That night, my phone started vibrating.
>>SMITH: you up?
>>SMITH: i know it’s late, you might be asleep
>>SMITH: but i’m thinking about you
>>SMITH: and i can’t sleep
I read through the messages twice, and then a third time. I wanted so badly for this to mean something, to be Smith’s way of showing that he cared. But it was so hard to tell over text. After all, he has said he wanted me in his life, maybe this was just his way of making sure we didn’t fall out of contact.
Then again…
>>SMITH: wish you were here to keep me warm at night
Well, there was no mistaking that.
>>DOM: I wish I was there too
His response was immediate.
>>SMITH: it’s fucking stupid that we live 2000 miles apart
>>SMITH: i got used to sharing a bed with you
>>SMITH: and now i have to go back to sleeping alone cold turkey
I smiled down at my phone. It ached, knowing that he was so far away, but there was some comfort in realizing that Smith was cut up about it as well.
>>DOM: I’m taking up my entire queen-sized bed
>>DOM: It feels so luxurious to be able to stretch out
>>DOM: But I would definitely make room for you if you were here
I watched the little bubble that indicated Smith was composing a response. It disappeared and then reappeared, teasing me. A moment later I received a picture of Smith, shirtless and wearing a pair of Wonder Woman boxers, sprawled across a large bed.
I swallowed hard, my eyes raking across his body. God, every inch of him was utter perfection, even in the dimly-lit photo. I yearned to lay my hands on Smith, to kiss him senseless.
>>DOM: Congratulations, you just melted my brain
>>DOM: Give me a minute to pick my jaw up off the floor
He sent back a string of incomprehensible emojis and I sighed deeply.
>>DOM: Translation please?
There was a definite air of smugness in his next message.
>>SMITH: just congratulating myself on turning you on
I rolled my eyes, wishing we could just talk in person rather than flirting over text.
>>DOM: Don’t get too full of yourself
>>DOM: I’m a sucker for a guy in Wonder Woman underwear
The next picture was a close-up of his boxers, with one of his hands resting low on his stomach just above the waistband.
>>SMITH: glad I stumbled across one of your kinks
I let out a frustrated groan.
>>DOM: Don’t tease me
>>DOM: It’s cruel
The little bubble appeared again, staring up at me. I waited with bated breath as he composed his message.
>>SMITH: it’s not teasing if i intend to follow through
>>SMITH: can i call you
>>SMITH: ?
All at once, my heart was in my throat.
More than anything else in the world I wanted to hear his voice. I let out a bedraggled little moan at the thought of getting off together over the phone. I couldn’t even start sorting through the implications of phone sex with Smith, so I shoved that line of thinking away and typed back a single word.
>>DOM: Yes
My phone started vibrating immediately, and I answered the call with butterflies in my stomach.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hey Dom,” said Smith, his voice almost unbearably fond.
There was a pause, and I let out a little laugh.
“This is…kind of weird, isn’t it?” I asked.
Smith made a thoughtful noise. “How so?”
“I don’t know,” I said, picking idly at a rip in my quilt. “It’s just…we’ve only spent time together in person. It’s strange talking to you on the phone.”
“I get that,” he said.
“Not that it’s a bad thing,” I rushed to say. “I’m really glad you called, don’t get me wrong. I just have to adjust for a minute.”
“Take your time,” Smith said, a smile in his voice.
I laid back against my pillows, staring up at the ceiling. Yes, it was strange talking to Smith on the phone, but it was also the only way I was going to be able to have his lovely voice in my ear anytime soon.
“How are things in Chicago?” I asked, trying to muscle through my nerves.
“Oh, you know. I haven’t actually left the house since I got back. I slept all day yesterday and just did some work from home this afternoon. Traveling really takes it out of me,” he said.
“Yeah, I get that. I’ve just been hanging out with my roommates since I got back,” I said.
“I really appreciated your voicemail,” said Smith. “It made me so happy to hear from you. To tell the truth, I was kind of scared that you would get home and realize that you didn’t want anything to do with me.”
“Seriously?” I asked.
“I mean…yeah. It’s stupid, I know, but I thought you might just want to leave our time together back in Europe. It was such a perfect week, you know? And if we keep in touch, it might not stay so perfect,” he said.
I bit my lip, considering. “It was amazing, wasn’t it?”
“Ridiculously amazing,” Smith agreed.
“I’ve never felt so connected so someone,” I said without thinking. Then I let out a little gasp and rushed on. “I mean, in so short a time. I like you a totally normal amount, I’m not a crazy person, I swear.”
Smith started laughing, joyful and loud. “It’s rare to see you flustered, Dom Baker.”
My cheeks were burning and I was suddenly glad that he couldn’t see me.
“Don’t listen to me, I’m a mess,” I said, embarrassed.
“You’re the least messy person I think I’ve ever met,” Smith said gently. “I wish you could see yourself through my eyes. You’re so well spoken and intelligent and clever, you know? That’s why I was so drawn to you in the first place.”
It was hard to reconcile the man he was describing with my own self-image. Well spoken? Clever? All I could see was a stumbling, needy guy who wanted more from Smith than was on the table. Was it possible that he saw me more clearly than I saw myself?
