Chapter 22
Twenty-Two
L eslie
Leslie took Joe’s request as consent, stripped down to his boxer briefs, and climbed in behind Joe, keeping space between them. He used a towel to dry Joe’s dripping locks and then ran his fingers through the silky mass. “What else can I do, Joe?”
“Tell me a story,” Joe mumbled into his pillow. “I want to hear your voice. Relaxes me.”
“Okay…what kind of a story?”
“Tell me the story of the night we met.”
Leslie laughed. “You were there, too, you know. You kinda already know what happened.”
“Just tell me. Please. And keep doing that. Feels good.”
Leslie had been running his fingers lightly over Joe’s back, wishing he could take Joe’s pain away. He was such a strong man, stronger than anyone Leslie had ever known, and to see him in so much pain and yet so trusting of Leslie, was truly humbling.
“So a cowboy rode into town—”
“Thought you were a miner.”
“What?”
“Miner 49ers, right? Dallas is the Cowboys.”
Leslie let his head fall against the pillow. “Right, how could I forget? Anyway, a miner rode into his hometown looking for glory, carrying untold riches in his, uh, bag. His saddlebag. After a day of accolades, flashing cameras—”
“Did they have cameras back then?”
“Joe, this was two thousand eight.”
“No, when the miner rode into town on his horse.”
“Well, it was a Ferrari. They’ve got a horse on them.”
“Whatever happened to your Ferrari?”
Leslie rubbed at his face, his eyelids feeling heavy.
He, too, had had a long, painful weekend, but his pain was of the emotional kind.
Seeing Carl so frail and weak…it had been difficult for Les and Tim and the other players who’d gathered.
They’d gotten drunk at their hotel that night together, talking about the old days, and Leslie had thought about Joe, how he couldn’t wait to get back home to him, how time was so fleeting, and how he was going to convince Joe they shouldn’t wait anymore to be together.
Because life made them no promises about how much time they had left, and the team and college community would just have to deal with it, wager or not.
Joe shifted and the towel slid off his hip, leaving him completely naked. At any other time, Leslie would have felt blessed to see Joe’s most famous asset. Now he felt blessed that Joe trusted him enough to be so vulnerable with him.
“Keep up the tickle scratch, Payton. Now, what about the Ferrari?”
“The twins wrecked it.” Joe gasped and Leslie laughed.
“It wasn’t their fault. They had taken it without permission, though, and they were being careful on the backroads, but some guy came flying out of a blind intersection and T-boned them.
Thankfully no one was hurt, but the car was toast. They were terrified to tell me, but they handled it way more mature than I thought them capable of being at fifteen years old.
Anyway, I never drove the thing anyway. It was a vanity purchase, one I thought I was supposed to do with stupid money.
I took the payout and ended up donating it to the college. ”
“You’re such a good man,” Joe said. “I would have made them suffer, though.”
“Oh, their terror was enough punishment. I kept them guessing what it would be. Ended up making them go volunteer at the Veterans Home with me. Giving sponge baths and changing out pee bottles actually turned out to be less of a punishment than I’d thought.
It led to their first invention, their first business, and their first million when they sold the patent to a medical supply company. ”
“Wow,” Joe said. “Okay, I want to hear more about them another time. Right now get back to our story. So the miner rode into town…”
Leslie sighed. “At the end of a day where the whole town, it seemed, was blowing smoke up the miner’s ass, he waltzed into a bar and was immediately surrounded by coeds wanting his autograph, giving him their phone numbers, but one kid, cocky as hell, stared him down, shook his head, and then went back to his drink and a conversation with the bartender. ”
“I wasn’t about to compete with your adoring fans.”
“Of course not. So when I—I mean the miner—could finally break away, he went to the bathroom just so he could walk by the cocky kid and assess the situation. It was then he realized that the cocky kid had been the one who’d played such a mean game of flag football, he’d nearly bested Greenvale’s actual football team.
So the miner did his business and then on his way back into the bar, he took the empty seat at the corner of the bar, hoping that he could perhaps talk to the cocky kid. ”
“You said, ‘where’d you learn to play football like that?’ And being the asshole I am, I said to you, ‘buy me a drink and maybe I’ll tell you.’”
“I didn’t even know if you were of age. I refused.”
“You did until the bartender assured you I was old enough. He was helpful that way. Anyway, continue your story.”
“The, uh, miner, he eventually caved and bought the cocky kid some fruity disgusting drink and when he handed it to the kid, the bar got super loud because the band started up, so the miner pulled his stool closer— ”
“And their knees touched under the bar,” Joe murmured dreamily.
“The cocky kid was intrigued by the miner’s attention and thought he’d flirt for a bit, enough to get another drink since he was a broke-ass college student cocky kid and the miner was loaded.
But the cocky kid realized the whole ‘nice guy’ image wasn’t an image. It was really true.”
Joe rolled over onto his back and scooted his upper body closer so he could snuggle against Leslie. “Keep going.” His eyes drifted closed and he sighed.
Leslie ran his fingers down the center of his chest. “The miner got so lost talking to the cocky kid that before he knew it, it was closing time. He didn’t want the night to end, though, and the cocky kid also seemed hesitant to leave.”
“Oh, the kid wasn’t hesitant to leave. He wanted to go with the cowboy, I mean, miner. He wanted to have an adventure. But the miner was being all honorable and shit.”
