by Zane Menzy
“Another?”
“Yes please.” Matt handed the glass back and greedily accepted the second round when Damon returned.
Damon put his thumbs in the waistband of his pants. “You know, Matty, you don’t need to be going so hard with all this training. You’re already in pretty good shape.”
“You think?” He pulled forward his shirt and looked down at his torso. “I’ still nowhere near what you look like.”
Damon laughed and took a seat beside him on the long couch. “Yeah, but I have been working out for years and eating the dullest diet imaginable. You don’t need to look like me. You look great as you are.”
Matt raised his eyebrows and pulled a face. “Bullshit.”
“Nope. Not bullshit.” Damon shook his head. “Take it from me. You’re a good-looking dude.”
“Thank you. I hope others think so when I finally venture out next.”
“Trust me, Matty, I won’t be the only one who thinks you’re a good catch.” Damon rested into the back of the couch, spreading his legs wide and dropped a hand to his crotch, blatantly adjusting himself. He cast Matt a sneaky smile.
Damon seemed in a stupidly good mood the way he sat there showing off his perfect teeth. Another feature Matt wish he had.
“So what is K dog up to tonight?” Damon asked.
“Him and his friend Garth are going out clubbing.”
“I see,” Damon said, nodding. “Who is this Garth character?”
“Just one of his friends from down home. Do you not know him?”
Damon shook his head. “I know the usual suspects. Liam, Skippy, Tony. Not a clue who Garth is though.”
“Yeah. I wondered if maybe he has a new group of mates ‘cos he hasn’t mentioned the others the whole time he’s been here. Normally when I speak to him on the phone he usually goes on about Liam a bit. But nope. Nudda.”
Damon clawed at the hairs on his chest, then flicked his eyes down to Matt’s bare legs. “How’s the calf muscles?” He lurched over grabbing hold of Matt’s leg, groping greedily.
Matt was taken aback by the sudden move. “Umm they’re good.”
Damon groped harder. “Good work. Feeling firm.” He sat back and patted his lap. “Chuck your leg up here.”
“Sorry?” Matt frowned.
“Put your leg on my lap. I am gonna massage the muscles for you. It’s good to have a rub down after all your running.”
“Is it?” Matt asked surprised.
Damon patted his lap again. “Come on.”
Matt swivelled round, leaning in to the end of the couch and raised his leg to rest over Damon’s knees. Damon’s hands started at his ankle and began rubbing under his leg, stroking smoothly along Matt’s tired calf muscle. “Sorry if I’m a bit clammy.” Matt laughed nervously. “I just hope I don’t stink.”
“No worries,” He pulled his hands back and sniffed his fingers. “You don’t smell bad. Good people like you never do.” He dropped his hands and continued rubbing, his thumbs pressing deftly into Matt’s sleek skin. “You’ve actually got pretty nice legs.” Damon flashed him a grin. “For a guy, I mean.”
“Aww shucks.” Matt chuckled. He felt awkward laid back with his leg being rubbed down. The affection was great though. He hadn’t been touched like this in such a long time, it just felt weird that it was his best mate’s hands gifting his body such tenderness. Damon rolled the leg of Matt’s shorts up, then rubbed deeply into the tissue of his thigh. That feels so bloody good. Matt groaned in pleasure from the feel of Damon’s strong fingers kneading him in a way that verged on sensual.
“I can tell you’re enjoying yourself.” Damon cleared his throat and spoke up, “These hands like to give pleasure.”
“Yeah. You’re definitely good at this.”
“Thanks. I picked a few pointers up from Sandra if you remember her? The massage therapist I dated briefly.”
Matt nodded like he knew who Damon was talking about. He didn’t really have a clue. Damon had “dated” so many bloody women that they had all became a blur of different faces. And what Damon considered dating most people would call fucked-more-than-once. The guy could have opened a museum of past lovers. Matt’s lids shuddered as he began to feel swoony from the touch of his mate’s fingers tickling behind his knee. He could have fallen asleep if it wasn’t for Damon’s next move; sliding his hand high up into the leg hole of Matt’s shorts, getting dangerously close to restricted areas. Matt widened his eyes, glaring at his friend. “Umm, if you’re going up that high, isn’t it policy to buy the person a drink first.”
