by Max Walker
Red swallowed back the last of his beer, trying hard not to think too much about it. He was going to have to talk to his father, but tonight wasn’t the night. He was going to enjoy his time with Caleb, no matter how far they sat from each other.
“Alright, now it’s your turn, Crow,” Michael said.
Crow smiled, tiny dimples appearing on either cheek. “I won’t put you guys through that.” As he said it, almost as if by magic, he pulled a guitar from under the table. That got the table laughing. Red remembered asking him to bring it with him, he hadn’t realized he had grabbed it from his car and placed it next to his chair.
“But, since you asked.”
Crow started with thumbing the guitar, establishing a beat that got everyone’s feet tapping along. Red sat back, excited to see how Caleb would react to a live Crow Kensworth performance. He was a force of nature with his voice, and it was clear the moment he used it. Red knew that it was only a matter of time before he hit it big. He already had hundreds of thousands of subscribers on YouTube, and he really didn’t even have to work as Red’s assistant. Not for the money at least. He wasn’t making mansion money, but he was working his way there.
Red instantly recognized the song. It was one Crow had written a few months back; about lost love and growing old with the wrong one. It was a terribly sad song, but Crow was a master at coating his lyrics in upbeat pop that made every song of his an earworm. They were all radio quality with a bit of a dance vibe to them along with some subtle country influences. But tonight, there was no dancing element or catchy electronic instrument. It was Crow and his guitar, and that made his words stand out even stronger.
Red sat there, losing himself in the lyrics, forgetting about everything but Caleb and the music. About how the last thing he wanted was to live his life asking ‘what if?’. He looked to Caleb, who had his eyes turned down to his fist on the table. By the flickering torch lights from the tiki lamps nearby, Red could have sworn he saw a tear roll down Caleb’s cheek.
And then, Crow switched the beat and the lyrics transformed. Red hadn’t heard this version of the song. No longer was Crow crooning about a life lost in blue love. He was singing about a passionate red sky painted in a lover’s endless dyes. About being truthful and living loud. Everyone’s head was bobbing to the beat, swaying to the rhythm. Red’s mind raced with the words, feeling as if Crow was improvising it all right then and there.
It was over, and everyone clapped. Red pushed his chair back and stood up, prompting everyone else to do the same. Crow, with a slight blush on his cheeks, dropped his head and said a humbled thanks as he put his guitar back down. Caleb looked a little stunned, his eyes slightly wet, catching the reflection of the moonlight.
“I still think Caleb has a good shot at that Grammy,” Michael said, catching everyone off guard as they took their seats. They all started laughing once again. The night was getting better and better.
Selena put a hand on Red’s thigh. “Red, can I talk to you for a sec.” Her hand felt like a searing cattle brand, her voice hushed.
“Sure.”
Red got up, following Selena through the glass doors that led back into his house. She was looking like a lioness in a tan jumpsuit that tucked under a pair of whitewash jeans, heavy black necklaces bouncing on her neck like a mane.
“What’s going on?”
“I figured I should tell you before he gets here.”
“He?” Red was thoroughly confused. He shot a glance over his shoulder, back at the table. “Who else was supposed to come?”
“I invited him without telling you.” The doorbell chimed through the halls.
***
CALEB
He couldn’t help but look over his shoulder. It was a quick glance. He didn’t want to be obvious about it. Why would Caleb be so interested in Red and Selena’s private conversation? It wasn’t like he had had Red’s dick in his mouth before. Way more than Selena could say, that was for sure.
Alright. Stop being salty. It’s fine. Red’s talked to her.
Caleb understood that they still had to keep the act up, but it bothered him all the same. He grabbed his beer and drank, hoping to dull out some of the jealousy.
Michael started coughing. He drank some water, but still wouldn’t stop. Sandy looked his way before taking a long sip of her wine. Caleb was getting a little worried. He got up and started patting Michael’s back, making sure that he wasn’t choking on anything. Crow grabbed a glass of water and brought it over.
