Provoking the Punter

Chapter 15

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

Chester hadn’t slept well, and not just because he’d been waiting for Garrett to get home. As soon as Garrett had texted that he’d told Caitlin, Chester had wanted to do something to mark the occasion. It shouldn’t be a big deal, but it was. It had only taken him a few minutes to throw the box together. The gin and T-shirt he’d taken from work, the chocolate and card he’d picked up from the supermarket. He’d written the card in the car, taped up the box, and dropped it at the hotel. By the time he’d gotten home to watch the game—or at least have it on in the background while he did laundry and other chores—he’d wanted to return to the hotel and take the box back.

He was the one making a big deal out of it. They weren’t dating. They were barely friends… and he didn’t need any new friends. He was perfectly happy being single for the first time in his life. Which didn’t explain why Garrett was the first and the last thing he thought about, and why he hadn’t been able to sleep because he was worrying about what Garrett would think of the gift.

Why he’d worn Garrett’s t-shirt while cleaning…

Why Garrett saying it was the nicest thing anyone had done for him, had been a punch that had stolen his breath. A box of a few random things, one of which was an unused staff shirt left over from a pride event last year, shouldn’t matter.

None of that explained why he’d invited himself over.

Not that Garrett had agreed, only that he’d text when he finished work.

It was hard to imagine that turning up to talk football and lift some weights was work. It was more like being paid to attend summer camp for half the year. Not that Chester had ever gone to summer camp. His father didn’t have the money, and he’d needed Chester to help make the moonshine. He’d been a skinny kid, but he helped wash bottles and haul bags. Sometimes he made deliveries on his bike.

Everyone knew him and no one dared rip off his father.

It was also his job to go to the market and pick up groceries.

He still hated grocery shopping, even though he had the money to buy whatever he wanted. Being single, he could eat whatever he wanted, when he wanted.

Garrett, however, would have a specific diet.

Chester hated dating gym bunnies because they lived at the gym and obsessed about what they looked like. But he loved the way Garrett looked and felt. He was all hard muscle and deadly curves… that line of his oblique begged to be licked…

Chester bit back a groan. Thoughts of Garrett too often interrupted his day when he was supposed to be going through last week’s sales figures for the bar up the road, in addition to Bathtubs and Blossoms including its bar, restaurant, and distillery.

It wasn’t those figures he wanted to be studying.

Perhaps it was just the sex. He’d been single for six months, the longest he’d ever been without, well, anyone. Boyfriend, lover, or short-term fun. He hadn’t even been looking for anyone.

He’d been happy.

Now he was anything but because he worried about Garrett, and how he’d deal with coming out. It wasn’t his problem, and he should never have gotten involved, but he’d become involved the moment Caitlin set up the dinner, and he’d done some research. Garrett’s eyes, his dimples… the way he knew what he wanted but didn’t know what he was doing.

Chester bit his lip ring.

He was not some horny eighteen-year-old, hoping his crush noticed him.

No, he was thirty-six, and his crush had already gotten naked with him. Which should be better.

But Garrett was everything he didn’t want in a man.

He didn’t even have a secure job.

He played sports.

He, Chester James Monroe the Third, would end up a WAG.

He had not spent the last umpteen years building his own life and businesses to stand in the damn shadow of someone who kicked a ball five times a week and called it work. Nor did he want to be caught in the splatter when the scandal hit the fan.

He needed to end the thing they weren’t doing.

Easy.

So why did the idea feel as though his ribs were caving in and crushing his heart?

It wasn’t just sex, and it wasn’t doing the right thing and helping out a guy who needed advice. He liked Garrett.

What if the guys he thought he should date were the wrong ones, and Garrett was what he needed?

He almost laughed, but it wasn’t funny because there’d been a spark he’d never felt before. He’d been in lust and in love, sometimes both at the same time. What else was there?

Brutal honesty.

They’d compared scars, the ones he didn’t talk about because he didn’t want to be judged by them. And because Garrett came from a different world—he didn't come from money like the men Chester usually dated—he didn’t care. That’s what felt different. He wasn’t trying to prove he belonged and that he was just like them.

