26. Chapter 26
Chapter twenty-six
Aras
A ras crept out of bed and blindly fumbled his way toward the bathroom. He closed the door as quietly as he could before turning on the light. He’d be thrilled to be joined, of course, but he wasn’t trying to interrupt Dane’s sleep. If it happened, it happened.
Aras stripped off and looked at himself in the mirror. He pinched his sides and sucked his teeth. Could stand to get something a little more reasonable for dinner tomorrow . For most of his time on the show, he hadn’t really deviated from his normal eating habits, but ever since he and Dane started hanging out…well, watching cartoons and having what amounted to a sleepover every night didn’t feel quite right with salad and grilled chicken or whatever. It felt right with pizza and junk.
“Calm down,” he rolled his eyes at his own reflection. “You didn’t get love handles from eating pizza one night.” Which, to be fair, it was overly critical to call them love handles. But in the early morning, waking up with a guy he wanted to impress…it got a lot easier to be self-critical, and a lot harder to ignore the flaws that he might end up showing Dane.
He turned on the shower and waited for it to heat up. The mirrors would steam over and he wouldn’t be staring at himself. But in the meantime, he did angle his hips to look at his own ass. There, he couldn’t find much to complain about, besides the weird bump where he sat on a pencil as a kid. The lead broke off, but it never caused him problems. Once it stopped hurting, it never hurt again. Even then, when he poked at it, no pain at all. Just the tiny bump and a story that had happened long enough ago he could laugh about it.
When he saw the first fingers of condensation creeping across the edges of the mirror, he stepped into the shower and closed the glass door behind him. The tiles were only a little bit of a deathtrap, but he kept one hand on the little shelf they had for shampoo and conditioner and all that, so he at least wasn’t at immediate risk to fall and break his tailbone.
He let the hot water flow over his hair and down his chest and back as the heat pushed away the last dregs of sleep. So engrossed, he almost missed the sound of the door clicking open.
Almost.
He didn’t turn much, but the mirrors hadn’t yet completely fogged over, so he saw Dane walking into the bathroom. Once he saw Aras’s reflection, he smiled. “Offer still valid?”
“Good through the rest of the calendar year.”
Aras didn’t need to be shy any longer, so he turned to watch as Dane pulled his pants down. Then he removed his shirt, and Aras realized this was the first time seeing his torso. It shouldn’t have been exciting—they’d traded blow jobs, and he’d gotten a full view of everything below the belt—but his breath hitched as he saw the first flash of Dane’s abdomen. Pale skin, an outie belly button, slight softness around the edges. His shirt lifted up higher, stretching his body. It pulled the slightest hint of bush up over the waistband of his underwear. Then, as he worked his sleeves up and over, Aras saw a dusting of red armpit hair.
Dane tossed his shirt and pants onto the counter, then stepped right up to the door of the shower. Of course he did. He grinned, knowing he was putting on a show. Not that Aras would complain about the entertainment. Especially not as Dane hooked his thumbs into his underwear and dropped them down.
He was impressive hard, of course, but Aras took him in soft, hanging loose, foreskin totally covering his head. He liked how much fun Dane was, and how comfortable they seemed together, but he couldn’t deny that he liked Dane’s body, either.
Aras pushed the door open and allowed him in, then reached for the water to turn the temperature lower than flesh-rending.
Dane wrapped his fingers over Aras’s on the handle. “I can handle the heat.”
Aras pulled away. “Don’t blame me when you get third degree burns.” But he kept the temp the same. Then he reached for the shampoo and squirted some into his palm. He turned to Dane as he lathered his hair. “It’s nice to see you.”
Dane ran his hands down Aras’s body. “It’s nice to see all of you. Even if you do keep getting up at the butt crack of dawn.”
“It’s quiet.” Aras had a full lather, so he tipped his head back and let the shower rinse away the filth and sweat and soap. “I’ve always liked hotels early in the morning. It’s like a space in-between. It feels like, if you see anyone, there’s this camaraderie. You all agree to leave each other alone, but you still have something in common.” He tilted his head back up and grinned. “Not that I’m opposed to spending time with some people right now.” Aras rubbed across Dane’s shoulders. This close, he could make out the spray of freckles across those, and over his chest. Not many, but enough to be noticeable.
His fingertips dipped lower, thumbs brushing over hard, pink nipples. Lower still, feeling the subtle bumps of Dane’s ribs, then the soft skin of his belly, the ridges of his spine at his lower back. He cupped Dane’s ass and yanked him closer, working his fingers into the hard globes of muscle.
“We’re not exactly going to get cleaned up at this rate.” Dane’s voice was abnormally hoarse and low, almost blending into the background noise of the shower. “Do you want to smell like cum all day?”
“Yeah.” Aras ground his hips forward, and it was plain that Dane was no longer fully soft. “Maybe I do. Or maybe, I know that taking a shower means we don’t have to.” He brought one hand around the back again, running his fingers up and down between Dane’s ass cheeks. He didn’t press in, but he gave special attention to Dane’s hole and tried not to lose himself in fantasies about it, even as his own cock twitched and swelled to life.
“I have condoms and stuff.” Dane spat it out, like he was trying to get through it fast as possible. “If you want.”
Aras had to consider it. But he shook his head, running his fingers through Dane’s mohawk and looking down into his eyes. “Not now. That should be something special.” He gave a particularly firm squeeze to Dane’s ass cheeks, eliciting a squeaking gasp. “But I’d love to eat you out while you take care of yourself. If you’d be interested.” A good compromise, Aras thought. Plus, Dane’s butt was primo, ten-out-of-ten. He could think of worse ways to wake up than burying his tongue in there.
Dane stared back up at him, and when his brows furrowed, a jolt of panic raced through Aras. Was that too far? Was he not into it? How had he fucked up?
“Doesn’t sound like a very good deal for you?” Dane tutted his tongue. “You don’t have to give up on having a good time just to appease me.”
And the panic subsided. Aras shook his head with a smile. “I’m getting the better end of the deal, here.” Aras kneaded the firm muscles and soft skin of Dane’s ass cheeks and, once again, pulled him in tight. They were both totally hard, now. “Your ass has looked delicious since the first time I saw you.”