled to reveal
himself even though it went against his normal arm’s reach distance he preferred to keep with most people.
“Would I be interested in you, if you were gay?” Jaime wanted to give him room to back out of his comment. Jaime had been wrong before about an attraction being mutual when it wasn’t.
“I’m not gay.”
Jaime pulled back. Sempai Tyler might as well have hit him with a back fist for all the force behind his denial. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard that line, even from a guy about to go down on him. The thought of Sempai Tyler on his knees pleasing Jaime lit his senses like a pinball machine.
“But you are,” Sempai Tyler said quickly without any accusation or slander. “And I trust you to help me figure this out.”
Finally, Jaime was starting to understand what Sempai Tyler was looking for. His unobtainable man was still unobtainable. Sempai Tyler was asking him for help not proposing a committed relationship. Jaime thought about Tomas and how excited he had been for the promised second date. And he still was. This thing was different. It was more like a favor for a friend. And he’d only gone on one date with Tomas. Jaime struggled to see the situation from all angles before he made a decision they both would regret.
“Won’t that make being in class awkward?” Jaime asked.
“Randy and Sarah hooked up while they were both students,” Sempai Tyler pointed out. He scraped at the label on his beer bottle until it was coming off in shreds. “It wouldn’t be the first time two people in class had more intimate associations outside of class. Besides, you said you never sleep with a guy twice. Call it an experiment. We’d never have to speak of it again.”
Jaime had been in enough onetime experiments to know how to walk away. He wasn’t sure if Sempai Tyler could do the same. If it went wrong, it could ruin their friendship. That, if nothing else, gave Jaime pause even if his body was ten steps ahead of him.
“If you don’t feel comfortable, it’s okay.” He started to back pedal. “We can just pretend this conversation never happened.”
“You are determined to do this aren’t you?”
“I am.”
“Honestly, guys are pigs.” Jaime bit his lower lip. He could feel his resistance to one more one-night stand caving. Even if he went on a second date with Tomas, they were a far cry from being exclusive. It was a word Jaime wasn’t familiar with. What he did know was how tough it was to learn to accept who you are. It had been easier for him than for some of his friends who had struggled with their sexual identity for years. “I knew I was gay from an early age, but I had no idea how to go about finding someone to explore my sexuality with. It took a lot of situations that could have turned out bad to figure out how to get what I needed. You’re a good guy. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Sempai Tyler nodded and looked at Jaime in a way that made him want to reach out and help the only way he knew how.
“Just once?” Jaime asked.
Sempai Tyler nodded again.
* * * *
Tyler settled their tab before they headed out to the parking lot where his car was parked. While Jaime was all business, Tyler oscillated between excitement and fear. He couldn’t believe he was actually going through with it, but he had to know. Even if it meant being faced with the brutal realization that being with Jaime was more a fantasy best left to his imagination.
“How do we do this?” Tyler asked when his nervousness got the best of him.
Jaime caressed Tyler’s cheek. The contact sent a ripple of heat through Tyler’s body and settled below his navel. The flash of unbridled lust in Jaime’s eyes made his knees weak. Tyler knew how the guy in the alley must have felt. As Jaime moved in to kiss Tyler, he pulled back. The idea of kissing Jaime felt too intimate. This was just about sex.
“What do you want to do?” Jaime asked. The tension from the effort of restraint showed on his face.
“Would it make me gay if you sucked my cock?”
Jaime chuckled and stroked the line of Tyler’s jaw with his thumb. “Not at all.”
“Okay.” Tyler was breathless and could barely squeeze out more than a word.
“Get in the car,” Jaime said with a devilish twinkle in his eye.
As Tyler sat in the driver’s seat, Jaime took the passenger side seat.
“When was the last time you were tested for STDs?” Jaime’s serious words didn’t match the playfulness in his eyes. “I get tested every few months and always play safe.”
The no-nonsense way he spoke reminded Tyler that Jaime was familiar with the risk of casual sex. He, on the other hand, hadn’t even had a one-night stand with a woman. Tyler had a hard time being comfortable enough with a woman to have sex with her until they were on their way to a committed relationship.
“The last time I was tested was after the first time I’d been with Jenny,” Tyler admitted.
“Good.” Jaime smiled. He leaned over the center console and traced a finger down Tyler’s breastbone. “Have you thought about me sucking your cock before?”
