Chapter 16 - Happy birthday
Leon
I'm having the best sleep of my life, encasing the softest body pillow, when a sledgehammer starts to come down on my brain.
A low growl rumbles from under me and I shift to uncover Dexter, whom I was entirely blanketing with my body.
My eyes blink open, my brain adjusting to the soft lighting coming through the curtains while the pounding continues, even louder than before.
"Whatever that is, kill it with fucking fire.
" Dex groans, burying his head between two pillows.
I kiss his shoulder as I get out of bed, find my boxers and pull them up by nearly toppling over.
I'm so dizzy with sleep, but I make my way through my place, trying to find the source of all that is wrong in the world.
I quickly work out that the pounding is coming from my front door and rush to open it to stop the onslaught.
Lo and behold, my former best friend is smiling wide at me, both dimples out, as he hands me a mountain of balloons and moves a large palm tree in a pot through the door.
I think it's a Yucca Elephantides, but I can't be sure in my dazed state and when Ryan shouts “Happy Birthday!” so loudly, I swear it's like he's driven an icepick through my ears.
I go to slam the door in his face, but it stops in the pot and I quickly rectify.
I would die before I would hurt the poor baby.
My apartment is full of plants as it is, but I think I can make space for the little guy on the balcony if I shift the chairs to one side.
Sighing, I grab my new green friend and drag him inside while I do my best impression of daggers flying at the huge hockey played in my hallway, that really has no fucking clue.
"Ryan, what the fuck, it's way too early for this shit." I tell him roughly, hoping to get my point across, but all he does is boom with laughter.
"I'm sorry bro, but you're not spending your birthday holed up inside. I have sooo many activities planned and I..." He stops talking as his eyes widen comically and his jaw drops to the floor. I look behind me and I spot Dex leaning against the doorframe, only in his boxers as well.
"I... uhm... I… " Ryan stutters as his eyes fly between me and Dex and back to me.
"You fucked up." I say on a sigh and his eyes fall to the floor, dimples gone.
"Yep." He says curtly.
"Give us a minute to get dressed." I tell him and go to push Dex back inside my bedroom, letting the door close behind me. I pepper him with kisses while I whisper sorrys in between.
"Your birthday?” He asks with a soft voice and I give him a sheepish grin and say sorry again.
"It's fine, babe." He finally says. "Though I was really hoping I didn't have to kill your best friend, but I guess it can't be avoided now.
" He deadpans and I double down on the mattress with laughter, pulling him by the hips on top of me.
The term of endearment definitely doesn't slip unnoticed and it fills my heart with joy and butterflies and something that strongly resembles love.
And while I want to jump in headfirst, I'm unsure how Dexter would feel at this point and the last thing I want to do is push him.
I'll wait until I'm sure he's on the same page, while actively struggling not to burst out with it at him.
"He definitely deserves it." I say as I kiss him, slowly swiping my tongue against his lips to seek entry. But I don't get it as he straightens up and points to his very obvious erection.
"If you don't want me to give your friend a show before I kill him, I suggest we cool it. It's hard enough to piss with a hard-on and my ass is still full of your cum. I need a shower ASAP." He says with a straight enough face but I feel my cheeks heat to impossible levels as I start nodding.
"Yep, en-suite is all yours. I'll take the hallway bathroom." I tell him as I start pulling two sets of sweats, Henleys and boxers. "These ok?" I ask as I hand him the clothes.
"I'll probably swim in them, but it has to be better than a tux." He gives me a small smile as I frown.
"You're not that much smaller than me." I say, which gets me a loud scoff.
"Yeah, sure. You're a beast of a human, Leon.
" He shouts as he sways his hips on the way to the bathroom.
I take a step towards him before remembering Ryan in the living room and make my way to the other bathroom.
For all my reduced sex drive, I could have definitely gone for round two.
I don't know what Dexter does to me, but I'm insatiable when it comes to him.
Ryan looks up from my couch and I wave on my way to the bathroom as I call out, "Five minutes." I do quick work to wash my body and hair, quickly drying and pulling on my clothes. I join Ryan in the living room as I wait for Dex in somewhat uncomfortable silence.