Damon laughed. “Settle down. It’s part of the rub down.” He lifted his chin and held Matt’s stare. “I’ll grab you a drink afterwards if you like though?”
Matt grinned. “Sounds good. Rub away then.” He lolled his head back and let Damon keep going. But he couldn’t relax as much now when he noticed Damon’s fingers edging ever closer to his underwear. Matt swallowed hard when he felt Damon’s fingertips gently brush the fabric of his briefs.
“Sorry,” Damon mumbled. He kept the rubbing going for a while longer then out of nowhere cupped Matt’s balls. “Massage over, big fella,” he let go of Matt’s scrotum and laughed.
Matt pulled his leg off and looked over at Damon suspiciously. “Thanks for the massage and free molestation.”
“No worries, mate. Anytime.” Damon seemed unfazed.
Despite the awkward joke of groping him, Matt still enjoyed the massage. “What about the other leg?”
“I’ll leave you to do that one yourself. I showed you how it’s done.”
“Yeah like I am gonna be able to massage my own leg like that.”
Damon shrugged and changed the topic. “Did you fancy joining me for a movie?”
“What in town?”
“Nar, here with me on the couch.” Damon pointed across the room to the television. “There’s a thriller on Netflix I wouldn’t mind watching.”
Matt looked over at Damon’s television, which was so large it could have been perceived as looking stupid if it weren’t for the snobby spacious apartment to help balance it out. Arrogance suited arrogance in this regard. He looked down at what he was wearing, his damp sweaty clothes clinging to his body. “I would stay but I think I oughta head home n get showered.”
“Just have a shower here,” Damon suggested. “I can lend you some clothes.”
Matt nibbled on his lip, thinking the offer over. He didn’t have anything special planned at home. Keegan and Garth would do what young people do and probably be out all hours of the night. “Sure. Beats me sitting at home on my own like some sad git.”
“Good shit.” Damon pointed towards the bathroom. “Should be a fresh towel on the rail and I’ll bring you in some clothes when you’re ready.”
“Okay.”
“It’ll be good to have you all to myself after Jason’s hogged you all week,” Damon said curtly.
“Sorry about that. I guess I have been a little unavailable.” Even though Matt willingly took blame for the lack of recent contact, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried getting Damon involved with the wedding or to come visit. If anything, Damon was the one who had been doing the avoiding. Matt got to his feet and shuffled towards the bathroom.
“Nar, it’ll be good us hanging out,” Damon said. “We need to have good a chat.”
Matt spun ‘round. “We do?” He hovered in the doorway of the bathroom. Damon’s gaze burned across at him. “What about?”
“Nothing too major,” Damon answered. “I just wanted to ask why Jason seems to know about what we used to do together.” The words came out laced with a hidden depth.
Matt felt exposed and motionless. It was the first time in twenty years that either of them had spoken of it aloud. Matt choked on his response, “I-I don’t know—”
“Nar, I ain’t angry. I’m just curious. That’s all.” Damon softened his tone with a disarming smile. “Go have your shower and when you come back we can talk about how I us
ed to fuck you.”
∞
Matt used the shower as much to get clean as he did to hide from the unravelling of history waiting for him in the next room. He wasn’t looking forward to this conversation about how Damon used to fuck him. The way Damon slung the words across the room had left Matt feeling dirty and vulnerable. As he stood naked in the shower, he couldn’t look at his penis without imagining it gripped in Damon’s vice-like grip.
When Jason had let slip his knowledge of Damon and Matt’s secret it had felt like a bomb being dropped—one that didn’t detonate. Too bad it’s about to explode right fucking now! As stupid as Jason was to make the comment, it wasn’t done vindictively. It was merely an innocent slip of the tongue.
Tongue.
I put my tongue everywhere on him back then. Everywhere!
Matt shuddered as he remembered how raw their past was. They hadn’t just fooled around like a couple of horny school boys discovering the joys of mutual masturbation.
