Epilogue

GREG

One week later, Greg, Rufus, and Jessica pull into the parking lot outside of Julien's apartment complex that will now also be Greg's apartment complex. Turns out, the timing couldn't have been better.

Jessica's semester was coming to an end at the same time as her lease. She and Rufus had been discussing the idea of moving in together, so they were all too thrilled when Greg told them he was staying but that he was moving in with Julien. Without the need for a third roommate, they were discussing how they should turn the second bedroom into an office slash home gym on the ride over.

"Mom and Dad," Greg joked from the middle of the weathered bench seat in the moving van, "you haven't even dropped me off yet."

Now, here they are.

Julien stands on the sidewalk, waving, in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt with a rolling dolly and a stack of old comforters so none of Greg's stuff gets scuffed in transit from the truck to the apartment on the third floor.

"This is niiiiice," Jessica says upon entering the apartment for the first time.

Julien beams. "Thanks."

Greg agrees. This place is nice. Julien works hard to make it so. Greg can't wait to add to that niceness. He doesn't care if that means a chore chart or throwing out old bedside lamps that don't match the aesthetic. He has never been a stickler for those sorts of things. He's just immeasurably happy to be here in a place that makes him feel safe, wanted, and needed.

"Definitely an upgrade," Jessica says, patting Greg on the shoulder as he hauls in a black chest.

"Hey," Rufus said, setting down a box of Greg's clothes in the living room. "Don't knock Nan's place."

"Never, babe," Jessica says, placating, distracting Rufus with a kiss before going for a cup of coffee in the kitchen.

It takes about two hours, but finally, the last piece is unloaded from the truck while Jessica is out. She returns sometime later with taco salads for all of them. They sit in Julien's kitchen eating and chatting.

"How did they take it at Bar Deco when you told them you weren't taking the job after all?" Jessica asks.

"Let's just say the response was giving ‘you'll never work in this town again.'" Greg puts on the transatlantic accent of a 1940s film star. Julien laughs at him, which mitigates any guilt Greg may feel about the late notice. "Whatever. I don't foresee that being a problem." He reaches out for Julien's hand. The light gesture is his way of letting Julien know that he's here for both a good time and a long time. No shiny job or doubts are going to lure him away.

Jessica finishes chewing on a chip with guac. "At least you won't have to worry about a new work nemesis."

Rufus nudges his girlfriend, giving her a wide-eyed look.

"What?" Her eyes land on Julien. "Ah. Oops."

Julien's eyebrows converge. "What's a work nemesis?"

"It's nothing," Greg is quick to say, growing more flushed and anxious by the second.

Jessica says, "There's no use lying. Julien was there, too."

"Where, too? What's going on?"

Greg shakes his head, sighing. "When I started at Martin's Place last year, I sort of thought you hated me, so Jessica told me that you were my work nemesis. That we were doomed to be at odds with each other because of our differences—wine versus cocktails, extroverted versus introverted. It's nonsense."

"It's valid," Julien surprises everyone by saying and then laughing. Greg's heart nearly stops. "Not the hating you part. I never hated you. I was intimidated by your confidence and afraid you were going to change Martin's Place too much, and clearly I was wildly attracted to you, which was inconvenient and confusing, as you already know."

"See?" Jessica says, playing innocent.

"I never hated you, either," Greg says, as reassuringly as humanly possible. "Just so you know."

"I know," Julien says, rubbing the back of his hand.

"But I was also wildly attracted to you."

"I know that, too."

Heart skipping a beat, Greg leans over and kisses Julien.

"Ew," Rufus says, throwing a balled-up napkin their way. "Get a room!"

Breaking off the kiss, Julien says, "We have one. We share it now. It's just down the hall."

Greg smiles brightly because he is home. Finally.

JULIEN

Later, after they finish eating and Rufus and Jessica go home, Julien perks up and says, "I have a small surprise for you."

"Oh, yeah?"

Julien leads Greg by the hand to their shared bedroom and opens the closet to one side.

"You cleaned out a side for me," Greg says, looking heartened. "Thanks."