“That’s right,” Leslie breathed, nuzzling Joe’s hair. “The miner was ready to take his fortune and settle down on the homestead, make home and hearth. But the cocky kid was ready to fly.”
Joe sighed and turned gingerly on his side, facing Leslie. He tucked his left thigh in between Leslie’s and snuggled up against Leslie’s chest.
“Well, the cocky kid wanted you, still wants you, and really wanted this. He wanted to be close to you. And now he has you right where he wants you.” Then he wiggled. “But he wants closer.” He pulled on Leslie’s arm until Leslie wrapped it around him.
Leslie’s hand shook as he pulled Joe flush against him…for the first time, skin to skin. He wanted to weep at the wonder of having the man he loved, with all of his heart, so close to him. He let out a shaky breath and squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to blow the moment by getting all sappy.
“Finish the story, Leslie,” Joe said, and then he pressed a kiss to Les’s pec, sending goose bumps across his torso. “How does the story end?”
Leslie took a breath for courage. “The miner eventually convinced the cocky kid to come home, and once he had him in his sights, he was determined to love him forever.”
Joe sighed. “Mmm, forever. That sounds wonderful. I want to love you forever, Leslie. ”
They held each other for a long time, just breathing. Leslie ran Joe’s last words through his mind several times, wondering: Did I hear him correctly? Is it possible he feels exactly as I do?
“Thank you for bringing me home and taking care of me.”
“I wish you would have called me, Joe. I’ll always take care of you.”
Joe lifted his head and pressed his palm against Leslie’s cheek.
“I didn’t want you to know how bad it is, because if I tell you , that makes it real. I don’t want it to be real. The injury.”
“I know,” Leslie whispered. “God, you know I get it. And I’ll take care of you, Joe, seriously. I want to. I want this. Us.”
“This,” Joe said, running his hand over Leslie’s torso. “This is real. Us. Kiss me, Leslie.”
Leslie gazed into Joe’s troubled brown eyes and smiled.
“No matter what, okay?” He brushed his lips against Joe’s and they both moaned.
For a moment they were lost to the magic they’d created, this space where tornadoes, fundraisers, football, cheerleading…
none of it mattered. It was just the two of them curled together in the dark and nothing could break their connection.
They touched and kissed for the longest time and it was everything Leslie had ever wanted. Joe slid his fingers under the waistband of Leslie’s boxer briefs and tugged at them until Leslie took over and removed the last barrier between them.
“Joe, you’re hurt—”
“And you’re going to take care of me.” Joe grasped Leslie’s hand, held it up to his mouth and Leslie groaned as Joe licked his palm. “Take care of us, Leslie.” He guided Les’s hand to his cock straining against Leslie’s own. “Make the pain go away for a little while.”
Leslie wrapped his hand around both of their erections and let desire take over, let his worries fade away, only keeping the slightest concern that he’d hurt Joe.
That was enough to keep him focused on drawing out their pleasure, taking it slow until Joe was quaking against him, and it allowed him to keep enough control over himself that he finished when he was damn good and ready, when Joe had finished and was sated, that he’d enjoyed himself, and only then did Leslie allow himself to come.
Under any other circumstances, he would have shouted a victory roar.
Instead, he had a quiet moment of success where he nuzzled Joe’s hair and pressed a kiss against his head.
Joe murmured loving words and then slumped against him and fell deep asleep draped over Leslie’s body.
Even if Leslie could have moved, there was no way he would miss out on this moment, on the trust Joe had placed in him.
Instead, he covered them with the blankets and he basked in the peace and quiet interrupted only by the sound of pipes and creaks in the old building and the gentle rain blown against the window.
At some point in the night, Joe rolled over and Leslie woke in the wee hours curled up to his back. He wanted to stay with all of his heart and wake up with Joe, but he had concerns:
What if things were awkward between them?
What if all the talk of love and forever had been a fever dream?
What if they were caught?
He didn’t want to leave, but the responsible part of his little mental committee thought those were all valid concerns. He left the warm cocoon of Joe’s bed and pulled his clothes on in the dark. He couldn’t resist kissing Joe’s forehead before he left.
“Leslie? Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Twinkle Toes. Get some sleep.”
Joe grabbed his hand and opened his eyes wide. “I love you. I said it. I meant it. I want you to leave here knowing that.”
Leslie dropped to his not-as-bad knee and pulled Joe’s hand to his lips, kissing it.
“I love you so much, Joe. I wish I could stay.”
Joe smiled and closed his eyes. “You just want to see my morning routine, don’t even lie.”
Leslie laughed and his body flooded with warmth. “I do want to see your morning routine. I want to be part of your morning routine. I want so much with you, but mostly I want you to feel better. Call me if you need me and I’ll be right here.”
Joe kissed Leslie’s hand and then let go. “Everything’s better with you.”
When Joe didn’t say more, Leslie figured he’d fallen back to sleep.
He stood and moved quietly as possible through Joe’s apartment, only grunting once when his shin connected with a low table.
He soothed himself with thoughts that in the very near future, he’d convince Joe to move to Payton Manor where Leslie wouldn’t have to worry about leaving in the middle of the night, where he knew the placement of all the furniture, and where there’d be no sneaking around.
Where they’d be a permanent team. In love. Forever.