Chapter 33
Brad
“Birdie!”
“Fuck my life,” my bestie from another nestie mutters, his arms squashed at his sides as I hug him tight. “Cas. Little help here?”
Cas gives my shoulder a tap, and I turn to give him an equally hearty hug.
“…five, six,” I mutter, stepping back and slapping his shoulder. “Cat-man! Thanks so much for being here.”
“Like we’d miss your coming-out party,” Jason says, fixing his beanie and looking around the club. “Where are the guys?”
“Up in the VIP lounge,” I tell him, grabbing two candy necklaces from Joey and placing them over Jason’s and Cas’s heads. “There’s your pass up. Super tasty, by the way. Try the green dick. It’s my favorite.”
“That…doesn’t sound right,” Jason mutters, he and Cas heading toward the stairs.
“Doing okay?” Joey asks, his voice close to my ear.
I spin so I can see his lovely face. “Sure am. Also, I know I said the green dick is my favorite, but the truth is it’s Greg. Well, you and Greg, since you’re kind of a package deal. Heh. Package. Speaking of…”
“I meant because of last night,” Joey says, his eyes twinkling. There’s still a thread of concern there, though, and it makes me melt. Just a little.
“I’m used to bad nights of sleep,” I tell him, patting his chest a couple times. Groping a little. “But I appreciate you looking out for me. If you want , you could wear me out so thoroughly later I’ll have no choice but to sleep right through the night.”
His lips twitch. “And how would you suggest I do that?”
“Uh… Was that not obvious? Sexual intercourse, my dude. Your penis. My sphincter. A happy little meet-and-greet with our friend, Mr. Lube. I sure wasn’t talking about the gym. And what? Why are you laughing?”
Joey drops his hand from in front of his face, his happy smile making my chest feel light. “How do you make that sound so unsexy, bub?”
“I don’t know,” I groan. “I just open my mouth, and words fall out. It’s a curse.”
“More like a gift,” he corrects, tugging me in close. “Ready to head upstairs and celebrate your bi-fabulousness? Pretty sure there’s a bunch of porn stars waiting on us.”
“That sounds way dirtier than I think you intended, Joey-roo, and I heartily approve. Although, just to be clear, I’m not sharing you with anyone. You’re my exclusive kangaroo. No one’s getting all up in your pouch except for me.”
He shakes his head, even though there’s a smile on his face. “My pouch is all yours.”
My responding grin is huge.
When we make it up to the VIP lounge, a cheer goes up. Alex waves frantically to his boyfriend Finn, who pulls a cord near the edge of the room, releasing balloons that fall from the ceiling in colorful bundles of three. Each is shaped like a dick with balls. I can’t help but laugh, amazed that these men put so much effort into this celebration for me.
Alex is the first to reach us, looping his arm with mine. “Welcome to the queer club, sweets! Officially, I mean.”
“Thanks. Is there a secret handshake I should know?”
“Sure is,” he says. “First, you take off your pants. Then—”
“Behave,” Dixon grumbles, plucking the smaller man off me. He holds out an envelope. “Here.”
“What’s this?” I ask, pulling the flap open and looking inside.
“A two-year subscription for Elite 8 Studios,” Niko says from Dixon’s side, waggling his eyebrows. “We all chipped in.”
“You guys got me online porn?” I ask, tearing up. “That’s so fucking thoughtful.”
“Just make sure to hydrate,” Kipp calls from nearby, a grin on his face. Teddy smiles adoringly at his husband.
I nod solemnly. “I will. Promise. Where’s Jason? Birdie!”
My friend ducks lower on the couch he’s sitting on, Cas beside him.
“Look, Birdie! Free porn.”
“Don’t say it,” Jason pleads.
“Now I can see your boyfriend’s— Ahh. Joey! Get him off me. Mercy. Mercy!”
Jason drops back to the floor, punching me on the shoulder—hard—before skulking off.
