As if by magic, Red felt all the tension he’d been carrying over the prospect of Andy moving out melt away.
Andy had never even intended to move out. They were both just moving to another place.
“And it’s not like I’m gonna charge you rent or anything, and I figure that’d speed up your college fund a little and then you won’t have to worry when you do go about where you’re going to live.”
“Andy-” Red started, only to be interrupted by Andy looking up at him.
“You gave me warmth and shelter on the worst day of my life, and I think I fell in love with you all the way back then, and I just… I don’t want to be without you. I know I’m kind of a mess sometimes, but I am a reasonably successful mess and I want to share that with you. Since I know that’s what you’re about to object to.”
Red had been about to say that Andy didn’t need to pick a place with his needs in mind, but he remembered again that Andy had been enthusiastic about every new place they’d seen, and then gotten less so as they left.
He realized now that it was because Red hadn’t been enthusiastic about any of them. Because he hadn’t realized he was coming, too.
“Andy, it’s okay. I’ll move in with you,” Red said, his heart soaring. Nothing had to change, after all.
Well, except for the fact that they’d get to live in a slightly nicer apartment now.
“Oh.” Andy shifted his weight between his feet. “Well. That’s good. It never occurred to me that you might not, but then you were weird all day…”
“I was weird all day because I thought you were moving out and I didn’t want you to go.”
“Oh,” Andy repeated. “I guess we have to start this apartment hunt all over again, huh?”
Red shook his head. “No. It’s still your apartment. I’m happy anywhere, as long as it’s with you.”
Andy laughed softly, squeezing Red’s hand. “That could be a serious contender for the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
“So I was right not to go with ‘as long as there’s a couch we can have sex on,’ then?” Red grinned at him.
He knew they’d lived together since before they’d been dating, but this was different. Maybe Andy didn’t see it that way, but that was exactly like him—he would have called himself unromantic, if he was asked, but this was the same guy who’d built a dating app because he wanted other people to be happy.
Andy was the most romantic man Red had ever met, even if it manifested in weird ways. That was just Andy. As far as Red was concerned, he was perfect.
“I’m taking you to pick the couch, too.” Andy smiled wryly. “All the details. I want it to feel like your home, as well.”
Red took a deep breath. He could feel himself about to say something that bordered on too sincere, but Andy never seemed to mind when he did that. He just accepted that it was how Red felt.
“Before I met you, I only really had the station to call home,” he said. “I lived in that apartment, but it was never really my home. Not until you came along, anyway. I think my point is, my home is where you are.”
Andy made a soft, happy noise and squeezed Red’s hand again. “You’re so sexy when you’re being sweet.”
As Andy leaned in for a kiss—he had to stand on his toes to do it—Red’s heart fluttered all over again. He woke up every day and hardly believed how happy one person could make him, but this was a whole new level of happiness.
“And you’re my home, too. I don’t really have anyone else, either.” Andy chewed on his lip. “You’re everything I ever wanted.”
Red smiled at that, his heart swelling so hard it felt as though it might burst. “You too,” he murmured.
Wherever they ended up, as long as they had each other, they’d be okay.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Andy would never admit out loud that he enjoyed an outdoor activity, but one of his favorite things about having adopted Spot and living with Red was getting to go on walks with both of them in the late afternoon or early evening, when Red was home.
He’d never had a relationship before where everything was so comfortable all the time. Some people would have seen that as a bad sign, perhaps—the easy companionship between him and Red might have looked, from the outside, like it lacked the passion it needed to succeed.
Those people would have been completely wrong.
That was how Andy knew he’d been right in the first place about what people needed in a relationship. The initial spark of attraction was important, but there had to be more than that. At first glance, he and Red couldn’t have been more different—but once you dug a little deeper, their differences complemented each other, and their overall life goals were in alignment.
“You’ve kinda got a spring in your step today. Good news?” Red asked.
“I was actually just thinking about how much I love you and how perfect you are,” Andy said, grinning up at him. Red, as always, blushed.
Andy secretly hoped he never lost the ability to make Red blush.
“But I have also got some leads on some new projects, which is cool. I’ll be sad to leave M4M behind, but it doesn’t need me anymore.” Andy shrugged.
That particular project would always have a special place in his heart, but it was time to start working on something new and hand the maintenance off to someone else. He’d had to hire several people to keep up already, and the active development phase was well and truly over.
Unlike Red, work projects did eventually lose their novelty.
“Maybe now isn’t the right time to ask what I was gonna ask, then…” Red bent down to pet Spot, who’d gotten over the excitement of going on a walk and was now padding along beside them happily, pausing to sniff at interesting things occasionally.
“Ask anyway. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out,” Andy said. If nothing else, he was curious now about what Red wanted.
“Well, I was thinking… my college fund looks pretty good right about now…”
“And you’re ready to start applying to places?” Andy asked excitedly. He hadn’t wanted to push Red, but he’d been waiting for this for a while.
