CHAPTER 15 - FRUIT SMOOTHIE
fruit smoothie
CHAPTER fifteen
“David?”
David blinked awake to find Noah leaning over him, patting his face. The room blurred behind Noah’s head, but Noah himself was crystal clear and perfect in front of him. His lips were still swollen from kissing, and David smiled at the memory of where else those lips had been.
Wait.
“Did I pass out?” David asked, creasing his brow.
“Yeah,” Noah said, his brow furrowed in concern. David waited for a crack about how good the sex had been, but Noah was looking at him like he was going to die any second.
“I’m okay,” David assured him, reaching up to thumb over Noah’s jaw. “Sorry, that’s never happened during sex before.”
“Yeah, sure hasn’t,” Noah muttered as he leaned in. David let out a hum as Noah’s lips pressed to his cheek, so full of love and affection.
He missed this. Closeness, skin on skin, warmed by their own body heat. David didn’t feel fat or ugly with Noah in bed with him. Under that warm brown gaze, he wanted to be the person Noah thought he was.
“Stop worrying,” David said with a yawn. “I can see it in your eyes.”
“You just passed out while I was sucking you off. I reckon I have a right to be worried,” Noah growled. “I know I’m good, but I’m not that good.”
David let out a snort and closed his eyes. He was still lightheaded, and his energy was barely a spark inside him. “You’re definitely that good. That was amazing. Sorry I ruined it.”
“You didn’t ruin anything,” Noah said, close to his ear. “That was easily a top-ten fuck.”
David laughed and rolled over to face him. He wanted no space between them. “I love you. It wasn’t too much, right?”
Noah kissed his forehead. “Definitely not too much. It was perfect, just like you.”
No one ever called David perfect. His father demanded perfection from him, but David never reached it. Even his championship win was a fluke in Klaus’s eyes, so it still caught him off guard when Noah complimented him—he always felt an initial spike of suspicion that Noah only said those things to lower his defenses. He nestled into Noah’s chest, then paused. Noah’s heart was beating so fast that it made his own pulse pick up.
“What’s wrong?” David asked, pulling back to look at him. “Your heart’s going crazy.”
“Have you been passing out a lot?” Noah asked, hesitant.
David scrunched his nose. “What?”
Noah’s hand smoothed down his back. David melted into the touch, suddenly feeling starved for it. “Have you? You said that’s never happened during sex, but it sounded like maybe it’s happened other times.”
Everything in David told him to lie. Noah didn’t need to worry about him; he needed to be focused on protecting himself from Klaus and preparing for the media storm about the baby announcement, which was only weeks away at best. They needed to figure out what they were going to do about the baby in general.
But Noah was going to be his husband one day, and David had done enough damage by lying to him before. He couldn’t even lie to him about positives, like losing weight, without it somehow hurting him.
“Only once,” David admitted. “It was the day you told me about the show that you stayed in Milan for. I passed out during training, but it was fine. I’m fine; everything is fine.”
Noah’s face fell. “Things are not fine. You aren’t eating, you’re passing out, and you can barely stay awake.”
David hated hearing the pain in Noah’s voice. “Noah, I have three people watching everything I eat. This is just the adjustment period; then it’ll even out.”
Noah propped himself up on an elbow, cupping David’s face with his hand. “You’re at least ten pounds underweight, David. You’ve only drank a ginger ale since you got home. I’ve been trying to give you space because—because—”
His eyes went wet, and David scrambled to sit up. “Hey, hey. What’s wrong?”
“I caused this,” Noah said pathetically. “That ‘new hot bod’ comment was… I think you’re perfect. You didn’t need to lose any weight, and the fact that you think you did because of something I said—”
“You motivated me,” David said. He cringed when Noah shuddered, realizing how that must have sounded. “No—I mean that you motivated me to keep going to get better, like you always do. I had to lose weight to be faster regardless, and knowing you’d see me looking better made it easier to do.”
Noah shook his head. Sadness looked horrible on him—David loved his confidence, his proud chest, his wide grin. When Noah was sad, he closed up on himself and lost his joy, and David loathed being the cause.
“Please, drink a breakfast smoothie,” Noah said. “And let me see your diet. Please. This isn’t healthy, and I know that because Finlay, Robbie, and I all had weight issues when we started out. This shit doesn’t leave you. I never gained all my weight back.”
