by Anna Martin
Drew stopped them at a cart selling handmade leather cuffs and woven bracelets.
“Want one?” he asked.
Cooper laughed. “Sure. Let me pick one for you too.”
The woman who owned the stall had incredibly tanned skin and wore loose, Aladdin-style pants. Her long blonde hair was twisted into dreadlocks and her fingernails were painted different colors. Drew seemed completely enchanted.
“I think we both need ones we can take off easily,” Drew said. “I’m not allowed to wear any kind of jewelry for my job, and Cooper works in a kitchen.”
Cooper leaned in close to Drew’s neck while the girl went to the other side of the stall. “Flirt,” he breathed against him, just to watch him flush with embarrassment.
“Stop it,” Drew hissed back.
Cooper laughed and gently elbowed him.
For Drew, Cooper picked a simple tan braided bracelet with a popper snap to hold it in place. That way he could take it off for work.
“I like this one,” Drew said, brushing his fingers over a dark red leather band that would slip on over Cooper’s hand.
“Me too.”
“Great,” the girl said. “Do you want me to bag those up for you?”
“No, we’ll wear them now,” Drew said.
Cooper insisted that they pay for each other’s; that way it was more romantic. He wasn’t naturally romantic, or he’d never particularly felt that way before Drew.
So when Drew reached over and gently threaded their fingers together, Cooper decided to just go with it. He could do it: walk along the beach, flip-flops in one hand, the other linked with another guy. It wasn’t natural for him, to be so open like this, but he could do it for Drew.
The sun was warm, and Cooper tipped his face up to the sky and smiled.
“Just so you know, I won’t be around next weekend,” Drew said.
“Okay.”
“I’m going home to see my mom.”
“Aww,” Cooper teased, squeezing Drew’s hand. “I should probably call my mom actually. I haven’t spoken to her in weeks.”
“Yeah, I usually try and go back and see them every other month or so.”
“You got any brothers or sisters?”
“Nope, just me.” Drew kicked his feet through the sand. “My dad’s a dentist, and my mom works in the finance department in my old high school.”
“Where did you grow up?”
“In Portland, the Northwest quadrant, if that means anything to you.”
“I’ve never been there,” Cooper admitted.
“You should go. It’s nice.”
“Hipster city,” Cooper said, and bumping against Drew gently. Drew laughed.
“Yeah, probably. I stayed there for school—went to Oregon State.”
“For their theater program, right?”
“Yeah. It was a good school. I’m still waiting for my big break, but maybe one day.” He shrugged.
“You never told me how you ended up working at Disneyland.”
Drew huffed a laugh. “Jeez.”
“Now you gotta tell me,” Cooper said, grinning.
“Okay.” He stretched his neck from side to side. “I suppose it’s not really that interesting. I was at an audition in LA for some commercial—which I didn’t get, by the way—and I met a girl was there, and I got talking to her. Turns out her name is Madison and she works at Disneyland.”
“Go on.”
“There’s this whole audition process….” Drew waved his hands around. “I have some dance experience, which helped a lot, from what I’ve been told. They like good dancers at Disney. You don’t audition for one character in particular. They get you to try out for a lot of different parts. Then they make a decision from there. It’s got more to do with your ‘look’ than any particular talent. I’m sure they turn away a lot of talented people because they don’t look right.
“Anyway. I got through casting and the audition, and I’m the right height and the right pants size, so they offered me a job. It meant I could move here and be closer for other work, auditions and stuff, you know? So I took it.”
“So you’re an actor.”
Cooper said it like it was a statement.
“Well, yeah. The Disney thing is an acting job, Cooper. The scheduling team are really good at letting us swap shifts and stuff if we have auditions to go to. I don’t work much, but I’ve gotten a few jobs since I moved here. Mostly commercials and music videos.”
“That’s good,” Cooper said softly. “It’s good that you can make a career out of doing something you love.”
“How about you?”
“Hmm?”
“What do you love?”
