Chapter Eighteen

“WHERE AREyou taking me?” Dylan followed Ryan through the house, trying not to think about how hot Ryan’s ass looked in the gray sweatpants he was wearing.

Not to think about how amazing Ryan’s lips felt against his had been Dylan’s main focus since the day before last when they’d kissed on the beach. His emotions were all over the map since then. He was definitely on board for more kissing. Kissing Ryan felt like coming home, or coming home to the home he’d always wished for as an adult. Warm and cozy, a safe place where he felt… loved.

That was the scary part. Was this nothing more than a phase for Ryan? Was he merely curious? Did he have some kind of weird twin fetish? The thought made Dylan shudder, and he immediately rejected it. Ryan wasn’t the type for something like that. But he still wondered if he reminded Ryan of Lindsay and that was the reason for the attraction, even though Ryan denied it.

“Movie night.” Ryan smiled at him over his shoulder.

The way Ryan smiled—his eyes filled with excitement and a slight dimple in his chin—tempted Dylan to overcome his fears and go wherever Ryan led him. He hadn’t seen Ryan much since they’d returned from shopping for camping gear. Stephanie had been there with some kind of work emergency that had kept Ryan locked away in his office for the day, leaving any time together limited to secret smiles and brief touches. The time apart only intensified Dylan’s longing. Sparks of anticipation tingled under his skin when Ryan took his hand.

Dylan glanced at his cotton pajama bottoms and T-shirt. “I’m not dressed to go out to a movie.”

Ryan inspected him up and down with a glint in his eye that turned those sparks into a flame. “You’re dressed perfectly for where we’re going.”

“Where are we going?” Dylan asked as they went to another wing of the house he’d never explored.

Ryan opened a door with a flourish. “Welcome to Cinema Blackstone.”

“The rich are different from you and me.” Dylan murmured the quote attributed to F. Scott Fitzgerald under his breath. He took in the middle of a home-theater room that was much nicer than any movie theater he’d ever been in.

The windowless room had three rows of four plush black leather reclining seats arranged on a tiered floor, ensuring every occupant a view of the massive screen on the opposite wall. The walls and ceiling were painted a dark charcoal color, as were the built-in speakers, so that they were barely noticeable. Gray-and-black speckled carpet covered the floor and added to the soundproofing. The room was designed to create the ultimate movie experience, from the low lighting to the theater-style popcorn machine and candy counter, to the glass-fronted beverage cooler stocked with soda, beer, and wine.

“Well?” Ryan looked at him anxiously. “What do you think?”

It was cute how much Ryan wanted him to like it. Dylan closed the door behind them, walked over to Ryan, and wrapped his arms around his neck. “It’s wonderful,” he whispered against his lips.

Their lips clashed like two starving men devouring each other. All of the promises he’d made to himself to hold back and not lead with his heart evaporated under Ryan’s onslaught. This wasn’t a mistake; this was fate, an unexpected match that made Dylan whole.

“I haven’t been able to think of anything but this. I’ve wanted to kiss you so bad,” Ryan mumbled against his mouth. His warm lips captured Dylan’s again in another kiss that left him breathless and wanting more.

Ryan backed him toward a chair and twisted his body as they fell into it so that Dylan was in his lap. He shifted, straddled Ryan’s thighs, and held his face in his hands, looking into his lake-blue eyes and finding want and need in their depths. Ryan opened his lips when Dylan ran his tongue across them before opening his mouth with a groan. He grabbed Dylan’s ass, pressing him into his groin. Dylan let go of Ryan’s face and pressed his hands against Ryan’s chest, releasing his mouth with a soft pop. With their gazes fixed, Dylan delved into the waistband of Ryan’s sweatpants. He grinned, realizing it was the sole layer of fabric covering Ryan’s long shaft. Ryan gasped when Dylan wrapped his hand around his length. His head fell back, and his eyes closed.

“Don’t,” he hissed. But when Dylan let go, Ryan covered Dylan’s hand with his, holding it against his erection. Dylan’s eyes popped open. “I’ll come,” Ryan said in an anguished whisper.

“I can help with that. Do you trust me?”

He answered with a jerky nod. Dylan slid off his lap, kneeling between Ryan’s legs. Nuzzling them apart, he pulled Ryan’s sweatpants down far enough to free him. Ryan’s cock was long and thick, cut, nestled in a thatch of trimmed dark blond hair.

Dylan looked from the drop of precum at the tip to Ryan’s face. “How long has it been?”

“A year? I don’t know. I can’t remember,” he answered in choppy, strained bursts.

Dylan nuzzled the hair at the base of Ryan’s cock, breathing in his musky scent. “This first time may not last long, but don’t worry, we have time,” he said. Before Ryan could answer, Dylan took him in his mouth, exploring his veined length with his tongue.

Ryan made a sound like a wounded animal, his back arching off the chair. Dylan stretched his hands under Ryan’s shirt, spreading his palms against his firm chest, pushing him back in the chair. It only took seconds before he could feel Ryan’s cock pulse.

Ryan threw his arm over his face. “Oh God, Dylan, I’m—” He didn’t finish. Ryan’s release filled Dylan’s mouth.

At first Dylan thought the wetness on Ryan’s face was from sweat, and then he realized Ryan was crying.