David blinked, taking a few moments to comprehend. “Weight issues?”
Noah had never been fat in any pictures David had ever seen of him. Neither had Robbie or Finlay, and David had seen all of them shirtless on various ads throughout his feeder career. Not that he spent a lot of time analyzing their half-naked bodies.
Well, except Noah’s, and that was only one time, when he did a sponsorship with Calvin Klein.
“Yes,” Noah said. “I know it feels good to see the weight come off, but you’re starving yourself.”
“I am not,” David snapped. “I’m getting healthy. The only reason I’m hungry is because I was fat before.”
“You’ve never been fat in your life,” Noah said firmly, sitting up to be eye level with him.
David tensed. “My body shape is like a rectangle. You can still see the—”
“You’re broad-chested and fucking sexy,” Noah corrected, cutting him off. “That’s your body type; it’s not a fat thing. They told you losing weight would make the car faster, right?”
David scowled. “It does. I’m up half a second.”
“And do you know what happens when you lose another ten pounds?” Noah asked too gently, smoothing his thumb over David’s knuckles. David felt like a dog about to be euthanized.
He sensed a trap but answered honestly, “I’ll be even faster.”
Noah shook his head. Dark curls fell into his eyes, and suddenly all David wanted to do was fuck him again. “Things go south fast. You have zero energy, even when you start eating again. It takes a few weeks to lose weight and months to get your mental energy back.”
This was not a conversation to have after fucking. David had plenty of mental energy, and if he worked harder in the gym, he’d rebuild his physical endurance, too. His diet plan was working—Noah would see that if he bothered to ask more questions about it.
Noah sighed. “If I had any idea this was happening, I never would have let it get to this point.”
“I would have lost today, then,” David said tartly. “Is that what you want?”
Noah narrowed his eyes. “You’re the Formula America champion, and one of the best drivers I’ve ever met in my life. You would have won with an extra fifty pounds in that car, David.”
“My diet is fine, by the way,” David said in an attempt to deflect the compliment. “Following it is about self-discipline, that’s all.”
“It’s about control, yeah,” Noah said softly. “You can control your food intake even when you can’t control anything else. That’s why it’s so addicting.”
Weight issues. Noah thought he had weight issues . As if the lumps and bumps on his body couldn’t look uglier to him, now he knew that Noah thought they were evidence of some kind of issue. Well, what if the issue was him? Would Noah stay with him if it was David’s own fault he looked this way?
“I’ll drink a smoothie,” David said decidedly. “But it has to be low sugar.”
Noah sighed and laid back down on the mattress. David took in the expanse of his torso, so perfect and his to claim if he wanted. Noah’s tattoos looked especially dark, highlighting the lines of muscle in his arms and chest. David leaned in, mouthing at Noah’s inked pec. Noah’s fingers nestled into his hair and stayed there.
“You passed out,” Noah said, his voice rumbling against David’s lips. “We should call someone. That’s not a fucking normal thing.”
“I’ll drink your smoothie,” David said against warm skin. “Just need some food in me, then we can go right back to this.”
Noah’s breath hitched when David laved his tongue over Noah’s nipple. Desire pooled between his legs, but so did a rasping hunger. David ignored it and moved up Noah’s body to capture his lips again. Food was such a waste of time. They could spend all morning having sex, but instead they had to stuff their faces with empty calories.
He dragged a hand up the side of Noah’s body, feeling out the shape of him. Noah’s legs wrapped around his waist in kind, pinning him between strong thighs.
“How about we go to Westie?” Noah asked against his mouth, between kisses. “Get egg sandwiches and smoothies. Nothing too crazy.”
David let out a grunt and turned his head to fuss at Noah’s neck. He wanted to leave marks there before they left the apartment, so everyone would be able to see that Noah was his.
“Then you can fuck me like that again,” Noah breathed in his ear, sending a shockwave of heat right to David’s dick. “Or do you still want to fuck my throat?”
David let out a groan. “Your throat.”
Noah tugged his hair, gentle but firm. “Breakfast, or no throat fucking. Understand?”
David knew exactly what Noah was doing, but the haze of lust made it easier to agree to a bargain. Until he had his cock buried in Noah’s warm, wet mouth, he would eat whatever Noah asked him to.
