Better Have Heart

by Andy Gallo

  Darren gripped his phone, slowly piecing the deception together. “Isaiah’s advisor told him that you called President Jenkins, expressing concerns. Isaiah was told that you would revoke his scholarship if he didn’t stop seeing me.”

  The line crackled in the following silence. “I haven’t spoken to Theodore in weeks,” his father said, and Darren heard the frown in his voice. “I had no idea you and Isaiah were dating, and even if I had, I would never threaten him.”

  Darren’s heart seized. “You didn’t call President Jenkins?”

  “I would never take away someone’s scholarship because I didn’t want them dating my son. And you know I’d have told you myself, not through a third party.”

  Darren huffed. “I don’t know that.”

  “You . . . don’t?”

  “You don’t call to see how I’m doing. You stopped answering my calls. You never come to see my games. The one text you sent emphasized acting professionally.” Darren’s voice wavered. “How am I supposed to trust you’d talk to me about this?”

  Nobody spoke for a long beat.

  His father cleared his throat. “I’ll get to us in a moment. I want to deal with Isaiah’s scholarship first. Tell me the details again.”

  Darren did.

  His father sounded grim. “I would never abuse my power like that. You know that.”

  “You also told me I could tell you anything and you would always love me. News flash, Dad, I told you something important about me, and you couldn’t get away from me fast enough. I don’t know what you would or wouldn’t do anymore.” Darren craned his neck and glared at the dark sky. A gentle breeze ruffled his hair. The soft caress made the pain inside feel worse. “It hurts, but I accept you hate me. What I can’t accept is what they’re doing to Isaiah.”

  His mother sobbed.

  His father grew silent once more.

  Darren pushed himself toward an empty bench and sank onto it.

  “Son, I don’t hate you.” His father’s voice broke. “Please don’t ever think that. I love you.”

  A hopeful tear trailed down Darren’s cheek.

  “I’m sorry. I have been avoiding you. I’ve struggled with you being gay and didn’t want to talk about it. I thought some time apart would give me some perspective. Clearly all it did was hurt you. Your grandfather called me a damn fool, and like always, he’s right.”

  Darren’s response stuck in his throat. “I didn’t want to disappoint you. But I didn’t want to pretend anymore, either.”

  “You shouldn’t have to. I’m sorry my reaction has been so hurtful. You deserve better from me.”

  “Dad?”

  “Darren?”

  Darren shuddered out a breath, in relief, in unresolved pain. “I need to help Isaiah. I want—”

  “Say no more. I’ll take care of this.”

  Darren blinked hard, eyes stinging. There was the Dad he knew.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Isaiah

  Darren: Where are you?

  Isaiah was so relieved to hear from Darren, he couldn’t unlock his phone.

  Nico chuckled and tapped in his code for him. “Calm down, ’Saiah.”

  “I know, but I feel guilty I didn’t pick him over my scholarship.”

  “You were trying to protect him, too. It’s actually quite beautiful in its own insane, idiotic way.”

  “Shut up.” Isaiah stole his phone back.

  Darren: Open your door?

  “Open my door?”

  Nico rolled his eyes and jumped off the bed. He pulled open the door, and Darren stood there, smiling ear-to-ear.

  Isaiah flew off the bed. They collided in a fierce hug, Isaiah squeezing Darren as tightly as Darren squeezed him.

  “’Saiah, honey. The rule is you let your boyfriend into the room before you molest him.”

  Isaiah didn’t let Darren go and stumbled with him into the room.

  Nico spared them a smirk. “I think this is my cue to leave.”

  “You don’t need to,” Darren murmured. “Nothing’s going to happen here.”

  Isaiah growled. “Why the hell not? No, first, tell me where you went. What happened?”

  Darren grabbed Isaiah’s hands. He opened his mouth and glanced nervously at Nico.

  “Should I kick his ass out?” Isaiah offered.

  Darren rubbed his thumb over the back of Isaiah’s hand and met his eye. “It’s no secret. I talked to my father.”

  Isaiah clutched Darren’s hands. “Darren, I—”

  “He never called Jenkins. He wouldn’t pull your scholarship for dating me.”

  “He didn’t?”