“You really think that?” I asked timidly.
“Uh, fuck yeah I do. I’m not someone who gives praise just for the sake of it, dude. I have such a boner for well-spoken people,” Smith said.
Holy shit.
“What, like right now?” I asked.
Smith laughed again. “I mean…yes? Is that weird for you?”
“Not at all,” I said with a grin. “It’s, uh, really nice to hear, actually.”
“So…are you opposed to phone sex?” Smith asked. “Hypothetically speaking, of course.”
I reached down to palm my own rapidly hardening cock through my turquoise briefs. “I’m definitely not opposed to it.”
“So, if I were to tell you that my hand was in my boxers…that would be okay?” he asked.
“More than okay,” I breathed, squeezing my cock and bucking my hips upward.
“Mmm,” said Smith, “it feels really good, Dom.”
Hearing my name was like an electric shock, and my cock let out a little spurt of precum. It spread across the fabric of my briefs, obscene and out of control. I let out a little moan and slipped my hand beneath the fabric, rubbing little circles around the head of my cock with my thumb.
“Feel so good, baby,” I whimpered.
“Tell me what you’re doing,” Smith panted.
“Touching myself,” I told him. “Wishing it was your hand though.”
“Me too, babe, me too,” he said.
“I want more,” I said, shuddering.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“You. Inside of me,” I managed to get out. It was hard to concentrate on talking when what I really wanted was to give myself over to the pleasure with abandon.
“Do you have lube?” Smith asked, his voice strangled.
“Mhmm,”
I moaned. “Tell me what to do with it.”
I reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out a half-empty bottle of lube, flicking open the cap.
“Get your fingers nice and slick for me. Can you do that, baby?” he asked.
“Anything, I’ll do anything,” I groaned, coating my fingers with lube.
“Okay, that’s so good. I need you to take off your clothes if you’re still wearing them,” he instructed. “Careful not to get lube on everything.”
“’kay,” I breathed, awkwardly maneuvering my briefs off. “They’re off. What next?”
“Run your fingers over your hole. But Dom? Don’t push in yet, okay?”
I let out a little growl of frustration. “I need it, Smith.”
“Just tease yourself for a minute, like I would do. You’re so goddamn sexy when you’re being teased, you have no idea. I could watch you squirm all day,” he said. I could hear the slap of him jacking himself.
I did as I was told, rubbing little circles against my hole but not pressing in quite yet. Smith wanted me to wait, he was getting off on the knowledge that I was waiting. Jesus.
“You’re doing so well,” he said hoarsely.
“Can I push in?” I asked desperately.
He let out a little moan before saying, “Yeah, yeah, give yourself one finger.”
“I need more,” I whined, sinking the first finger as far in as I could get it.
“Just fuck yourself on it, alright?” he said.
I began thrusting back against the finger, getting my feet under me and lifting my hips of for leverage. My finger traced over my prostate and I let out a crazed little moan, desperate for more.
“Need more, Smith, please—”
“Alright, alright, baby,” he said. “Give yourself another one.”
I pulled out the first finger and slid immediately back in with two. The stretch was such a relief, I cried out hoarsely and arched off the bed.
“God, god—”
“That’s it,” Smith groaned. “Fuck, I’m so close just listening to you, Dom.”
“Feels so good,” I slurred, nearly delirious with arousal.
“I wish I could be there to suck you off while you finger yourself,” Smith said raggedly. “Wish I could suck bruises into your hips—”
“Jesus, Smith,” I breathed.
“Wish I could lick around your fingers, fuck you with my tongue,” he whimpered.
“I’m so close,” I gasped. “You gotta let me add another finger, please—”
“Do it,” he commanded. “Do it now.”
I slid the third finger in and began milking my prostate, my mouth falling open in a silent cry as my orgasm slammed through my body. It was like being hit by an eighteen-wheeler, and I just lay there for a while afterward, listening to Smith coming two thousand miles away. He sounded so beautiful, panting and moaning out my name, dissolving into silence as he started to come down.
There was a while where we just stayed on the line in silence, riding out the afterglow. It was comforting, in a way, knowing that he was just as obliterated as I was.
“Dom?” he whispered at long last.
“Yeah?”
“That was incredible,” Smith said gently.
“It was,” I agreed.
“I miss you,” he said.
“I miss you too,” I replied sleepily. My eyelids were starting to droop, but I wanted so badly to keep talking.
“I don’t like being away from you,” Smith said so quietly that I almost missed it.
A smile tugged at my exhausted face as I said, “I don’t like it either.”
“What are we gonna do about that?” he asked.
I sighed. “There’s not much we can do. Unless you wanna fly out to Seattle or something.”
“Okay,” he said.
“Okay?” I asked, blinking to keep the sleep at bay.
“Okay, I’ll fly out to Seattle.”
That jolted me awake. I sat up, pressing the phone into my ear. “Wait, for real?”
“Yeah,” he said, “why not?”
“You’ll come visit? Seriously? Oh my god, Smith.”
“It’s not a big deal,” he said, although his tone suggested otherwise.
