Chapter 28
Julien
After the balloon ride, I surprised Romeo with a hair salon appointment to touch up his roots, get any hairstyle he wanted, and have his nails manicured and painted.
I try not to think about why I’m doing these little things for him when this trip had originally been about me. I try not to think that I’m doing it, so I won’t feel guilty for leaving him behind. But it’s also out of love to see him smile and be happy.
Am I disappointed that he removed five inches of hair? Yeah. But when I learned he kept it long because Tito demanded it, I understood why he wanted something different. It was his own journey to freedom and healing.
At least it’s still long enough to tuck behind his ears.
Jinx is inside the house, eating the dinner I brought home. I appreciate him knowing when we need alone time, as busy-bodied as he is. We sit by the fire pit, even though it’s warmer in the evenings around here. I like the feel of it. I like the comfort it brings.
This trip has almost become about the elements: water, earth, fire, air. I love that connection.
We sit cross-legged on some pillows and blankets. He’s next to me, our knees touching, while I’m spreading out food on the little table. Romeo watches me, eyeing the food dubiously.
“You sure raw fish is okay to eat from a restaurant in the desert?”
I chuckle as I pour soy sauce into a small bowl and mix it with some wasabi. “Perfectly safe to eat, and it’ll be delicious. You’ve had raw seafood twice now,” I remind him.
“Yeah, but we were close to the ocean.”
I take a slice of sashimi escolar, pile a sliver of ginger on top, along with a torn piece of shiso. I fold the fish in half with my chopsticks, dunk it into the soy sauce mixture, and bring it to Romeo’s mouth. I cup my hand under it so it doesn’t drip everywhere.
“Just eat it in one bite. Chew, enjoy the flavors, then swallow. If you don’t like it, we can have some udon noodles.”
While I love watching Romeo’s face get blissed the fuck out during sex, I also love watching him try new things and actually liking them. His eyes grow wide and light up as he smiles with his mouth full.
After he swallows, he says, “Wow, I can’t believe how good that is. And it’s fresh. It doesn’t taste fishy at all.”
I wink and smirk. “Told ya.”
I spent some time teaching him how to use chopsticks. He fails miserably, gets frustrated, and grabs a fork in a huff while I’m laughing.
“It’s not funny.”
“It’s fucking cute.”
“Then why are you laughing at me?”
“I’m not laughing at you. The scene is so adorable that I can’t help it. I especially like it when you get all pouty. That cute little bottom lip sticking out, and I just want to suck on it.”
He sticks his tongue out at me.
“Do that again.”
When he does it with a smile, I grab the back of his head, pull him close, and suck on his bottom lip. It’s salty with soy sauce and sweet with ginger.
After we finish dinner, I grab the last bottle of tequila I stole from Holt and chug back a large sip straight from the bottle. I hand it off to Romeo, who takes a smaller sip.
We turn off the outside lights and set up the pillows and blankets away from the porch so we can see the sky while we lie down. There’s not much light pollution and no clouds, so you can see the stars clearly.
My head is resting on Romeo’s arm as he fingers my hair. I point up at the sky. “See that bright star?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s Polaris, or the North Star. It sits lower in the sky here, but at the North Pole, it’s straight above. It’s a star used to guide sailors in the old days.” I point at the small, pot-shaped constellation. “It’s attached to Ursa Minor, which means the little bear. Do you see it?”
Romeo nods. “Yeah, I do. I’m not sure I get why a pot is also a bear.”
I smile at that. “You have to use your imagination.”
“I never really got to see that many stars in LA. It’s always too bright. But as I look up at them, they remind me of being tucked under a blanket made by a god. He’s bad at making things, so it has too many holes, and little pinpricks of light peek through.”
I smile at his creativity. “I really like that.”
“What else do you see? Show me.”
I point to the northeastern sky. “See that small cluster of stars? You can see about six or seven of them. As we reach the end of the summer, they’ll be more visible. But if you look just right, you can see them.”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Those are the seven sisters, which are also called The Pleiades. They represent the daughters of the Titan Atlas in Greek mythology. He was forced to hold up the sky forever, so he wasn’t able to save his daughters from being raped by Orion.
” I point at Orion’s Belt. “Zeus made the daughters into stars. There’s technically over a thousand stars clustered there, but we can only see a handful of them. ”
“That’s so sad.”
“Yep. Lots of tragedy in mythology.”
Romeo pulls his arm out from under my head and rolls over to face me. He places his fingertips on my cheek, then his fingers travel down to my bottom lip. “You’re so smart. I wanna be smart.”
“You are, baby. You’re very smart. Not all smarts come from books.”
“I guess.”
“Look at Jinx. He’s probably not very literate, but sees a lot. And you feel a lot. You’re empathetic, which is a highly evolved emotion. Well, it’s not quite an emotion. It’s an ability to feel and understand what someone else is going through. That’s pretty damn smart, if you ask me.”
“I like that.”
“You’re a survivor, Romeo—more than I will ever be. You’re strong, resourceful, and adaptive. Life took an utter shit on you, and you’re still a beautiful soul. You’ll survive long after I will.”
“But you’re those things, too.”
I frown and brush my fingers across his cheek. “No, baby. I’m not. I’m selfish, privileged, and weak. You haven’t seen how I was in my other life.”
“You did what you could to survive.”
“No, I didn’t. Yeah, I suffered, then I lived a life full of superficial friends and a girlfriend who hated me.