  Darren told him the entire exchange, and Isaiah could barely keep still from the hope fluttering in his chest. “He didn’t object to me dating you, either,” Darren said. “I think he actually likes you.”

  “No accounting for taste.” Nico snickered as he stuffed his laptop into his bag.

  Darren grinned, flashing his dimples. His gaze stroked Isaiah’s face lovingly. “May I kiss you?”

  Isaiah answered by pulling Darren’s head down. Ignoring Nico blatantly watching them, Isaiah pushed his tongue into Darren’s mouth, moaning when Darren kissed him back. They broke apart with a gasp, and Isaiah drew Darren to his bed.

  “Dad wanted me to reassure you that your scholarship is safe. If the school tries to take it, he’ll ensure the Foundation creates another one that he and only he has a say over.”

  Isaiah could barely believe his ears. “He did?”

  “He’s pissed Jenkins used his name to punish you. Unfortunately, Jenkins is slick. By calling Linton, he didn’t leave a paper trail. I’m sure he’ll deny it and say Linton is making it up or misunderstood. But he’s convinced Jenkins did it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I told him what Jenkins has been doing to you. Because it makes sense that Jenkins would say it, and Linton has no reason to lie about it.”

  “I hope Linton won’t get in trouble.”

  “Oh, I think Jenkins is the one in trouble.” Darren laughed. “You’ve never seen my dad pissed off. It’s scary. My grandfather is worse. He acts quietly.”

  “He sounds like Nonna,” Nico butted in, clearly not ready to leave the room yet. “You never see it coming.”

  Darren laughed. “That’s Grandpa Gage.”

  “What does your grandfather have to do with this?”

  “He’s chairman of the Board of Trustees for the school. He’s also retired with very little substantive work to do. Dad’s going to have him get to the bottom of this. And all that shit Jenkins has been doing to you and everyone else? Grandpa’s gonna find it.”

  Isaiah leaned against Darren, resting his head on his shoulder. “Thank you,” he murmured. “For risking everything to stand up for us.”

  Darren feathered a kiss on the top of his head. “I’m sorry for everything you’ve gone through.”

  Isaiah wrapped an arm around Darren’s waist and peeked up at him. “Back to the subject of kicking Nico out . . .”

  Darren’s laugh vibrated through him, and then a whisper tickled through his hair. “How about we go someplace else, instead? Someplace just for us.”

  Isaiah leaped from the bed. “Let me get some stuff.”

  Darren

  Stuff.

  Darren was a hundred percent sure what Isaiah meant by ‘stuff.’ He’d never been so turned on—and so wrecked with nerves—by such a small word.

  He’d booked a hotel room. Flowers, strawberries, sparkling cider—the whole package. But the moment he opened the door, Isaiah was on him, and Darren’s thoughts went to other packages entirely. Soft light filtered through the sheer curtains, glowing warmly around Isaiah.

  “You’re fucking beautiful,” Darren murmured.

  Isaiah shoved him against the wall with eager thrusts of his hips.

  Holy fuck, it was like all his synapses were firing all at once. He wanted to strip Isaiah of his clothes. Wanted to fuck him into t
he mattress.

  Wanted—God, wanted Isaiah to fuck him.

  He trembled between the cool wall and the heat of Isaiah.

  Vaguely, in the back of his mind, there were things he needed to say. Soft, kind, loving words. A few other ones as well.

  But Isaiah’s slick tongue thrusting suggestively in and out of his mouth had his brain tuning to a single channel.

  Other stuff later.

  Stuff.

  He flipped them around, pressing his body against Isaiah, eliciting a debauched groan that almost had him coming in his pants. He sucked on the curve of Isaiah’s neck and nibbled open-mouthed kisses to his ear. “I want to fuck you.”

  Isaiah moaned, grabbed his hips, and thrust his hard length against Darren’s.

  Darren’s breath hitched, and a nervous wave of heat swamped him as he added, “Then I want you to fuck me.”

  Isaiah pinched his jaw and kissed him hard. Their tongues tangled, and God, he tasted good. Isaiah lowered the intensity, peppering soft kisses over his upper lip, his dimple, his chin.

  He pulled back, and their eyes met in the darkness. “Are you sure?”

