Chapter 18 – Age 30
“Call off the search parties, he’s alive!” Lydia said as soon as Jule answered her phone call.
“Hey, Lydia. It’s been a crazy month. I’ve been meaning to call you back.
” After the awkward evening a few years earlier when Lydia had come into his apartment and heard him with Tor, they’d established a better friendship.
They had continued to serve as one another’s plus ones for their social obligations, and they spent time together beyond that.
True to her promise, Lydia never told anyone about what happened that night and she also hadn’t pressed Jule to talk about Tor specifically or his dating life in general.
“Uh-huh. Is this the part where you come up with a believable explanation for why your thumbs weren’t working well enough to send a single text over the past five weeks? Because I was worried to the point that I was seriously considering calling your mother.”
“I’ve been busy with Tor.”
There was a long silence and then Lydia said, “Tor as in Tori?”
“That’s the one.”
“Wow. You’re actually acknowledging him. I didn’t expect this. I’m not prepared. I need to dig out my list of invasive questions.”
“How about you skip the questions and come meet him instead?” Jule wanted to integrate Tor into his life openly, but it was proving to be a challenge because he really didn’t have much of a life.
They’d had dinner with his mother and her husband Langston, but that was the end of the list. His mother’s parents were on a European cruise.
His father’s parents were still livid that he had a personal relationship with the son of the woman who led their son astray, not to mention Tor also being the son of the man who killed him, so Jule wasn’t talking to them.
He had never interacted socially with his work colleagues so it wouldn’t make sense to start now.
And he didn’t have friends apart from Tor and his brothers. Lydia was the only exception.
Another long silence and then, “This is Julian Sterling, right? Because the name on my screen says that’s who I called and the voice sounds right but the words aren’t adding up.”
“Is that a no?”
“Are you kidding me, it’s an absolute yes. I’ll pick up dinner and be there in half an hour.” Lydia sounded giddy.
“You don’t have—”
“Hanging up before you change your mind! See you soon.” The call ended.
Laughing to himself, Jule tossed the phone onto his bed.
Intending to fill Tor in on their new dinner plans, he made his way out of the bedroom and over to the kitchen.
And then he caught sight of Tor and lost his train of thought entirely.
He was leaning against the counter, drinking a glass of water, and wearing cut-off sweatpants and nothing else.
The man was insanely hot. And he was all his, not for a couple of days at a time. Permanently his.
Grinning, Jule strode over to him and grabbed his sac through the shorts. “No underwear,” he rasped.
Tor calmly set the glass down, took hold of the hand on his groin and used it to pull Jule against his chest, and then he kissed him.
Like always, the passion burned hot and bright between them.
Their hands roamed over backs and squeezed asses as they shared wet open-mouthed kisses.
He cupped Tor’s groin again, moaning at the hardness now filling his palm.
Tor reached for his jeans, flicked open his button, and lowered his zipper.
Knowing exactly what he wanted, Jule turned around, planted both hands on the counter, and bent over.
Behind him, Tor groaned. He pressed a soft kiss to Jule’s nape, separated from him for a few moments, and then he pulled Jule’s jeans and briefs to just under the shelf of his ass and pushed his slick cock into him.
“Fuck,” Jule grunted in pleasure.
Tor threaded the fingers of one hand with Jule’s and gripped his hip with the other, holding him steady while he pumped into his body. “Jule,” he rasped into his ear, his breath hot and damp.
One of the many things he relished about sex with Tor was his ability to always, always make Jule feel cherished.
His preferred position was the one they were in—his back to Tor’s front—but Tor never ended the contact below the waist. No matter their location or if they were standing or lying down, Tor wrapped him in his arms, held his hand, and kissed or licked or bit his neck or shoulder or ear.
Being enveloped by Tor, covered by his body and his scent, was equal parts thrilling and comforting.
Jule turned his head and their mouths connected, lips and tongues and teeth, gasps and moans and grunts. “Jesus, fuck, I’m going to come already.” Jule faced the counter again and dropped his forehead onto it, no longer able to hold himself up.
Tor draped his chest against Jule’s back and squeezed his hand tightly as he increased the pace of his thrusts.
It wasn’t long before Jule was screaming himself hoarse and shooting all over the front of the kitchen cabinet.
“God damn it, Jule.” Tor’s voice was raw.
“Fuck.” He pushed in as deep as possible and held Jule to him as he trembled and came inside him.