I thought she cared at first, but she only wanted me for my money, and I let her.
It was all an act. It was all a lie. I used people as much as they used me.
Whatever goodness was in me died when my father did.
I see that now. It wasn’t my fault, but I continued the charade for my benefit and no one else’s. Even now, with this trip…”
Romeo sits up, his brows low on his face as he scowls at me. “Bullshit! You’re the best person I know.”
“Look at this trip I’ve planned, baby. Instead of getting the help I should be getting, I can’t. I can’t do it, and I don’t want to. All I wanted was to find a little bit of happiness, and I did with you by my side.”
“What are you saying? What aren’t you telling me?”
I sigh. I’ve been saying too fucking much, and he’s starting to catch on. He should never know what my plans are. It wouldn’t be fair to him, and he’d try to stop me. It’s better this way. “I’m just saying I’m not as good a person as you think I am.”
“You are amazing, smart, you fucking saved my life!”
“Which also makes me a murderer. Even worse? I’d do it again, so there’s not enough remorse.”
“Yes, you’d do it for me, just as I would do it for you. You broke my fucking chains!”
God, the last thing I wanted was to upset him. I grab one of his hands and kiss the inner wrist where the inked chains are severed. Then I do the same with the other wrist. “You broke your chains. I only helped you find the key.”
He huffs at me. “You’re so fucking blind.”
Instead of getting mad back, I smile and pull him back down next to me. “That I am, Cupcake. I’m so wrapped up in my own life and pain… I’m sorry I upset you.”
“I’m not mad at you, just… everything,” Romeo says, sliding a hand between my shorts and underwear, and palming my cock. “But I don’t want to talk about sad stuff right now. We don’t have much time left. I want to play, have fun, and enjoy you while I can… if that’s okay?”
I punch my hips, and he smiles. “Like this?”
“Yeah, like that.”
He pulls his hand out, falls onto his back, lifts his hips to slide off his shorts and underwear. Next, he takes off his T-shirt. I take his cue and quickly get naked.
When Romeo straddles me, his ass sitting on my dick, I instantly get hard.
He starts stroking himself, keeping his eyes on mine.
My hands wander over his smooth skin, almost all the bruising gone now.
Thanks to all our hikes, he’s not as pale as he was, and he’s got the sexiest tan lines ever.
I have no idea why I like them, but I do.
Maybe because they’re areas that are usually covered up, and he’s letting me in on this little secret that only I’m allowed to know.
While still holding his dick, he bends down to kiss me. Soft, freshly bleached and colored silver hair brushes against my forehead. He dips his tongue into my mouth and takes over the kiss. I’m happy to hand over the reins to him. Now that he’s been inside me, I trust him with everything I have.
Romeo pulls back, brushes his lips against mine, and rises to his knees so that he can reach for my cock. He scoots back enough to where he can line up our dicks and spits in his hand a couple of times.
“Should’ve brought the lube out,” he says.
“Spit’s fine.”
He wraps our dicks in his hand and squeezes them together. I love the feeling of him against me. I love his heat. Soon, he’s spreading the spit around and stroking us together.
Frotting immediately becomes one of my favorite things to do. His cock rubbing along the underside of mine makes my toes fucking curl. When he swipes our heads with his thumb, I groan.
“You like my dick against yours? Do you like knowing I’m as turned on as you? That we feel the same pleasure?”
I nod as my dick starts to drool. Romeo uses it as extra lube, coating our skin.
When he lets go, I whine over the loss.
He chuckles. “Don’t worry. You’re going to love this.”
Romeo sits back farther and points his cock toward me. “Hold your dick and point it at me.”
When I do, he brushes our weeping heads against each other.
“Fuuuck…” I groan.
Romeo has our dicks leaking all over the fucking place. It’s sticking in my pubes and on my hand.
He sits back up, and I let go of myself so he can finish us off, using our excessive precum for an easier glide.
My hands rest on his thighs, and my fingers curl into muscle. The thought of our cocks together is so hot. Yeah, it feels fucking amazing, but the psychological aspect sends me over the top.
The speed of his hand with the perfect amount of pressure makes it so I can’t hold back anymore. My nuts bust, and I explode all over us.
“That’s it, Sugar. Give me your sweet cum.”
It doesn’t take Romeo long to follow me.
“Fuck, yeah…” he moans with his eyes closed.
Now, we’re both drenched and sticky.
When he’s finished, he drops our dicks and his head hangs low, his chest heaving as much as mine.
“Epic hand job,” I gasp.
“My first frot,” he admits.
The fact that we can still have some firsts blows my fucking mind.
Romeo holds out his hand, still covered in our mingled cum. I’ve wiped mine off on my chest since I’m a mess anyway.
He looks around and shrugs. “No towel. Oh well.”
My eyes burst wide when he licks his hand clean, then he licks up the cum on my abs, cock, and chest. Not much we can do about it caking in our pubes.
“That’s the hottest thing ever,” I rasp.
Romeo responds by shifting his body to where his cock is hovering over my mouth. “Clean me.”
I swallow his soft cock, cleaning him of salty and earthy cum. When he’s clean, I also lick his abs.
After I’ve finished, he scoots down and falls on top of me. My arms instantly encircle him.
“That was a surprising turn of events,” I say.
“Anything to make you happy, Sugar.”
“I want you to be happy, too.”
“I am.”