  Darren kissed him again, hoping Isaiah didn’t catch his gulp. “Yes. I am.”

  Isaiah feathered soft fingers over his back, one hand winding into the hair at his nape. He didn’t say anything aloud, but the tenderness in that touch said Isaiah knew. That he’d make this good for him.

  Darren kissed him again.

  They stumbled toward the bed. Darren lowered his hands and tentatively tugged at Isaiah’s shirt. Isaiah shrugged out of it and greedily yanked at Darren’s.

  Holy hell, his veins were on fire.

  Darren stepped out of his shoes and kicked them away. Isaiah’s landed on the other side of the room. He unhooked the button holding up the only thing between him and what he wanted.

  Isaiah responded with a hungry murmur and pushed Darren’s pants and trunks over his hips with a hard shove. “I want you so bad.”

  “Me too—”

  Isaiah’s tongue plunged into his mouth. The heat of his chest radiated against Darren’s. Thumbs hooked into Isaiah’s boxers, Darren drew his pants off. The tight muscles of Isaiah’s ass flexed under his hands. His cock leaked, leaving a trail over Isaiah’s hip and thigh.

  He planted a steadying grip on Isaiah’s hips and dropped kisses down his chest. Over his sensitive nipples, down the tight muscles of his stomach. He sank to his knees, slowly capturing the head of Isaiah’s cock in his mouth as he went.

  “Darren . . .”

  Darren hummed around the tip of Isaiah’s hot, hard length, eliciting a wretched gasp.

  Isaiah pulled back and made frantic work of his clothes, and Darren mirrored him. Pants, socks, every scrap of clothing hit the carpet with a muffled thump. Then Isaiah palmed Darren’s chest and pushed him back onto the bed. Gravity and lust pulled him to the mattress, and then Isaiah’s hot, hard body covered him.

  God, he felt amazing.

  Isaiah braced his hands either side of Darren’s shoulders and looked down at him. Milky gray light from the windows touched his profile. His eyes were dark and beheld Darren like he couldn’t fucking believe they could have this.

  Isaiah’s eyes shuttered closed.

  “Isaiah?”

  He looked at Darren and softly touched the tips of his fingers to his cheek.

  “When it came time to make the tough call, you chose me over anything else.”

  “Well, I—”

  “Don’t try to be modest about it. You chose me. And I . . .” He swallowed.

  Darren wrapped his arms around Isaiah’s warm back and pulled him into a kiss. “What’s wrong?”

  “I chose my scholarship.”

  “That’s not fair. You were trying to protect me.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “I’m in a privileged place. My education is secure, my future for the most part, too. You had to choose your scholarship. Your whole family depends on you.” He tipped Isaiah’s chin until their eyes met. “One thing I would ask? Talk to me first in the future? Or belt it out in song if you feel more comfortable. Just communicate.”

  Isaiah laughed softly and covered Darren’s mouth with his.

  Darren smiled into the kiss and then pulled back. “That is a yes, right?”

  Isaiah kissed him again. “This is another form of communication.”

  A laugh rumbled out of Darren, quickly morphing into a moan when Isaiah canted his hips against him.

  Darren’s skin broke out in goose bumps, his whole body shivering. His toes curled, the backs of his knees tickled against the comforter, his nipples rubbed against Isaiah’s chest, and fuck. Isaiah’s quick thrusts against his cock made his breaths come out ragged.

  “You’re right. That is a better form of communication.”

  “I can think of another form you might like better.” Isaiah sat up and wiggled his butt around Darren’s cock.

  Pressed tight together, the heat from Isaiah pushed Darren into a daze of lust. He thrust up, and Isaiah ground around, and when he was positioned right, he clenched his muscular ass tight around Darren’s cock.

  “Fuck!” Darren flopped his head back against the pillow.

  “Close?” Isaiah grinned evilly at him.

  He closed his eyes and moaned before he answered. “Yes!”

  “Still can’t have that . . . yet.” He lifted his body off Darren’s, reached over the side of the bed, and pulled the lube and condoms from his bag of stuff. Keeping one condom, he tossed the rest onto the bed and pinned Darren with a look that had him shivering in anticipation.

  Isaiah

  Isaiah captured Darren’s mouth in a kiss. Their lips scraped together as he spoke. “I’m trying to decide who should go first.”

