15. Richard
FIFTEEN
RICHARD
I could tell from the expression on Ben’s dad’s face that he was probably expecting someone younger. It wasn’t a bad-looking face – I could definitely see where Ben got his looks – but based on the amount of frown lines, I’d say he was expecting someone much younger. Needless to say, I didn’t get a hug from him.
“Nice to meet you, Lane.” I extended my hand, which he fortunately took, and grunted something that sounded like, “Likewise.”
He did squeeze pretty hard, but I was used to that in the banking world. Tactical mind-fucking and all that.
There was no need for me to intimidate him with my strength. I already had what I wanted – namely, his son. This weekend was about supporting Ben and his wish to share me with his family.
At Christmas.
No big deal.
“This is my brother, Eli, and his partner, Gareth.” Lane pointed across the kitchen.
The two men were wearing matching reindeer sweaters. I wasn’t sure if I should pretend not to know him or if we were acting like our double date hadn’t happened.
Eli smiled and gave me a head nod. “I’m guessing by the expression on your face that my little brother Lane didn’t inform his son that I’ve already told him that we met.”
God, that was a relief.
I shook my head.
“No, he didn’t,” Ben said, popping out his right hip and planting his hands firmly where I liked to grab while fucking him doggy style.
Think of something else, you pervert! This is Christmas!
“Don’t worry.” Eli walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “I told him what a standup guy you are and how long we’ve known each other.”
“I’m not convinced you sung my praises enough,” I whispered.
“Let’s get you a beer,” he said.
“Oh yes, where are my manners? Would you like a beer…or something else?” Raquel asked, opening the fridge.
“Beer’s fine.”
I waited to see if Ben would have one too – I’d seen him have too many – but I watched as he grabbed a root beer instead.
This was wrong. I shouldn’t have come. It was completely fucking awkward. I wasn’t part of their family. We had only been dating a few months. What was I thinking?
“Let’s go get the rest of the stuff from the car,” Ben said, grabbing my beer to put on the counter, replacing it with his hand, and pulling me out of the room.
He stopped pulling when we got to my car. I went to open the trunk, but he grabbed my other hand.
“Are you okay? If you’re uncomfortable, we can go,” Ben said. “I’ll go right now.”
Fuck.
I couldn’t do that to him. This was his family. I needed to pull myself together.
“I’m okay.” I paused trying to find the right words. “Your dad was–”
“Intense?”
I shouldn’t have blamed his dad, but oh well. It was too late now.
“A little.”
“He’ll get over it. Talk about sports. He likes football and so do you. Isn’t there a game today? The Tightpants versus the Helmetheads?”
“The Patriots play the Eagles,” I answered, correcting his awful joke.
“See? Perfect.” He pulled me towards him. “You love tight ends, and so does he. See? I pay attention to sportsball.”
“Not the same thing.” He knew how to make me smile though. “Be careful and it’ll be your tight end I’m playing with tonight.”
“I don’t have an issue with that.” He kissed me. “In fact, that’s definitely happening tonight.”
“Right in front of Captain America?” I mock-gasped.
“Maybe he likes it?”
Football was a great suggestion from Ben. By the time dinner was ready, I had relaxed and it seemed Lane had too. Eli and Gareth were the best allies: Eli brought up memories from years past – good memories – about the office and things I’d done for him, things I’d forgotten about; and Gareth was very upbeat and supportive of Ben finding a reliable, trustworthy man for a boyfriend. His energy reminded me of a golden retriever.
I wasn’t imagining the emphasis on man . It seemed my age was a bonus to him, which wasn’t surprising considering his taste in men.
I’d have to remember to thank Eli once we returned to work after the holiday break, and see if the pair wanted to go on another double date.
The Patriots winning also helped the overall atmosphere.
“You didn’t tell me you had your own bathroom,” I said, taking off my jeans.
After dinner, Ben and I had spent hours snuggling on the couch, as Eli and Lane’s families exchanged presents and The Grinch played in the background.
Now, I was completely stuffed with homemade desserts, we were finally alone, and I had seen the Captain America poster in real life.