Neither of them fit into the worlds they were trying to inhabit. There was probably something deeply psychological about that. Were they both secretly masochists and hadn’t admitted to enjoying the struggle and fight of trying to make it?

Except by all measures, both of them had already made it. They were successful.

But it could all be taken away.

His phone rang, dragging him back to what he was supposed to be doing, which was making sure he was making money, not losing money.

Business he understood.

Why the hell he wanted Garrett was much more confusing.

Maybe he needed to make a pro/con list.

Chester knocked on the hotel room door, knowing the reason he was there, and it wasn’t to talk, but it didn’t feel as though he was turning up to get laid. He wasn’t sure what this felt like, and he chose not to examine it too closely.

Nor had he made that pro and con list, because that meant examining what was going on. If he did that, he’d have to face reality, and he wasn’t remotely ready to do that.

If whatever was going on between them remained unlabeled and a secret, then he could fool himself for a little longer; that it didn’t mean anything. The fact he was justifying it meant it was something. And that turning up was a dumb thing to do. He sighed and shook his head. They’d even had that discussion.

The door opened, and Garrett stood there looking far too enticing in only a pair of shorts.

“Hey.” Garrett smiled, and Chester’s heart betrayed him by doing a happy bounce. His dick joined in.

Great.

All he needed to do now was trip over his own feet and fall into Garrett’s arms. Which is exactly what he wanted to do. He stepped in close—without tripping—and ran a hand up Garrett’s chest to wrap around the back of his neck and kissed him in the doorway.

It was only when their lips met that a bubble of doubt formed.

Would Garrett push him away?

Garrett slipped his arms around Chester’s waist, pulling him closer, pulling him inside, and shutting the door before pushing him up against it.

Smooth.

He didn’t want to be seen, but he didn’t want to be obvious about it. Besides, Chester kind of liked the way Garrett had manhandled him. The way he was pressing up against him, and how his hand had slid from waist to ass cheek.

“I wasn’t sure if you were going to come,” Garrett murmured against Chester’s lips.

He had spent ten minutes in the car, before driving here and also after parking, trying to work out what he was doing. What they were doing, and he still had no answers. “Just had a few things to sort out. You know what it’s like when things run late.”

“Yeah, there was a lot to go through today.”

“I can imagine.” Or at least he tried to. “Do they at least tell you what you did right or just list where everything went wrong?”

“Mostly the latter.”

“But none of it was your fault.”

“It’s a team sport. I bear some responsibility.” Garrett’s tongue worked over the ball of Chester’s lip ring before kissing him again.

“Seriously?” He got none of the fun and some of the blame. That sounded like a shit deal, no matter how much he was paid.

“Yeah. I train with them. That means I had a role in the prep.”

Chester nodded. That made sense. “So you spent all day going over mistakes.”

“Pretty much, but I got more practice time today, so it wasn’t all bad.”

They hadn’t moved from the door. Chester wanted to ask about the meeting with Caitlin, but he didn’t want to kill the moment.

“And now you’re here,” Garrett continued.

“And I am the highlight of your day,” he said brightly.

“You are… today, anyway. If they told me I was playing on Sunday, you’d be coming a close second.”

Chester feigned hurt and pushed him away. “Oh, I see how it is. Football first, everything else second.”

Garrett’s smile dimmed to something far less mesmerizing. “During the season, yeah.”

“I get it. I was joking. You, at least, have a season. I work six days a week, fifty-two weeks a year.” And he didn’t have a job that he could pack up and follow with. He was already imagining the time when Garrett went to a different team.

Then what?

Michael leaving for a better job had hurt, but the relationship had been ending anyway—he saw that now with the benefit of hindsight and a mended heart.

He didn’t think he could go through that again.

Garrett cupped Chester’s jaw and smoothed his thumb over his cheek. “You don’t seem happy about that.”

He loved his job, his business. He’d created it out of nothing and found himself in the process. Had created himself. “It can make things difficult.”