He was already as proud of Red as he possibly could be, but he wanted him to have everything he’d ever dreamed of. If one of those things was a degree, Andy intended to do anything it took to help him get there.
“I actually, uh… got my acceptance letter at the station today.” Red smiled a tiny, shy smile. “I put it down as my correspondence address ‘cause I wanted to see it first in case it was a rejection.”
“If they’d rejected you, you could have cashed in your disappointment for some great sympathy sex,” Andy pointed out. He’d known Red would get in. He’d worked too hard and wanted it too much not to. Even when he was trying not to talk about it, Andy had seen him browsing college courses on his phone a hundred times.
That didn’t make him any less proud that Red had, or any less excited for him.
Red laughed at that. “Well, I did get in. I’ve already gotten the go-ahead to go part time at work, once I talked to you about it.”
“Please do this,” Andy said. “I mean, if it’s what you want, and I think it is. I will pack your lunches for you and show up to all your school events and be your embarrassing nerdy boyfriend in front of everyone.”
“Dude, it’s an engineering course. They’ll all be nerds,” Red said.
“Does this mean you’re a nerd, now?” Andy asked, as if Red wasn’t already a nerd. He kept it a secret in public, but in private he could recite every line of every Star Wars movie.
Red hummed thoughtfully. “Not until I start the course. Then you can call me a nerd.”
“I think I should get a head start.” Andy grinned. “So… victory sex, since you missed out on the sympathy angle.”
Red snorted, tugging Spot away from a flower he’d been about to eat. “Sounds to me like you’re just looking for an excuse to have sex.”
“I’m literally always looking fo
r an excuse to have sex with you,” Andy admitted. He was man enough to own up to the fact that he couldn’t get enough of Red.
Even six months after they’d gotten together, they were still screwing like horny teenagers at just about every opportunity. Andy had never stopped working for anything as often as he stopped working to jump on Red the minute he got home.
“You don’t actually need one,” Red pointed out, rubbing the back of his neck.
“It’s more fun to have one.” Andy shrugged. “I’m thinking a whole night of celebration, starting with dinner wherever you want to go.”
“Home,” Red said automatically. “Just you, me, and Spot. That’s all I want.”
Andy smiled, reaching out to take Red’s hand. He was so proud of him he could burst, but he’d save it for when they were behind closed doors.
He’d never expected to have what he had now with Red. They’d done the exciting initial stages of the relationship, and that had been fun, but it was never the part Andy worried about.
Before now, he’d never been good at the maintenance phase. The part where he saw the same person every day, dealt with their quirks and their company all the time, and didn’t get bored of them or start to actively resent them.
Red was different. Red was right, and as much as Andy had known that then, he was sure of it now. He’d never gotten to this stage before, with anyone.
Now, he fully understood why people wanted someone they could call a partner. Red was that to him. Someone he could live his whole life beside.
“Me too,” Andy agreed. Right now, he had everything he’d ever wanted.
Epilogue
Two years later…
Red moaned eagerly as Andy wrapped his hand around his cock. Andy had only been away for a couple of days, but Red had missed him every second of that time. From more or less the moment he’d said goodbye to Andy at the airport, Red had been waiting for the reunion sex.
“I missed you,” Andy murmured, as though he could see Red’s thoughts. He caught Red’s lips eagerly, intertwining their legs to bring their bodies closer together.
This felt good. It was obvious that Andy was tired, too tired to do anything more than this, but as far as Red was concerned, it was perfect anyway. He’d been too far away from Andy for too long.
Being pressed up against him, being able to feel the pull of his skin, taste his lips, smell his hair—he’d missed that.
“I’ll come with you next time,” Red promised as the kiss broke off, reaching down to bat Andy’s hand away and replace it with his own, bringing both of their erections together.
“You had exams,” Andy said, wriggling closer and throwing one of his legs over Red’s hip to bring them closer together, close enough that Red could move his hand away and rock against Andy’s belly instead. “Which I want to hear all about later.”
“Are you telling me study doesn’t turn you on?” Red laughed breathlessly. He buried his face in Andy’s neck, pressing soft, open-mouthed kisses there as his cock slid against Andy’s skin, leaving a trail of precome. He could feel Andy hard against him as well, rocking his hips just enough to get a little friction.
After a whole weekend of being away from each other, this felt amazing. Red moved his hand to Andy’s ass, grabbing a handful of it to pull him closer, squeezing tight to keep him there. He closed his eyes as he felt Andy’s nose trailing along his neck, enjoying all the contact.
Andy chuckled, pressing a kiss just below Red’s ear. “You didn’t know me when I was in college,” he said. “Which is just as well, because I was an asshole.”
“I would have loved you anyway,” Red murmured. He was sure of that. Andy was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Andy made a soft, needy noise and dug his fingertips into the back of Red’s shoulder, gripping tightly, holding on as though he was worried that Red might disappear.
Red could tell that Andy had missed him just as much. That this was just as good, just as necessary for both of them.