“I’m sorry.” Ben’s eyes went straight to my crotch. “Was that important?”
I stepped closer to him. “I was worried about my cum dripping all over the place as you scurried down the hallway.”
“It wouldn’t have been dripping anywhere.” Ben closed the gap and grabbed my ass.
“Why is that?”
“Heads, I would’ve swallowed it all, and tails, I would’ve kept it inside me.”
“Now I know what I’ll be thinking about the next time I see a coin toss.”
As he kissed me, his hands moved to my waistband and tugged down. Once my cock had sprung up, he grabbed it and started stroking.
“We have to be so fucking quiet, Ben. I am not pissing your parents off.”
He shrugged. “I have a ball gag if you want to use it on me.”
“I’d like to say I trust you not to scream, but you better put it on.”
“And you can thank me now for not having any dessert tonight.” He turned away from me and pulled his thermal over his head.
“I noticed,” I said. “That’s why I brought you some brownies and two cookies.”
Ben’s head whipped around. “Seriously?”
I pointed to the plate on his desk by the door.
“I can’t believe you did that.”
“I thought you could use a little reward for being such a good clean boy.”
Ben got on his knees and crawled on the floor until my cock was resting on his face. Looking up at me, my shaft blocking his view, he smiled and lapped at my balls.
“I won’t be clean for very long. This thing’s gonna frost my face.”
“I thought it was going inside you.”
“Coin toss?” Ben asked, giggling.
After the first spurt, the rest ended up inside him.
His mouth.
Ben swallowed my cum and finished with a brownie chaser.
“Mow I ma sah mil.”
“What?” I looked over at him. His mouth was stuffed with brownies.
He swallowed. “Now I want some milk.”
“I can get some for you.” I rolled off the bed and grabbed some sweatpants out of my suitcase.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to do it. Be right back.”
The hall was dark, but light was coming from the stairs so I was able to make my way easily and without knocking anything over. Before I got to the kitchen, I heard voices.
“What if he gets hurt again?”
“Ben’s an adult. He can make his own choices.”
“Ben’s nineteen. Legally, yeah, he’s an adult, but he’s still in college. He can’t even legally drink yet.”
“You and Raquel got together in high school.”
“We were both the same age.”
I had heard enough and I didn’t want it to seem like I was trying to eavesdrop. Making a point to walk with heavier steps, I made my way into the kitchen where Lane and Eli were sitting together at the table.
“I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, Ben just wanted some milk.”
Eli smiled. Lane’s expression was hard to read. They stayed quiet as I poured the glass and the need to say something only grew as time passed.
With the jug back in the fridge, I turned around and said, “I get that you’re concerned for Ben, Lane, I really do. And I’m not surprised. If I were you, I would be too. You love him and you want to protect him.
“But I’m sure Eli’s told you that I was married. My husband died over eleven years ago and while I’ve been with men since then, Ben is the first I’ve dated, the first man I’ve taken seriously. We’ve been exclusive almost since we started seeing each other and I’ve never been dishonest with him. Guarded, sure, but I’m protecting my own heart here too. Not just Ben’s.
“You might see me as some predatory older man, but if anything I’m more scared than Ben is of what our relationship means because I’ve lost it all before and I’m terrified of that happening again. I would never cheat on your son or do anything that would cause him harm because I…”
I love him.
I wanted to say the words but now wasn’t the time.
Lane took my pause as an opportunity.
“Thank you for saying all that. I’m sorry you heard what I said and I’m sorry for not taking the time to see things from your perspective. I was just being a dad.”
I nodded.
“Ben seems very happy,” Lane continued, “and it’s probably got a lot to do with you.”
“He’s an amazing person.”
“That he is.”
“Good night.”
“Merry Christmas, Richard,” Eli said.
I glanced at the microwave. He was right. It was midnight.
I said, “Merry Christmas,” then made my way back upstairs.
Ben was sitting on his bed, waiting for me, the plate of cookies untouched on his nightstand.
“Got your milk.”