Cooper laughed. “Not working behind a bar, that’s for damn sure. I don’t know. I never went to college—”
“Why not?”
“There wasn’t anything I particularly wanted to study. My grades were good, but I looked at the cost of college and how much I’d need to work to be able to afford it and still be paying off the debt for the rest of my life, and I suppose I couldn’t justify it to myself when I wasn’t dying to do one thing or another. I decided to get out of San Diego and head north. I was supposed to go to San Francisco, but I got stuck here.”
“And what now?”
“What do you mean?”
“What are you planning to do next?”
Cooper shrugged. “I might keep moving north. I don’t know yet.”
“Hey,” Drew said softly, squeezing his hand. “You wanna stop and get a drink or something?”
“I’d prefer to take you back to my apartment so we can fuck like bunnies.”
The flush that spread across Drew’s cheeks and down his neck was extremely satisfying.
“Sounds good to me,” he said, clearly trying to play it cool.
“Let’s go.”
“So, uh, it’s not much,” Cooper said as he unlocked the apartment door. “But it’s home, for now.”
“You have your own place. You’re doing better than me.”
“Come in. Do you want a beer or anything? Soda?”
“I’ll take a Coke, if you have one.”
“Sure. Make yourself comfortable.”
Not nervous.
Drew toed off his shoes and wandered through to the living area, looking at the photographs Cooper had tacked to the walls.
“You take these?”
“Nah, my sister did. She’s a photographer. Mostly weddings, baby shoots, that kind of thing. But in between times she does the more arty stuff.”
“She’s good.”
“Thanks. I’ll tell her you said so.”
He pulled two cans of Coke from the fridge and went to stand next to Drew.
“That’s my mom,” he said, pointing to the dark-haired woman in the picture. “My grandma, my great-grandma, my youngest sister Shannon, and her daughter Grace.”
“Five generations.”
“Yeah. That was last summer. Grace was only a few weeks old, and our great-grandma died just before Christmas. So it was kind of a rare opportunity to capture all the generations together.”
“You look like your dad.”
Cooper laughed, his eyes following Drew’s to the next picture over. “Yeah, we get that a lot.”
Drew took the two Cokes from Cooper’s hand and set them aside, then took Cooper’s hands and wrapped them around his own neck.
“I like you,” he said, with the sweetest little grin, and Cooper felt something swoop in his stomach. “I’m just saying because, I don’t normally, I don’t know. Do this, I suppose.”
“Go back to a guy’s apartment on a Monday afternoon with the expectation of having sex?”
Drew laughed, tipping his head back, and Cooper gave in to the temptation to lean forward and press his lips to that long, strong column of neck.
“Yeah, that,” Drew said nudging his nose against Cooper’s hairline.
“I like you too.”
“Good.”
/> The first kiss was soft, warm, something sweet and comforting, and Cooper let himself be carried away on it. Drew wasn’t like any other guy Cooper had slept with, and that was okay. Drew was something different, something better, and this time he was going to go with it.
He rucked Drew’s shirt up, getting his hands on smooth skin, then decided to keep going and tugged the shirt off over Drew’s head.
“I knew it,” Cooper muttered, pressing his palms to Drew’s chest.
“What?”
“You’re fucking perfect.”
Drew chuckled. “I’m really not. But thanks.”
He really was. Almost too pale for California, he had sparse blond hairs between his pecks, pink little nipples, and a dusting of freckles over his shoulders. Cooper leaned in and pressed a kiss to his sternum, dragging his lips over tacky skin.
Cooper kept his hands on Drew’s waist and walked them backward to the bed, almost collapsing onto it when his knees hit the edge. Drew caught him by his shoulders, laughing into their kiss, and tugged Cooper’s shirt off before they shuffled onto the bed together.
From there it was slow, easy kisses. Now he’d been given permission to touch, Cooper couldn’t keep his hands off Drew’s skin. He brushed his fingers over thick muscles and soft hairs, the tight pucker of his nipples, the light rough scratch of stubble on his jaw.