“Geez,” I mutter, rubbing my arm. “Strong dude. Excuse me.”
Joey nods, giving the side of my neck a quick squeeze before heading over to chat with some of the guys. I watch him for a moment, smiling softly, and then I go search for my friend. I find Jason sitting at a table in the back of the room and plunk down on a stool beside him.
“You know I’d never actually do that,” I tell him seriously. “I respect your relationship with Cas, and I know you don’t like people objectifying him.”
“You make it really hard to stay mad at you,” he mumbles.
I snort. “I’m lovable. I think it’s my face.”
“It’s something, all right,” he says before sighing. He nods toward the other partygoers, and my eyes shoot straight to Joey. “You really love him, don’t you?”
“Fuck, Birdie. I do. He just… He makes everything better, you know? It’s like…”
“Like what?” he asks when I don’t go on.
I let out a breath. “You’re my big love, Jason. You know that. You’ve been my closest friend since kindergarten. My brother. You’ve always been there for me, no matter what. But Joey…”
I look at my boyfriend again, my chest feeling so damn full it’s a miracle it doesn’t burst.
“Joey is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. He’s my other half in a way I didn’t know was possible. It’s not that he completes me. We just… work together, like we were always meant to find one another and become something bigger than our individual wholes. Which…sounds weird when I say it like that. I’m not talking about holes , like our—”
“Yeah, no, I got it,” Jason says quickly.
“I just love him,” I go on. “Different than how I love you, but just as meaningful. He’s going to be the person I live with. Start a family with, maybe. He’s going to be there in the mornings as I drink my first cup of coffee and at night when I need a warm pair of arms to help me fall asleep. I’m going to grow old with that man. And I’m going to love him every step of the way.”
“Goddamn it,” Jason mutters, swiping at his face. “Fuck, Bee.”
“I know . I’ve gone soft. Well…not soft . Joey makes me harder than anyone, I swear. The other day, he put on his safety goggles and proceeded to rub my hardwood until—”
“ Ahh ,” Jason says, shaking his head and covering his ears. “No. Nope. I don’t need to hear it.”
I pull his arm down. “Let’s just say my sawdust got all over him.”
“I hate everything,” he mumbles.
I give my bestie’s head a pat. “Oh, look! Emil and Christian are here.”
I hop out of my seat to greet the newcomers, both of whom work at Elite 8 Studios. Like Dixon and Niko, they’re dating and often film together. Emil has the nerdy look down pat, glasses included, whereas Christian is a total femboy and rather toppy, from what I’ve heard. And like usual when I see him, he’s wearing…
“Oh my God,” I whisper to myself, beelining for Joey at the last second. He looks over at me as soon as I attach to his side.
“Yes?” he says in amusement.
“Joey, look,” I hiss, nodding over to Christian and his thin silver belly chain. “I could chain you, dude.”
“That sounds…concerning.”
“Isn’t it pretty?”
“It is ,” he says slowly. “But…”
“But what?” I prompt, letting Joey go as he reaches for the hem of his sweatshirt. My pulse spikes. “But what, Joseph?”
He tugs the material off over his head.
“ Joey ,” I breathe.
My sexy-as-fuck boyfriend not only reveals a crop top that shows off every one of his challah abs, but there’s also a bright yellow fanny pack secured tightly around his stomach, the front of which is bedazzled with the word Brad .
“You beautiful sexy beast,” I growl in awe. “Were you hiding that this entire time?”
“Wore it just for you,” he says, giving me a wink.
“You’re so fucking hot, dude. I’m gonna ravage you later. You don’t even know. My tongue is going to be in places you didn’t even know it could reach.”
“I’m…not sure if I should be turned on or not right now,” he admits.
I stroke his beautifully adorned stomach. “Joey Kangaroo, can I twerk on you?”
He laughs, his arm coming around me as he lays his sweatshirt on the back of a chair. “You can do just about anything you want to me, bub. I’m yours, remember?”
