10. Walker

Walker

W ell, that's not exactly what I thought would happen when I decided to come over here today. I thought maybe we'd talk, have some cider, and then I could ask him out on a proper date.

I'm not going to lie and say I'm disappointed that didn't happen though.

Dutton is still on my lap in the hot tub I built with the crew as he peppers soft kisses all over my neck and chest, both of us still breathing heavily. "That's one way to break in the hot tub," he jokes, a beautiful smile on his face when he pulls back to look me in the eyes.

"It's the only way, as far as I'm concerned," I say, cupping the back of his head and pull him in for another brain-melting kiss. When he first started to unzip my pants, there was that little sliver of nerves I usually get when a hookup is about to see what I have on under my jeans. But the way he looked at them...

Phew. It's getting even hotter in here now, just thinking about it.

I've had a couple of guys be a little freaked-out by my lace before, never enough to want to stop fooling around, but I've never seen that intense of a reaction before. When he asked me to stop before climbing into the water, I thought for sure he'd changed his mind, though I wasn't sure how someone could go from one extreme to another that fast.

But he wanted to protect the fabric. Like he had plans for them for later. And... yes, please.

"Now what?" he asks and sounds almost nervous. Like he's thinking I might want to bolt, but I don't want that. I'm not really sure what I want, but I know it's not that. There are some things working against us. I know that. He doesn't really live here, and he's not sure he ever wants to.

This is where I was born and raised. Where I plan to live until I die. That hasn't changed, but I don't want to let him go without trying first. He said he could give it six months before he decides to sell this place and move away or not.

So why can't he do that while going on dates with me and you know... christening this hot tub more?

"Go on a date with me." I think I meant that as a question, but it doesn't really come out that way.

He surprises me when he laughs, his long hair falling out of the messy bun he was wearing earlier and falling across his eyes. "Isn't that what we've already been doing?"

"Is it?"

"Isn't it?" He laughs and then brushes his soft lips over mine. "The street dance." He smiles and kisses me again. "The hayride and picking out pumpkins." Another kiss. "The sweet kiss at the end of the date." My chest flutters, thinking about the first time my lips touched his. "Apple cider date today."

I swallow hard and breathe heavily. I can't really think with him on my lap, but there's no way in hell I'm going to let him go yet. "Huh." I smile. "I guess that's what we've been doing."

He laughs, his hand sliding through my hair and down to my nape, curling around it. "Is that okay?" He seems nervous now, and I nod, leaning into him, my nose brushing against his.

"It's more than okay. I want to date you. I know we might not have a lot of time..."

I let my words linger as he holds onto my neck, stroking it softly with his deft fingers. "But we have more of the fall and then winter and spring, for sure."

The thought of him leaving in the summer is already too hard to think about, but maybe he'll stay. Hell, maybe we'll date, and whatever this is between us will fade. It's not like I've ever dated for very long before anyway. I'll likely get bored. Or he will. Or both. Why not just lean into it and have fun while we can?

"And your bosses?"

"They seem totally fine with it all. And I'm pretty much finished around here." I can't decide if I'm happy or sad about that. It probably makes things a little less complicated, but I'm going to miss coming here every day.

"I'm sure I can find something for you to do," he says coyly, and my dick starts to harden again. I can't help it. There's a really hot, naked guy on my lap talking about the things I could do. He laughs, looking down into the water. "I didn't mean that, but I'm okay with that too."

He laughs again and kisses me. I kiss him back but keep it fairly light. "I do want to take you out on an actual date that we both know for sure is a date."

His brow crinkles. "Hmmm, like dinner and a movie."

I chuckle. "When you say it out loud, it sounds a little lame."

His hand moves to my chest, and he rests his palm over my heart. "I think anything we do will have zero chance of being anything less than amazing."

"Yeah?" I ask hopefully.

"Yeah." He kisses me and rests his head on my bare chest. We just lie there for a while, soaking in the water until the outside air gets a little too chilly, and we hop out of the hot tub. We grab our clothes but don't get dressed.

We run through the backdoor into his house, and he grabs us some towels before we dry off and get dressed. His eyes on me are so intense as I pull up the lacy panties, I think we'll have to go again to get my dick to deflate enough to go willingly into the panties. But I'm trying to be good here.

"Let's go grab something to eat," I say as I pull on my jeans next, buttoning them up, his eyes still glued to my lower half as he licks his lips wantonly. "Dutton?"

"Huh?" He looks up at my face. "Oh. Right. Food."

I chuckle and grab his shirt, popping it on over his head before he works his arms through. I kiss his lips softly, keeping it tame. "You're going to be trouble, aren't you?"

"I can't stop thinking about the lace cupping your gorgeous cock like that." His voice is dry, husky as hell, and now I don't want to be so good.

"It doesn't bother you?"

He immediately shakes his head and then looks down, his hand motioning to his lower half. He's put on his boxer briefs, and I can see the bulge there. He's not completely hard, but he's getting there. "I mean, I'm bothered, but not in a bad way."

I press my lips to his and brush my hand softly over his semi-hard dick. "Later? After I feed you?"

He pretends to think about it for a moment but then grabs his jeans and tugs them on. "Fine. I suppose I'll let you woo me." He winks at me, and after we finish dressing and pulling on our coats, we leave the house and hop into my truck.

Heading into town, we come up on a minimum maintenance road, and since it rained a little last night, I can't help myself. I turn right onto it, my tires already sinking into the muddy dirt under the gravel.

"This is the way to town?"

"Short cut," I say. "You might want to hang on. I have to show you this part of Kansas."

He looks slightly nervous, but I also see the trust in his eyes I was waiting for as he grabs the oh shit handle. I drive further down the dead-end road, deeper into the mud, letting my tires spin and sink in, flinging mud every which way.

It's a thrill, not knowing if you're going to get stuck, but I've done this enough to know we probably won't. We slide all around, my truck getting nice and muddy as Dutton laughs and hangs on. "Seriously? This is what you guys do for fun?"

"Hell yeah!" I say as we turn around and go back through the mud we just went through, bouncing around in the cab of my jacked-up truck, him laughing and clearly having a good time. We spend a while out there, sliding through the mud and talking about what he did for fun in California.

"I liked to walk around and take pictures of landscapes. The ocean is truly beautiful."

"Maybe we can go there someday, and you can show me." I'm not moving from here, but I'm not opposed to traveling either. As long as I get to come back home.

His side-eyed grin lights me up inside. "I think we could do that."

My stomach starts to grumble, and I laugh when I hear his doing the same. "Let's get you fed."

He leans over, nipping my ear before whispering huskily, "And then let's get you back into only those sexy-as-fuck panties."

My cock jolts, wanting to say fuck the food , but I resist and drive us into town. I park in front of Lucille's, and we hop out. I admire the mud all over my truck, and he cackles, just shaking his head at me before taking my hand. We go into Lucille's, faced with warm greetings from everyone.

Some people may not like seeing two guys walking in, holding hands, but no one says a damn thing. I've made it pretty clear around here that I'm gay, as has a lot of Oakley's crew.

Lucille has always made a point to have our backs and let her patrons know ignorance and/or hate will not be tolerated.

We find a seat and order some open-faced roast beef sandwiches—another local fave and something else Dutton hasn't tried yet.

I like having these new experiences with him, but I can't help but feel like so much is on the line. Like I really need to show him the best of everything around here.

Because I already know I want him to stay.