They undressed each other with sure fingers, stealing touches as layers were unwrapped and new things exposed. Cooper trailed his tongue over the sharp jut of Drew’s hipbone, teasing and loving the reaction.
“You got any preferences I should know about?” Drew asked, pitching his voice low and teasing as he kissed up the side of Cooper’s neck.
“I’m a pretty open-minded guy,” Cooper said. He reached down and squeezed Drew’s cock once, his grip firm, loving the stifled moan that fell from Drew’s lips. “But I think I want this inside me.”
“That is very okay with me.”
Cooper laughed and let go, leaning over the side of the bed to find his box of tricks. The shoebox contained one medium-sized dildo, two different types of lube, a box of condoms, a cock ring, and a small vibrator someone had once given him as a joke present. He’d kept it, though. Nothing wrong with a vibe every now and then.
For now, he grabbed one of the bottles of lube and a condom, then rolled back up onto the bed. Drew had taken over the job of stroking himself, and Cooper shook his head, laughing a little.
“Isn’t that a sight for sore eyes.”
“Come here.”
Cooper passed him the condom and flipped open the lube, then poured just enough on his fingers. He watched, feeling more than slightly voyeuristic as Drew fiddled with the condom wrapper, before eventually pulling the thin latex out and rolling it down his cock.
“Let me do that,” Drew murmured, reaching for the lube and nodding to where Cooper was working a second finger inside himself.
“Nuh-uh. Next time.” He paused, took a breath, and then smirked at Drew. “I like the stretch.”
“Shit.”
Drew reached across, and Cooper let himself be manhandled onto his side as Drew spooned up tight behind him.
“I haven’t had sex like this in… years,” Cooper admitted.
Drew chuckled and kissed Cooper’s shoulder. “It’s good,” he said, rubbing the head of his cock back and forth over Cooper’s hole. “Lazy fucking for a Monday afternoon.”
“Not gonna argue with you…. Oh fuck.”
He was almost tempted to bite the pillow or his arm or something, because wasn’t it always the same? You think a guy has a nice dick, and then they try to fuck you with it, and suddenly it’s ten times bigger than how it felt in your hand. Cooper huffed a laugh.
“Take a deep breath,” Drew said. He nuzzled the back of Cooper’s neck. “Relax.”
“I’m fucking relaxed.”
“Sure you are. Relax some more.”
Cooper did as he was told and took that deep breath, melting back against Drew’s chest.
“Oh fuck.”
“Mhmm.”
And maybe Drew was onto something with this position, because they figured out timing and rhythm and Cooper’s body between the two of them, with no one pushing anyone else, and Drew’s lips on Cooper’s neck was something else entirely.
When Drew bottomed out, Cooper honest-to-God whimpered and pulled Drew’s arm around his chest.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Feels good.”
“Mm. For me too.”
From there it all slowed down. Drew’s hands were everywhere—in Cooper’s hair, gently tugging, over his chest, plucking at his nipples, joining Cooper’s hand on his cock, stroking up and down his thighs. Cooper could twist just enough to exchange lazy kisses, then sink back into the sweet pleasure of what they were doing.
When it hit him, Cooper was relieved they weren’t doing it face-to-face. Because this was the sort of sex you were supposed to have five, maybe eight months into a relationship, when you’d learned all of each other’s kinks and quirks, when you knew that exact spot to put your mouth on to make them shiver all over. Cooper thought this was the sort of sex you had when you thought you were maybe, finally falling for someone, when they were the person you saw yourself having a future with.
It wasn’t the sort of sex you have the first time out the gate.
Drew leaned down and mouthed wetly at Cooper’s neck.
“Holy fucking shit,” Cooper moaned. “More, please, fuck.”
Apparently that made sense, because Drew snapped his hips with a new kind of intensity, and Cooper fisted his cock a little tighter. It had been a while since Cooper did this last, and Drew was really fucking good at it, and Cooper really wasn’t going to last long.