Michael waved a hand in the air. Caleb took a step back, crossing his arms, his brows drawing in concern, his nurse instincts on overdrive.
“I’m ok,” Michael reassured in a rasp. He looked at his watch. “I just need some rest, that’s all. Sandy, come on. Let’s get home.”
Caleb went to his seat. Sandy chugged what was left of her wine before getting up. Her hand hovered over Michael’s lower back as they said a general goodbye to the table. Michael stopped next to Caleb and put a hand on his shoulder. He stuck another hand out. “Great meeting you,” he said, grinning down at him. Caleb smiled back and returned the firm handshake.
“I’m sure I’ll see you around again.”
Caleb nodded and smiled, not knowing what to say. Michael squeezed his shoulder and turned to leave. Caleb saw him walk with Red and Selena toward the front door, the bell ringing at the same time. He was left with Crow, who was already starting to pick up. Caleb got up from his seat and began stacking the cups.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Crow insisted, waving a hand over the table. “It’s like an instinct for me.”
“He doesn’t secretly beat you if you don’t do a good job, right? Blink twice if you need help.”
Crow looked up, faking a sob. “Is it that obvious?”
“I’ve seen Taken. I know how that shit works.”
They laughed, Caleb continuing with his cup stacking.
Then Crow said, “You’re good for him.”
The words came out of nowhere. Caleb kept with his cups. How did he know? Red never told him he had come out to Crow.
“I can see it, the way he looks at you,” Crow continued. “I’ve known him for five years, and you know something? That entire time, I’ve never seen him this happy.”
Caleb stopped with the cups. He looked up, catching Crow’s deep blue eyes from across the table. They crinkled at the edges with a smile. It was clear that Crow was happy for his best friend.
They heard a commotion from inside the house. Both of their heads turned when a door slammed. Crow and Caleb started at a hurried pace, jogging back into the house, past the kitchens, through the living room, down the hall, into the huge foyer. There, Red was standing, shaking his head. In front of him stood a man, shorter than him and a little rounder, someone Caleb hadn’t seen before.
“Shit,” Crow cursed under his breath.
“Why would you invite him?” Red was pissed. But why? And who was he?
“Because he’s a friend.” Selena’s predatory feline eyes narrowed. “And I don’t think he should have missed this introductory dinner.”
“You’re unbelievable.” Red crossed his arms. His eyes darted to Caleb, seeming to realize he was in the room. “You invited Peter here so he could put a stop to me and Caleb. You wanted him to see us together, didn’t you? You knew about him threatening me once, you thought he’d do it again.”
Selena’s painted eyes grew wider. “What? No, absolutely not.”
“Caleb?” Peter asked.
“Yes, Caleb.” Red’s voice was powerful. Definitive. “That man over there.” He raised his hand, pointing directly at Caleb. “My fucking boyfriend.”
Caleb felt himself start getting red under the pointed glares. Selena seemed to be sprouting snakes from her head while Peter was radiating red lasers from his pupils. Crow seemed to be the only one happy about all this, a smile spreading wider and wider. Caleb leaned back, putting a hand on the arm of a long white leather couch, bracing himself.<
br />
This was not how he pictured the dinner ending.
Twenty-Two
Red Miller
Red was running on pure adrenaline. He felt like he had come from completing an intense circuit of death-defying stunts. Blood was pumping hard, sight crystal clear. He was laser focused on Caleb and getting him the fuck out of there. He was done dealing with Peter. And if Selena was going to sink to playing these little Real Housewives type games, then he was going to have to distance himself from her too.
“You can sign Selena next month, once my contract is up.” Red crossed the distance between him and Caleb. “You’ll have a spot open in your roster.” He reached out and grabbed Caleb’s hand, who jerked slightly in surprise. He slipped his fingers between Caleb’s and held on tight. “You guys can let yourselves out.”
He turned and started walking, wondering if Caleb had picked his jaw up off the floor or if he left it with the two goons. They walked the entire way to Red’s bedroom in silence. Caleb’s hand feeling right while held in his. The entire walk, Red grew happier and happier. He felt like he’d broken another chain that had been holding him back. He was one step closer to being able to hold Caleb’s hand out in public, flaunt him around and let everyone know that Caleb was his. He was so close he could taste it.