  “First?”

  “Who’ll bottom first.” Isaiah knew what he wanted—to climb on and sink until he was full—but if this was Darren’s first time, maybe he should go first. “It will be harder for you after you come. You’ll be more sensitive, tighter. Plus, being super horny will make the first time a lot easier.”

  “Okay, so fuck me first.”

  “Hmm.” Isaiah shook his head. “There’s no way I can go slow. I’ll shoot before I get inside you.”

  Darren’s body shook as he laughed, but Isaiah suspected he was shaking from nerves, too. “Well, we can’t sixty-nine-fuck.”

  He eased Darren’s tension with a soft kiss. “Too bad, that sounds fun.” He ripped the foil and rolled the ultrathin condom onto to Darren’s cock. “We’ll take it slow. We have all night.”

  “All night.” Darren’s eyes rolled back as Isaiah slid the latex down to his base.

  He loved how responsive Darren was under his touch. The way he shivered and moaned. Imagining how Darren would react to being fucked nearly had Isaiah switching the order. Nearly.

  Grabbing the lube, Isaiah squeezed a generous amount onto his hand. A quick up and down had Darren ready. More might have had the guy blowing in the condom. Pouring a bit more onto his fingers, he reached back and prepared himself. He pushed his index finger inside, but didn’t wait to loosen himself more.

  Couldn’t wait.

  He’d fantasized about this forever, and now Darren was his. Darren, who’d fought for him. Who’d sacrificed for him.

  His head felt dizzy with it—body, like gravity was playing tricks on him. His insides swooped and soared and dipped. And he just . . . needed to be close.

  He tossed the bottle to his left and crawled forward. His eyes locked on Darren’s, the tip of his cock nudging his entrance. He leaned in for a kiss, reached back, and steered Darren’s cockhead inside him.

  Their moans mingled, and Isaiah sank lower. He ignored the initial pain of entry and kept a slow but steady push down. The burn continued, but was already easing as he broke their kiss and sat back. He sucked in a breath as the last of Darren’s cock filled him.

  “Oh fuck!” He exhaled and smiled down. “God, you feel so good
.”

  Making sure he didn’t move up, he dropped in for another kiss. A flood of emotion left him ready to burst. Their lips parted, and he gasped for air.

  Darren put his hand on Isaiah’s hips and gently pushed up. When Isaiah moved, Darren thrust up, hitting his prostate.

  “Fuck, yeah.” He ground down and wiggled against Darren’s body. “More.”

  “Yeah?” Darren bucked up and rotated his hips. “You like that?”

  “Oh God, Darren.” The words rasped from his throat. He moved up a few inches, and Darren made use of the space. He tightened his hold on Isaiah’s thighs and fucked him hard and fast. Darren’s breath came in ragged gulps, and his eyes never left Isaiah’s.

  “I’m gonna come,” Darren said, thrusting faster.

  “Give it to me!” Isaiah said. “C’mon, Darren. Give it to me.”

  A low growl rolled out of Darren as he slammed into Isaiah and held them together. Darren’s cock pulsed deep inside Isaiah before he moved again, fucking quickly.

  Isaiah had planned to hold off, but staring at Darren’s face as he came pushed that from his mind. He sat down until Darren’s cock massaged his prostate. Stroking his leaking cock, Isaiah brought himself to the edge. Darren ground himself deeper, and Isaiah blew.

  His first shot hit the backboard, leaving a trail of white come across Darren’s face and chest. Keeping Darren firmly inside him, Isaiah kept jerking himself until he left a puddle on Darren’s abs.

  He ran his fingers through the sticky mess, matting the hairs behind. Darren grabbed his wrist and brought Isaiah’s hand to his mouth. His licked upward and then sucked in the index and middle fingers.

  A deep laugh rumbled from inside Isaiah, and he couldn’t hold back. “Sorry,” he said through the giggles. “I laugh after I shoot like that.”

  Darren’s smile grew, and he joined Isaiah. “Don’t be sorry. That was amazing.”

  He strained up, and they both groaned. “Too sensitive,” Isaiah rasped.

  “Me too.” Darren flopped his head back onto the pillow.