“Fuck. For that, you can ravage me later. My ass is yours, dude. Take me however you want. I don’t even care how filthy or depraved or—Oh, hey there, Rowan.”
The shy mechanic gives us a wave before heading over to his boyfriends. Alex and Finn shift as he gets close, as if attuned to him.
“Come on,” I tell Joey, sighing happily. “Let me introduce you to the guys you haven’t met yet, and then we’ll dance. Did you know Emil is an exhibitionist?”
Joey and I make the rounds, dick balloons at our feet and the occasional tiny candy penis finding its way into my mouth. My necklace is gone by the time we get down to the dance floor, my body buzzing with energy from this night and Joey’s presence. He doesn’t seem to mind me all but humping his thick thighs, and his hands are never far, on my back, in my hair, tugging me closer still.
I don’t know how long we dance for, but our rambunctious coming out group closes down the club, all of us stumbling out the doors with promises to catch up again soon. I make sure to give Jason a big, wet smooch on the cheek before we part. He mutters a gross , but he loves it. I know he does.
Joey and I catch a rideshare back to my apartment. I’m half-hard when we step inside the door, Joey immediately pressing me against the wood until it closes with a click.
“Hi,” I say, grinning at him.
Molten brown eyes hold my own for only a beat before Joey’s mouth is on mine. He attacks me with a sort of hunger at odds with his usually calm demeanor, and I don’t fight it. Not wanting to and more than ready to take whatever it is Joey has planned for me. He kisses me deeply, his hands tipping my head where he wants me to go, soft, stubble-lined lips tracking down my neck, his thumb pressing up under my jaw.
My head thunks against the door, and I pull in a breath, my stomach contracting when Joey’s hand lifts my shirt, fingers trailing over skin. He tugs the material up, mouth finding my chest, my nipples, mapping a path down my stomach as he sinks to his knees.
“Fuck,” I mutter, my shirt covering my view for only a second before I toss it away.
Joey looks up at me, bared to me as he always is, and slowly unzips my jeans. I try to control my breathing, try to keep myself in check, but it’s hard with him staring at me with such focused intensity, as if nothing and no one could tempt him away. His hands deftly slide my pants down my legs, and then he leans in, a groan leaving his lips as he runs a hand over the length of my cock through the thin layer of my underwear. My gut clenches tight when he pulls me free.
Not a single word comes out of my mouth as Joey sucks my cock down his throat, only a low moan that rattles around inside my chest like the flapping of wings. It sure feels as if my heart could fly away given the chance, if only to find a home within this man looking at me with love in his eyes.
I don’t know what I did to deserve his affections, but I won’t ever take for granted this beautiful soul at my feet. I won’t ever give him up. Won’t ever let him question what he means to me.
“Joey,” I rasp, motioning him upwards, needing him inside of me like I need my next breath. “Would you fuck me?”
His mouth meets mine again in answer, warm and soft and urgent. I nearly die when he leans back, but then he’s shucking his clothes and all is forgiven. I stay his hand when he reaches for his fanny pack.
“Leave it,” I tell him.
He smirks but doesn’t try to remove it again. Instead, he unzips the bag and pulls out a travel-sized bottle of lube.
“Oh my God,” I wheeze, my cock bucking. “That was the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“Turn around,” he tells me.
“Nope. That was. Jesus Christ.”
I spin, Joey’s lips laying kisses across my shoulders as his hand settles between my ass cheeks. He slips a lubed finger inside of me, his other hand curling around the front of my throat. I nearly sob, fingers digging into the door as my forehead greets the wood.
“You’re mine, bub.”
“ Yes .”
“And I’m yours.”
“Yes,” I agree again, nodding furiously against the door as Joey stretches me open.
“Anything you want, anything you need, I’ll give it to you.”
“Please,” I croak, three of his fingers inside of me now, the stretch blooming into an ache so exquisite, I can’t stop myself from shifting back against him, chasing more.
