26. Diesel
26
DIESEL
S hifting slowly, Diesel’s body protested. His cheek was pressed up against something solid, and his back was slightly curved upward. The last time he felt like this, he’d spent the night sleeping in a bathtub, a reminder of days he would rather forget.
His eyes jolted open when the surface beneath his face lifted before descending once again.
What the?
He jerked upright, startled, forgetting where he was for a moment. Then he saw Zero’s sleeping face.
The man looked so peaceful, lying there, mouth slightly open, chin pressed against his chest. The poor guy had fallen asleep propped up, no doubt not wanting to wake him as he slept.
He remembered them watching TV and Zero’s chest jiggling every time someone did something funny on the show. At first, it had been annoying—his head constantly being jolted around every time the man laughed at something stupid—but eventually, he began enjoying his laugh, especially when he began rubbing circles on the top of his arm. The gentle caress was calming and made him feel safe and taken care of. Other than Jared cuddling him to sleep when he was recovering from his weeklong bender at that skeezy drug den, he couldn’t remember the last time anyone ever held him in such a way.
Zero was a good man. He may be annoying as fuck and pissed him off at the best of times, but considering how quickly he jumped into caretaker mode, doing his best to take care of him and make him as comfortable as possible, Diesel couldn’t help but admire the guy.
Damn it. He was starting to kind of, sort of, maybe like the guy?
He’s not so bad.
Plus, he sucks dick like a champ , the devilish voice inside him added.
Yeah, but do you really want to let another guy in? The more you let in, the more it’s going to hurt when they all leave you , that other voice inside him said.
He did spoon-feed you dinner.
Damn. The voice was right. Zero put aside everything last night to tend to him and his needs, not worrying about watching the doc or finishing the job he was being paid to do.
The man cared about him.
Slowly, Diesel lifted himself out of bed, not wanting to wake the sleeping giant next to him. Once he was safely on the carpet, he tiptoed across the room and headed into the bathroom to take a leak.
Once he was done relieving himself, he looked around for his clothes, then remembered. There was no way he was wearing last night’s clothing.
“Mmrmm, there’s a bag on the table,” Zero mumbled, half asleep. He slid down the bed, making himself more comfortable, and rolled onto his side.
Diesel opened the plastic bag on the table and pulled out a pair of dark-green gym shorts and a T-shirt with a large bass on the front. He smiled. The jerk really did think of everything last night.
“Sorry, that’s all they had. Come back to bed.”
“Get some rest. I’ll be back in a bit,” Diesel whispered, throwing on his shoes and heading toward the door.
“Where are you…” Zero’s voice trailed off. The poor man was exhausted.
Grabbing the room key from on top of the TV, he slipped out of the room without making a sound.
As he walked across the parking lot, he searched for the doc’s car. It was gone. Damn. He must have gotten up early and left. Hopefully, he went back home and not off to do some bad thing that they probably could have stopped had he not been such a fuckhead and eaten the last gas station sandwich sitting in the display case. He figured that if it was the last one, they had to be good. Or perhaps it was the only one because no one ever bought them, so the clerk just never bothered making more. The latter seemed more likely now.
Twenty minutes later, he returned with coffee and some donuts. He was feeling much better this morning, but he still wanted to tread carefully when it came to food.
The room was still dark and quiet when Diesel slid inside, hoping not to wake Zero. The poor man needed rest.
“You don’t have to creep around in the dark like a horny little stalker.”
Diesel grinned.
He pulled back the drapes slightly to let in just a bit of light.
“Where did you go?” Zero asked, lying on his stomach with his head resting on his folded arms.
He was now shirtless and looked fucking delicious spread out on the bed.
Diesel felt his cock stir.
“Went to grab us some coffees and grub.” He placed the donuts down on the table and carried both coffees over to the bed.
Shifting his gorgeous body, Zero flipped over and sat up in the bed. The sheet slid down, revealing just a hint of his underwear band.
Guess he wasn’t naked under there after all.
Diesel passed Zero a coffee and slid onto the bed next to him.
“Thanks,” Zero whispered, lifting the lip of the lid and taking a sip. “Mmm, that’s good.”
A sliver of sun fell over Zero’s bicep as he lifted his arm for another sip.
“I wanted to thank you for last night. It was really cool of you to take care of me, and I’m sorry I fucked up our stakeout.”
Zero turned his head slightly.
“Wow. Something nice just fell out of your mouth,” Zero joked.
Diesel nudged him gently with his shoulder.
“Don’t tell anyone. I wouldn’t want to ruin my street cred.”
“Your secret is safe,” Zero said, patting Diesel’s thigh with his free hand.
Heart pounding, Diesel slid his hand over Zero’s. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, but in that moment, he really wanted to touch him.
Zero’s hand froze. They sat there for a moment, Diesel’s rough hand resting on top of his.
Just when Diesel was about to remove his hand, Zero turned his over and interlocked his fingers with Diesel’s. The gesture caught him off guard, and his breath caught in his chest.
Had he lost his mind? He didn’t hold hands with guys. He didn’t hold hands with anyone. Holding hands was too… intimate. Like telling someone that you liked them and didn’t want them to leave.
Without saying a word, Zero began rubbing the skin on the back of Diesel’s hand with his thumb, just as he had last night while Diesel rested on his chest. The feeling was so amazing.
Zero took another sip of his coffee.
“Do you think anyone famous has ever stayed at this motel?” Zero asked, staring at the television at the end of their bed.
Diesel took a sip of his coffee. The hot Colombian liquid swirled around in his mouth. He prayed that his stomach would take mercy on him today.
“Not unless they were cheating on their spouse or snorting coke off some hustler’s dick.”
Zero turned to face him. “You don’t think they’d snort coke off a dude’s dick in a five-star hotel?”
His face was so serious that Diesel couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“You’re such an idiot.” Diesel chuckled, placing his coffee on the nightstand and slinking down onto Zero’s chest. He put his head down and let his body sink into Zero’s. “Tell anyone about this, and I’ll stab you in the eye.”
Zero placed his hand on Diesel’s upper back and began caressing his right shoulder blade.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”