Chapter 19 – Age 30
“Tori,” Jule whispered into Tor’s ear.
“Hmm?”
“Wake up.” He kissed Tor’s cheek, his nose, his forehead. “Waaaaake up.”
“What’s wrong?” Tor slid his arm around Jule and buried his fingers in his hair as he opened his eyes.
“I can’t sleep.” He rubbed himself against Tor’s hot body.
“I didn’t wear you out enough earlier?” Tor slid his hand down Jule’s back and grabbed a handful of ass.
“You did, but now I’m awake again and I need another round.”
Tor chuckled and tickled him. “Horndog.”
“It’s not my fault.” He buried his face against Tor’s neck. “I can smell you when I’m sleeping,” he said quietly.
“You like the way I smell?” Tor teased.
“You know I do.”
“I like your scent too.” He brushed his lips over Jule’s. “I thought about it all the time when we were apart.”
“Yeah?”
“Mmm hmm.” The room was dark, Tor’s voice was soft, his touch gentle.
Sex with Tor could be white hot and intense; it could also be fun or sweet or wild.
But no matter how they came together, it was always heartstoppingly intimate.
This was his best friend. They’d grown up together.
They’d fought and played, screamed and laughed.
The friendship didn’t disappear when the underwear slid off so Jule got to spend every night with his best friend in the world who he also got to fuck.
“I missed you so much,” Jule rasped.
“Me too.” Tor kissed him again, tongue sliding over his mouth and between his lips. “Turn around.”
He flipped to his other side and watched over his shoulder as Tor slicked his cock.
When he was done, he pressed himself against Jule’s back, laid his leg on top of Jule’s, slid his left arm over Jule’s chest and his right arm under Jule’s neck, twining his fingers with Jule’s against his heart. “Let’s get you nice and relaxed.” He kissed Jule’s nape as he pushed into his body.
Jule moaned in pleasure, the stretch and fullness perfect.
Tor held him close and rocked into him, gentle but deep, his heavy breaths puffing over Jule’s neck and shoulders.
He closed his eyes and lost himself in the sensation, surrounded by Tor inside and out.
When Tor’s heavy breaths transitioned to gasps, he slid his left hand over Jule’s cock, stroking him in time with his own plunging dick.
They moved together, gentle and unhurried, the pleasure building slowly until they came, both of them quietly gasping, hands still clutched.
And when it was over, he turned his head and met Tor’s waiting lips.
Tor kept his firm hold on him as their lips connected and parted.
“Be right back.” He kissed Jule’s shoulder and slipped out of bed.
Muscles loose and body languid, Jule closed his eyes and relaxed into their bed. The mattress dipped behind him and a warm cloth moved over his belly and through his crease. “Thank you.”
Tor kissed his shoulder again and circled his arms around him.
He flipped onto his back and examined Tor’s face. Tor was usually a master at keeping his expressions neutral, his feelings locked down, but there had been moments lately, usually when he was relaxed, when the guards fell.
“Are you okay?” He caressed Tor’s cheek.
“Yeah, why?” Tor said.
“You’ve seemed a little off lately. A little… I don’t know. In your head.”
“I’m fine,” he insisted.
“Are you nervous about the wedding?”
“Absolutely not.” Tor’s voice was firm. “I give you shit but I’m looking forward to tomorrow as much as you are. I want to be your husband, Julie.”
“Yeah?” Jule pressed his lips to Tor’s.
“Mmm hmm.” Tor deepened the kiss and Jule melted into him.
By the time they separated, his mind was hazy again, but he forced himself to focus because the conversation mattered. “If it’s not the wedding, what’s going on with you?”
“I’m good.”
“Tori.”
He sighed and rolled onto his back beside Jule. “Remember when you asked if I was scared when I was working undercover?”
Jule nodded. “You said you weren’t.”
“And that was true.” Tor looked at the ceiling. “There was so much shit that I had to do to fit in with John Jones, with the Knights. And also, so much I was hiding from them. One small mistake could have blown it all up on one side or the other. But none of that fazed me, not really.”
