22. Friends Get Involved: Larry

"Come on, dude. This is the best way to get over it. Get back in the swing of things," Hudson explained his reasoning while picking out clothes I didn't want to wear.

I wanted off this fucking boat and back to my normal life in my condo. Alone. Where I belonged. I briefly considered chartering a plane from Key West to get me home quickly without being tortured on the second half of the voyage. "I mean it, Hud. I don't want to do this."

"It's only a few people. Small. And some of the guys there are single."

"What about Jax and them? His friends?"

"Not going to be there. Honestly, there are going to be off-duty staff there, mingling. And shit." He tossed me a golf shirt and my gray slacks that clung to my ass. "And don't do the buttons on that shirt."

I huffed but did as he asked. Then fixed my hair. A little. Hudson made a swirling motion to get me to turn around, so I held my arms out and twirled. "Good enough? I hope so." I wasn't doing anything else.

"Sure. Come on." Hudson practically shoved me out the door and down to the lower decks. Apparently, they'd pulled up the mats from the pup-play area and brought some music in. There were people around, staff who I didn't know, but through the small crowd, I saw him. He was standing at the far end, talking with Levi and Jax.

I turned to Hudson, "You lied."

He held up his hands. "Maybe I was mistaken. They weren't supposed to be here. So suck it up already."

And the whole time he was talking, he directed me across that room and right to Todd.

I blew out my breath. "Hey. Sorry. Hudson tricked me. I didn't want to come."

Todd laughed. "Well, same. Levi dragged me here, kicking and screaming."

"I can go. It's fine." I turned around and noticed a lot less people in the room. "Where is everyone going?"

"Shit." Todd pointed to the door where Levi and Hudson slipped out, followed by Jax and the last of the crew. He jogged over to the door and pulled. "Fuckers."

I actually loved all his little F-bombs. How had I ever lived without them? "What? What's going on?"

"We're locked in." He pounded on the door. "Jax, mother-fucker!" I chuckled. "What?" He turned, flashing those blazing eyes at me.

"They got us."

Todd laughed then. Hands on hips and looking around. He pointed at the snack table set up with booze and other fixings. And a blender. "I'll just make us some drinks. How's that? It's still a party."

He was hiding. Behind the party, behind the drinks. The blender started up, drowning out everything but his smug smile.

I understood what our friends were doing, and I didn't know if it was going to work, but from the second I saw Todd's flippy-fixed-up hair and his sparkling bright eyes behind those thick frames, I wanted him. His tan slacks hung low on his hips and his peach-colored button-down shirt was open, exposing his bare chest. I never wanted him more. And in this short time since we met, I'd gotten to know him and his sweet, sweet heart. Yeah, I wanted him. Who wouldn't?

The blender stopped, and Todd poured the concoction into two glasses. He held one up for me. I didn't want it, but I crossed the open space and took it from him. "Thanks." I sipped it. Strawberry-fresh and boozy. "This is good."

"Mm…thanks."

We stared at each other. "Todd, look—"

"Don't. I mean. Don't because I screwed up. I know you didn't mean anything by what you said. I-I…fuck! It's hard for me to admit when I'm wrong."

"Really?" I asked with all the sarcasm I could possibly put into one word.

"Fuck you!" But there was no heat in his words. He took another sip of his drink and then put it down. "Larry, I didn't mean for any of this to happen. And this has been all our own fake-date bullshit, but somewhere along the line, it stopped being fake. I like you. I-I fucked this all up, but maybe can we start over because I want to try this for real…if you do?"

"Wow, did you say all that with one breath?"

"You're being a jerk?"

I smiled shyly. "I know. But honestly, you had me from Blender Drink."

"Are you trying to pull a Jerry McGuire moment here?"

"Maybe. Is it working?"