"So..." He starts, but fizzles off the sentence. I'm going to strangle him myself if he expects details when he literally cockblocked me.
"Nope, we're not talking about it. I'm this close to murdering you." I tell him, hoping to convey the seriousness of my words.
I get a hint of a dimple back as he stares me down. "No problem, but I'm happy for you." He explains and I let out a loud exhale.
"Me too." I whisper back as Dex steps out wearing my clothes, which does something to me.
What a sight he is. I'm contemplating kicking Ryan out and dragging him back to bed so I can peel them right back off him.
He doesn't swim in them, but he wasn't that far off, the Henley hanging loose when it's usually a bit tight on my arms and chest. I can also see the tie on the sweats pulled tight and slightly higher on his hips than I would normally wear them.
"Hi." Dex says to Ryan with a bit of venom lacing his tone.
Ryan looks a bit remorseful as he says hi back, then turns his head to me.
"Ok, I'm sorry for obliviously interrupting, but I didn't want you to spend your birthday alone." He explains.
"I wasn't alone." I say simply, jaw slightly clenched.
"Obviously, but I didn't know things were... progressing. Anywho, I planned activities for us and it won't be any issue to slip in a third." He says and I feel the urge to strangle him again. Read the room, bro. And also, is he not realising that he's the literal third wheel in this scenario?
"I wasn't planning on celebrating my birthday." I say at the same time as Dex says, "I can go."
"No!" I say quickly and rise from the couch to cross the room to him. "I don't want you to go." I plead with my eyes.
"It's ok, Leon. Be with your friend on your birthday. You were obviously not counting on me showing up last night, so it's fine."
I quickly shake my head "You showing up was the best birthday surprise ever. And I wasn't expecting either of you to be here this morning, but I'm happy all the same. Please come?" I ask with the best puppy eyes I can possibly muster.
Dex still looks unsure, as his eyes travel from me to Ryan on the couch. I give him a blazing look as well and subtly tilt my head to Dex.
"Yep!" He quickly rises from the couch to stand beside me and clasps a hand on each of our shoulders. "It'll be great! And we're kinda late, so we should go."
"How can we be late to something we didn't know was happening?
" I ask Ryan, a bit rudely, but we're in this mess because of him.
I still try to rein it in, appreciating my friend getting up at the crack of dawn to spend time with me on my birthday.
He's been a constant pillar of support since the break-up.
I sigh again and look expectantly at Dex. He's biting into his lower lip, contemplating, as I fight the urge to take that lip between my teeth. Fucking Ryan.
"Ok," he finally says. "But I definitely need to go home, these sweats are going to fall off me any minute and while I could try to make it work, I only have the shoes I wore with the suit and am assuming my tux doesn't work for whatever activities you mentioned?"
Ryan snorts a laugh, "Definitely not. What you're wearing is fine, but not if they’ll fall off."
Dex nods and turns his green eyes on me, which seem brighter this morning. "I'll take a cab and go to change, then meet you guys wherever?"
"Yes, please." I give in to the urge and grab his hand, any point of contact will do. I slowly rub circles with my thumb while my sight pins him in place.
Ryan clears his throat behind me as I realize we were likely staring at each other for a full minute.
"Let's bounce." He declares as he moves to the front door and Dex goes back to my bedroom to grab the pieces of his tux spread on the floor.
I quickly summon a backpack from the hallway cupboard and help him roll the tux inside.
He smiles at me as he says, "Thanks," and I take the opportunity to steal a small kiss while Ryan is putting his shoes back on.
We move downstairs and I pull my phone to call an Uber, while Dex tries to hail a cab.
"Where are we going?" I ask Ryan.
"To the rink." He tells me and my stomach drops. I wasn't expecting this today.
"Ugh. Ryan, really?" I infuse as much disbelief as I can in my question.
"Really." He grins stupidly.
"Ok. Dex, stop. We can all grab the Uber to yours and wait for you to change, then walk over since it's like ten minutes."
Dex nods and joins back on my side, while I slide my palm into his and interlace our fingers. He feels so right in my hand and I look back at my phone before announcing a three-minute ETA.