“That’s probably one of the reasons you were able to get away with it. People can sense fear. You were calm so they didn’t think you had anything to hide.”
Tor quietly nodded.
“What’s got you thinking about that? Did Chief Montez call you? Did something happen?”
“No.” Tor took a deep breath and then slowly let it out. “I think I’m scared now.”
“Why? Things have been good. Calm.”
“I don’t know.” Tor shrugged. “I feel it sometimes. My chest gets tight, breathing speeds up, hands get sweaty.” He turned his head to the side and looked Jule in the eyes. “I’ve never felt that way before.”
Jule traced his fingers over Tor’s hairline as he considered that. “Are you sleepy?”
Tor shook his head.
“Let’s get a beer.” He slipped out of bed and then held his hand out to Tor. “You’ve done a great job with the house.”
He skimmed his hand over the wall as they walked out of the bedroom. “Paint’s not peeling.”
He flicked the switch on when they entered the great room. “Lights all work.”
He looked down. “Floors aren’t cracked.”
He moved his hand over the kitchen table. “Furniture’s new, from the store.”
He walked to the refrigerator and opened it. “Fridge is full. Pantry too.”
He got two beers, took off the caps, and set them on the table. “We’re drinking craft brews instead of Milwaukee’s Best.”
They sat and pulled their chairs close together, legs bracketed, knees touching. “Your brothers are healthy, safe, home, working.” He tipped a bottle against his mouth and took a drink. “There’s no crisis to manage, nothing broken that needs fixing. Life is good and you’re not used to that.”
He set the bottle on the table and twisted it from side to side.
“You once told me that life isn’t fair and survival’s what matters.
” He looked at Tor. “You’ve been surviving for a long time, Tori.
Maybe your entire life. You got so comfortable existing in chaos and crisis that no amount of it could rattle you.
” He took another drink, his gaze not leaving Tor’s.
“What you’re feeling now is peace. You’re not used to that, don’t know how to live in it, and that’s what’s scaring you.
” He nodded to himself and lowered his gaze to the table.
“It scares me too sometimes. Things are so calm now, so easy. My body starts bracing itself for something to go wrong and then it doesn’t but the adrenaline’s still there, leaves me rattled. ”
Tor drank his beer. “What do you do about it?”
Jule tilted his lips up and raised his gaze. “Wake you up in the middle night so you can fuck it out of my system.” His smile widened. “Works pretty well.”
Tor laughed and covered Jule’s hand with his. “Thanks. That helps.”
“Good.” Jule leaned closer and rested his head on Tor’s shoulder. “Glad all these years of therapy are paying off for something.”
“You haven’t attacked a guy with a pipe in years, so it was already paying off.”
“Take your dick out with someone else and you’ll see how quickly that part of my control goes out the window.”
Tor kissed his head and laughed. “Love you, Julie.”
“I love you too.”
***
They held the wedding in the joined backyards at sunset.
It was more casual than any of his mother’s dinner parties, but she arrived on time, with a smile, along with her parents.
Langston came a little earlier because he was officiating the ceremony and he wanted to go over things before they started.
Jule suspected he was struggling to believe they were keeping it as short and simple as he had already explained, which would have been annoying if his mother’s husband wasn’t such a genuinely nice and earnest man.
As it was, Jule felt nothing but gratitude that she finally had that kind of person in her life.
In a twist of fate their childhood selves never could have predicted, the chief of police was at the Dunworthy house, by invitation.
Tor had agreed only after Chief Montez promised that he’d ignore anything he saw or heard while he was there.
His brothers and cousins were giving him a wide berth regardless.
Lydia came too. Jule tipped his head toward the edge of the patio where she was huddled close with Titan, laughing and talking. “That’s either a match made in heaven or a disaster waiting to happen.”
“Either way, I trust Tan to bring it better than flavor-free dessert,” Tor said.
Jule cracked up. “Ready to make this legal?”
“Would it matter if I wasn’t?” Tor joked.
