13. Enough
ENOUGH
Both Robbie and Jake said goodbye to Susan, the only pleasant person in the house, as they left. She offered a polite goodbye to each in return as she heaved open the heavy front door, still calling Jake “Mr. Wynn.”
Outside, Jake circled around to his side of the car while Robbie jumped in and started it, clearly eager to get away from this place as soon as possible.
“Your parents are—”
“Spare me,” Robbie said, holding up a hand. “Whatever you’re going to say, I’ve already heard it or said it myself. At least now you understand why the town is so cool on the Eaton name.”
“I guess so.” Jake buckled himself in and sat back, staring out the passenger window at the house. “Imagine having all that money just to sit inside on your phone with a stick up your ass. Is that why you spend so much time volunteering? So you don’t turn out like…”
“Like them?”
“Well, yeah.”
Robbie didn’t respond. Jake already knew his answer, and if it made Robbie feel better to leave it unsaid, then so be it.
“You would never turn out like them,” Jake told him after a moment. “How could you? Compared to them, you’re a peach.”
“And I suppose I should thank you for that raving assessment?”
“You don’t have to thank me,” Jake said earnestly. “I just think that whatever your parents think of you, you’re a lot better than them at the end of the day.”
“Uh-huh. At least now you’ve met them, so you don’t have to pretend you don’t want to ask about them all the time.”
“What? I never—”
“I know you’ve been dying to find out more, Jake. I can tell. You really believe I’m that stupid?”
“Of course not. But since I have met them now, can I ask you one question about them?”
“Sure.” Robbie sounded exhausted.
“Do they know you’re gay?”
“That’s a question about me.”
“No, it’s a question about all of you. Semantics, Robbie.”
“Do you even know what that means?” Robbie pulled out of the long drive and back onto the quiet country road.
“Will you please just answer the question?”
Robbie kept his gaze steady on the road, never so much as stealing the briefest of glances at Jake, even when Jake’s eyes were boring into the side of his face. “Of course they know I’m gay.”
“Not of course. They seem like they would be… less than supportive. And the way you talked about keeping our thing secret, I don’t know, it just seemed closet-y.”
Robbie shrugged and raised his eyebrows slightly. “They know. It complicates my continuing the bloodline a little, so they tend not to acknowledge it to make their own lives easier, but they know, and I doubt they care that much.”
“Bloodline? Like, children?”
Robbie sighed a sigh that was heavy with the weight of unfulfilled responsibility.
“My parents have always had an unspoken agreement that at some point, I’ll take one for the team, as it were.
I imagine they would accept a surrogate if it came to it, but I’ve never asked.
It’s not really a question I want answered. ”
“No adopting, though.”
“It would be out of the question.”
“Jesus. So, are you planning on having any kids someday?”
Robbie shook his head resolutely. “I could never bestow that curse on an innocent child.” Then, perhaps to lighten to conversation, or maybe just to level out the playing field, he asked, “What about you? Do you want children?”
“Fuck no. I mean, nah, that’s not really for me. Neither of us—my sister or I—wants kids. My parents are fine with it, though.”
“Lucky you.”
Jake couldn’t help the little snort he made, cruel as it might have sounded to Robbie. “I guess so.”
They made it back into town in good time, but Robbie drove straight past the bookstore where Jake’s car was still parked.
“You missed your turn,” Jake said.
“I’m taking a detour. I can drop you off here if you want, though.”
“No,” Jake said quickly. “No, I’ll go with you to… wherever you’re going.”
As he should have expected, Robbie went directly to the beach, parking his car in the lot and walking down toward the water. The moon was half-obscured by a thin layer of clouds, but he didn’t need light to see where he was going.
Jake ran behind him, struggling to keep up as the sand dipped beneath his feet. Robbie’s long strides were purposeful and quick, and he was already at the water when Jake hobbled up beside him, shaking sand off his pant legs.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Thinking.” Robbie tucked his hands into his pockets.
“About what? Your parents?”
“Us. What would happen if… when…”
Jake nodded. “I know why you don’t want to just jump into anything, but I can promise you, Robbie, this is it. No more after this. We get it out of our systems, we have a fun night, and then it’s over and we can get on with our lives.”
“You say that, but somehow I don’t believe you.” Robbie’s voice had a touch of amusement to it, and when Jake looked over at him, he was smiling, still gazing out at the water.
“Hey, if you really don’t want to, I swear I won’t bring it up anymore. I get it now. Really, I do. I can—”
Robbie broke off his rambling with a kiss, his third kiss, his lips meeting Jake’s before Jake even had a chance to understand what was happening. Then he got it, and he relaxed, and Robbie pulled him in closer, like Jake was the only thing keeping him from slipping away.
Robbie’s breath was hot, his cheeks flushed, and his eyes twinkling even in the dark. He was intoxicating in a way Jake had never experienced with another man before. Maybe waiting and letting Robbie reach his breaking point was the best decision after all.
Except it wasn’t just Robbie’s breaking point they had reached.
Robbie’s soft sweater slipped over his head and fell to the ground, leaving just the button-up shirt that Jake had seen him wear at least a few times by now. Over-consumption was not one of Robbie Eaton’s problems, at least.
“Don’t you wanna put that in the car or something?” Jake asked between breaths. “So it won’t get dirty?”
“Don’t worry about my sweater, Jake. I have others.”
Jake gave it one last glance, and then he closed his eyes and let Robbie sweep him back into their own little world. He was right; a simple sweater was of no concern now.
Robbie put his hands on Jake’s shoulders and pushed him down toward the ground, his touch gentler than Jake expected.
The sand sank under the pressure of Jake’s knees.
With anyone else, in any other circumstance, Jake would have been the one taking control.
But not with Robbie. Robbie was a different beast entirely.