“Are you…” Garrett’s eyes narrowed. “You can’t break up with me because we’re not going out.”

Chester laughed. “We’re not in high school. We might be seeing other people.”

“I’m not seeing other people.” Garrett studied him. His blue eyes seemed to stare into his soul. “Are you?”

He could lie. That would cool things, but that wasn’t what he wanted. “No. I hadn’t planned on going steady with anyone, and then you turned up.”

“And you can’t resist a footballer who wants to suck your dick.”

Another laugh and the tension broke. “Apparently not. Can you?”

“I don’t know.”

Chester ran his fingers up the half-hard length of Garrett’s cock. “You must’ve had guys want to blow you.”

Garrett frowned. “I guess if I let myself go looking, but I wanted to fuck. I didn’t wanna be asked to reciprocate.”

“Why, when it’s something you like?”

“Because it’s not something I can do with a stranger.”

“I was a stranger.” Oops, his fingers had slid inside Garrett’s shorts, and once again, Garrett wasn’t wearing any underwear. Chester wrapped his fingers around the shaft, already knowing it was the kind of dick he liked riding.

“We’d been talking, and there was a bit of chemistry.”

Chester lifted one eyebrow. “Only a bit?”

Garrett blushed and started unbuttoning Chester’s shirt. “There was a lot for me.”

“I’m teasing.”

“And I’m not used to it. I feel awkward and…” he shrugged. He pushed Chester’s shirt off his shoulders. His fingers skimmed over the piercings beneath his collar bones. “You’ve figured out what you like and what you don’t. All I have are memories of fumbling around at eighteen when neither of us knew what we were doing.”

“You know what I want right now? You. I want you to stop overthinking it. Finish getting me naked and fuck me.” Chester didn’t know if it was the right thing to say, or if it would freak Garrett out, but he didn’t want to admit that he had no idea what he was doing, or why he was there when it was easy to pretend this was just sex. “I’m assuming you know how to fuck?”

“I hope so, unless I’ve been doing it wrong this whole time.”

“Let’s find out.” Chester shoved Garrett’s shorts down, and his cock sprung free.

Garrett stepped out of his shorts and grabbed Chester’s hands, leading him the few steps toward the bed. “You’ll tell me if I’m doing it wrong, right?”

“Oh honey, if you think I’m lying face down on the bed so you can jab it into me, you’ve got the wrong idea about how this is going to happen.” He walked forward, directing Garrett to the bed, then pressed on his shoulder so he sat.

“The condoms are in the bedside drawer with the lube now.”

“Lovely, but stop rushing. I’ve still got my pants on.”

Garrett lifted his hands but paused the moment his fingers touched the button of Chester’s fly as if needing—wanting—permission to undo his jeans. Chester ran his fingertips along Garrett’s jaw and then over his lower lip. He was adorable, but how long would it take for this to go from cute to annoying?

He flicked open the button and undid the zipper, never breaking eye contact. He pushed Chester’s jeans over his hips, fingers sweeping over his butt and lingering for a couple of seconds before pushing his jeans down to his knees.

In that heartbeat, all Chester wanted was to feel Garrett’s lips and tongue on his dick.

Garrett didn’t need any suggestions because as soon as he peeled Chester’s briefs down, he licked up the length of his cock, then took the head into his mouth. He cupped Chester’s balls, and then his thumb made a second sweep over his sac as if to be sure of what he was feeling.

He drew back with a grin. “I found it… I don’t know how I missed it.” Garrett’s breath was cool on Chester’s spit-slicked skin. He tilted his head to have a look at the piercing Chester always thought of as obvious when he was erect.

“Your hands didn’t get very adventurous.”

“Did it hurt?”

“No more than the others.”

“You have them in the weirdest places,” Garrett said as he leaned in to run his tongue over it and give his sac a good lick while he was there. He was getting bolder.

“I like the look.” They were for him. Although he didn’t mind the way Garrett played with them. Garrett sucked the metal into his mouth and Chester’s toes curled. Most guys ignored them, because they weren’t in the fun places.

Garrett released the ring, but his tongue kept exploring. “It’s thicker than the others.”