Todd laughed hard. "Okay. Yeah. I've been harsh, like this entire time, but I do like you. For you, who you are. I like how you look at me and how you smile, and how self-sufficient you are, but also, you going through with all this fake-boyfriend shit for me only proves you'd go out of your way for a friend in need. I've seen how sweet and vulnerable you can be. Maybe this can work. I'm serious. Please."

"Maybe. If we can stop being idiots and try. Because how I feel about you has never been fake, Todd."

"Yeah, me too. But it took me a while to admit that to myself. Come on. Let's do it."

I put my drink on the table and spread my arms wide. Todd jumped into them. And I held him. His warm body against mine felt like home.

"You know?" he asked.

"What?"

"This is the pup-room, and there are thick mats right over there." He pointed to the corner where the mats had been stacked up. "We could, you know, pull one or two of them out."

"I like how you think, pup." I kissed the side of his head before putting him down.

We pulled the mats out and climbed up on them. Todd grabbed my shirt's hem and pulled it over my head. I took his glasses off his face and stared into his brown eyes.

Todd blinked for a second, then smiled. "Here. Put them in my pocket." He took his shirt off, and I slid the glasses safely into the front pocket and set our shirts to the side.

We lay side by side, chest to chest, and kissed softly. I couldn't resist getting my fingers into his perfectly coiffed hair. He pressed closer to me. "Larry…"

"Yeah…"

"I've been lying to everyone, especially us."

"What do you mean? The fake-boyfriend stuff?"

"Yes, you're right. There has never been anything fake here, and I…I'm going to just come out with it, okay?"

"Of course, anything, baby."

He held my face, cupping my cheeks. He looked into my eyes, left to right and back. Then he said, "I love you."

There were never three words that sounded better. My heart soared, and I knew the truth of it.

"I love you, too. I think I always have."

"Shut up." And he shut me up with his kiss. His lips pressed to mine, and his tongue teased me. When I opened, he dove in, and I let him lead because I wanted to go wherever he went. "Too many clothes," he said into my mouth.

"Yeah," my word was practically nothing but a breath.

Then we scrambled to unbuckle belts and buttons. Flies dropped and so did our pants. We held each other for a minute, but then my hands explored his body. I rubbed down his sides, over his ass. His hands explored me back, and soon we were rubbing our cocks together. "I don't have lube," Todd confessed.

"Me either. You know what that means?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Blowjobs?"

"Hell, yeah. Turn around." I needed him in my mouth. He turned, and I lifted him over me into the classic sixty-nine position. He sucked me deep into his mouth, making me moan, but I was ready to give back what I got. While he sucked on me, I licked and sucked on him. Running my tongue around his crown and over the flat of my tongue, then sucking him to the back of my throat. I only gagged once. Or twice. It didn't matter. He felt good, and I wanted him badly. More than anything.

"I can't come like this. I'm too busy thinking about you."

"No problem." I flipped him over to his back and moved out of his reach. Then continued blowing him. This time, I was fully concentrating on him, and every slurp and moan echoed through the room until he came down my throat. I swallowed it all, happy to keep that part of him within me.

Todd sighed and dug his fingers into my scalp. "I'm returning that favor. In a minute."

"Okay. There's plenty of time. Rest." I slowly kissed my way back up his body until I was staring down into his face again. "Hi there."

His smile would knock angels out of the sky. "Hi."

"You know? We're going to owe Hudson and Levi big time."

"Yeah. And Jax. He was behind this too. Hell, he's the one who locked us in. Oh…" He bit at that lower lip. It was his thinking mode.

"What?"

"I told Levi the truth. That this was all, you know, fake."

"Okay. Well. That was your secret to tell. I'm pretty sure they saw through it."

"Yeah…"

We laughed together. Then Todd blew me, making me come so hard, I think I actually saw the inside of my skull. Then we drank a little more and danced around the floor naked.

After a while, I saw Todd was getting tired, so we fished out some towels that were stashed and covered up, stretching out on the mat. And I held my pup until we fell asleep.