by A. E. Wasp
Mikey slowly moved in to kiss Benny again. The softness of his lips and the gentleness of the kiss made something inside Benny ache.
Mikey broke the kiss. “I think that ship has sailed. I don’t think I can be just friends this time. Could you? Really? Could you watch me date someone else? Maybe fall in love and get married to someone else?”
“Fuck no.” Marriage? How were they even talking about that?
Mikey smiled. “See?”
“Yeah. I guess. So, you’re saying we go big or go home?”
“We have to be too big to fail.”
Benny bent his legs up, trapping Mikey’s thigh between them. “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
“Winners never quit. And quitters never win.” Mikey rubbed his crotch against Benny’s hip bone, making Benny press his body up against Mikey’s body holding him down.
“Are you calling me a quitter?”
“Never. Benito Quintaña never quit a thing in his life.”
Ain’t that the truth, Benny thought, deliberately not looking at the beer bottle on the table. Mikey was still looking right at him, eyes locked on his. Benny squirmed a little under the silent scrutiny. “What?”
Mikey shifted his weight so he could run his hands through Benny’s hair. Benny turned his head into the palm of Mikey’s hand. “I like your hair long like this. All those curls and those big dark eyes, all wide. Makes you look like a Mexican cherub.”
“That’s racist.” Benny tried to look offended, but it was hard with Mikey’s fingers scratching against his scalp.
Mikey lifted his other hand off Benny’s bicep and trailed his fingers across the exposed skin on Benny’s stomach, watching the way it jumped under his hand. “How about one of those pizza parlor kids?”
Mikey’s fingers trailed up to Benny’s nipples, and he lost his train of thought. “Yeah. Sure.” He rocked forward into Mikey’s thigh that was so conveniently placed between his legs.
Mikey chuckled and then man-handled Benny until he lay flat on the couch with Mikey plastered across him. It was just where Benny wanted to be. He slid his hands under Mikey’s shirt, and they got down to some serious making out.
Some amazing time later, Benny broke away, gasping for air. He was so hard, it hurt. “Off, off.” He pushed at Mikey’s t-shirt.
Mikey groaned at bit at Benny’s throat. “I can’t. If Jasmine comes down.”
“She’s asleep.” Benny changed tactics, pushing his hand between them and yanking at the button of his jeans. The back of his wrist pressed against Mikey’s erection, making him groan and press down onto Benny.
“Sometimes she wakes up still.” Mikey lifted his hips up so Benny could get his hand free.
Benny yanked his zipper down with a thankful moan, then ripped opened Mikey’s jeans, sliding the zipper down with the back of his hand as he slid in down the length of Mikey’s cock.
“Oh, fuck.” Mikey gasped, grinding into Benny’s hand. “She. Fuck. She’s sneaky. I don’t always hear her. When she just pops up on the side of bed, it’s freaking creepy. Like Children of the Corn.” Mikey pushed Benny’s shirt up as far as it could go and slid backward until he could get his mouth on Benny’s nipples.
“Yeah, God.” Benny panted, whining as Mikey bit down and flicked it with his tongue. “Oh, shit.” He clamped one hand on the back of Mikey’s head to keep him from moving, then slid his hand down the back of Mikey’s jeans and underwear as far as he could reach. He dug his fingers into the muscles. “Damn. You have a perfect ass.”
Mikey switched to the other nipple and Benny arched against the couch, pushing hard into Mikey. “Jesus.” Benny pulled his hand away and pushed them both into Mikey’s pants, sliding them down. “Lift,” he begged, pushing at Mikey’s hips. Mikey lifted, and Benny quickly slid Mikey’s underwear over the top of his cock. In a flash, he had his own pants shoved down. He pulled Mikey back on top of him.
“Oh, Shit,” Mikey groaned as Benny dragged their cocks together. “Oh, god, that feels, fuck.”
“Yeah?” Benny panted, pulling Mikey up higher on his body to align them even better. “Ever do this before?”
