12. Chapter 12
PRESENT
HERO
“Hey, do you think we could go somewhere?” Onyx asks, his fingers tangled with mine as the door to Wooley’s swings closed behind me, leaving us in the dim light of the parking lot with nothing but the sound of crickets and distant traffic.
“Somewhere in particular or are you just not ready to go home?” I clear my throat and pick the helmet up off my bike seat. “Er… back to my place.”
“There’s this spot I used to go to all the time when I lived here. I want to see if it’s still the same.”
“Sure.” I hand him the helmet and swing my leg over to climb on.
Onyx gives me the directions, then pulls the helmet on and clambers onto the seat behind me, wrapping his arms around me and snuggling up close like he did before.
The bulky helmet bumps against the back of my head, and I chuckle as I rev the engine.
He’s only been here for twenty-four hours, and it’s scary how nice it already feels to have him on the back of my bike, coming home with me after hanging out at Wooley’s for a few hours, just being in my life like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
But I already decided I’m not going to let myself overthink it, so I ease out of the spot and roar out onto the street, taking the directions Onyx gave me.
The place isn’t far, but it’s outside of town, a few miles into the quiet wooded area between Fall Crosse and Belland.
It’s exactly the kind of spot I can imagine a bored teenager going to get away and angst about how misunderstood they feel.
I take a dirt road up to a clearing on a hillside that overlooks cornfields and dairy farmland as far as the eye can see.
The only light is from my headlight and the nearly full moon.
I park and we both hop off. Onyx pulls the helmet off and drags his fingers through his hair.
He takes a deep breath, and I see his shoulders relax as a smile creeps slowly over his lips.
“You have no idea how many hours I spent up here, watching the cows grazing in the fields and practicing my guitar.” He plops himself down in the grass with his legs outstretched and his hands braced behind him.
I join him on the ground, refusing to audibly groan as I lower myself. The last thing I want to do is give away my age that pathetically. He leans over and lets his head fall on my shoulder.
“Seems like a pretty good place for a date too,” I muse.
“How’d you guess? I actually think I lost my virginity…” He lifts his head up and cranes his neck for a second, then points to a spot a few feet to our left. “Right there. And I had my first kiss on this very spot where we’re sitting.”
Amusement and just a little bit of irrational jealousy bubble in my chest. It’s ridiculous to feel possessive over something that happened a decade or more ago, but I wish there was a way to tattoo my lips onto his, to erase anyone who came before me or who might come after me.
That’s obviously impossible, but I slide my hand to the back of his neck and pull him close anyway.
Onyx grins as our noses bump. I can’t erase his first kiss on this spot, but I can be the last kiss he’s had here.
Like he’s reading my mind, we lean in at the same time and fall into a slow, drugging kiss. No tongue, just our lips moving together in a dreamlike rhythm that feels perfect for the warm, quiet night.
Eventually, we break the kiss and lie back to look up at the stars overhead.
“When did you move to Fall Crosse?” Onyx asks.
It takes me a second to do the math in my head before I answer. “It’s been about twelve years now, I think.”
Onyx barks out a laugh. “So, we probably lived here at the same time for a few months before I left. I wonder if we ever saw each other and don’t remember it.
” He rests his head on my shoulder and chuckles again.
“Probably not though. I totally would have had a crush on the hot, older tattoo artist.” He tilts his head back and smirks at me.
“Thanks for that, I don’t feel like a dirty old man now or anything,” I deadpan.
“I’m almost thirty, dude. You’re only dirty in the good ways, and you’re far from old.”
I grunt in acknowledgment. He’s right about this spot being peaceful.
With the night closing in around us, it feels like we’re the only people in the world right now.
I absently run my fingers up and down his arm where it’s draped across my chest. One of his legs is thrown over mine, and his head is resting on my shoulder.
“Tell me more about your place in Seattle.” I need a small reminder that this is only a vacation for him. I’ve seen pictures of his apartment, but I’ve never been there. He’s invited me a few times, but we’ve never been able to make the timing line up right for me to fly out.
“What about it?”
“I don’t know.” I chuckle. “Tell me about your life when you’re not on tour. Tell me your favorite coffee shop and where you hang out with your friends.”
He’s quiet for several long moments, then he lets out a strangled sound that might be a laugh if it weren’t so tight.
“Honestly, I’m away so much that it feels like just another hotel room to me.
When I bought it years ago, I had all these ideas about how it would feel to come home to it at the end of every tour, but I never had time to decorate it myself, so it’s just full of generic stuff that a decorator picked out.
And when I am home, I’m too burned out to even think about going out and dealing with getting recognized, so I never do.
I drink coffee that I brew at home, on my balcony all alone, enjoying a view that doesn’t make me feel much of anything anymore. ”
I don’t know what to say. I guess it explains why he’s here though. This is exactly the kind of break he needs from his real life, and I’m the only person he trusts to give it to him. A surge of protective affection swells in my chest and I bury my nose in his hair for a minute.
“You like that no one in Fall Crosse is hip enough to recognize you?” I tease.
“God, I really do.” He laughs, burying his face in my chest.
“Sorry about Milo earlier.” I think I already apologized once, but it feels like a bigger deal now.
