Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

Caleb

"Please, come in." I ushered Tony into our house with a comical amount of formality.

"For fuck's sake, do come in, Tony, and stop my brother's pacing." Scotty had a long-suffering tone as he lay on the couch, looking for all the world like he might bunk down for the night right there.

"Sorry." I shifted restlessly, my arms feeling too stiff and too loose. "Tony is here because?—"

"Because this is the part of this dramedy where the handsome stranger comes courting." Scotty sat up enough to give a dramatic flop backward, arm spread in a fake swoon. "Cosmo's mom made us watch an episode of that period TV show with all the sneaking around and secret affairs." His gaze swept between Tony and me. "You two really were the worst kept secret in this crazy town's history."

"Um. Yeah. About that…" I tugged my right earlobe, not sure how to label things for Scotty when I didn't yet have that sort of clarity myself.

"If you're uncomfortable with me being here, I can go," Tony added with a smile worthy of a car salesman. Okay, maybe I wasn't the only one nervous.

"Please, don't make this weird." Scotty hefted himself off the sofa with a mighty groan. "I'm gonna go watch a movie. In my room. With the new headphones Mom got me."

"Thank you," Tony chirped before I could figure out how to pick my jaw up off the floor.

"And I'll take donuts for breakfast." Scotty headed toward his room, turning back to add, "Coach."

"Thought John had you reforming your diet," I teased. "How are you gonna complete the next SEAL challenge he dreams up if you're living on sugar and white flour again?"

Scotty's mouth twisted into something close to a smile. "What John doesn't know won't hurt him."

His eyes sparkled like there was a story there, and for the first time, I had hope that I might get to hear it. Our lines of communication felt more open after our earlier conversation.

"Maybe after donuts, we could get a few houseplants?" I suggested before Scotty could close his door.

"You don't have to bribe me into liking your boyfriend, Caleb." Laughing, Scotty kicked his door shut, but not before calling, "I want a banana tree."

"So that went strangely…well?" Tony's expression was as puzzled as I felt.

"Yeah." I glanced at the couch. "Should we sit? We should sit, right?"

"Right." He perched two cushions away from me.

"Are you nervous? Why are we nervous?" I babbled in an effort to fill the sudden quiet.

"Scotty called me your boyfriend." Tony flexed and unflexed his hands. "And it hit me that I've never been a boyfriend before. I've got no clue what I'm doing other than that I want to be with you."

"Winging it seems to have gotten you this far," I pointed out. "And, apparently, you're keeping me around at least until homecoming."

"At least," he growled, sliding over closer to me. "A lot longer than that if we're taking votes. I want to be with you like you deserve. A real couple, walking down the street holding hands, going to school functions, all of that."

"I want that too." My voice came out all thick and fuzzy.

"You'll tell me if I screw up? Or if I've already screwed up?" He bit his lower lip, adorably earnest for a dude who was also a deadly operator.

"You didn't screw up." I patted his thigh, scooting to close the remaining gap between us. "I wasn't expecting the public coming out, but it was…appreciated." My mouth twisted. "I'm not sure if that's the right way to put it because I hope you didn't only do it because of me?—"

"Us," he corrected.

"Us." The word gave me a warm, tingly feeling in the bottom of my stomach. "But I'd be lying if I didn't say the gesture was appreciated. It mattered. And probably to a lot of people other than me as well. You showed up for the kids tonight."

"You matter," he said firmly. "And it also meant something to me. I guess you could say I showed up for me too."

"You did." I kissed his scruffy cheek.

"And I told you not to give up on us. I want you to believe in me. In us." He slumped so he could rest his head on my shoulder.

"I do." Brushing his hair back, I kissed his forehead. "There's no one I believe in more than you. But are you sure you want to turn your back on firefighting?"

"Yes." He stretched so he could kiss my mouth. "And if I'm turning away from something I once wanted, it's because I'm turning toward something new. A new door opened for me, and I decided to walk through it."

I nodded. "That makes sense. I…I hope this—us, me—is worth it and what you're hoping for."

"Caleb." Tony straightened so he could cup my face. "You already are. You're everything I never expected to find and didn't dare hope for."

"Oh wow." I kissed him so he wouldn't see the tears in my eyes, although he was Tony, and likely, he already knew my emotions were running over.

And then we were kissing, really kissing, living room forgotten, Scotty down the hall forgotten, most of reality forgotten, everything other than each other and how good it felt to reconnect.

I swept a hand under the back of his cotton shirt, loving how he shivered.