“No. Never.” Mikey thrust hard into Benny, bracing his feet against the end of the couch. His hot breath blew against Benny’s skin with every labored exhale.
Benny wrapped his arms around Mikey, wanting to feel every inch of them pressed together. “Kiss me.”
Mikey dove down, grabbing Benny’s face with one hand and holding it in place as he kissed all the air out of Benny’s lungs.
The old couch rocked hard on its wobbly legs, knocking against the end table. As they worked frantically against each other, chasing the high Benny felt building in the base of his spine, Benny gradually became aware of the muted thumping of the arm of the couch against the end table.
“Oh, crap. Mikey. Mikey!” He pushed Mikey away.
“What?” Mikey’s wild-eyed look make Benny forget what he was going to say, and he reached up, pinching both Mikey’s nipples at the same time, just to see his reaction.
Mikey’s dropped jaw, and full body shudder was just the thing Benny had been going for. A hard thrust of Mikey’s hips made Benny’s eyes roll back in his head and made the coffee table thump loudly against the wall. Mikey froze at the noise.
Oh, yeah, that.
“Shit,” Mikey said and dropped down on top of Benny. Benny could feel both their hearts pounding against his chest. He ran his hand up and down Mikey’s back, reveling in the slickness of the sweaty muscles and the heaving of his chest.
He kissed Mikey gently, exploring and learning the feel of his mouth and the way he tasted. Mikey’s arms and legs trembled where they pressed against him. “Lift up,” Benny said softly.
Mikey pushed up into his hands and knees, and Benny reached down between them, wrapping his hands around both of their cocks as well as he could. He stroked them together, long slow strokes.
Mikey groaned deep in his chest and dropped his head to Benny’s.
“Good?” Benny asked.
Mikey nodded and rolled his hips gently, pushing into Benny’s hand.
“Yeah. Just like that. Just. That.” Benny’s stroke and Mikey’s thrusts sped up, both getting faster and faster. The only sounds were their panting breaths and the soft crackle of static from the baby monitor.
Mikey thrust forward with a grunt and froze, breath locked in his throat as he came. The feel of him and the look on his face pushed Benny over the edge right after.
Mikey dropped hard onto Benny, pushing all the air out of his lungs.
“Jeez. You’re heavy.” Benny ran his hands up and down Mikey’s back, tracing the curved muscles over his spine and down to his butt. He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of doing that.
“God. That was good.” Mikey sat up and pulled his t-shirt off with a groan.
“Oh, sure, now you take your shirt off.”
Mikey wiped himself off with the shirt, then threw it at Benny.
“Gross.” He cleaned himself off gingerly. There was no way for the post-sex part not to be slightly awkward at best. “I can’t believe you still have this shirt.”
Mikey stood up and pulled his pants back on. Benny thought the no shirt and jeans look was a good one for him. “I got everything my mom had when they moved to India. Most of it’s still in boxes in the garage.” He finished the warm beer and sat back down, reaching out for Benny.
Benny slid into the space next to Mikey happily.
“Do you mind if I turn on the tv?” Mikey asked.
“Nope.”
Mikey did, and they flicked through the channels until they settled on some drama where men in suits and women in tight skirts tried to solve some crime. Mikey shifted around, and Benny found himself sliding down until he was lying with his head in Mikey’s lap, Mikey’s fingers carding rhythmically through his hair.
“Umm, feels good.” He closed his eyes. “I appreciate the booty call very much, but it sounded like some stuff happ
ened today. Want to talk about it yet?”
Benny’s head rose and fell with Mikey’s inhale. “I got a notice from the landlord that I have thirty days to move out.”
“Oh, that sucks.” The rental market was extremely tight in Red Deer. Rents were high, and inventory was low. College kids had most of the places locked down by July so they could move in in August.
“Yeah. Even if I can find a place, how am I supposed to come up with first and last month’s rent and a security deposit? Not to mention paying movers and utilities and everything.”
Go big or go home. “You guys should come live with me. I have plenty of room.”
Mikey’s hand stopped moving. “What?”