Another thing he could taste? Beer and A1 as he pushed his man up against the bedroom door and pressed his lips against Caleb’s. With a gasp, Caleb opened for Red, their tongues sliding over the other, probing, hands gliding up and down their sides, and over their growing bulges.
“That was so fucking hot,” Caleb said, a little breathless.
“There’s more where that came from.” Red bit on Caleb’s lower lip, sucking it into his mouth as Caleb’s head fell back. He reached around Caleb and found the doorknob. He twisted and pushed and, as he expected, Caleb fell back. Red wrapped his arms around him and used the momentum to pick Caleb back up, allowing him to throw his legs up and wrap them around Red’s waist. Caleb chuckled as they returned to kissing while Red carried them to the bed.
He turned them both around and moved backward until he felt the edge of his bed push against the back of his knees. He fell back, bouncing on the mattress, Caleb still in his lap. The clothes they were both wearing were beginning to feel like straight-jackets, holding them back from what they really wanted.
“I need these off,” Red said, unbuttoning Caleb’s shirt. Caleb seemed to agree, hopping off of Red’s lap so he could take his clothes off. Red did the same, tossing his shorts to the side of the room, his shirt went over the headboard, and his briefs kicked into the hamper.
“Impressive,” Caleb said, talking about the kick but looking right at Red’s already swollen cock.
“Why thank you,” Red said playfully, running a hand down his abs and over his growing cock. He watched Caleb pull down his cameo-colored briefs, revealing an already rock-hard cock that bounced up into the air.
“Fuck,” Red said with a breath as he leaned in so he could taste Caleb on his tongue. He kissed the head, admiring the weight of Caleb’s balls in his hand, rolling them gently as he licked under the crown. Red loved sucking cock. He couldn’t say exactly why, but damn did he love having a good dick in his mouth and Caleb’s was fucking perfect. It took Red a few tries to deep throat Caleb, but success was oh so fucking worth it. He tried now, gagging on his size half-way down.
He didn’t mind the warm-up either. Red smiled and looked up, grinning around Caleb’s cock as they locked eyes. Red gripped the base of Caleb’s cock and started to stroke, using his saliva as lube. Caleb moaned above him, looking like he was in heaven. The glaze in his hazel green eyes told Red he was doing a fine job, something he had stressed about when he first started sucking Caleb’s dick. He was never sure if he was accidentally using teeth, or if he was just doing a shitty job, but Caleb never complained. Besides, being gay meant having a basic familiarity with the parts involved, so Red figured he knew what to deliver.
And, sure enough, Caleb was moaning louder and louder as Red continued to slurp. He reached around and dug his fingers into Caleb’s ass cheeks, spreading them and pulling Caleb deeper down his throat. He was almost to the balls before he had to come up for air.
“You taste so damn good,” Red said, licking the slick wet shaft, going down to Caleb’s balls and then working his way back up.
“I want you to fuck me,” Caleb said, locking his eyes with Red’s. They shared something powerful in that moment. Red came in for a kiss, grabbing both their cocks in his hand and stroking. The sensation was incredible, feeling the bottom of Caleb’s hard length on his, his palm working the other sides. He wanted to do nothing else but get inside of Caleb in that moment.
“You sure?” he asked. He had never topped anyone before. Red’s profile was too high for random hookups not to recognize him, and so he wasn’t even sure if Caleb needed more prep.
“Yes,” Caleb said with a smirk that almost made Red come then and there.
He got up and opened the walk-in closet. He grabbed a bottle of lube along with a condom from a box he kept in a cubby behind a pile of old t-shirts. He clearly didn’t use them very often.
He went back to the bed, being able to see with the plentiful amount of moonlight streaming in from all his windows. They were on the second floor facing out to the backyard, which was an expanse of rolling green hills, so he had no worries about a neighbor spotting them.