“We can make another video while you’re here,” I said. “That way you can write it off as a business expense on your taxes.”
“Alright,” he said happily.
“I’m so excited,” I said, the last remnants of pleasure still coursing through my limbs. “Jesus, Smith, I want to see you again so badly. I can’t believe I’m actually going to get to.”
“It’ll be great,” Smith said. “How about I look at my finances and call you later this week to talk about details?”
“That sounds perfect,” I sighed. “Goodnight, Smith.”
“Goodnight Dom.”
The next few days were a blur of texting and late-night phone calls. It felt like there was a perpetual smile on my face, and my friends teased me mercilessly.
“Somebody got laid,” Leo said, smirking, when he caught me grinning stupidly at the coffeemaker one morning.
“Ooooh, details please,” Finley said, nudging me out of the way so that he could get to caffeine.
I flushed a deep red and looked pointedly down at my own empty mug.
“Bro, spill,” Leo insisted.
“It was just phone sex,” I mumbled.
“Just phone sex, he says,” Finley teased. “Must’ve been pretty mind-blowing if you’re blushing about it the next morning.”
I shoved him gently as I headed over to the fridge, giving up on coffee for the time being.
“He’s just so…dreamy,” I mused as I surveyed the contents of my shelf. I grabbed a tub of Greek yoghurt and slammed the fridge door behind me as I made my way over to the island and plopped down next to Leo.
“Dreamy?” Leo said, eyebrows raised. “Seriously dude?”
“Oh, shut up,” I said without heat. “You’re regularly getting plowed by multiple guys at once. Some of us have waited an awfully long time to find someone who wants to fuck.”
Finley snagged my spoon and helped himself to a bite of my yoghurt.
“Gross, man, put some honey on that,” he said, making a face.
“You can’t steal my food and then complain that you don’t like the way it tastes,” I told him before turning back to Leo. “I know things are complicated with Smith, but this really feels like the first time the world has cut me a break in the dating department. Even if it’s just mind-blowing phone sex.”
“You know guys would be lining up around the block for you if you showed the slightest bit of interest when they hit on you, right?” Leo asked.
“Excuse me?”
“You said you’ve been waiting for someone who wants to fuck you, but I’ve seen you completely shut down flirtations on a regular basis,” he elaborated.
“Nobody ever flirts with me,” I said, shaking my head.
“It must just go right over your head, then, because I’ve seen a whole lot of evidence to the contrary,” Leo said with a sigh. “Maybe you were the one who was being picky, dude. And if Smith’s caught your attention, he must be really special.”
“Don’t get all mushy on me, Leo,” I warned. “My heart can’t take it.”
I heard the distant slam of the front door and then Carson came stomping into the kitchen in damp swim trunks.
“Swimming this early in the morning?” I asked.
Carson shrugged. “The pool’s less crowded if you get there before swim lessons start. You look absurdly happy.”
“He got laid last night,” Finley said helpfully. I flipped him off.
“Uh…is Smith here?” Carson asked, looking around theatrically.
“No, you buffoon,” I said, rolling my eyes. “It was over the phone.”
“Shit, that’s hot,” Carson said, filling a pint glass with tap water and downing it in one go.
“It was, actually,” I said, suppressing
yet another dumb grin.
Leo glanced at his phone and said, “We gotta go. You ready Finley?”
“Ugh, I don’t want to work,” Finley groaned.
“Well, car’s leaving in two minutes,” said Leo. “Be there or be…unemployed.”
They both headed out of the kitchen, leaving a flurry of abandoned dishes in their wake. I shook my head fondly, surveying the mess. Carson plopped down in Leo’s abandoned seat and looked at me quizzically.
“What’s up?” I asked, the flush threatening to creep across my cheeks again.
“You just look really good, man. Like, genuinely happy,” he said with a soft smile. “I’ve always wanted that for you.”
“Smith’s flying out to visit me,” I said quietly.
“Seriously?” Carson said.
“Yeah, we’re going to talk about dates in a few days. I think…I think this is it, Carson. I think we might be able to make things work between us.”
“Holy shit, man, congratulations,” Carson said, drawing me into a tight hug.
“I mean, maybe it’s too soon to be jumping to conclusions, but…god. I really want this to be something. I want him in my life, and he wants me in his life, and I just think the world is finally cutting me a break,” I said.
“I am so goddamn excited to watch your love story unfold,” said Carson. “Shit, I get to be the best man if you get married right? Because we’re practically brothers, and I’ll be really pissed if you let one of our asshole roommates plan your bachelor party.”
“Jesus, I don’t think we’re getting married anytime soon,” I said, elbowing him in the ribs. “But yeah, you’ll be the best man if and when I get married.”
Carson let out a triumphant whoop and we both dissolved into laughter. It was such a moment of pure joy, the two of us celebrating in the kitchen. I felt like things would always be that good. I was impenetrable, on top of the world. Nothing could bring me down.
But then my phone started vibrating and everything changed.
14
Smith
Dom.
He was on my mind constantly.
After that first, incredible night of phone sex, we started communicating more of less constantly.
Sometimes it was sexy.
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