Chapter Twenty-Eight
Brent
A full night’s sleep in each other’s arms in the guest room was a dream come true.
In the process of repositioning himself against me, I woke up. Way before the five thirty alarm I’d set on my watch went off, and way before sunrise.
“You’re still here,” I said to Renny and opened my eyes to the darkness giving way to morning’s light. It was nice feeling Renny’s head and hair lying on my bare chest. It was nice falling asleep together while reading the night before. “I see someone’s still on East Coast time. Good morning.”
“Good morning back to you,” Renny said, brushing one of my pecs with a light kiss. “Where else would I be? I’ve been wide awake for close to an hour just listening to the breeze, your heartbeat, and the thoughts in my head.”
“I hope all good thoughts.” I looked down at Renny and waited for an answer.
“Definitely good thoughts, Brent. All about you, me, and the possibilities of what’s next. Pardon my morning breath, by the way.”
“Pardon mine.”
“We should hold off on a morning kiss, then, huh?”
“I think that’s a good idea for now.”
“Hmm,” Renny said and slid a hand under the duvet and rubbed me to life down there. “I would love to backslide and kiss something else this morning, but I won’t.”
“Such a scandalous man, making it hard for me,” I said, cupping and squeezing Renny’s ass through the covers.
“But I will wait until you feel ready for us to go there. I know it’s on me to make you feel comfortable in all ways and reassure you that I’ll never let anything or anyone or anytime come between us again. ”
“I appreciate that, Brent, and I want you to know that I’m not trying to make you jump through hoops, no pun intended,” Renny said, kissing my chest. “We literally just got back into each other’s lives.
But if you keep it up like you have, I promise you I’ll soon be kissing you anywhere and everywhere you want. Like I used to.”
“I like that,” I said, thumbing Renny’s nose playfully. “I can and can’t wait.”
“When it’s right,” Renny said. “So, what’s the plan for today?”
I turned my head and maneuvered my arm to look at my watch.
“When the alarm goes off in a few, I’d like to hit the gym and work off some of the calories from yesterday’s party.
Then I have appointments for teeth cleaning and my yearly physical.
I’d like you to go with me. It’ll be a different kind of date day. ”
“To the dentist and doctor? On a holiday weekend? Oh, joy. What a date. What a way to spend the holiday.”
“Yeah, both necessary and both hard to make time for with my work schedule.” I looked down at Renny, his face resting on my chest, his twists against my chin.
“Your benefits should have kicked in by now. No shade or anything, but I was looking at your bottom teeth in the sun yesterday. You look overdue for a cleaning.”
I gasped in shock and awe before I replied, “All shade. I ain’t said nothing about you finally letting the fuzz and that hairline go. I think you’d look hot with a completely bald head. Especially with your beard.”
“Ouch. We’ll add the barber to the date list today, too. Point made.”
“A three-pointer.”
“I should have prepped all this by saying ‘radical honesty’ first,” I said, hoping Renny would forgive how the morning in bed was starting off. “I love your smile, and you’re still handsome to me. Still.”
I linked my hand in Renny’s free hand, and we fidgeted our fingers like itsy-bitsy spider in the dusk and silence of the morning.
“And the doctor?”
I unlinked our hands and turned his face to mine.
“I don’t have a thing against your body count or that you want us to wait before we smash again,” I said. “But we should both get physicals and be checked out, tested, and prescribed some PrEP and DoxyPEP.”
“Hmmm. Wow. All this before the sun rises. I see how your radical honesty rolls.”
“Look, don’t be mad or offended, for real.” I caressed the side of his face. “Our sexual and physical health is something I hope we can share and be honest with each other about.”
“You’re right. I’m not fighting you on it. But first thing in the morning?”
“It comes with the territory of any potential long-term relationship. We talk things out.”
“I told you I’m wanting things to go slow, if they go at all.”
“Well, humor me in this. We are Black men of a certain age. We’ve lost D’Angelo and so many other Black men long before they should have been gone.
I lost twenty-something years with you because I couldn’t be honest with myself about who I am.
I would like to have twenty or more years with you from now going into the future, if we head that route, because we’re honest about and take care of our health.
That means going to the doctor on a regular basis, separately or scheduling appointments together around the same time.
I’m cool with doing it together so that we can tackle anything that comes up together. Pardon my morning sermon. I’m a dad.”
“Whatever. Point taken,” Renny said, then he turned up a smile. “You ever ask your doctor about why you cum so quick? I’ve known you for over twenty-something years.”
“Ha ha. You got jokes. You and that mouth, my little scandalous guy. We can ask the doctor together about that. I apologize for being so preachy about our health. I just couldn’t imagine losing you so quickly after finding each other again. Especially for something that could be preventable.”
“Just a little too preachy, but I get it. Understood.”
“I’m sorry about that,” I said, tilting his face up to mine. “Kiss to make up for it? Morning breath and all?”
I hoped I hadn’t taken the excitement out of our day ahead.
I realized I’d taken a risk starting out the morning so strongly.
Therapy, radical honesty, plus having the experience of knowing the importance of good communication in long-term relationships, meant I’d probably come across harshly when talking with him.
Keeping his feelings in mind would have to be paramount.
“Go ahead and kiss me,” Renny said, “but I ask that in the future you be mindful of your tone and demeanor. And I’ll do the same.”
I would keep it in mind for any future conversations that came across more aggressively than I intended.
“Rich, coming from the man with the smart-ass mouth on him,” I said, with a bit of sarcasm in my voice. “And I apologize.”
I leaned toward his face and our lips met, gently at first, then with a little more hot-blooded passion.
My desire awakened and rose in need of more intense and intimate contact and a release, as we made out like horny college students once again while the morning’s daylight poured into the guest room.
There was no question in my mind that our feelings were solid, and we’d soon be connected as one, physically, as a symbol of our commitment and dare I say, emotionally, love.
Pleasing Renny in every way possible was my number one goal from this moment on. If that’s what he wanted.
Suddenly, I heard a throat clear, and it wasn’t Renny’s. We stopped, pulled away, and looked at the open doorway.
“Daddy? Who is this man kissing you?”