18. Theo Glass

Chapter 18

Theo Glass

It took us about another hour of aimless walking before Jace brought up the idea of bringing me back to his place.

I said yes without much hesitation. I pretended I didn’t know exactly which train to get on, which street to turn down, what floor to stop on. The shitty elevator did surprise me, though. I joked about getting stuck in there with him, although the idea of being trapped in any kind of enclosed space scared the fuck out of me.

As he slid his key into the lock of his front door, my eyes dropped down to his jeans, how full they were. I put my hand in his back pocket. He smiled over his shoulder.

This was it. I would be stepping into a space I already knew quite intimately, but as far as Jace knew it would be the first time I’d seen it. He was probably nervous. Likely thinking if he’d cleaned it well enough, if he put away his dirty socks, if he left out any of the masturbation lotion he sometimes used .

Silly Jace. He didn’t realize that none of that mattered. I just wanted to be here, inside, with him.

“Oh, wow, you’ve got a good sense of style,” I said as he let me inside.

“What were you expecting? A frat pad?”

“Kind of.”

He kicked a random pair of discarded socks so they were hidden behind a messy pile of sneakers by the door. He rushed over and snatched the boxer briefs that were hanging off the couch arm. He’d taken those off to jerk his cock the other night, leaving them on the couch as he walked naked to his bed, where he crashed after he’d had his marathon jerk-off session.

No masturbation lotion, though. Good on you, Jace. You do clean up sometimes.

“Nah, I’m usually pretty tidy,” Jace said. “I used to be way worse. Especially when the depression was really bad. But keeping things relatively clean helps me keep happy. Besides, it’s not like there’s a lot of real estate here to maintain. What excuse do I really have?”

Maybe the excuse of constantly spending your time playing with yourself while you picture me?

“True, true,” I said.

“Want some wine? I’ve got a pinot grigio in the fridge.”

“That sounds perfect,” I said.

“Great. Let me grab it.”

He lived in a small studio, except there was a half wall separating the living room from the bedroom. The kitchen was pretty much inside the living room. I leaned against the counter. We’d need glasses. Without thinking, I reached for the cupboard above the sink and pulled out two of them.

Immediately, I realized my mistake.

“Whoa, you’ve got good instincts,” Jace said, eyeing the two glasses. “Normally, no one goes to those for the glasses.”

I gave a half-hearted laugh. I wondered if “accidentally” dropping the glasses would create a big enough distraction to pull away from my flub. “Lucky guess,” I said.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. What was I going to do next? Ask him about the frozen pizza he had in the fridge?

Jace took the glasses and poured a hearty amount of wine into each. He handed me the glass and raised his. Clink. “To random meetings,” he said.

“To random meetings,” I echoed. Drank. Made sure my hand wasn’t shaking.

“Want a tour?”

No, that’s fine. I already have the layout memorized.

“Sure,” I said.

The tour took a whole four minutes. We ended up back in the living room, where I sat on his dark blue couch, on the exact spot he’d been sitting on butt-ass naked a few days earlier. He took a seat in the middle of the couch, close enough for me to reach over and touch him.

I did. I touched his knee, kept my hand there. This was such a different space compared to Chained, where we’d usually meet. First off, there wasn’t the sounds of other men getting their brains fucked out through the paper-thin walls. There was also plenty of light supplied by a nearby floor lamp, so I could see all the details that made Jace Jace . Those full lips, the slight curls in his dark brown hair, the chiseled jaw, the push of his biceps against his dark shirt.

Fuck, I was already getting hard.

There were some books on the entertainment console, next to a PlayStation and a small watercolor painting of a dog. “I thought you didn’t like to read fantasy,” I playfully teased him. I already knew those were the only books he read, so his white lie to impress me was cute. Endearing, almost.

It also showed how he wanted to impress me. That was the most important part of it for me.

“Oh, hah, right. Yeah… so, I may have not have been fully truthful about that. I do read fantasy. A lot. But I like nonfiction, too.” He added the last part like a footnote.

“That’s okay. I get it. But just for the future, I don’t judge. Especially not you. You can tell me anything—that you, I don’t know, that you never give up your seat on the train for old people, and I still wouldn’t judge.”

“I definitely do, just for the record.”

“Duly noted,” I said, smiling. We both took generous gulps of the wine. I looked to my left, through the open window. The office building next door appeared empty. All the windows in view were dark. No one around.

No one around but us.

I set my glass down. I was done playing games. My cock throbbed. I had to break the invisible barrier between us. I moved in for a kiss, and Jace immediately melted into me.

“Fuck, I’d been waiting for that,” Jace said against my lips .

“Me too.”

My hand traveled higher up his leg. He placed his between mine, not wasting anymore time. He squeezed at my bulge, moaning into my mouth. Delicious. I swallowed him up. Opened my legs further, let him stroke me through my pants. This was so much better than being across the street, tucked away in the shadows. Feeling him, tasting him, being in his space.

