9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Drew
Except for his uncomfortably tight jeans, Drew didn’t want to change a thing about this moment. Even his jeans, he didn’t want to change just yet, loathe to do anything right now but bask in this feeling of... rightness. It was a feeling that had no business being here, especially given he and Zach had known each other for less than six hours. No one fell in love that fast, and certainly not him. Not when he’d felt literally nothing for anyone ever before—not like or lust, and certainly not love.
And so Drew didn’t want to change any of it right now. It was too perfect and too magical, and he didn’t want to risk that it might somehow disappear. He longed to grab hold of it and call it real, name it out loud, but even that was too much of a change to bargain with. Even though it sure seemed like it, he couldn’t be certain Zach was feeling the same way.
He smoothed his thumb across Zach’s cheek, letting himself get lost in Zach’s eyes yet again. “You’re so gorgeous,” Drew said, which only made Zach look more gorgeous as his bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle and his smile slowly grew broader.
“If you’re not careful,” Zach started with an almost sultry tone, “we’ll end up right back where we were... Um, well... okay, so we’re still where we were—are— physically.” Zach gently pressed down against Drew, making him moan. “But I meant if you keep saying things like that, then I’ll start kissing you again, and then... I-I lost my train of thought.”
Drew grinned, entranced by the man sitting astride his hips. The pressure on his straining erection was intense and heady, and damn, it was difficult to breathe normally, to talk. But gently teasing Zach was quickly becoming one of his new favorite things. So he managed. “Where’d it go? Your train?”
“I think I lost it somewhere in those damn eyes of yours,” Zach said mock-accusingly.
Drew laughed lightly—god, he loved this—and he could feel the heat rising up in his cheeks and something else tingling and tugging in his chest. “I guess we both seem to have a problem with that.”
Zach laughed too, the slight motion against Drew’s erection doing nothing to alleviate the problem of his tight jeans. In fact, it was pretty much doing the opposite. As much as he hated to move Zach from his spot, he needed to change. Though... shit, he didn’t have anything to change into, unless he wanted to be walking around the hotel room in his boxer briefs. Damn. He blew out a short breath as he imagined both of them there, in a greater state of undress, and his dick pulsed with interest.
“I, uh, I guess...” Drew ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I really don’t want you to move, but the, uh, problem is only going to get worse.”
Zach nodded with understanding, dipping down to give Drew one more kiss. Fuck, it was deep and passionate, and he wanted to fall into it with Zach, hold him and kiss him forever. But Zach pulled away too soon and then moved off of Drew’s lap. He whimpered at the loss of pressure against his rock-hard erection, and he had the urge to just pull Zach back over and —
He winced slightly, his own train of thought starting to derail into dangerous territory. Stopping sucked, but it was still a relief.
“Hey,” Zach said softly, getting his attention. “I can, um, if it’s not too weird for you... I have a clean pair of pajama pants in my duffle bag if you want to borrow them?”
Drew blew out a deep breath. “That would be amazing, thank you.”
“Of course,” Zach said with a warm smile. “I guess, I kinda want to change too,” he added, gesturing at his cargo pants. “They’re not jeans, but, uh, they’re a bit uncomfortable too.” He touched Drew’s thigh briefly before he got up and went to the front entryway, where they’d left their bags.
Zach’s admission made Drew flush once more with heat and desire. Not that Zach’s hard-on had been a secret, but Drew hadn’t exactly had full contact with it—nothing close to the same as having Zach on top of his throbbing erection, providing blissfully sweet pressure and friction.
Damn, he wanted that feeling again. Just not in jeans. Thankfully, Zach was already walking back toward the couch with a pair of pajama pants in each hand, and he tossed a solid black pair at Drew.
He caught it and smiled. “Thank you, you’re a lifesaver!” Jumping up from the couch, he threw an “I’ll be right back” over his shoulder as he headed to the bathroom near the entryway.
After shutting the door behind him, he quickly but carefully removed his jeans, letting out a huge groan and sigh of relief at the freedom he felt, even with his briefs still on. Then he put on Zach’s pajama pants, which were slightly too big but would do the job. There was a strange feeling of... intimacy, maybe, in wearing Zach’s pants. But considering where Zach had just been sitting, maybe sharing pants wasn’t all that intimate .
He smiled, chuckling at himself, his heart feeling lighter and more carefree than it had in a really long time, and there was this sort of low-level energy or excitement, something running through his veins and inside his chest. Like butterflies and magic.