He clambered into his lap and held Ryan’s face, looking at him anxiously. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. I shouldn’t have—”

Ryan grabbed Dylan’s wrists. Leaning forward, he stopped Dylan’s babbling with a kiss, plunging his tongue into his mouth. When he released him, Ryan pressed his forehead against Dylan’s. “Never apologize for what happened between us again. I’m not crying because there’s anything wrong. I’m crying because for the first time in my life everything is right.”

Dylan wrapped his arms around him, nuzzling his neck with a nod. Now it was Dylan’s turn to fight back tears. He understood what Ryan was saying. He’d never felt so powerful. Even though he was the one giving Ryan a blow job, the way Ryan called out his name and reached for him when he climaxed made Dylan feel like he was the one who was cherished and cared for. It was new, thrilling, frightening, and filled him with hope.

After a few minutes, Ryan gently grasped Dylan’s chin, tilting his face so he could look into Dylan’s eyes. “I didn’t bring you here to…. I didn’t think this was going to happen, you know that, right?”

Dylan caressed his cheek. “I know, but I’m happy it did.” He wrinkled his forehead. “Why did you decide to bring me here?”

“Mrs. Lieu said you liked old movies.”

“What movie are we going to watch?”

“Desk Set. Mrs. Lieu said I’d like it.”

Dylan laughed and kissed him. “It’s perfect.”

“What’s so great about Desk Set?”

“It’s about a guy, Spencer Tracy, who loves computers more than anything until he meets Katharine Hepburn.”

Ryan raised his eyebrows. “So you’re telling me I’ll like it because it’s about a computer geek?”

Dylan laughed and squirmed out of Ryan’s arms when he tickled his ribs. Ryan stood up and hauled him back into his arms, his hands skimming down Dylan’s sides before wrapping around his waist. “It doesn’t matter what the movie is about. I’ll like it because I’m watching it with you.”

Amid their kisses and caresses, Dylan wondered how they were able to get the movie playing. They started in separate seats, but as the opening credits ended, he found himself sitting on Ryan’s lap with Ryan’s arms around him, watching the movie.

EVEN AFTERwatching the movie, Ryan still couldn’t tell you what Desk Set was about. But he could describe in detail what it felt like holding Dylan in his arms, the softness of the skin, of his cock, the slickness of his release on his hand, the musky smell and the sweet, salty tang when he smeared it on Dylan’s lips and kissed him.

Despite Dylan’s insistence, Ryan didn’t need to worry about his own release. Ryan had other ideas. Driven by the need to see Dylan’s face when he came, Ryan couldn’t keep his hands off him. He wouldn’t allow Dylan to refuse him the satisfaction of taking care of him in a different way. And now he knew what it was like to feel free, alive, and scared for what happens next. He couldn’t let Dylan go. He knew that now. The question was, how did he make a life where he could love him the way he deserved to be loved?

The movie credits had faded from the screen, and Dylan was relaxed, asleep in his arms. He’d never felt so emotionally and physically connected with anyone like this before, and he wanted more. He wanted to claim Dylan in every way.

Dylan stirred in his arms. “I’m sorry,” he said with a sleepy smile.

He kissed the top of Dylan’s head. “It’s okay, you’re still recovering.”

“Oh, I think I’m fully recovered now,” he said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Ryan could feel his face heat and his body beginning to respond. He shifted in his seat and Dylan bit his lip, looking at the bulge in his pants.

“Does this mean you don’t have any regrets?” Dylan brushed his hand over Ryan’s cock.

He pulled Dylan up so that he straddled his lap, grabbed his face, and kissed him. “No regrets,” he said in a low, husky voice when he finally tore his mouth away.

Now it was Dylan’s turn to blush. “I’m glad.”

Ryan glanced at the closed door and sighed. “I wish we could stay in here.”

“But we can’t. Hiding from the world won’t make what we have to face next disappear, Ryan.”

He blew out a shaky breath and nodded. Dylan was right. They couldn’t hide, but he wasn’t ready to come out yet. He didn’t want to face the battle that he knew was coming. A small part of him wanted to think his parents and his sister would be okay with his choice, but a bigger part of his heart knew that wasn’t true. For a person who spent most of his life avoiding conflict, what was coming terrified him. But not as much as thinking about what his life would look like when Dylan went back to LA.

“One more kiss before we go back to the real world?”

Dylan nodded and lifted his face. One kiss turned into two that turned into both of them coming when Dylan held their cocks together and jerked them off.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” Dylan panted, looking down at the come splattered across both their pants.

Ryan gave him a kiss on the forehead. “Hold on a minute.”

He went to the small doorway at the back of the room and returned with two towels.

“The way the door is built into the wall, I didn’t even notice there was a bathroom there,” Dylan said, wiping at his pants.

“See, we could live here if we wanted to. We have everything we need,” Ryan answered with a cocky grin.

“We can’t live on popcorn, Milk Duds, and soda. Plus we’re missing one important element.”

“Leo,” they said in unison.

“What would he think about… us?” Dylan asked.

“I don’t know. I have a lot to think about and some big decisions to make. This is all new, thrilling, and overwhelming. Can you… will you be patient with me while I figure it out?”

Dylan nodded, giving him a tender kiss that brought Ryan to tears again. Ryan kept his hand on Dylan’s back as they walked out of the room. He stopped at Dylan’s door. “I have to say good night or I’m going to want to follow you inside,” he whispered.