Turning his head to catch Andy’s lips, Red kissed his way up Andy’s jaw until he found them, swiping his tongue between them to make Andy gasp. A contented hum came from one of them as the kiss deepened, but Red wasn’t sure which—they were so impossibly close together that it was hard to tell where one of them began and the other ended.
Part of Red wished it could be like this all the time. Just him and Andy in a cocoon of bedsheets, safe and sound and together.
“Come anytime,” Andy murmured, laughter in his voice. Red chuckled in response, speeding his thrusts up a little, shoving his hand back between them to stroke both of their cocks.
He loved the feel of Andy’s skin sliding against his own, being able to feel his pulse beating. It was so intensely intimate, so good to feel close to him like this.
Red loved these moments, when they were pressed up against each other, panting and gasping, hands roving over skin, fingers pressing into sensitive spots, lips searching for anywhere they could make contact.
It was desperate and needy and hotter than it had any right to be. No matter how long they were together, Red always wanted more of Andy. Wanted to touch and kiss and fuck at every possible opportunity.
Andy made a strangled whimper, rocking into Red’s hand eagerly, his breath coming in harsh pants. Red could feel his own orgasm building, pressure making him feel tight and heavy. The suddenly overwhelming urge to come left him biting his lip, wanting to make sure Andy was ready, too.
“Little more,” Andy whispered, breathless and strained, his thighs tightening around Red’s hips, pulling him that little bit closer. There was barely enough room between them for Red’s hand as it was, but this was good, too.
The drag of Andy’s cock against his stomach, the slickness of precome between them, the chorus of soft, needy moans all made Red’s head spin. He was already burning with arousal, so ready to come that he had to force himself to wait. His balls ached, the base of his spine tingled, his heart pounded.
Red was right on the edge, fighting not to finish before Andy did. He’d missed him so much.
Andy was close, too. He just needed a little more, like he always did when he was tired.
It was so good to have a partner he knew every inch of, every sensitive spot. Red moved the hand on Andy’s ass further down, sliding it between his cheeks to brush over his entrance, rubbing firmly as Andy moaned desperately.
When he was less tired, they had a lot of missed long weekend sex to catch up on.
Andy cried out and bucked hard against Red’s stomach as he came, the tell-tale rush of fluid between them setting Red off as well.
His orgasm hit at the base of his spine, jolting his hips forward even as he gripped Andy tighter, pulled him closer. An obscenely loud moan broke free of his lips as he thrust hard against Andy’s stomach, drawing both of their orgasms out a little longer until pleasure bordered on pain and he had to back off, give them both a little space to recover.
Andy rolled onto his back, panting heavily and staring up at the ceiling. That was the sign, Red had learned, that he was completely satisfied.
After all their time together, it felt good to know that he could still do that.
Really, though, the sex had only gotten better. The beginning of their relationship was exciting, but knowing each other’s bodies as well as they did now was much, much more fun.
Andy sighed, his chest rising and falling visibly, and groaned. “Thank you,” he said, voice still thick with arousal. “I needed that.”
“Me too,” Red agreed.
They lay in silence for a few moments, still catching their breath. Red reached out to tickle Andy’s side, missing the contact already. After a few seconds, Andy shifted closer, leaning his head on Red’s shoulder.
“So, exams?” Andy asked.
“Went well, I think. Conference?”
“Productive. Inspiring. You’re coming next time.”
Red opened his mouth to speak again, but paused just
before he said what he wanted to say.
He’d been planning on it for a while, and this weekend had proved to him that he knew what he wanted. He wanted Andy, forever. Andy was his end game, his soulmate, the person he was meant to be with.
Between knowing Andy’s history and the fact that they’d never talked about this, though, getting the phrasing and timing right had felt impossible.
Red could wait forever trying to find the right words and the right time.
If Andy had taught him anything, though, it was that sometimes you just had to do stuff and worry about whether or not it’d work after you’d done it.
“Marry me,” Red said, almost before he’d finished that thought. “Umm. I didn’t mean to be that blunt.” He swallowed. “But I did mean it. If you want. No pressure.”
Andy was silent for a few moments, and still, as well. Red had learned that when he was like that, he was thinking deeply.
The next few seconds were agony. He hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that, but he couldn’t un-say it now.
“You don’t wanna… I don’t know, spread your wings, or whatever? I’m the only person you’ve ever been with.”
“I know,” Red said gently. He got where Andy was coming from. He’d had the same thought, for about half a second.
He didn’t want anyone else. He wanted Andy. Luck had been on his side when they’d met, and he didn’t need to throw that away on the off chance that there was someone better out there.
As far as Red was concerned, there wasn’t. He’d never felt even a fraction of what he felt for Andy for anyone else.
“There are a lot of people out there,” Andy added, as if Red hadn’t spoken. “Maybe someone better.”
“Do you want to see other people?” Red asked, knowing the answer before he asked. He knew Andy was just nervous about answering the question, but he didn’t need to be. Even if it was that he needed more time.
Red Hot Page 13