Back out in the main living area, Drew found Zach standing somewhat awkwardly near the couch, frowning. Drew lifted his head in question. “What’s up?”
Zach’s brow furrowed, and he gestured at the two large but uncomfortable-looking armchairs that were directly opposite a massive TV. “It feels like no one who actually watches TV or movies designed this room. The furniture layout makes absolutely no sense.” He laughed lightly. “I mean, why not put one of the couches there? Drew, there are three couches in this gigantic hotel suite and not one of them is in front of that huge-ass TV!”
God, that little zap of warmth and delight he got when Zach had said his name was amazing. And Zach’s adorable rambling? Drew was having a hard time fighting the grin spreading across his face. His cheeks were starting to hurt from all the grinning he’d done already today.
“What?” Zach said, letting out a little self-conscious laugh.
Drew shook his head. “It’s nothing.” He padded barefoot across the carpet with slow steps and then stopped in front of Zach and brought his hand up to run the back of his fingers along Zach’s cheek. There was this inexplicable pang of want in his chest, a ridiculously illogical thing telling him how happy he would be to spend every day of the rest of his life seeing that smile and those eyes, hearing that rambling and Zach saying his name, feeling the magic and the desire and the belonging when they kissed.
Drew inhaled sharply, overwhelmed and almost frightened by the intensity of the feelings threading through him and threatening to become part of him. He leaned in to press a gentle kiss to Zach’s lips, lingering only a moment before pulling back and then clearing his throat lightly. “So, um, I take it you wanted to watch something?”
Zach seemed a bit confused by the question, probably because the moment had been so heavy that his question was almost a non sequitur. “Uh... um, yeah.” He rubbed at the back of his neck, a soft smile on his perfect lips. “Was thinking we could find a movie to watch, but then I got distracted by how uncomfortable and unfunctional the furniture arrangement was. And then, um, I got distracted by... you.”
A wave of warmth rushed through Drew. “Oops?” He let out a breathy laugh, and then his eyes darted over toward the main bedroom and back to Zach. “Uh, there’s that TV in the bedroom, and the bed looks comfier than these chairs...”
A flush of heat—some heady blend of embarrassment and desire—hit him at the mere suggestion, and he watched as Zach’s eyes went wide. “Uh, yeah...” Zach managed after a moment.
“I, uh, not that I’m suggesting anything. I-I’m definitely still in unfamiliar territory here. I mean, not that we, um, can’t do anything. Because I-I wouldn’t mind doing more. More than kissing, I mean. Or, um, at least more kissing?”
God, he sounded like a fool, but when he looked at Zach’s grin and the blush coloring his cheeks, Drew kinda didn’t care how he sounded.
“I’d love to do that too,” Zach said, his voice slightly husky. “So a movie and more, um, kissing, but on the bed this time?” He raised an eyebrow and held out a hand for Drew.
With a grin, Drew nodded. Then he took Zach’s hand and tugged him in for another kiss, brief but with a little more intensity than even Drew expected. When he pulled back, he was still grinning. “Sounds like a really, really good idea,” he said before he snuck back in for another quick taste of Zach’s lips .
Hand in hand, they made their way into the bedroom. After another short bout of awkwardness as they tried to figure out how and where to sit on the bed, they finally settled next to one another with their backs against the headboard. They were close enough that Drew could feel the warmth from Zach’s body every time their arms brushed together.
While Zach fumbled with the remote control for the TV, Drew tried not to let himself think too much about what doing more than kissing might mean. An anxious thrill flooded through him, and he turned his gaze to Zach, who must have sensed him staring because he thumbed the mute button quickly and looked over at Drew.
“Found it. Finally,” Zach said, his voice a little rough. “Uh, what should we watch?”
Drew chuckled, though his breathing was slightly labored from the way Zach’s gaze seemed to be doing that smoldering thing again. And amidst the tug of longing in his heart and the butterflies in his stomach, there was this deep desire to know more about Zach, to know everything about him.
“What do you do?” Drew blurted out, even though it didn’t answer Zach’s question and had absolutely nothing to do with what was on the TV. He continued quickly, as though he couldn’t quite stop the words from coming out. “I mean, um, we talked about me and my ‘unfortunate’ career. But what do you do for work? You mentioned something about a nonprofit organization?”