His fingers leave, and I choke out a sound. But then Joey is spinning me, hitching one of my legs over his hip and rubbing the blunt end of his cock against my ass. He presses just a little. Just enough to feel the renewed stretch.
“I love you so much it hurts,” he says vehemently. “And I never want it to stop.”
I keen as he pushes inside of me, the driving force of his cock making it nearly impossible to focus on anything else. Yet his words ring in my head, the aching truth of them leaving me no room for doubt.
“Love you,” I say in return, my voice no more than a breath.
Joey’s gaze says all the things his lips can’t utter right this second, but I still hear them. Still understand. He spins the fanny pack around to his back, moving it out of the way, before hoisting me up by the backs of my thighs. I wrap both legs around him, shock a fleeting emotion as Joey presses me against the door. His grip on me is absolute, his cock pushing deeper inside of me.
He rolls his hips, and my head hits the wood.
I hold Joey’s shoulders tight as the man proceeds to fuck me against the front door as if I weigh no more than a feather. There’s not a single thing I can do but hang on, tears lining the backs of my eyes at the sheer blissful, overwhelming assault to my senses. He’s everywhere. Holding me up. Surrounding me. Inside of me. His voice at my ear, telling me how much he loves me, how good I am, how he’ll never let me go. His lips brushing my cheek, stubble like sparks against my skin. His stomach grinding against my cock as he moves, his cock ramping me steadily higher, that pressure-push-pull inside of me an intoxicating high I never knew I was missing before him.
It’s him . He’s what I was missing.
The home I never had.
I cry out when I come, my orgasm sneaking up on me. Joey fucks me through it, his “Bub” a hoarsely spoken syllable in the air. His cheek rests against mine, fingers digging into my thighs as he jerks against me, his cock throbbing out his release. I pant, still shaking, still twitching as aftershocks rumble through my system.
Neither of us moves for the longest time, the pressure of Joey’s body keeping me pinned to the door, our chests heaving together as we catch our breaths.
He’s the first to pull back, his eyes meeting mine. He looks almost…amused.
“What?” I ask, the one word slurred in my post-orgasmic haze.
“Nothing,” he says. “It’s just… This is where you’d normally make a joke.”
I snort, and he chuckles with me. “You fucked all the jokes out of me, dude. I got nothing.”
“Nothing about hammering you so good, the other brads are jealous?”
“Nope.”
“What about our pollination efforts to help support the bees?”
“Nuh-uh. I’m just happy,” I tell him, meaning it. “And maybe a little boneless.”
His expression is soft as he shifts enough for his cock to slip out of me. He lowers me to the ground carefully. “Shower and bed?”
“Lead the way, Joey-roo. I’ve forgotten where the bathroom is.”
He huffs a laugh, kissing me on the temple as he guides me down the hall. We wash the cum off our skin before falling into bed together, Joey a comfy, warm presence beneath my cheek. His arms wrap around me, holding me tight like he so often does, knowing how much I crave the connection.
It’s some time later, once Joey is sound asleep but my mind is still wandering, that I slip out of bed to grab a familiar notebook. I take it with me back to the bedroom, not wanting to be far from Joey. He doesn’t wake as I climb onto the mattress, sitting next to him and flipping the notebook open to the page I’m looking for.
My eyes skim down the list I started what feels like a lifetime ago, that day I met Joey in the gym. There’s an ache in my chest thinking about it, about what might have happened if Joey and I had never crossed paths or become friends. Or if I’d simply never realized the depth of my feelings for him.
It’s not an alternative I like to imagine.
My pen scratches lightly against the paper as I add to my list.
Step nine in Brad’s Guide to Finding Himself and Falling in Love:
Follow your heart.
I close the notebook, setting it aside as I glance at the man sleeping beside me, the one my heart guided me to. Flicking off the lamp, I curl against his body, right where I belong, a smile on my face I know isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Step nine?
Yeah.
Abso-fucking-lutely nailed it.