“I heard what you said.”
“How?” I asked.
“I really wanted the milk, so I followed you. By the time I got there, you were already talking so I waited.” Ben stood up, the blanket falling off his muscular legs, leaving him completely naked as he walked over to me. “I love everything that you said, and I love that you feel how you feel, and I love that we’re together.”
I put the glass of milk down, wrapped my arms around him, and rested my head on his shoulders.
“I love that you love all of that.”
“Merry Christmas, Ben.”
“Merry Christmas,” he replied, then pulled back. “Now, get naked and into my bed so all my high school fantasies can come true.”
Christmas morning was filled with excitement.
I should’ve realized Eli and Gareth were staying the night – especially since I bumped into him last night talking to Lane – but I hadn’t thought about much else leading up to this visit other than meeting Ben’s parents.
Eli’s son, Trey, was eager to get home to see what Santa brought him despite being fourteen, so after a quick breakfast with everyone, Eli, Gareth, and Trey had left. Now, it was just me, Ben, his parents, and his sister, Grace.
She was fairly quiet – I had only seen her briefly the night before – staying mostly on her phone, but every now and then, I’d catch her looking at me and she’d smile and pretend she wasn’t staring.
Ben and Grace’s relationship seemed very different from mine and Holly’s, but we had more years to develop our need to use sarcasm as a way to express our love. Since Ben was at college now, that surely changed things for the whole family.
Although it was easy to tell Ben and his parents were very close. I was amazed how supportive they were of him. It was hard to imagine my parents being so comfortable around me and a boyfriend. My mom might have suspected I was gay, but I never told either of them about me before they passed. Holly had known since we were kids.
“Is it time for presents yet?” Ben asked.
With his excitement bubbling out of him, I couldn’t help but see his more boyish qualities. A fact only heightened because we were with his parents in his childhood home.
At The Stable and when we were together at my place, he seemed like such a man.
It seemed there was something to be said for atmosphere and outfit.
All the muscles that glistened under the lights of the dance floor weren’t visible under his flannel pajamas.
“Of course we can open presents, baby,” Raquel said.
“What are these ones over here?”
“I brought those, Lane,” I answered.
“You didn’t have to do that,” he said.
“I wanted to.”
“Who wants to be–”
“I’ll be Santa!” Ben interrupted his mother, then hurried over to the tree to start sorting the presents into piles.
Despite Lane’s protests, I had a couple presents from Ben’s parents. They got me a pair of Isotoner suede gloves and a set of scented massage oils.
When Ben saw the latter, he waggled his eyebrows at me and whispered, “I’ll make good use of those later.”
As for the Giordano’s, I gave a set of Apple’s latest AirPods to Grace, a rice cooker to Raquel, and a pair of tickets to the last Patriots game of the year to Lane.
“I can’t accept these,” he said. “It’s too much.”
“Dad!”
“It’s really nothing,” I said. “If it makes you feel any better about it, they’re a regift. One of my clients is a season ticket holder. He’s given me a pair every year for the last six years. I’ve been to plenty of games. Please enjoy yourself.”
Lane smiled. “Thank you very much, Richard.”
“My pleasure.”
Ben slid next to me on the couch, holding the video game he just opened from his parents. “This is for you.”
I was excited to open it. It was my first gift from Ben.
Gray sweatpants?
“I hope you like them.” He moved close enough to whisper into my ear. “You can’t wear anything underneath when you wear these, that’s the rule.”
Thankfully, it seemed Ben was the only one paying attention to me.
“That’s the rule, is it? And why is that the rule?”
“You know why.”
“Thank you, Ben.” I pulled out my phone, and quickly typed a message.. “Check your texts.”
Richard: I left your presents at home because none of them are appropriate to give you in front of your family.
Ben sent back a peanut emoji.
“What?” I asked.
Ben: I’m nutting already.
“Oh.”
He’d be doing a lot of that with what I got him.
“I also have another present for you that isn’t here,” Ben admitted.
As much as I loved the sweatpants, knowing there were more surprises made me happy.