“You like this, hmm?” Drew murmured into Cooper’s ear, pinching and pulling at Cooper’s nipple.
“Fuck, yeah.”
“You gonna come for me, Cooper?”
Probably, yeah, he thought, but all that came out of his mouth was a low, desperate sort of whine. A few seconds later and the pressure of Drew’s cock inside him and the twist of his own wrist over his cock, and he was stuttering and moaning and coming over his hand. Drew kept pinching Cooper’s nipple, tugging on it through his orgasm, and fucking hell, that felt good.
With two brutal thrusts, Drew came too, pressing his face between Cooper’s shoulders as he moaned, low and throaty and gorgeous.
For a few seconds, all Cooper could hear was the rush of blood in his ears and the familiar pounding of his own heart and Drew’s ragged breathing behind him. Then Drew hummed in apparent deep satisfaction, and Cooper hid his grin in his pillow.
“Move,” he croaked, reaching back to slap Drew’s ass.
“But you feel good,” Drew mumbled.
“I don’t care, move.”
They were both giggling as they pulled apart, Cooper using his discarded underwear to clean up himself, then collapsing back onto the bed flat on his back.
“Ow,” he complained with a laugh, rubbing a flat palm over his abused nipple.
“Sorry,” Drew said, and he at least looked contrite. “I probably should have asked permission.”
“Don’t. It’s fine by me. I’m just aching now.”
Drew smiled and pulled him into another slow kiss. Cooper let himself be pulled, settling in the comfort of Drew’s arms.
“Are you… snuggling?” Drew asked as Cooper got his own back, pushing Drew down and resting his head on Drew’s shoulder.
“No, absolutely not,” Cooper said. He kicked the fleece blanket up from the end of the bed to pull over their waists, then hooked his leg around Drew’s.
“I think you are.”
“Nope. I’m a Scorpio. We don’t snuggle.”
“That’s a shame, because I’m a Taurus, and we definitely do.”
Drew brushed his fingers through Cooper’s hair, and Cooper knew he was going to fall asleep.
“In that case,” Cooper said on a ya
wn, “I’ll let you.”
Chapter Four
When Drew woke, the sun was a little lower in the sky, and Cooper’s hand was on Drew’s dick.
He wondered if that was awkward and decided no. It had been up Cooper’s ass; he was allowed to touch it. As Cooper skimmed his thumb back and forth over the soft skin, Drew started to finally wake up.
“What are you doing?” he grumbled.
“Touching it,” Cooper said a little too innocently. His hand was on Drew’s junk, after all. “You’re not cut.”
“No,” Drew said. “My parents are like modern-day hippies. I guess they never got around to doing it.”[vax,homebirth]
“It’s good. I like it.”
“I’m pleased,” Drew chuckled.
Cooper gently pinched the foreskin between his thumb and finger and rubbed it back and forth. Maybe unsurprisingly, Drew’s dick twitched and started to fill. He arched, stretching, and Cooper took the opportunity to rub his own dick against Drew’s hip a little.
“You wanna go again?” Drew asked, still feeling a little sleepy.
“Sure.”
“You get to do all the work this time, then.”
“You didn’t do any work the first time!”
Cooper grinned and reached for one of the condoms, which had spilled out of the box and onto the floor. While he was leaning over, Drew smacked his ass. Cooper huffed a laugh.
Drew’s cock was now at least half-hard and laying in the crease of his hip. He skimmed his fingers over it, just lightly, just enough to tease.
Cooper shuffled down on the bed and kissed wetly along the inside of Drew’s thigh. Drew bit back a moan, trying not to desperately thrust his cock at Cooper’s face. Cooper did it again, and again, working up Drew’s thigh until he was nuzzling at Drew’s balls.
“Please,” Drew whispered.
“Oh, I see how it is,” Cooper teased, then sucked Drew’s cock into his mouth.
