23. Chapter Twenty-Three #3
Bronx idly stroked the subtle ridges and valleys of muscles on Tony’s stomach. He couldn’t stop himself from touching him, partly because he feared the new status they’d achieved might disappear into thin air.
“You’re thinking too hard again,” Tony pointed out. “What’s on your mind? Are you already having regrets we slept together?”
“No way. I’m so fucking happy we finally fell into your bed and I can’t wait to do it again,” Bronx explained. “I hope you’re vers because one day I’d really like to take a turn on your ass. By the way, your sex faces are spectacular.”
“I love it both ways and stop making me blush,” Tony teased.
Bronx came up on his elbow and gazed down at Tony. “Are you capable of blushing?”
“You know I am because you’ve teased me about it enough times,” Tony answered.
Bronx’s fingers moved to Tony’s face. The tips of his fingers traced an eyebrow, down the length of his nose. His thumb trailed across his cheek before it landed on his lips. Tony slightly parted them and sucked the tip into his mouth. Bronx bit his own lip and moaned.
“Can I ask you something personal?” Bronx requested.
“Go for it,” Tony answered.
Bronx tossed the words around in his head and then said, “Have you been with a lot of guys?”
“I’m not sure what you consider to be a lot,” Tony said honestly. “I don’t think my number is all that impressive but don’t forget, it’s only been a few years since I realized I enjoy being with men.”
“Is your number more than twenty?” Bronx asked.
“No, I’m thinking it’s probably closer to ten or twelve,” Tony admitted.
“I’ve been with a lot more women back in the day, but none of them left a mark on my heart the way a certain rockstar has.
I had a lot of trouble finding men who I wanted to date.
It’s not like I have a lot of spare time to go on the hunt looking for a hook-up, either.
Most of the time it’s just me and my fist. Oh, and I also have a flesh-light that I use a lot, too. ”
“Holy shit, I’d love to watch you use that one day,” Bronx mentioned.
“I figured as much—and I’ll give you a show, as long as you offer me the same,” Tony said.
“Done. I have a large assortment of dildos I play with,” Bronx said proudly. “I’ll even let you choose the dildo I use on myself and I’ll ride it while you watch.”
Bronx felt the flex of Tony’s cock stirring to life against his hip and smiled. “It seems your cock is very interested in participating in our play date.”
“What cock wouldn’t be interested in being part of that scenario?” Tony asked.
“Good point,” Bronx said and nestled the side of his face back against Tony’s warm chest. The soft hair tickled his cheek and an internal warmth swept through him.
This felt so natural for them, like they’d been snuggling together for decades.
Bronx had never been one to snuggle with anyone, at least not until Tony entered his life.
Even just a few years ago such a suggestion would have caused Bronx to shiver with a potent mixture of fear and disgust. He’d always considered something like snuggling to be far too intimate for the random hook-ups he normally fucked around with.
There was no way Bronx wanted to share that level of closeness with strangers.
But Tony had Bronx willingly doing all sorts of things that he used to consider cringe-worthy.
Now Bronx loved how perfectly he fit against Tony’s strong body, like the missing piece inside of him had finally snapped into place.
It was heartwarming in a way he’d never experienced before.
“So mostly women?” Bronx asked after a stretch of comfortable silence. He ran his fingers through Tony’s soft, short hair and then massaged his face and even the neatly-trimmed whiskers on his jawline.
“Long ago, yeah,” Tony said. “I lived with one woman for about a year and for a short time we talked about marriage, although in my heart I didn’t want that with her at all.
Finally she moved out, claimed boredom pushed her to do it.
I’d already mentally checked out of the relationship, which didn’t offer me much inspiration to plan fun things for us to do.
The other women were basically one and done situations. ”
“And the guy who owned the gym?”
“He was my first. I think I told you about him already,” Tony said. “His name is Gabe and we were together for a while, on the downlow, but then I decided to move to Los Angeles and our relationship sort of faded out to just being friends after that.”
“I’m so glad you moved here and I had the chance to really get to know you while sober,” Bronx said. “Although I know I was a mega asshole to you when you first started working with us.”
“Neither of us was very nice to the other and I’m sorry for my part in it,” Tony said. “I think it’s pretty obvious that I never came close to hating you. It was my coping mechanism to keep me from dragging you by the hair to my bed and have my way with you.”
“Jesus, that’s hot as fuck,” Bronx said with a grin, “and if I’m being completely honest, I more than enjoyed some of our bickering and name calling. Sometimes I’d be so hard I’d have to find a quiet place to relieve the pressure.”
Tony’s fingers stroked Bronx’s neck and shoulders while they remained intertwined on top of the sheets. “I’ll admit to that, too,” Tony said.
“If we hadn’t been such dumbasses we could have been fucking already,” Bronx said. “It feels like we’ve wasted a shitload of time pretending to hate the other.”
“I think we’re both more comfortable with what we’re feeling and what we want which is a good thing,” Tony detailed.
“That brings me to ask how a man like you, who is so confident with his musical skills, relaxed in your own skin, and ridiculously sexy, seems to act the exact opposite when you’re with me.
You’re shy, introspective, careful with your word choices and actions, and you can quickly disappear behind your walls for days on end. ”
“How do you figure that?” Bronx asked.
“I have to go back to the beginning to answer that question. But when I showed up to be your personal guard, I believe some of your aloofness was related to you having a lack of confidence around me,” Tony addressed.
“I’d watch you talk to others without a bat of an eye or a stutter but when you’d talk to me you’d stumble over words and you frankly seemed flustered by my presence. What was that all about?”
Bronx pushed himself upright into a sitting position with his back against the headboard. “Do you really want to know?” Bronx asked.
“I absolutely do,” Tony said.
“Okay, then here goes nothing,” Bronx exclaimed.