They had fucked… They had fucked hard…
I was crazy back then. This was true. Matt had behaved like a pre-teen obsessed with a boy band. His feelings had been intense to the extreme, controlling his mind and striking faster than a lightning bolt. But how real were those feelings? He never dwelled on this question because he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know the answer.
Fucking Jason! Matt screamed internally. He reluctantly turned the nozzle of the shower off, shutting down the warm water falling like rain from the large ceiling shower square. He stepped out, treading carefully over dark tiles ‘till he reached for a towel and wrapped it around his waist. He took a breath of courage and opened the door, poking his head out. “Hey, Damon. Can you grab me those clothes now, please?”
“Coming right up, matey,” Damon said chirpily. He jumped off the couch and raced to his room. He returned with the clothes tucked under his arm and handed them over. “There you go.”
“Cheers.” Matt gave a smile of thanks and closed the door. He dried his body and sifted through the clothes he had been given. A baggy navy-blue top and a pair of jeans. To Matt’s surprise there was also a clean pair of boxers for him to wear. Matt had assumed he would be sitting around commando. If it were any other guy, he would have thrown them to the side and not worn them.
Once dressed, he opened the door and dawdled across the lounge on his bare feet, settling back on the couch where Damon was sitting. The television was all lit up, waiting for the movie to play. Damon had a Vodka RTD in his hand, another sat on the coffee table for Matt to drink.
Damon gave him a coy look, his lips creaking apart. He looked ready to begin his questioning.
Matt beat him to the chase.
“Look, I am sorry about what happened the other night here with Jason mentioning… us. I- I didn’t think he would be stupid enough to say anything. I don’t think he even realised he said it and he certainly didn’t mean any harm by it. And it isn’t like I had just told him. I told him about us years ago when we were… doing what we were doing.” Matt ran a hand through his wet hair. “I’m really sorry, Damon, if it upset you in anyway but that was never my intention and like I said, I told him about that stuff like twenty fucking years ago and…” Matt looked down and saw Damon grinning, holding in laughter. “What’s so funny?”
“You, ya gabby chicken neck.” Damon smiled. “I didn’t mean for you to get so stressed out about it, Matty. I told you it isn’t a big deal, I was just curious to know how he knew.” He pat the coffee table. “Now chill the fuck out and drink your drink before you have a heart attack.”
“Oh,” Matt mumbled, suddenly feeling stupid for annihilating the room with an onslaught of messy words. He picked his drink up and slurped back on the chilled vodka drink.
Damon shuffled ‘round to face him. “I know you just said you told Jason about us way back then, but can I ask why you even bothered telling him?”
A silence fell between them as Matt searched for an answer. He laced his fingers tightly around his drink and began nodding. “Okay,” he started, “I think—if I remember correctly—Jason actually put two and two together, because if you recall, we weren’t exactly mates at school. And yet here you were, coming and hanging out at my house.”
“But why would you own up to it? Why didn’t you just deny it like any other guy would.”
“Do you really want to know?”
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t.”
“I know,” Matt sighed, tilting his head. “But is it something that you need to know?”
“Come on, Matty, just bloody tell me. What are you scared of? It isn’t like I’m going to disown you.” He squeezed Matt’s knee. “You have me for life regardless of the answer.”
Matt felt a wave of kindness wash over him, relieving some of his fear. “Okay, I told Jason because I needed to tell somebody what I was feeling. Share with them how happy I was.” Matt felt his cheeks redden. “I had had such a rough year that year with Jason leaving school and leaving me an utter loner, Mum walking out on me and dad. Life was shit. It really was.” Matt let out a sad laugh before grinning. “But then you came along. Damon Harris. The coolest guy in town. The guy everybody wanted to be friends with. The guy all the girls threw themselves at.”
Damon laughed. “C’mon, Matty, I was just a regular guy. Not a fucking rock star.”
“I don’t think you get it.”
“Get what?”
“You were a rock star! Well, you were to me.” He didn’t know if he should continue but he did anyway. “When we started fooling around, I felt so honoured in a way because you could have had anybody you wanted, but you chose me.” Matt dropped his gaze to the floor and uttered in a whisper, “You wanted me.”