Julien laughs a little confusedly. "Yeah, I did that. Of course. But that's not what I meant. Come closer." He zeroes in on Greg's reaction when he leans down and turns on the light. He reaches for a new stack of organizer cubes. In each drawer, he's greeted with harnesses, cock rings, dildos, and other such debaucheries, all carefully arranged.

"These are new," Greg says, holding up a pair of nipple clamps with a chain holding one to the other. "And these." He's got a pair of handcuffs.

"They're not the only new thing you'll find in there," Julien says.

In the final drawer, Greg finds what Julien was hoping would draw his attention. It's a cream-colored, realistic dildo—grooved with veins and a sloping head—that's attached to a silicone cock ring.

Julien's heart thrums in his rib cage, imagining that toy plunging inside him. "It's a double penetration dildo. One is this one." He reaches out and strokes the exterior of the toy in a way he hopes is deeply sensual and not awkward. "The other one is..." He looks up to meet Greg's eyes, hunger emanating out of every pore.

"Me," Greg says followed by a low growl.

Julien's nod is heavy, and the next thing he knows they're in the scalding shower, scrubbing away moving-day sweat and sharing teasing kisses that distract them from the task at hand. Even with suds dripping down their noses, their kisses keep on with ferociousness.

Tonight is the first night banked toward a hopeful forever.

If that thought scares him, so what? Julien's heart rate is already up. His mouth is already drawn down in a gasp, elicited by Greg's fingers skating up the cleft of his ass. Adrenaline, lust, and fear all have similar effects, and right now, Julien enjoys being a tangled, live-wire disarray of emotions.

Using soap and his pointer finger, Greg works Julien's hole open. It's efficient, awe-inducing. Greg's TikTok handle clicks with new meaning. He certainly is good with his hands. Julien wants Greg to take him to bed, turn him into a cocktail shaker, and mix up his insides.

As if reading his mind, Greg shuts off the spray, throws a towel toward Julien, and remarkably without slipping, they race to the bedroom, erections bobbing in front of them like homing signals.

Greg vaults onto the mattress first, landing on his back, undulating his fingers for Julien to join him. But Julien doesn't. Not right away. He stands at the foot of the bed, hopelessly trying to contain his smile.

Greg fits there. It's as simple as that.

Everything in the room, from the bed to the bookshelves to the dresser to the arsenal of sex toys, relabels itself from Julien's to theirs.

"Hold on," Julien says, walking over to his neatly folded pants and producing his phone from the front pocket. He opens the camera app.

"What are you doing?" Greg asks, legs spread across the duvet, one arm up behind his head, armpit hair exposed.

"Capturing the moment. Your first night." Julien adjusts the lighting a tad, hoping one picture can encapsulate the massive feelings stacking up inside him. "This will just be for me. For us. Is that okay?"

Greg settles in on the bed a little farther, allows his smile to dip more naturally. Julien takes the photo, knowing full well he will treasure this image forever.

"How do I look?" Greg asks when Julien stands there too long, bouncing his eyes between the screen and the gorgeous man awaiting him on the bed. How has he gotten this lucky?

"Good enough to taste." Julien locks his phone and gives Greg a cheeky smirk before crawling between his live-in boyfriend's legs and swallowing him whole. He suctions his mouth onto him, relishing the taste of clean skin and pre-come.

Keeping his lips locked around Greg's expanded head, Julien wraps his right hand around the thick shaft and massages Greg's hair-dusted balls with his left. Greg's whole body trembles, cock growing harder and longer, stretching toward the back of Julien's throat.

Julien senses Greg's balls tightening under his touch.

"Julien, hold up," Greg says, panting between the words.

Julien lets up but only slightly. "It's okay, Greg. I want you to let go for me." Julien's normally traitorous, unholdable tongue dances around Greg's head, laps inside Greg's slit. Julien is hungry, and he knows it doesn't take Greg long to reload. Besides, it'll be easier to get the double fucker (that's what the toy packaging called it) around Greg if he's flaccid.

Julien wants to ride that to orgasm tonight. Maybe more than once. At least until the break of dawn. Until they break the bed. Until they break the universe with their love.

Love, love, love.Julien hears the word chanted from every cell in his body.

"If you're sure," Greg says, flopping back again, raking his hands through his thick dark hair in apparent ecstasy. "You're getting me so close."