And, even if they did, so what? Caleb was his boyfriend. Sure, he still had some major hurdles to overcome, like coming out to his father along with the rest of the world, but that would come soon. For now, he was going to enjoy the night as though they had no secrets to hide.
“You’re so fucking sexy,” Red practically purred as he watched Caleb stretched out on the bed. He tore the condom packet open and tossed it to the side, rolling it over his flag-pole of a cock. He was so hard, he was almost in pain. Red wanted to sink his cock deep into Caleb’s ass, which Caleb was now spreading open for Red to see.
“Fuck,” he growled, moving closer on the bed so that he could line his cock up with Caleb’s ass. He put Caleb’s legs over his thighs. He grabbed the lube bottle and squirted a quarter size into his palm, which he then used to spread all over himself and Caleb.
“Mhmm,” Caleb said, closing his eyes as Red pressing the head of his cock against his tight entrance.
“Finger me first, just like at the Ivy.”
Red wasn’t going to turn that down. He slid two lubed fingers down between them, past Caleb’s balls, and through his crack, pressing them both down onto his puckered hole. Caleb moaned as Red slipped both his fingers inside this time, getting him used to being stretched. He slid them in, feeling the silky soft warmth of Caleb’s channel, looking for the swollen prostrate that would send Caleb to the moon and back.
By the roll of Caleb’s eyes, Red had found it. He made the ‘come here’ motion, stroking the spot and causing Caleb’s thighs to convulse and clench around Red as he pushed his ass down harder on Red’s fingers.
“I need you,” Caleb pleaded, “all of you.”
Red pulled his fingers out and replaced them with the head of his cock. He posted both arms on either side of Caleb and looked down as he pushed his hips forward, sinking the head of his cock into Caleb’s ass.
The tightness and the heat was intense. Red wanted more of it. He wanted to be buried in Caleb.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Caleb said, his head pressing back on the pillow as Red thrust deeper into Caleb. Halfway this time. He couldn’t get enough of the little gasps of pleasure Caleb would give whenever Red got a little deeper. He fucking loved it.
He leaned down for a kiss as he pushed in all the way. Caleb arched his back, gasping and pleading for more. Red, always eager to please, gave him exactly what he asked for.
After a few minutes of warmup, Red was pounding away, treating Caleb like a fucking sex god. He worshipped him that night. Praying to him with every new position, finding a n
ew way to please him, to please himself. They fucked until both of them came and then they fucked some more.
The sun was coming up when they were both finally drifting off to sleep. Red’s eyes were the last to close. He couldn’t remember his dreams that day, but that didn’t matter.
Not when he felt like being with Caleb was better than anything any dream could conjure up.
Twenty-Three
Caleb Forester
They woke up sometime in the late afternoon, naked and wrapped in each other’s arms. Caleb, one-hundred percent, did not mind the view he got on waking up. Red’s sleepy face, his eyes blinking open as he grumbled awake. He was so fucking handsome and vulnerable in that moment.
They kissed, and went down on each other before laughing their way into the shower.
Freshly showered and feeling fan-fucking-tastic, Caleb flopped back into bed, throwing the silky soft white comforter over his naked body. So what if they spent the whole day sleeping, they could spend a few more minutes lounging around with each other. He watched Red as he brushed his teeth in the bathroom, water droplets still dripping down his biceps, his cock hanging heavy and limp between his thick, muscular thighs. He was a sight to behold, and Caleb wasn’t going to let a second pass without taking the chance to admire him.
Red walked out of the bathroom, shutting the light off behind him, leaving only the bright afternoon sun to light the scene. Red’s bedroom was somehow exactly what Caleb thought it would be. Grand without being over the top. A huge California king with a towering oak headboard took up the center of the room. A navy blue love seat was pushed against the corner, an ivory white throw tossed over the arm, a wide window just above it. There were more bookshelves in here, though not nearly as many as in the study, and these shelves had also been filled with various little trinkets collected from all over Red’s travels. Caleb couldn’t wait to spend a day going through them with Red, hearing all the stories each one held.