"Room?" He stood, offering me a hand up even before I could reply.

"Room." I gave him a dopey grin as we raced down the hall to my room. Probably not nearly quietly enough, but I tried to shut the door gently before flicking the lock on the knob. "And locked."

"Bless your landlord for thinking of locking doors." Tony pulled me to him again, and we traded kisses between removing our clothes.

Our intimate familiarity added another layer of emotions. I'd never known someone else's body as well as I knew Tony's. I kissed his chiseled jaw before bending to kiss his collarbones. I knew little things like how his nipples weren't particularly sensitive, but the spot where his neck and shoulder met could always make him shudder. And bigger things, like that he loved me going down on him, yet he seldom made the request.

"We have to be quiet." I pushed him toward the bed, not stopping until he was sitting on the edge. I dropped to my knees in front of him as he hissed in a breath.

"Get up here. I want something for both of us." He lodged the protest, but his bobbing cock in front of my face said he was plenty interested in what I was offering as well.

"This is," I whispered. "And no more talking."

"Okay." As expected, he gave in easily, reclining slightly to brace himself with his arms as he gazed down at me with wonder and anticipation. "Thank?—"

"Quiet." I got stern simply to watch his eyes flash hotter. Also, I hardly needed thanks for something we both loved a great deal.

I started by licking broad stripes around his shaft, treating him like my personal ice cream cone. Focusing on the base and underside of his cock, I purposefully avoided his cockhead until he whimpered.

"Please."

"No noise," I reminded him. He pulsed harder under my tongue, which made my own cock that much more insistent. The angle was wrong for being able to rub against the bedframe, so I reached down and gave myself a firm squeeze. I wasn't kidding about this being for both of us. My desire for other acts like anal could wax and wane, but my love of oral was evergreen. I could happily suck him off daily, and I moaned as I swallowed his cock at last.

"Thank fuck." He groaned, then clamped his mouth shut. His thighs and abs quivered.

"Love your discovery kink." I started working him in earnest, long, deep sucks with lots of tongue action. I kept the pace deliberately slow to prolong the torture for him, finding new variations of lips and tongue that made him have to swallow moans.

"Trying…to…be silent," he whispered.

"You're doing good." I grinned around a mouthful of cock. "Neighbors are probably home too. Thin walls. Better keep trying."

Chuckling with him deep in my throat, I went faster, using the motion of my head and my lips to increase the friction around his cockhead, the way that always seemed to drive him wild.

Predictably, he made soft choking sounds as he bit back his usual moans and groans. Reaching down to my cock again, I jacked myself hard and fast, letting him feel my rising excitement in the low noises I made and the motion of my arm against his legs. He needed to know how very into this I was.

"Close." His warning was barely audible, so I rewarded him with more suction and speed, no more pausing to prolong the pleasure. Hell, we could have a volcanic event, and I'd keep going, intent on getting us both off. I stroked myself, using my rising pleasure to guide my mouth and other hand, motions becoming more frantic as I got close myself.

Tony huffed, breathing like a territorial animal but somehow managing to not otherwise make a sound. One more loud exhale as I sucked hard, and then he held his breath as he came in big spurts down my throat. This was the part I loved most. The payoff of an orgasm made me feel like a rockstar, and the adrenaline rush fueled my own orgasm.

"Tony," I whispered as I released his cock.

"Right here. Come on, Caleb. Come for me."

"Yes." My mouth fell open on a silent moan as I bent forward and came all over my fist. My vision blurred and white noise whirred through my brain. Talk about a volcanic event. I wasn't sure I'd ever erupted that much. The orgasm felt cleansing, which was a novel sensation, like it chased any lingering doubts or bad energy out, leaving only pleasure and clarity in its wake.

I was exactly where I was supposed to be. After quickly wiping my hand off on my discarded shirt, I rested my head on his thigh, as content as I could remember.

"Get up here." He hauled me up next to him, arranging us so he was spooning me.

"Perfect." I laced our hands together over my heart.

"Yeah, it is." Tony chuckled into my hair. "You're pretty perfect too."

I wasn't, but I also wasn't going to argue with him in this, the sweetest of moments.

"Think this might work out," I yawned sleepily.

"It damn well better," Tony growled, then gentled his voice. "It will. Have faith, baby."

Trust. So damn hard. So necessary. And oh, how I wanted to believe him. Believe in me. In us. And maybe that was the answer right there. There was an us , and I could pin all my hopes on that.