Benny sat up, words tumbling over themselves in their rush to come out. “No, really, it’s perfect. I have this three bedroom place out on the edge of town. It’s small, and a little beat up, but it’s under the trees, right by the river. It’s great. You guys would fit no problem.” Not to mention a little help with the rent would be really useful.
“You want us to move in with you?”
“Yeah. We always said one day we’d get a place together.”
“When we were sixteen. Ten years ago.”
“So it took a little while.”
Mikey smiled wide, eyes sparkling.
“What?” Benny hadn’t trusted that look in the past, and he didn’t trust it now.
“We’re supposed to be dating, right?”
“Yeah?” Benny sat up.
“I haven’t dated in a long time, but shouldn’t we have at least one real date before we move in together?”
Benny raised his eyebrows. “We’ve done this whole thing ass-backwards from the beginning. Why stop now? I mean, if you look at it that way, shouldn’t we have had a date before we screwed around on your couch?”
Mikey blushed, and Benny laughed. “What? Why are you blushing? Which is adorable, by the way.”
“I told myself I wasn’t going to do that tonight. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“You’re such a gentleman.” Benny leaned in closer, resting his hands on Mikey’s legs. “Am I just that darn irresistible?”
“Actually,” Mikey said, leaning in for a quiet kiss that made Benny gasp, “you are.”
Benny had to kiss him more for saying that. Before they could get worked up again, Benny pulled away, holding Mikey back with a hand on his chest. “Okay, how about this. We do two weeks of serious dating, say four dates, and if you think it’s okay, then we move in together. You can even have your own room if you want.”
“You don’t think it’s too fast?” Mikey looked worried.
“Look, we’re all out of order already for this whatever it is. I’ve already met your parents. You already met mine. You know all my aunts and uncles and cousins. My grandmother likes you better than she likes me.”
“I don’t steal her tequila.”
Benny held up a finger. “One time! That was one time.”
“What if it doesn’t work?” Mikey asked softly, looking down at the floor.
“If it doesn’t work, we’ll go back to being best friends, and you move into my house while you look for a new place and I crash with Chris until you do.”
“I thought we decided we couldn’t be friends?”
“Then I guess we’re going to have to make it work, aren’t we?”
“I guess so. No pressure.” Mikey’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.
Benny shook his head. “None.”
On the television, a woman in a long black coat and high red heels swished majestically down the hallway of a courtroom.
“Is that how you dress for court?” Benny asked.
“I can’t pull off the heels,” Mikey joked.
Benny shrugged. “It takes practice, but you get the hang of it.”
“How would you know that?”
“My best friends in California were drag queens.” Hadn’t he mentioned that?
“When did you live in California?”
Guess he hadn’t mentioned it. “After I left the Marines. I lived in San Diego before I moved here.”
“Huh.” Mikey sounded surprised. “I guess eventually we’re going to talk about all those things we said we didn’t want to talk about that night. We should have written the list down. Oh, speaking of that, I thought Chris lived in Denver? Wasn’t that his apartment?”
“Chris’s family has money. They keep a place in Denver for him, but they’ve got a rental condo up here he stays in most of the time.”
“Must be nice.” Mikey reached out and twirled the empty beer bottle on the table.
Benny looked around the living room, taking in the messy bins of toys and the low bookcase filled with DVDs of kids’ movie and tv shows. He tried to picture them in his living room. Surprisingly, the image felt really nice. He imagined his ancient avocado green fridge door covered with paper hearts, and he smiled.
“Okay,” Mikey said. “Let’s do it.”
“Yeah?” Benny asked, excited as if Mikey was the one doing him a favor.
“Yeah. So what are we going to do? What’s date number one?”
“I don’t know. What haven’t we done together?” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Mikey blushed.
“I love that you blush.” He leaned back against the couch. “So, in all the years we’ve known each other, we’ve gone to a thousand movies, eaten a million meals together. We’ve gone to concerts and football games. Played in football games. So, I think we should do something with Jasmine.”