"Come for me," Julien says, and then swallows Greg's load. Every delicious, salty, wonderful drop of it.

Breathing heavily, they both take a beat. Greg looks at Julien with orb-like eyes, making Julien feel like he's made of starlight, like he's glowing brighter than he ever has before.

Still horny, Julien grabs the toy and the corresponding bottle of lube. Carefully, he slicks the inside of the ring and, gently so as not to torture Greg's sensitive, post-orgasm penis, Julien slips the silicone around Greg's balls and shaft.

The dildo flops forward, calling to Julien. And Julien can tell Greg won't be tapped out for long because right underneath, the dildo flexes as Greg's cock comes alive again. To incentivize Greg even more, Julien turns away, parts his knees, and gives Greg an unobstructed show of where he wants him.

Reaching back, he slicks himself. Ever since his trip to the sex shop after the going-away-turned-welcome-home party, Julien has been prepping for this on his own, and Greg has unwittingly been helping on nights they weren't consumed with repacking all of Greg's belongings.

It took fingers, several increasing sizes of silicone and glass butt plugs, and Julien's more girthy dildos to get him to the point where he knew, against all decency, that the alluring, nearly eviscerating stretch of Greg's cock plus one would be exactly what he craved. An unmatched fullness.

Now, he displays his hard work for Greg with pride, unperturbed by how unwound he might look after a long, tiresome day. There's not an ounce of fatigue in his body. His energy surges from the head of his dick out through the rest of his body.

Suddenly, Julien senses a second slickness at his hole—one cool and one inferno-hot. Opening his eyes, he's greeted by the tops of Greg's large bare feet. He's bracketing Greg's bulky thighs, and the double-headed hydra of his dreams is pressed up against his spot.

"Yes," Julien moans as he sits back, accepting both tips at once, little by little. He has to focus on his breathing. No amount of prep could live up to the real thing. And the real thing is...whoa.

A head rush overtakes Julien as he flips onto his feet and squats down. Stretching and extending himself past the limits he previously believed possible.

"You're doing great, Julien," Greg says.

Julien never had much of a praise kink, but from Greg, he'd accept the affirmations gladly. They inspire him to drop lower, until he's entirely speared. Breathless. Overcome.

They hold there. Greg strokes Julien's back reassuringly, while obviously trying not to move his cock too much. Julien can barely handle this spectacular sensation. Any newness entered into the mix could kill the moment.

But the only thing Julien kills is his inhibitions, rising and grinding onto the dueling dragons emerging from Greg's pelvis.

He goes on like that for minutes. Fucking himself. Cursing. Listening for cues from Greg as to what's working for him because for Julien, all of this is working for him. He sees a long, healthy sex life rolled out before him where exploration and discovery are paramount with this person he's grown so comfortable with. His person.

"Julien?" Greg asks, pulling Julien from visions of their future selves trying everything under the sun in controlled spaces.

"Yeah?"

"Can you turn around so I can see your face?" Greg asks. "I might be close again."

Julien obliges, taking his time easing himself off, before turning around.

There Greg lies, flushed, a little sweaty, a smattering of dark hairs clinging to his forehead. He removes his hands from behind his head as Julien repositions himself and places them on Julien's slender hips.

Julien does not begrudge his slight frame in this moment. It doesn't matter that Greg's body is broader, wider. He's not comparing. Julien feels more capacious than ever, more in control of his pleasure, his life, his mental health, and his relationships.

Which is why, after he engorges himself on the double fucker again from this new angle, Julien decides his tongue's inability to be held is no longer a fault. It's a superpower. A superpower that allows him to declare in full voice despite the millions of sparkling, shouting nerve endings inside him, "I love you, Greg Harlow."

It's not sex babble. It's not just the high of moving in together. It's the unvarnished truth.

When Julien looks down and takes in Greg's expression, he's surprised to see tears rimming the edges of Greg's intense dark brown eyes. Julien can't help but revel in how sexy a man tuned in to his emotions is.

"I love you, too, Julien Boire," Greg says without missing a beat.

It takes some maneuvering, but Julien pitches forward and kisses him.

Without a single drop of alcohol, they remain sweat-drenched and blissfully drunk on one another until the sun comes up.