Neither of them moved for a long time and Jule enjoyed Tor’s weight on top of him, Tor’s hand holding his, and Tor’s breath and lips on his neck.
“When does that boring part you keep threatening happen?”
Jule snorted. “When we’re eighty.”
“Stay there.” Tor pulled back. “I’ll clean you up.”
“Since when do I mind a little splooge on my ass?”
Tor wet a paper towel under the sink and then squeezed it. “I meant the cooking oil.” He gently wiped the towel over Jule’s thighs and up his crack.
“You coated your cock in oil?”
“Mmm hmm.” Tor raised Jule’s briefs and jeans over the swell of his ass and then tucked him in.
“Which one?”
“What do you mean which one?” He raised his zipper.
“Which oil? Because my mom got me a housewarming basket when I moved in here and I’m pretty sure it had garlic olive oil. I’m going to be pissed later if you have a garlic-flavored dick.”
Tor laughed. “It was just regular oil, and I need to hop in the shower anyway.” He patted Jule’s ass and squatted down.
“My dick will be back to its original flavor by the time you put your mouth on it.” He wiped off the cabinet and then stood and kissed Jule’s temple.
“Figure out what you want for dinner while I clean up.”
Jule stood and watched Tor’s ass shift in those clingy shorts as he walked out of the kitchen. He was considering following him into the shower when he heard the doorbell ring.
“Did you order food?” Tor called out. “I’ll get it.”
“No. I…” He remembered the reason he had come into the kitchen in the first place. “Tor, wait.” He heard the door open. “Shit.” After taking a quick moment to adjust his clothes, Jule hurried out of the kitchen and over to the entryway.
Lydia was standing in the doorway, bags in her hands, mouth gaping, wide eyes locked on a shirtless, sweaty Tor Dunworthy.
“Julie, your girlfriend is here.” He looked over his shoulder and grinned at him.
“For fuck’s sake, Tori, go get dressed.”
“Why? I’m comfortable this way.”
Lydia continued staring.
“I swear to God, Tor.”
With a laugh, Tor sauntered away. “Be back in a few.”
They both watched him leave, and when he was out of sight, Jule turned to Lydia, who hadn’t moved from the doorway.
“He is so hot.”
Having never heard her sound or look like that, he barked out a laugh. “Yeah, he really is.”
An hour later, Lydia was sitting beside Jule on the couch, Tor was sitting on the floor on the other side of the coffee table, which was covered in empty takeout containers, and the three of them were laughing together like they’d been friends for years.
Jule had known Lydia for a long time and they got along well, but it had never been like that.
“I like this side of you, Julian,” she said. “You’re happy.”
He looked at Tor. “Yeah, I am.”
“This means I’m going to have to find a new date to the Party in the Garden.” She sighed. “It’s probably for the best. I want to have kids at some point, and I’d rather not do it alone, so I need to meet someone.”
“What about that one guy? The one who didn’t ask any questions on your first date. Did he get better?”
“I cannot even begin to tell you how much more specific you’re going to need to be.
You’ve just described every man.” She groaned.
“I suck at dating, but I’m telling myself that it’s like anything else.
I wasn’t great at bio when I was in high school, and now, I’m a doctor.
So, I have to believe that sucking at something is the first step to being good at something. ”
“Sucking can definitely be the first step to—”
Tor laughed and kicked his leg from under the table.
“But you know what? I don’t think I’m the issue,” Lydia continued. “They’re the ones who suck. It’s not just that they don’t try to learn anything about me, which is annoying enough. The last time I dated someone long enough to invite him over, he insulted my plants.”
“What’s wrong with your plants?” Jule asked her. He flicked his gaze to Tor. “Lydia has a major green thumb. She can give us tips when we move into the house next week.”
“Sounds good. I haven’t done anything with the outside yet, but I’ll get to it.” He looked at Lydia. “What were you saying about anti-plant guy?”
“We went to the Desert Botanical Gardens to see the Chihuly exhibit. I wanted to stop at the gift shop on the way out to get a plant and he said I have too many of them and it’s a waste of money. As if it’s his money!”
“Fuck him,” Tor said.
“Exactly. Plants make me happy and I’m not letting anyone tell me that it’s wrong to spend fifteen dollars on something that makes me that happy. That fifty dollars will make me smile and that makes it five hundred dollars well spent.”
Jule laughed. “I like how you think.”