Zach’s brow creased slightly, almost as though he were confused by the random change in topic, but then his expression softened. “Why is it unfortunate? I mean, yeah, lawyer.” He gave Drew a small, teasing grin. “But, jokes aside, why do you sound so... sad about it? ”
Drew hadn’t expected that kind of response at all—so caring and empathetic—and something shifted in his heart, as if it was suddenly insistent on making even more room for Zach. “I, uh... You know, I don’t feel like I’ve ever taken the time to stop and think about it, not serious, actual thinking about it. I just know that I’m exhausted. And disillusioned, maybe?” He shrugged. “Maybe I don’t let myself think about it?”
“You can now... if you want. I’m happy to listen.” Zach put a hand on Drew’s thigh, his expression so caring and earnest it melted Drew’s heart.
Zach’s offer had been made so freely, so easily. He hadn’t even hesitated. Like he wanted to know more, not to satisfy his curiosity but to help Drew feel better. Drew’s gut reaction was to wave him off, tell him it wasn’t that important, didn’t matter... but something about the openness in Zach’s expression made him want to share. Maybe not all the day-to-day, nitty-gritty stuff, but...
“I studied family law, but I’m not even sure how I ended up where I am now. I’m a divorce attorney at a midsized law firm, and it’s... I’m tired. It’s a lot. And I can’t really relate to the partners or other associates because, uh, they’re all married or... um, straight, older, white... if you know what I mean. But it is what it is. I have plenty of job security.” Drew laughed humorlessly.
Zach gave Drew’s thigh a squeeze, something reassuring and kind. And Zach didn’t give him the lines he usually heard from his parents, like “That’s what you went to school for” or “It’s good money, you can support yourself and start a nest egg.” He just sat there and gave Drew these sympathetic eyes and said, “I’m sorry. I can see how that would wear on you.”
Drew put his hand on top of Zach’s on his thigh. “Thank you,” he said softly, and his heart squeezed when Zach turned his hand palm up so they could thread their fingers together. “Oh wow, that feels insanely nice.”
Zach smiled, dipping his head for a second. “Yeah, yeah, it does.”
“So... you never did answer what you do for a living,” Drew prompted.
“Oh, right.” Zach chuckled softly. “I, um, I’m the executive director of a midsized dog rescue organization.”
Drew’s heart flip-flopped madly in his chest, and he shook his head in disbelief. Zach fucking ran an animal charity. God, how perfect could he get?
“That’s really awesome! Wow.” Drew stared into Zach’s eyes again, but then shook himself mentally before he could get lost. “Wow. What—what’s it called?”
“Ruff House Dog Rescue,” Zach said with a grin.
Drew let out a peal of laughter, and after a moment, he said, “That’s fucking adorable.”
“We’re a very serious organization, I’ll have you know,” Zach teased, giving Drew’s hand a gentle squeeze.
Drew nodded, trying to look more straight-faced but probably failing. “I have no doubt, but it’s still funny and adorable as hell. What all kinds of things do you do, other than, you know, rescue dogs?”
“We offer community services too—low-cost vaccinations, spaying, neutering—and we’re trying to add... Actually, that’s why I was in New York this weekend, for a conference, trying to network and learn from other rescues who do outreach and education, mostly about pet overpopulation and ways people can help and be more involved. The overpopulation statistics in—” Zach stopped and shook his head. “Ah, sorry, nope. I won’t bore you or make you sad or whatever. We, um, yeah, we’re trying to get the community more involved at the local level. Oh my god, just... I should stop talking. Kissing, maybe we should go back to kissing practice? ”
Drew’s heart was pounding out a rhythm that was... everything. It was everything. He brought their joined hands up to his mouth to kiss Zach’s knuckles, then shifted and brought his other hand up to cup Zach’s cheek briefly. “You... are amazing. Tell me more.”
Zach was blushing, and it was both arousing and adorable. “Ahh, you don’t really... you don’t want to get me going about the rescue because then next thing you know, I’ll be telling you all the fun day-to-day details about cleaning the kennels, and... yeah, you’d be surprised what goes on behind the scenes—”
“Actually...” Drew cut in, and Zach’s gaze darted up to find Drew’s. “I, uh... That’s what I spend my weekends doing—well, not this weekend, but when I’m home. I volunteer at a local shelter, mostly walking the dogs and cleaning the kennels.”
“Y-you’re joking . . .”
Drew shook his head, his heart doing all sorts of gymnastics in his chest as a slow smile spread across his face. “I guess we have a few things in common.”