“You really want to do that?” Mikey looked skeptical.
“If we’re going to potentially live together, I should get to know her, don’t you think?”
“I can’t argue with that.”
“How about this. We each pick a place or activity. And we let Jasmine pick one.”
Mikey laughed. “You’re a brave soul.”
“I’m game for anything. And for the fourth date, we’ll decide later. Okay?”
“Okay.” Mikey shook his head. “You’re crazy. Are we crazy?”
Benny shrugged. “Maybe. But so what?” A huge yawn kept him from saying anything else. “What time is it? I’m exhausted.”
“It’s like nine. It’s early.”
“I know. But I live on the other side of town. And I have to call for a ride.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket.
“Where’s your car?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Why not?”
Benny rubbed his fingers together in the universal sign for money and punched in a text to the cab company he used.
“That sucks.”
“You get used to it.” He dropped the phone on the table and scooted closer to Mikey, lips hovering right over his mouth. “We’ve got twenty minutes. I say we use them wisely.”
“Excellent plan.” Mikey closed the distance between them.
chapter eight
“Kids have all the fun.” Benny tried not to side-eye the little boy who had taken his spot at the magnetic wall. Okay, maybe it hadn’t been the boy so much as his mom who had glared at Benny until he’d stepped back and let the little boy have a turn at moving the tracks and levers around. Let’s just see if little Chad could get the marble all the way from the ceiling to the floor, eh?
“If you stop whining, I’ll buy you ice cream after.” Mikey bribed.
“Make it gelato, and I won’t try to get in on that jam session those kids have going on over there.” He pointed to the music corner of the Red Deer Children’s Museum. A surprisingly thorough collection of child-sized versions of real instruments was set up on a stage with a working microphone. A teenager in a rudimentary sound booth recorded each session, while parents and grandparents clapped and cheered. “Though they are just butchering Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” Benny rolled his eyes. “I am such a better singer than little Kyle. He’s flat.”
Jasmine popped out from inside the giant padded anthill she’
d been climbing through and ran up to them. “Mr. Benny come color with me.” She demanded, grabbing both their hands. She’d apparently settled on Mr. Benny after giving up trying to say Quintaña. Benny thought it was adorable, like everything about her. She’s also decided Benny was her new best playmate and had dragged him into every exhibit in the place. Why was fake shopping for fake groceries in a tiny grocery store so much more fun than real grocery shopping?
“Doesn’t she ever get tired?” Benny asked as she dragged them bodily through the crowd of screaming kids and tired-looking grownups. They’d been at the museum for two hours, and Benny was getting maxed out on high-pitched shrieks. But he did love watching Mikey playing with Jasmine and watching the moms check out his hot boyfriend.
As always, Mikey looked like a men’s fashion magazine model. His dark jeans were just the right side of tight and cuffed over some burgundy oxford shoes. Over his white t-shirt, he wore a short-sleeve black shirt with two wide red stripes on either side of the pearled buttons. He’d pulled his hair back into one thick ponytail.
Benny was going to have to up his clothing game. He’d been impressed with himself that he’d found jeans without holes or clay on them. He’d worn the light-blue polo shirt Chris always said looked good on him and the black Vans he’d scored at the thrift store last month. No one was giving him a second look, except Jasmine and all the other little kids. He was a hit with the preschool crowd.
“Oh, she is tired,” Mikey answered as they went back to the table full of paper, glue, scissors, and glitter that was Jasmine’s favorite place. “Trust me. We need to get some food in her soon and then home for some quiet time before she loses it.”
Benny lowered himself to one of the low stools and reached for some construction paper. “She seems fine,” he said quietly to Mikey, looking at where Jasmine worked hard at cutting out yet another heart.
“Don’t fall for it,” Mikey whispered back. “Five minutes, Jazzy,” he said louder.
“But, dad, I’m coloring.” She waved her crayon at him.
“Yeah, dad, we’re coloring.” Benny cut his own paper heart out, pleased at the feel of the dull blade moving through the paper. His hands didn’t shake at all.