Fucking hell, this was everything.

I unzipped his pants. He did the rest, tugging them off, dropping them to his ankles. He went for mine, but I had other plans. I got down on the floor, my hands on his knees. He wore a sexy pair of red briefs with a thick black band. He was probably thinking he’d be getting lucky tonight, just not with me.

Surprise.

I leaned in, rubbed my face against his bulge. I filled my nose with his intoxicating scent. He throbbed against my cheek. I looked up, mouthing him through his underwear.

“Goddamn, you’re so sexy, Theo.”

If only he knew the things he did to me. The way he implanted himself under my skin.

Precum was already darkening the fabric of his briefs. I found that unbelievably hot. I loved seeing how much I made this man leak. I stroked him. He went to take off his briefs, but I snapped a hand on his wrist.

“Stay like this for now,” I said, grinning up at him.

He listened to me. He leaned back, arms behind his head. His abs rippled with every breath. His nipples were perked, hard. I went back to stroking his cock, jerking him through his briefs. He groaned, rutting his hips, pushing himself harder against my hand. I started to tug at my own needy cock, still held inside the confines of my jeans.

“You like that, huh?” I asked, already guessing the answer by how much more precum stained his underwear.

“Fuck yeah. I want it in your mouth, Theo. Blow me.”

“Not yet,” I said, enjoying how much control I had over this man.

“You’re going to make me blow in my underwear.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Mhmm,” he said. His legs stretched outward. I squeezed tighter, pushing down. I licked at the dark spot, where the head of his cock was. I breathed out. He squirmed at the heat, at the pleasure. He started to play with his nipples, eyes watching me the entire time.

“Fuck, Theo, fuck.”

“Do it. Come for me.”

“But—”

“Do it,” I said, stroking him harder.

He didn’t need any more encouragement. He dropped his head back with a shout. Cum pushed through the fabric, pooling outside of it, his cock pulsing against my hand. Heat flushed through my body.

Good, now it was my turn.

I pulled off Jace’s sticky briefs. He kicked them off. He was still rock hard, just like I knew he’d be. Goddamn, his sex drive was high.

Lucky me .

I spread his cum over his fat cock. His entire body spasmed. I loved seeing him squirm in my hands. He was turned into a shivering mess. My cock throbbed, my hole twitching. I wanted to be filled by him, wanted him to fuck me like a bull.

I undressed, getting completely naked. Jace pulled off his shirt, following my lead. He grabbed my hips and pulled me toward him. He kissed me, my stiff dick pressing against his body as our lips crashed together.

I climbed onto his lap, took both his hands in mine, and lifted them behind his head as I locked our lips together. He moaned, body still twitching and cock still rock hard. I rubbed my ass back on his cock. It felt so good pressing against my hole, already slick with his cum.

My body was ready for him. I spit in my hand and added that to the sticky mix, rubbing him up and down before lining him up with my hole. Our eyes locked as I sat back on him. Slowly, at first, even though my hole was already prepared for him, ready to take him whole.

“Oh fuck, Jace, fuck that feels incredible.”

He twitched forward, his cock still sensitive. I smiled, leaning down, licking his teeth. My hand went around the back of his neck as he sank into me.

His head cocked, and his eyes suddenly filled with concern. Hmm. Not the reaction I wanted.

“Shit, Theo, are you okay? There’s a cut on your forehead.”

Fuck. The makeup I put on to cover up my cut must have come off somewhere. I nodded, his cock now balls-deep inside my ass. How could I feel anxious when I was feeling complete? When I was feeling whole?

“I hit my head earlier this week,” I said. Simple. No need to embellish. No need for details. “I’m fine.”

I started to rock back and forth. His hands moved to my hips. The concern on his face quickly sizzled away, his eyes rolling back. He must have been satisfied with that answer.

Good. We could get on to business.

I started to ride him, bouncing up and down on his cum covered cock. Mine leaked onto his abs, slapping it with every bounce. We began to get louder, louder. Grunts echoed with the slaps that echoed with the curses that echoed with the moans. My toes curled. My body craved this. Didn’t want to be apart from him. I could keep him inside me all day, all night, and I’d be so fucking happy.

He played with my cock. His eyes were glued to it. He rubbed his thumb across the wet slit, taking it up to his lips, drinking me in.

His cock filled me, stretched me, made me cry out for more. More, more, please give me more.

“I’m gonna come,” I said, balls tight, body on the edge.

“Me too.”

I couldn’t hold it back even if I tried. I leaned forward as my orgasm crashed into me. Rope after rope shot out, covering Jace’s chest. My hole twitched and pulsed around his cock, milking him. His head tossed back, and he shouted. He emptied inside me, giving me exactly what I wanted.

I collapsed on top of him. “Holy shit,” I said, breathless .

“That was fucking amazing,” Jace said. “No one’s ever made me come back-to-back like that.”

“I’ve got special skills.”

“I think you’re just special in general.”