******
David made sure to dress as nondescript as possible before leaving the apartment. He wore Noah’s sweats, an oversized hoodie, and a black cap. Noah dressed similarly, dampening his usually vibrant style. They held hands in the elevator, and David found himself squeezing Noah’s way too often, startled by every noise.
“My restraining order is all set up,” Noah murmured into his hair as they exited the elevator together. “No one’s coming near you. If Klaus shows up, it’s game over, and he’s going to double jail.”
David was more worried about Klaus knowing that Noah was here. Caroline was still safe for the time being, but soon she would be filing her own paperwork in America. Jacob would probably have to do the same—maybe Finlay, too. There was no telling who Klaus would try to use to hurt him. He glanced at Noah and wondered how long he would put up with this. Nobody wanted to live under a rock forever.
They strolled down the street together after David looked both directions to make sure no one that looked like his father was lingering around. Echoes of the night with Jacob still haunted his dreams, and he hadn’t left the apartment by himself since.
“We beat the sleeper-inners,” Noah said cheerfully as they approached Westie’s handmade sign, a West Highland Terrier drinking a coffee. David tucked close to Noah’s side as they entered, quickly surveying the patrons for any sign of Klaus.
A few old people sat near a window in the back, but otherwise it was just business types chattering away on their phones in the booths.
Noah ordered for them, and David distracted himself with the to-go menu. Muffin, 420 calories. Plain croissant, 250 calories. Donut, 435 calories. He didn’t have much faith in a smoothie and an egg sandwich being under his 500-calorie breakfast limit.
Noah’s hands folded over his eyes. David blinked and felt his lashes brush against Noah’s palm.
“We’re having egg sandwiches and healthy smoothies,” Noah whispered in his ear. “Not muffins and donuts. I’m not going to make you eat stupid food.”
David relaxed slightly, and Noah’s hands fell away. He turned, pressing a kiss to Noah’s cheek in thanks. He wasn’t afraid of food. He was afraid of real things, like baseball bats and his father’s fists, and Noah leaving him because he was too fat.
Noah’s hand slipped under his sweatshirt, gently rubbing his stomach. David squirmed uncomfortably, and Noah paused. “Too much?”
David grimaced at the thought of Noah memorizing every lump of fat on him. “Feels weird,” he said. Noah pulled his hand away, only to tangle his fingers with David’s. “Better.”
They found a booth in the back that gave Noah a view of the doors. A few moments later, a barista set down two plates with steaming breakfast sandwiches oozing egg like puss from a wound, and two smoothies threatening to overflow onto the table.
David’s stomach soured. This had to be a thousand calories.
“Eat what you can,” Noah said gently, nudging his foot under the table.
David grabbed the smoothie and closed his eyes to sip so he didn’t have to see it. A surprisingly flat flavor hit his tongue—definitely banana and probably peanut butter, but lighter. His stomach growled, and suddenly he was ravenous.
Watch yourself , David reminded himself as he sucked down gulp after gulp. But it tasted so fucking good. It didn’t taste like calories, and it didn’t sit in his stomach like dead weight.
He had to stop drinking to catch his breath, only to find Noah smiling at him with eyes full of fondness. David’s cheeks dusted pink. Noah always made him blush like a fucking schoolgirl.
“It’s good,” David said, looking down at his glass. “Tastes light.”
“Uh-huh,” Noah said, chewing on his egg sandwich. “Want a bite of my sammie?”
“Sammie?” David snorted at the word. He looked at the egg sandwich and frowned at the grease shimmering on it. “No, thank you.”
“Your loss.” Noah took a big bite for emphasis.
David kicked him under the table and took another long draw from his smoothie. Color seemed to trickle back into the world as he sipped, and by the time he finished, he felt like he could take a proper breath for the first time in weeks.
David pushed his cup away and slipped out of the booth.
“Something wrong?” Noah asked, moving to stand up too.
David pushed him back down and shoved his way into Noah’s side of the booth. He met Noah’s lips for a kiss that was way too passionate for an early morning in a coffee shop, but David didn’t care.
“I love you,” David whispered when he pulled away, panting a little.
Noah brushed their noses together, smiling. “I love you, too, Jochmann. Now, please help me eat these sandwiches so we can get back home.”
David took the bun off of his egg sandwich and used a fork to take a bite of egg. Way too greasy, but he ate it for Noah. He’d just have to go for a run later to work off the calories.
“Hurry,” David said, wiggling his fork. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”