Hearing Jaime say those words took Tyler’s cock from zero to sixty in less than five seconds. He felt his eyelids grow heavy as he remembered the last time he had masturbated and Jaime’s image had invaded his fantasy. Tyler alternated between looking at Jaime’s finger travel toward his crotch and watching Jaime’s lips. Soft and red, hot and wanting; Tyler’s fantasy was becoming a reality. His fingers trembled as he reached to touch Jaime’s lips. They were as soft as he had imagined them to be.
“Yes, I have.”
“I’ve thought about it, too.” Jaime’s admission was more tender than Tyler expected.
Not once had Tyler felt Jaime’s eyes on him inappropriately. Jaime had always been the model of respectfulness in class. Now he was free to act, Tyler saw the same lust in Jaime’s eyes he’d seen outside of the bar in the alleyway a week ago. He seemed only to wait for Tyler’s permission to make real the desire they both shared.
Tyler’s hand snaked around to the back of Jaime’s neck. He pulled their heads together until their foreheads touched.
“Just go slow.” As excited as Tyler was, he was still more than a little scared.
“Don’t worry.” Jaime nuzzled his nose against Tyler’s. “If you don’t like this, then there’s no converting you.”
The sultry lilt in his voice sent a shiver down Tyler’s spine and tightened his balls.
“Just sit back, close your eyes, and enjoy.”
Tyler settled into his seat, but he didn’t close his eyes. Tyler watched enraptured by the sight of Jaime undoing his fly. There was a mischievous smile on Jaime’s lips as his hand slipped into Tyler’s pants. He looked pleased both with what he found and the gasp that escaped Tyler’s lips when he caressed Tyler’s crotch. When he wrestled Tyler’s contorted cock free, it sprang to attention eager for his attention.
Jaime started to bring his lips to it but paused. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Tyler gasped, impatient for Jaime to taste him.
Jaime beamed. “Just checking.”
As Jaime lowered his head, his bangs fell across his face. Tyler pushed them back as much to see what he was doing as to see the expression on Jaime’s face. Those multi-colored strands were as smooth as silk in Tyler’s hands. He could have played with them all night, twisting the locks around his fingers. Then Jaime’s lips wrapped around Tyler’s cock, and everything else ceased to exist. It wasn’t the first time Tyler had received head, but it was the first time someone had sucked him as if the world was going to end. If it did, Tyler wouldn’t notice. His awareness was completely focused on Jaime and how good the man was making him feel.
Groaning, Tyler resisted the urge to thrust his hips up or push Jaime’s head down. Jaime certainly knew what he was doing and, better still, enjoyed it. Each moan that rippled through his mouth echoed around Tyler’s cock. He was captivated by every sight and sound. Jaime brought him to the edge of release several times but pulled back so skillfully it would have been painful if i
t weren’t so pleasurable.
Suddenly Jaime pulled back, his hand still wrapped around Tyler’s throbbing dick. His heavy-lidded eyes stared at Tyler with anticipation. At once, Tyler’s heart skipped a beat. He fought the urge to reach out and press his mouth to Jaime’s reddened lips in gratitude.
“You can come in my mouth, if you want,” Jaime whispered.
“Oh, fuck.” Tyler closed his eyes as he struggled to keep from coming then and there.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Tyler nodded weakly. Any more motion would have released his spring-loaded body. When Tyler’s eyes opened, Jaime was licking his lips. Jaime waited just long enough for Tyler to calm down so when Jaime’s lips returned to his cock, Tyler managed not to erupt. Tyler did, however, let out a long, slow breath as Jaime took Tyler into his mouth until Jaime’s lips were wrapped around the base of Tyler’s shaft. Tyler buried his fingers in Jaime’s hair and grasped the fine strands as if they were his only lifeline. Jaime’s tongue stroked Tyler’s length with an agonizingly slow rhythm.
Jaime brought him so close to orgasm he whimpered in desperation for release. The contrast of Tyler’s pitchy voice against the low rumble of Jaime’s moan only heightened the experience. Tyler was going to come no matter how much he wanted this moment to last forever. There was no doubt about it. Tyler could have shut his eyes and pretended it was some random woman hanging off the end of his dick. But he didn’t want some woman. He wanted Jaime, and he had Jaime—at least for one night.
“I’m going to come.”
“I know.”
If Tyler had any doubts about his willingness, they were obliterated by the confidence in Jaime’s voice. It shattered his self-control and submitted to his desires without reservation. Tyler’s body tightened and relaxed in rhythm with his orgasm. The moment lasted a blissful eternity. He couldn’t look away, not even as Jaime licked him clean while sporting a pleased smile.