That made me chuckle. I kissed his neck, nuzzled into it. God, this man was pure perfection. He made me forget about everything that was wrong with this world. Made me feel like all the shattered pieces of my life were glued back together again.

“I, um, maybe now’s not the best time to ask, but do you want to stay the night?”

I kissed his neck again, smiling against him. “The answer’s yes.”

As if I’d ever answer no to that question.

Jace snored. That was a surprise to me. Something I couldn’t have known from watching him. It was a cute little snore. Not the honking, train-like sounds some people tended to do. That likely would have annoyed the living shit out of me. This was more like a little “woosh” of air every time he breathed out.

Cute.

Also useful.

Told me when he was asleep. After about thirty minutes of the endearing little snores, I figured it was safe to slowly get out of bed. I tested the waters with a single foot first, stepping onto the quiet carpet. Then another. He didn’t even twitch.

He slept cute, too. Shirtless, on his back, hand under the pillow, the covers barely reaching his belly button.

I fought the urge to kiss him. Now, that would be weird.

The carpet helped keep my steps quiet as I tiptoed out of the bedroom and back into the living room. I went to the bathroom, opened the door, turned the fan on but kept the light off. There was my excuse if he did wake up and find my snooping.

His medicine cabinet was pretty standard. There were his antidepressants, allergy medication, pain relievers, a few skincare products that appeared untouched. The cabinets under the sink held some cleaning products and extra toilet paper. His douche was there, too. Maybe I should top him next time.

Back in the living room, I sat on his couch again, same spot he would sit to jerk off. I rubbed myself through my briefs, kicking my feet up on the coffee table. His apartment was much smaller than mine, and yet it felt like I sat in the center of a star-filled galaxy. So much possibility, so much to discover. I wanted to know every little thing about Jace Holloway. Wanted him like my lungs wanted oxygen.

His laptop sat untouched on a small desk near the window. No sounds came from his bedroom, the whirr of the bathroom fan providing ample white noise to cover any tiny sounds I might make. I went over and sat down at the table. I opened the laptop. I expected there to be a password screen and was surprised when there wasn’t.

Huh.

Well, this was going to be easier than I expected. Jace, Jace, Jace. Way too trusting. I’d have to talk to him about it one day. How not everyone in this world was as infatuated and invested in him as I was. I wanted to keep him safe. Wanted to keep him mine.

Before snooping around, I went to his settings. His computer was linked to his phone. That allowed me to turn on Find My Friends and link it to my number.

There. Now I’d know exactly where he was.

Next, I went to his internet browser. Looked through his history. The usual. News sites, some social media searches, likely things from work, some porn websites. Nothing out of this world. Nothing surprising. He was into the same things I was. Amateur porn. Cumshots. Bros beating off other bros. Some dom and sub stuff.

Nice.

Next were his messages. They were all linked to his laptop. I saw our conversations, and I found the conversations he was having with that boring douchebag I rescued him from earlier. The conversations were as stilted over text as they probably were in person.

Boring fuck.

I clicked over to his emails. The first few subject lines were simple spam kind of stuff. Discounts and giveaways for a cruise. It was the fourth email—still unread—that gave me pause.

“Remembered something about Ricky. Forgot your number so found your email. Important.”

My blood turned to ice in my veins. It could be anything. Could even be more spam.

But I knew it wasn’t. Ricky. It had to be the Ricky I killed. Had to be about the Nevermore case .

I opened it. Each word hit me like a gunshot.

“Hey Jace, just remembered something Ricky told me. He said he was chatting with this one guy he was about to meet the night he died. Said he had all these tattoos. One of them was of a monarch butterfly on his forearm. He said he loved it. Jumped out at him and told me because he knew that monarchs mean something to me after my grandpa died. Anyways, hope that helps.”

I looked down at my forearm. The monarch tattoo was practically spotlit. My gut twisted. I nearly threw up all over the computer. Anxiety shot through me as if it were directly injected into my neck.

It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine.

It wasn’t fine. But I still had control. I still had a chance to cover my tracks. I knew I never should have sent that photo to Ricky. It was proof that I was real, something only he had wanted before we met up. I sent it through Snapchat so it could be saved, and it hadn’t been, but he clearly remembered it.

Fuck.

First, I had to reply. Couldn’t leave this thread hanging.

“Thanks for that info. I’ll be sure to look into it. Should be helpful.”

I sent the answer before I smashed the Delete button. The email chain poofed into thin air.

There. Hopefully, that would do it. That would cover my tracks.

I leaned back in the chair. Sighed. Rubbed my face. My heart raced inside my chest. This could have been worse. Much, much worse. If I hadn’t found that email in time, Jace would have certainly begun to connect the dots. It would ruin everything. All the work I’d done to avenge Marielle, all the work I’d done to win over Jace. Everything would have gone up in smoke.

But it didn’t.

I saved the day. Things were okay. They’d turn out to be just fin?—

“Theo? What are you doing?”