“No.” Jule straightened his collar. “You look nice all dressed up.”
“This shirt’s coming off as soon as the ceremony’s over.”
“I’m counting on it.”
Tor cupped his hips and gazed into his eyes. “I’m ready.”
“When I was in kindergarten, I met a boy. I insulted his bed and hit him. Instead of getting mad, he laughed, told me that he built his own furniture, and then he taught me how to create our own fun. I made my first friend that day. All these years later, and you’re still building my world and making sure I’m safe having fun in it.
Twenty-four years with you, Tori. I’m excited for more. ”
Being the center of attention wasn’t Tor’s preferred role.
Neither was public speaking. But he stood in front of everyone they knew, posture straight, demeanor composed, and true to form, packed an emotional punch and said everything without using many words.
“Yesterday, today, tomorrow, forever. You’ve always been my best friend, Julie, and I’m honored that now I get to call you my husband too. ”
Wetness coated Jule’s eyes, but he blinked it away.
They both looked over at his stepfather, who seemed uncharacteristically emotional. “Do you have the rings?”
Jule nodded and held his hand out, the two gold bands sitting on his palm. Tor immediately covered Jule’s hand with his own.
“Do you, Torrence Dunworthy, take Julian Sterling to be your husband? To honor and cherish him till death do you part?”
His heart skipped a beat when he placed Tor’s ring on him.
“I do.”
“And do you, Julian Sterling, take Torrence Dunworthy to be your husband? To honor and cherish him till death do you part?”
Tor smoothed his hand over Jule’s palm, picked up his ring, and then slid it onto his finger.
“I sure as fuck do.”
Langston’s lips twitched. “With those vows and the exchange of rings, I now pronounce you husband and husband.”
Tor grasped his collar at the same time as he clutched Tor’s shirtfront and they yanked one another forward, colliding in a kiss that started in an inferno and slowly banked into a sweet, simmering heat.
When they eventually separated, he tipped his forehead against Tor’s and they caressed each other’s cheeks.
He gazed into Tor’s familiar eyes. Big blue eyes in a dirt-streaked face.
Thankfully, the sounds of hoots and cheers entered his consciousness and saved him from crying in front of everyone they knew. He cleared his throat, snaked his arm around Tor’s waist, and shouted, “Got him!”
Tor palmed the back of his head and laughed.
Their family surrounded them, sharing hugs and congratulations, loud and boisterous and happy. He had longed for nights like this during the years they’d been apart, and experiencing one again, knowing a lifetime of endless others were laid out before him was nearly overwhelming.
“I know,” Tor whispered into his ear and then kissed it.
He held on tighter.
Long after the sun set, the party was going strong.
The adults were drinking and laughing. The music was loud.
And the kids were dancing next to the firepit, Tor leading the charge.
He looked to have created some sort of game in which he threw a leg or an arm in the air, squatted down, or hopped up, and the children followed along, shrieking with joy.
“He’s going to be a great dad,” Jule said, watching him from the other side of the yard.
Tyson looked at him in surprise. “You guys going to have kids?”
Jule dipped his chin. “Yep.”
“Tor know about that?” Trey asked.
Jule slowly turned his head from left to right and back. “Nope.”
The guys immediately started laughing.
He winked at them and tossed his empty bottle into the trash can. “I’m going to go hang with my husband.”
As he walked across their backyard, Tor met his gaze. He had stripped out of his button down and wore his white undershirt, tattoo peeking out and lean muscles on display. His eyes sparkled in the firelight and his smile was blinding. He held his arm out to Jule. “Hey, baby.”
“Hi.” Jule stepped into his spot against Tor and leaned into him for a kiss.
A new song started and the kids shouted in glee when Tor began dancing and singing again, voice loud and movements exaggerated, his arm firmly lodged around Jule’s waist.
He draped his arm over Tor’s shoulders and joined in, laughing and having fun. Turned out that normal, like everything else, was pretty great as long as he was doing it with Tor Dunworthy.
The End