“I like the weight.” He grunted as Garrett sucked on it a little harder.

“Too much?”

“No.” He just wasn’t used to the attention. It didn’t help that Garrett’s hand was working over his cock. “You like licking balls?”

“I like licking yours.” He swept a line up Chester’s cock to the tip, catching the bead of pre-cum and tonguing the slit as though he needed more.

“When was your last test?”

Garrett paused and glanced up. “When I got here they did a full medical. Down to the last muscle fiber and fat cell.”

“I highly doubt you have any fat cells.” Garrett had the kind of body plenty would kill for… or kill to get their hands on. But it wasn’t to look good, it was to play great. Which was different from dating gym bunnies who expected him to do more than swim a few times a week.

Wasn’t it?

“Why?”

“Just wondering since you like cum. And you didn’t ask me.”

“You said you hadn’t been with anyone since your ex.” He wasn’t licking now, only stroking, teasing the slit with his thumb, instead of his tongue.

“But I didn’t say if he’d cheated or if it had been an open relationship, or that I’d been tested since. You need to be careful.”

“Another reason I restricted what I did. I always used a condom, even if they told me not to bother.” He wet his lip. “Should I be concerned?”

“No, I’m not an irresponsible dick.” But others might be, and he didn’t want Garrett to run out into the wilds of gay Austin and be hurt. He didn’t want him running off anywhere. He wanted him to stay right where he was. “Please continue to enjoy.”

He shoved his briefs down as much as he could, and Garrett took the hint, maneuvering Chester’s jeans to his ankles while sucking his cock. He hoped Garrett became a little more adventurous, but he seemed content to play with his cock and balls and piercing… which Chester was enjoying.

Maybe he should increase the size again for a little more weight?

“How do you take more?” It could have been an innocent question except for the way Garrett looked up at him, his lips only a whisper away from the ruddy head of his cock.

He forced out a breath and used his heels and toes to shove off his shoes so he could step out of his clothes. He needed a moment, or he’d come on Garrett’s face, and the idea of licking cum out of his dimples and kissing him with it still on his tongue was a little too enticing. His dick jumped.

“Throat angle.” He glanced at Garrett’s cock. No, he wanted that in his ass. “Another time for that. Wriggle up the bed and grab the lube and condoms.”

Garrett didn’t argue that they didn’t need the condoms. Watching him move and stretch for the supplies, Chester imagined it would be far too easy to grow used to seeing him around the house. It would be like living with an oversized cat that ate far too much and loved chasing balls…

He smothered a laugh.

“What?” Garrett held up the box and tube. “Are they wrong?”

“No, honey.” Chester crawled over him to kiss him. “I was thinking how much you love balls… of all kinds.”

He blushed. “With yours, I can take my time.”

“For which I am very glad because I definitely want more than two minutes?—”

“The two minutes that includes walking on? Try less than 1.3 seconds to catch and get it away.”

Chester stared at him. “You’re timed?”

“Are you kidding? Yeah. Speed, hang time, and accuracy.”

“Hang time?”

“How long the ball is in the air.”

“You can control that?”

“Yeah. I’ll teach you how to handle balls fast another time.” He tossed Chester’s words back at him.

“I’m not very good at catching balls. Or kicking them.” And growing up playing sports cost money. Running and swimming were cheap. All he needed were sneakers for the former, and swimming in the river or the dam was free.

“I’m not very good at swallowing dick, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to try.”

“Fair.”

“I’ll send you some clips.”

Chester grinned. “Same.”

“You’re going to give me video to review for blow jobs?”

He laughed. He couldn’t help it. “It’s called porn.”

“I knew that… and I do… God… I’m not sex-illiterate or something.” He scrubbed his hand over his face.

Chester pulled Garrett’s hand away and kissed him. He was never going to stop being cute, even when he knew what he was doing. That’s when Chester realized he was in trouble… and he didn’t care because he was having fun, and maybe he’d forgotten what that was like because the last year had been so difficult. “So,” he drawled, “do you know what to do with the lube?”