Chapter 14 #4
He’d said there would be no sleeping over, and Foster had followed the rules.
His fucking rules.
Jude rolled to his side, his body deliciously sore, and tried to get a few more minutes sleep.
But his eyes popped open, suddenly remembering his mistake from the night before.
He’d ridden Foster without protection. Searching for his phone, he noticed his alarm was three minutes away.
Before he got up for his shower, he sent a quick text to Foster.
They needed to deal with their little problem before the next payment.
After it pinged, Foster sleepily reached for his phone.
It was way too fucking early for anyone to be texting him, but there was a chance it could be for an interview.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and unlocked his phone.
He smiled the second he noticed the text was from Jude.
That smile faded after reading the message, though.
He reread it, a sense of dread filling him.
Jude
We didn’t use protection last night. You need to get an STD test ASAP and show me the results. Repayments paused until completed
Did Jude have something? He didn’t want to assume anything and start spiraling, but it was hard not to.
Foster
I don’t have any diseases. Do you?
Foster got up and started a small pot of coffee in the kitchenette. By the time he sipped his first cup, his phone buzzed again.
Jude
I ALWAYS use a condom
ALWAYS
Last night was the first time I haven’t. Ever.
Whew. Foster breathed a sigh of relief. If they were both negative, he wasn’t sure what the sense of urgency was. They were both fine.
Unless Jude didn’t believe him.
Foster
I got tested after Ash and I split to make sure she hadn’t given me anything… and you’re the only person I’ve been with since
Jude
Do you have a copy of the results?
Foster
It’s online. Just have to dig it up in my emails. Might take me a minute. It was a couple of months ago.
Jude
Just go get tested again. I’d rather see something current.
I will, too. So we’re both certain
We can swap results
Foster
I swear I haven’t been with anyone since, but if that gives you peace, I’ll go get tested
Foster smiled to himself, a thought occurring.
If we’re both disease free, does that mean we can stop using condoms?
Jude
No. We’re not in a monogamous relationship
Foster
I’m not with anyone else. I have no plans to be with anyone else for the foreseeable future. Are you sleeping with other guys?
A message bubble appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Then was gone.
It never returned.
Foster’s heart sank. He’d thought he’d felt a connection the night before, but apparently not.
One blissed-out orgasm did not make them into something more, no matter how much he wanted it to.
Jude had been perfectly clear what the terms were.
Fuck him, make him come, and leave. After watching Jude snuggle into bed last night, he’d desperately wanted to crawl in beside him.
He’d left instead. He hadn’t wanted to cross the line again and get yelled at.
Sleeping alone hadn’t been anywhere near as enjoyable.
While Jude might be able to turn off his feelings and keep it physical-only, Foster was struggling to do that. What he experienced with Jude was far more profound than anything he’d shared with another person. It was hard not to have emotions tied into their nights together.
He was free and newly single. He should be experimenting. Maybe if he fucked around on occasion, it would make it easier to keep things casual.
Yet the idea of being with another man while he was owned by Jude didn’t feel right, either.
Jude had him in a stranglehold.
Mind, body, and soul.
Too bad it wasn’t mutual.
Foster
I’m not with anyone else. I have no plans to be with anyone else for the foreseeable future. Do you?
Jude stared at Foster’s last text message as he finished up his lunch. He lowered his phone to his father’s desk once again, leaning back in his chair. Closing his eyes, he breathed deep, trying to clear his mind. He couldn’t allow Foster to reel him in.
Half a day since that orgasm and his body didn’t act right. He felt like his bones were made of Jello and all he could think about was going upstairs to nap away the lethargy.
No man had gotten him off half as good before. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to throw his rules out the window and beg for more orgasms like that one.
He sensed it wasn’t just about the orgasm, though.
It was the way Foster looked at him when they were together.
The way he jumped to do whatever Jude said with little question.
Foster’s willingness to hold space where Jude could work through his resentments was surprising.
Jude had purposefully been rude, abrasive, and downright mean at times, searching for limits that didn’t seem to exist—at least not on Foster’s end.
Foster just sat there and took it, wagging his golden retriever tail and looking up at Jude with adoration in his eyes.
Was he a masochist? Did Jude’s dominance wind him up?
Maybe it was simply the fact that Foster hadn’t had an intimate relationship with a man before. It was new to him, and perhaps everything was bright and shiny, even when it wasn’t.
If there was no bitterness between them, could it be bright and shiny?
Jude shook his head. What the fuck was he thinking? They’d fucked a few times over the course of a few weeks. It was just sex and nothing more and wasn’t going to last much longer. Either he enjoyed it while it lasted or not at all.
He cleaned up his lunch mess and then shoved his phone back into his pocket before returning to the cutting room floor.
If he couldn’t keep the line firm between them, he’d have to end it sooner than later. He didn’t want to do that, but no way was he allowing himself to fall for Foster Price.
No fucking way.