Onyx shakes his head. “It’s fine. I didn’t mind. It’s not one person, you know? It’s the whole vibe in the city that keeps me on edge all the time.”
I nod. Even though I can’t relate, I think I get it. I can’t imagine living under a microscope like that. I don’t have a whole hell of a lot to offer, but I can definitely give him a few weeks of the simple life, if that’s what he’s looking for.
ONYX
“That was so relaxing, but I’m so paranoid that I have ticks crawling all over me now. Why didn’t that ever bother me as a teenager?” I shudder at the thought, stripping my shirt over my head as soon as we step inside the house.
Just like last night, Diva comes trotting around the corner to greet Hero, stopping in her tracks to give me a suspicious look before he scoops her up to kiss and coo at her. Is there anything in the world cuter than a badass looking dude melting over a little furry animal?
“Are you hungry?” he asks. “I could whip up a late dinner while you take a shower if you want.”
I tilt my head back and forth, considering the offer while I slip my shoes off.
“But then who’s going to check all of my nooks and crannies for ticks?” I grin. “How about you come take a shower with me, then we make a frozen pizza? You can impress me with that chicken you have marinating in the refrigerator tomorrow night.”
Hero sets Diva down and she sneezes in my direction before prancing out of the room.
I make a mental note to find a pet store tomorrow while Hero is working so I can buy some toys and treats to win her over.
He wraps his arms around me, and I can already see the answer written on his face.
He’s definitely all for the shower and frozen pizza idea.
His bathroom might not be as big as the one in my apartment back in Seattle, and the shower isn’t as fancy as the hotel showers we’ve shared countless times over the years, but Hero’s hands on me, playfully finding the ticklish spot on my ribs as he nudges me under the hot spray of water is better than a huge bathroom with marble floors or multiple shower heads any day.
His soft beard tickles my skin as he kisses my shoulder and runs his large, sure hands through my hair to help get it wet, then down my back, teasing briefly between my ass cheeks.
“I think you’re clear on the tick front,” he assures me.
“You didn’t check my armpits or between my toes.” I smirk at him over my shoulder.
“Alright, arms up.”
I laugh and hold my arms down tighter. “Never mind, I think I can check myself.”
“No, you want a proper check, let me see your armpits.” Hero tickles my ribs again, and when I flail to stop him, my laughter echoing off the tile walls, he grabs my arms and lifts them up over my head.
He presses his nose into the dark thatch of hair in my armpit and a spark of heat blooms between my legs, thickening my cock instantly. “No ticks here.”
I moan softly and sway into him. His slick skin against mine is as familiar as his kiss or the sound of his voice, stirring a warm, needy feeling in my gut that’s about much more than just sex.
“Thank you. I think I can check my toes myself.”
“Are you sure?” Hero arches an eyebrow and makes a move like he’s about to kneel down and start inspecting my feet.
“I’m sure.” I stroke my fingers through his beard and lean in to claim his lips in a kiss, just as slow and sweet as the one we shared up on my hill earlier.
The feeling of his wet, slippery skin against mine as the water beats down on us has changed over the years. The frantic, horny rhythm in my ears now has a relaxing hum of an undertone that makes me think of home and the color green and warm blankets.
“It’s strange knowing you’re going to be here for a while. Like, we don’t have to try to fit everything in all at once,” Hero murmurs, nibbling on my chin before reaching for the shampoo on the shelf behind me. “Less urgency, you know?”
I nod, turn around, and tilt my head back, wordlessly asking him to pamper me a little and wash my hair for me.
He doesn’t hesitate, filling his palm with soap and then massaging my scalp with a hum in his throat and his half-hard cock dragging against my ass cheek without any expectation or impatience.
“I know what you mean.” A relaxed smile tugs at my lips. “Do you usually sing in the shower?”
He huffs out a laugh in response that’s as good as a yes.
“Sing me something,” I say.
“You’re the professional, you should be the one singing.” I can hear a hint of shyness in his voice that makes my heart swell a little.
“Come on, I won’t judge if you’re out of tune. I just want to hear you sing.”
Hero sighs and then clears his throat. I wait quietly for a few seconds, and he starts to quietly sing a rusty rendition of Poison’s “Talk Dirty to Me.” After the first chorus, I join in, and his voice grows in confidence, and we fall into a slightly off-key harmony together.
I know he doesn’t totally understand it yet, why I’m here, how I’m feeling, but I can’t imagine having a night like this in Seattle.
I can’t picture singing in my shower with him or sitting on the kitchen floor in our underwear to wait for the pizza to cook.
I don’t have a cat to play with, because I’m not home enough to get one.
I don’t have friends to get a beer with or a favorite coffee shop.
I haven’t read most of the books on my bookshelf.
They’re there because a decorator put them there.
Nothing about my life there feels real the way this moment does.
I stop singing and look over my shoulder at Hero.
He clears his throat again and gives me a wry, apologetic smile. “That bad, huh?”
I laugh and shake my head. “No, it was perfect.”
I brush my lips against his in another syrupy slow kiss, letting the water beat down on us and his arms wrap around me. And there’s nothing fake about it at all.