“Do you really mean that?”
Without looking up, Matt said, “I know it sounds silly but I sort of fell in love with you that summer.”
Damon touched Matt’s chin and raised his face, forcing him to look him in the eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered and let go to take a swig on his drink. “That was quite the heart to heart.”
“It sure was,” Matt responded. It was sort of freeing to let the caged confession out in the open. “And just so you know, you don’t have to worry about me going all gay on you. I sorted those feelings out long ago.” He laughed to break the tension. “Like I still love you but just as a mate, ya know?”
“I know,” Damon agreed. “I love you too, bro.” He raised his drink gesturing for Matt to do the same. “Cheers,” they said in unison, clinking their bottle together.
“Shall we watch this movie now?” Matt asked, motioning at the television.
“I just want to ask one more thing.”
“Fire away.”
“What was it about me or the stuff that we did that made you like me so much?” Damon narrowed his eyes, striking an almost seductive pose. “Was it the way I fucked you?”
Matt tugged the collar of his t-shirt and laughed nervously.
“Sorry, I probably didn’t word that as good as I could,” Damon said, chuckling. “What I mean is; what was your favourite part of what we used to do?”
That doesn’t make the question any less fucking strange Damon! Matt took a deep breath. He knew the answer but was reluctant to share. “I don’t know if I could pick one thing.”
“So out of all of it? Not one thing stood out?”
“Oh god,” Matt mumbled into his hand. “If I had to say my favourite part then it was the way you kissed and hugged me afterwards.”
“Really?” Damon looked shocked.
“Yes. Really.”
“Why that?”
“I dunno.” Matt shrugged. “I guess you made me feel safe. I liked feeling that.”
“Aww,” Damon said.
Matt flipped him the finger. “Don’t make fun of me. Keep in mind I was only eighteen and a bit messed up.”
“I am not making fun of you, Matty. I honestly think that’s really fucking sweet.”
“You do?”<
br />
“Fucking oath.” Damon nodded. “So sweet that it makes me wanna hug and kiss you right now.”
“Okay. Now I definitely know you are making fun of me.” Matt laughed.
“I’m not.” Damon put his drink down. “Come here,” he said with his arms wide open.
“What are you doing?”
“I want to hug you. I want to make you feel safe while we watch the scary movie.”
“It’s okay, Damon, I think I’ll manage to get through the movie without pissing my pants.”
“Come on, Matty.” He kept his arms open, pleading with his pretty green eyes.
Matt inhaled loudly. “The things I do for our friendship.” He placed his drink down and went to go join Damon in the waiting embrace.
As Matt leaned in for the hug, Damon grabbed his shoulders and said, “Lay down. We can spoon.”
“What?”
“Go on. That way we can both watch the movie. Me big spoon, you the little spoon.”
Matt pulled a funny face. “You’re acting weird tonight.”
“Yeah it must be you rubbing off on me.” Damon smiled and mouthed come on.
Matt slumped his shoulders and gave in to his mate’s suggestion. He found it odd but it wasn’t like anyone was here to see them acting like cuddly idiots. He stretched out and lay down on his side in front of Damon who placed an arm under Matt’s head to act as a pillow. Damon reached over top of him and grabbed the remote to start the movie then draped that arm over Matt’s waist, reeling him in close. “This is nice,” Damon said before kissing Matt on the top of his head.
Aside from the initial awkwardness of it all, Matt tended to agree. It was nice. He relaxed his body and nestled into his best mate’s warm embrace, feeling every bit as safe and protected as the last time he were wrapped up in these strong arms.
Chapter Twenty-One
The club was cramped with a jumble of arses and elbows inconveniently blocking the way to the bar and the shirtless bartenders behind it. Keegan followed Garth through the crowd, letting his pushy friend spearhead the way towards their dash for another round of drinks. Once they finally reached the glorious smooth wooden surface of the bar, Keegan ordered them a bourbon each. With their bottles in hand, Garth took charge again, drilling his way through the crowd ‘till they were sat outside in the smoking area.