Chapter 89 Uno
Uno
Dane’s heart thumped hard against the wall of his chest. It was stupid to be this nervous, still his eyes threw a glance at the windows. The cloud cover reduced the light to a dull blue-gray, but he was a hell of a lot more visible than last night.
It’s all right, Diane said. This isn’t some stranger and this isn’t a mindless hookup. You’re invested. You trust him. I trust him. It’s all right.
“I meant it when I said you could tap out any time,” Liko said, sitting on the end of the bed.
“I know.” Dane clenched his hands once and drew a breath. He pulled his T-shirt over his head and pushed down sweats and shorts, kicking them off his foot.
Then he stood still, letting Liko look at him.
Liko shifted to put forearms on his knees. His eyes moved up and down Dane’s body, a single index fingertip touching his lips. He looked serious and smoldering and unpredictable. Dane’s heart was still beating hard, but his throat thrummed with wanting.
“I also meant it when I asked if you could give us average guys a chance,” Liko said. His finger came off his mouth and made a rotating circle in the air. “Please,” he whispered.
Dane turned slowly, showing his back. Then turned to face Liko again, who shook his head.
“Counter-clockwise,” he said. “The best things happen when you’re running against the order.”
Smiling, Dane turned the other way.
Liko reached a hand. “Come here. Don’t be afraid.”
Dane stepped closer, exhaling as Liko closed gentle fingers between his legs. “Call me Uno.”
“Shh.” Liko’s palm expanded and contracted. His thumb pressed slow circles. And then he shrugged. “I honestly can’t tell the difference. Two, one, none—it feels good to me.”
“Now you’re just sweet-talking.”
“I mean it. I’m completely underwhelmed.”
Dane swatted his head. “Hey, don’t be a dick when you’re holding my dick.”
Liko dodged, but his hand stayed where it was. “My bad.”
Dane swallowed hard. “But since we’re on the subject, you’ll notice it’s not very big.”
“I will not notice because I literally do not give a fuck. Hey. Look at me.” His free hand reached to hold Dane’s chin. “I’m writing a story here, but it’s not a romance novel. Or a porn script.”
“So we shouldn’t talk about my lack of pubic hair?”
“No. You want to talk about last night?”
“Badly.”
“I loved it.” Liko’s hand opened and closed, warm and strong, getting Dane hard.
“It was, I shit you not, one of the best nights I’ve ever had with a guy.
Then I woke up alone and it killed me. You were gone all day, the fucking rain got into my head, I went around sulking like an idiot, abandoned and friend-zoned. ”
“I’m sorry.”
“Dude, I’m feeling ten million ways about us but you gotta know, this is more than being a fuck buddy.”
“I’m invested,” Dane said.
“Yeah. So am I. And I’m telling you, your dick feels good in my hand because it’s just like mine. We’re two average dicks. Handling you feels like me. Feels like home. Now let go that breath you didn’t know you were holding.”
Laughing, Dane put his face into Liko’s hair and exhaled. “Holy vulnerability, Batman.”
“Along with your height, was this another failing in your asshole father’s eyes?”
Dane nodded. “He’d just…fucking humiliate me about it.
While he was swinging the belt, or else he’d barge into my bedroom or whip the shower curtain open.
Berating me for both the size of my dick and never growing much hair.
Then there was Porto, who would fucking measure it.
Measure and loudly call out numbers to whoever was in the room, inches and centimeters.
They’d write it all down and he’d sigh over the stats.
” He shook his head hard. “Anyway, then I found my life mates and my soulmates and my sex mates, and for twenty-two years I didn’t worry about any of this.
Now I’m on my own and out there and it’s stirring up all these old ghosts.
So I acted like one and disappeared this morning. I’m sorry.”
“I understand,” Liko said. “But now you’re with me. I’ve looked at you and I can’t stop. You’re in my hand and it feels terrific. And I have just one more important question, and I need your absolute honest answer.”
“What?”
“When talking dirty, do you prefer balls or ball?”
Dane picked up his head, laughing through the wet blur, astounded he could sport wood with all these emotions filling up his eyes and mouth and chest. “Balls,” he said. “Suck my ball sounds asinine in the bedroom but I’ll throw it down if a buddy’s giving me shit.”
“Try my shit. How’s it going, Uno?”
“Suck my ball.”
“Brilliant.”
Dane put a knee on the mattress, then fell onto his side and pulled Liko along with him toward the pillows, kicking the covers open. They lay face to face, holding one another’s heads. In the gloomy light, Dane couldn’t quite see the color of Liko’s eyes, but he felt their gaze in his soul.
“I’m sorry I ghosted you. I have no interesting explanation other than I got scared. When I get scared, I get stupid.”
“I was over here being just as stupid. Let’s just give each other grace.”
Dane pulled Liko’s shirt off. “Let’s do what we did last night, but to each other.”
“Potato, pohtato…”
They pounced, rolling from one side of the bed to the other before getting up on their knees.
It was faster and rougher this time, forearms and wrists in a writhing pile and their wild kisses falling into rhythm with the slide and stroke of their hands.
Outside the rain was hammering down again and thunder rumbled as they were nearing the edge.
Dane came first, which sent Liko over. They collapsed onto each other’s shoulders, breathing hard and laughing as a loud crack made the windows vibrate.
“Only nine out of ten,” Liko gasped. “We didn’t time it with the thunder.”
“No lamps knocked over. Another point off.”
“A respectable eight then. Holy shit.”
They wiped off and lay down again. Liko turned on his side and ran a hand all over Dane’s chest. “This feel all right?”
“Feels great.”
“How much sensation did you get back after the reconstruction?”
“I never lost any up here on my pecs. Sternum down is where it went sideways…” Dane’s fingers ran over one nipple and then on the underside of the muscle, all along the scar.
“The feeling comes and goes. The right-side nerves still get confused. I’ll get pins and needles all along the old scar tissue, then it’ll go numb for a week, then it’ll be super sensitive and I can’t even stand a T-shirt. ”
“Is this okay?” Liko said, moving his hand around the right side with its gold hoop piercing. “Tell me what feels good.”
“The wider the touch, the better. Wide and strong. If you do light touches with your fingertips or nails, like this? I don’t really feel it. I like pressure more than caressing. You have big hands so… Yeah. That’s nice.”
Liko bent his head and closed his mouth around the silver hoop in Dane’s left nipple. “Can you feel that?”
“A little,” Dane said slowly. “Sort of. I can’t exactly feel your mouth but I can see your mouth. It’s the visual combined with the pressure of your hands and a little imagination thrown in.”
“Team effort,” Liko said.
Dane ran a hand through Liko’s hair. “If it turns you on, it’ll turn me on. Do whatever you like and if it bugs me I’ll be quick to say so. Just know that something that feels good on my chest today might be a no-go tomorrow. It’s not you, it’s my nerves.”
“Jesus, where was that line when I was having anxiety on dates? It’s not you, it’s my nerves.”
Dane started to roll toward him but his back gave a twinge of protest. “Oh man,” he said, sitting up and pressing his hands into the small.
“Still giving you grief?”
“Yeah, you took my mind off it but now I think I need to soak some of this out.” He looked over his shoulder. “Want to come with?”
Liko’s eyes went toward the bathroom and something about his smile was fragile. “No,” he said slowly. “No, but I hear good things about drinking in the tub. I can do you a G & T?”
“Do one for yourself while you’re at it.”