10. Invitation to Go on the Boat: Larry

The morning was productive, including garnering a couple of investments from Ward and Drew. Though smaller, every penny helped. I fixed myself a sandwich at the counter closest to the fridge. I had a lot of options in my kitchen, including two huge islands, and they were all in pure white, highly polished porcelain. The whole kitchen was white, which I wasn't over the top in love with but it was killer in terms of resale value. I poured a frosty mug of beer and took my drink and sandwich into the living room, which was also white as far as the walls and fireplace went, but my couch and chairs were a contrasting charcoal gray.

I sat and turned on the TV that hung over the fireplace. The room was too narrow to put it anywhere else. I ate while flipping through the channels. Nothing was on, so I switched over to stream an episode of Altered Carbon. I loved anything sci-fi, and that was one of my favorites. Particularly season one with Joel Kinnaman as Kovacs. He was a great actor, and I liked his looks.

Before I could hit play, my cell rang. I glanced at it on the coffee table and saw it was Hudson. We'd spoken about Todd the day before. It could be about that. Or about the project.

Of course, I answered. "Hey, man."

"Hey, what's up? How ya been?"

"Uh, fine? Why?"

"Well, I want to take my boy out on the boat this weekend, and he thought you and Todd might want to join us. It'll be fun."

"Um…Okay." His invitation was totally unexpected, and I had no idea what Todd would think about it. But it would be a great opportunity to get my hands on him. In front of our friends, we would be expected to show some PDA. I might even get a kiss. The challenge of that was exciting. "I have to ask Todd."

"Of course."

"But I mean, probably. Can't see why he wouldn't want to go. Unless he has other plans, but I don't know of any." In fact, I couldn't even get him to commit to another date, but maybe this would do it.

"Okay. Ask him and let me know."

"Sure, it sounds great."

When we got off the call, I immediately hit Todd's number. After a minute, he answered. "Hey, Larry, what's going on?"

"We have an invitation to go out with Hudson and Levi on the boat."

"Boat? What boat?"

"He has a couple, but I bet it's the Maria. She's a Jefferson 46."

"A what? The who?"

I leaned back and put my feet up on the coffee table. "It's called Maria's Sea-Dream, but we generally call it Maria. I've been out on it with him a few times. He has a bigger boat. It's an almost fifty-foot sailboat, but he needs a crew for that one. He can take Maria out on his own."

For a minute, there was silence, and I thought I'd lost him. Then he sighed.

"Todd? You alright?"

"Yeah. I guess it would be a good trial run. I mean, if we're going to pull this off, we should find out if we can do it in front of our friends. Maybe it will be a little easier with only Levi and Hudson to start."

It was my turn to be quiet. Because really, was dating me all that hard?

"Shit, Larry. I didn't mean that how it sounded."

"How did it sound to you? I mean, I think I've been very respectful. We get along. Why would this be hard at all? Because, you know, we can talk about the elephant in the room." There were plenty of reasons this would work for me. Reasons that probably meant I was a bit crazy. But I had agreed to all of this fake dating bullshit, but Todd hadn't agreed to anything more than that. My serious attraction to Todd wasn't his problem. But I felt it. I felt the zing between us, and I knew he did too.

"Elephant? I don't think we have an elephant. I mean, yeah, you've been nice. I like you enough. That's not what I meant by hard. I meant keeping the fact that it isn't real a secret."

I wanted to tell him it could be real. All he had to do was say the word and stop pretending. But I didn't. Maybe it was because I wanted to see him in a bathing suit with wind-swept hair. He was gorgeous but always prim and proper. I wanted him buttoned down. Pupils blown and those pouty lips made red from kissing.

"Todd. Whatever you want to do. I'm not arguing. If you don't want to do it, that's fine. If you'd like to go, that's fine. I think it'll be fun. The boat is super cool. There's nothing like being out on the water."

"Yeah. I know. I've been out on several of Jax's yachts. He has a super small one meant for like couples, you know, romantic and all, but Jax took me and Royce out for the afternoon once on it. It was nice. I'd never done anything like that before."

It sounded like the three really were best friends, so I didn't understand why he was lying to them. "Why—" I stopped myself from asking.

"Why what?"

"Nothing. What do you want to do?"

"Let's go." He didn't sound excited. More like resigned. I hated that. I wanted him to be eager to do things with me. But it had taken a lot to get him to do even this, and the whole fake dating thing was his idea. Maybe I was reading him all wrong. Maybe the thought of touching me made him sick. "And just so you know. There will be PDA. Be prepared to hold my hand. Put your arm around me. You know. They're going to do that, so we will too. Are you okay with that?"

"Are you?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Or maybe he didn't think touching me would make him sick.

"I think it's fine. All of it. I'll let you know when I'm picking you up, but it'll probably be early Saturday."

Todd agreed, then we got off the phone. We had been talking a lot, but maybe this conversation about dating and PDA was too much for him. He didn't seem like he wanted to deal with his feelings around this, and I didn't understand why, but I was going to give him all the time and space he needed.

He was worth waiting for. He was sweet and kind, and even though he was quiet and hesitant, he was actually ferocious underneath. Kind of like He-Man's Cringer who turns into Battle Cat.

And my little cat was sexy as hell. He had a long, lean body that I desperately wanted to see naked. I wanted him to slowly strip down, discarding his clothes on the floor as he walked closer to me. He'd stop mere inches in front of me as the last bit fell, leaving him naked. His skin would be pale and slightly pink. I'd reach out and grab his thigh, pulling him closer. Then, I would stretch my arm around him and grab that curvy ass. He would crawl over me and straddle my legs.

I stuck my hand inside my sweatpants and grabbed my dick. It was hard and ready. If Todd were here, I'd love to press our cocks together. I would wrap my fingers around both of them and jack us off together. He would moan and wiggle. I stroked my cock as I imagined it. Those long legs of his working as he moved. He'd end up fucking into my fist, his dick rubbing against mine until he came, shooting out all over me.

I came hard with a grunt.

Afterward, I popped into the powder room and washed up. Then I went back to my sandwich. I picked it up, and it was completely soggy. Still, I had no regrets.