He unzipped Robbie’s trousers, his fingers fumbling just enough to make his cheeks redden. “I’m not usually like this,” he muttered, but Robbie ignored his excuses and let his fingers slip into Jake’s hair.
The lapping waves and occasional hoot from an owl in the wooded park mixed with the sounds of clothes rustling and skin against skin.
A quiet whimper escaped Robbie’s lips as Jake freed his cock.
His fingers tightened in Jake’s hair. He lifted his gaze to the sky and closed his eyes, and Jake gave him one last glance before he ran his tongue along the tip.
The sand made a better floor than Jake had anticipated, even with all the little pebbles and seashell fragments and flecks of wood.
They were utterly bathed in darkness now, with the moon having disappeared behind another patch of clouds, and he couldn’t see a single thing.
All he could do was feel, and what he was feeling was more than enough.
There was no one else out there tonight. It was only Robbie, Jake, and the tension that had been mounting between them for weeks—months, really. The first time Jake realized Robbie was gay, he knew he had to have him. He became a challenge to win.
Except Jake hadn’t won at all. He was the one on his knees with Robbie’s cock pressing against the back of his throat.
He was the one who had practically begged Robbie again and again for them to fuck.
He was the one who broke down and messaged Robbie that first lonely night when he realized there was absolutely no one else in town who could fulfill his desires.
“Oh, fuck, Jake,” Robbie hissed between clenched teeth. Jake’s scalp ached where he was pulling on his hair, but he kept going, fighting back the rising urge to break away for a moment and swallow the spit pooling in his mouth.
He was going to get Robbie to come in his mouth. He was going to push him to a point where he couldn’t possibly hold back, and then he was going to—
“That’s enough,” Robbie said suddenly.
Jake looked up. He sank back onto his heels, wiping his mouth with the side of his hand.
He could still taste Robbie, the saltiness tinged with whatever it was on his clothes that always made him smell so fresh and put together.
He watched as Robbie took his cock in his own hand and stroked himself a few times, quickly and with a sort of practice that made Jake wonder exactly how many men Robbie had let into such an intimate part of his life.
“My turn?” Jake asked as Robbie fished a clean tissue from his pocket. He tore it in half and stuffed one half back into his trousers.
“Your turn?” Robbie echoed.
“To get my cock sucked.”
Jake rose to his feet, dropping his gaze to the front of his pants. Robbie’s gaze followed, and then their eyes met again. Jake waited in the silence, blood still thumping in his ears, for Robbie’s answer.
“Yeah, why not? You’ve earned it.”
Robbie sank to his knees, positioning himself directly in front of Jake. His fingers, warm and soft, undid the button and zipper of Jake’s jeans. The clouds shifted, and Jake saw the sheen of sweat still on Robbie’s forehead and neck.
“I genuinely never thought I’d live to see the day Robbie Eaton got down on his knees in front of me,” he said.
“I am five seconds away from getting up and leaving you here with your pants down and your cock out,” Robbie said, “so watch it, Jake.”
“All right, all right.” Jake was about to make another quip, but Robbie’s tongue slid over his tip and down his shaft, and suddenly his breath was caught in his throat.
He closed his eyes. He wanted to get his hands in Robbie’s hair like Robbie had with his, to pull hard, and experience a brief, blissful moment of schadenfreude, but he couldn’t collect himself enough to do it. He was too lost in a world he hadn’t been inside in a long time—or maybe ever.
It took him less time than he’d hoped to reach his limit. A month or two without sex would do that, and with Robbie kneeling before him, Jake had never really stood a chance. “Robbie, stop,” he panted.
Robbie glanced up, his eyes sparkling. He didn’t stop.
He kept going, harder, faster, and despite all of Jake’s best attempts, he couldn’t prevent himself from coming.
He bit down hard on his lip to silence whatever sounds he wanted to make.
The faintest whimper escaped his mouth, his eyes squeezing shut as stars formed in his blackened vision.
Robbie pulled away, and Jake bent forward, resting his hands on his thighs as his body wilted, sapped of every last bit of strength and energy.
A hand rested on his back, and when Jake straightened up and opened his eyes, Robbie was standing again, watching him.
In silence, he handed Jake the other half of the tissue he’d torn previously.
Jake pursed his lips. He didn’t want to admit what he was about to say, but Robbie really did deserve to hear it.
“That was good,” he mumbled.
“What?” Robbie leaned in closer.
Jake rolled his eyes. “I said you were good.”
Robbie nodded. “I thought that’s what you said. Huh.”
“What now?”
“I’m just surprised, that’s all.”
“Surprised about what?”
“That it was actually fun.”
“Yeah, getting your dick sucked usually is pretty fun.”
“No, I mean, I enjoyed myself—with you.” Robbie picked his sweater up and shook it out. “I guess you were right. Maybe that’s exactly what we needed.”
“Told you so.” Jake cleared his throat. “Anyway, I, uh, I’m gonna head back home. I didn’t sleep well last night, and I’m pretty exhausted.”
“Yeah, me too,” Robbie said quickly. “See you tomorrow.”
Before he could stop himself, Jake cringed. “Tomorrow, yes. Here again. At the beach.”
Robbie’s expression changed in the blink of an eye. His rosy cheeks lost their color; his eyes dulled. “That’s not going to be a problem for you, is it?”
“Nope. I have a rule: one and done. That’s how I like it, and I’m sure as hell not changing it because of you.”
“Good, because if you think I’m ever having sex with you again, you’re sorely mistaken, Jake. We talked about this—I’m looking for something real. Got it?”
“Oh, I’ve got it.”
“Good.”
Jake gave a firm nod. “Good.”
They walked back to the parking lot in silence, Robbie’s sweater trailing pathetically on the ground as his grip on it weakened by the second.