How to Catch a Rival

by Ana Ashley

  His cock was hard and a deep red. I knew if I touched him he’d come in no time at all. He put his hands on my shoulders and raised himself before he came back down.

  The feeling was overwhelming. Tom was taking charge and I loved every single bit of it. He set the pace, which was relentless. I knew every time my cock hit his prostate because he let out little whimpers as though he was in pain, and his eyes almost rolled back. His lips were red from how he was biting on them.

  I pulled him to me and straightened up so his cock was trapped.

  “You’re ready to come aren’t you, baby?”

  He shook his head and never stopped thrusting his hips. His movements were a little less precise. He had to be close.

  “Tom, baby, I’m ready to come, come with me. Please.”

  “I want it to last.” There was a desperation in his voice I hadn’t heard before.

  My hands cradled his face and he opened his eyes to look at me.

  “Baby, we can do it again.”

  I kissed him hard, and with every time he came down on my cock I tightened my arms around his waist to keep him there. My orgasm hit me like a tackle on the football pitch, and I unloaded into the condom. Tom came straight after me in a full-body orgasm that had him shake relentlessly as he covered us in his release.

  Everything was quiet for a couple of minutes other than our mingled breaths as we recovered from our orgasm, but we refused to stop kissing.

  “Can we have a shower?” I asked.

  He nodded but didn’t make an effort to move.

  I picked him up and took him to his bathroom. He stood leaning against the basin while I turned the water on and disposed of the condom.

  It wasn’t until I was lathering him in the glittery soap I’d heard him mention before that he spoke.

  “You have a magic cock. Can I keep it?”

  “Tell you what, swap my magic cock with your magic hole and we have ourselves a deal.”

  He leaned against me, and I could tell he was struggling to stay awake.

  “Can I stay the night?”

  He nodded.

  I got us out of the shower and dried us both using his plush towel, and then I led him to his bed, settling with him against me. He was asleep in seconds, and I drifted off shortly after.

  A strong grip on my cock woke me from my sleep. I thought I was dreaming, but it seemed real life was giving me a hand job.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Go to sleep, I’m playing with my cock,” Tom said.

  “Your cock?”

  “Hey, I was orgasm drunk, but I remember you said your magic cock was mine.”

  I chuckled. “How come you’re awake?”

  “I had a nap before you turned up, so I guess I’m not tired anymore.”

  The clock showed it was three in the morning, so we’d had a few hours’ sleep already.

  “Can I ask you a question?” I said.

  “Sure. Do I need to stop playing with your cock to answer it?”

  “Not unless want me to actually listen to you.”

  He put his hand on my chest and I held it, reaching out for a kiss.

  “Will you tell me about the photo on the window display?”

  “Sure. It’s a photo of me and my dads when I was one year old.”

  “You have two dads?”

  “Not anymore. They were in a car accident when I was two and a half. One of my dads died right away and the other weeks later in the hospital.”

  “I’m so sorry. Did you go into foster care?”

  “No, my mom kept me. She’s really my aunt because my non-biological dad was her brother, but she gave birth to me, and she’s all I have, so to me she’s my mom.”

  “Where is she?”

  “Colorado. We lived in Boston since I was little, but when I moved out she decided she was tired of the city and went to live near her best friend.”

  I held him a little tighter because I didn’t know what to say, but I wanted him to know I was there for him.

  “Tom?”

  “Yes?”

  “Will you tell me more about your store?”

  He sat up, and for a moment I thought he was upset, but he simply crossed his legs and faced me.

  “There have been many times when I’ve had to blend in, play the game. We can argue that no one should have to do that, but sometimes we need to go through those stages where we are like everybody else, so that one day we can stand on our own two feet and become the individuals we are.”

  His words spoke to me as if he was inside my mind and had found the playbook of my life. My chest was tight and heavy with the weight of my secret, but Tom didn’t seem to notice because he carried on.

  “I want to paint one of the walls black and then hang photos of Coco Chanel. She’s my idol and my muse, did I ever tell you?”

  Tom’s whole body lit up as he talked about the store. He was so passionate about his dream I felt a little jealous. When was the last time I felt like that about anything? I didn’t want to dwell on it, not when my time was better spent admiring Tom.

  “How would you make me look better?” I asked, tickling his sides. His giggles brightened up the dark room and all I wanted was to bottle them up to take with me everywhere.

  He slapped my hand away and then put a finger over his mouth as if he was considering what to do with me.

  “I think you’d fill out a tailored suit perfectly. Light gray, because bulge, and a waistcoat. Shirt rolled up to show your forearms…hmm yummy.”

  With every pass of his eyes over my body my skin heated up and my cock reacted accordingly. I pulled him down and he lined his body up with mine and nuzzled his head in the crook of my neck. “You are so beautifully amazing. I am really glad we met…even if that threat of arson is still over my head.”

  His chest rumbled against mine. “I’m keeping that one in my pocket.”

  “You’re naked,” I said, pulling his leg over mine to get him closer.

  “Proverbial pocket.”

  “You would have one.”

  “I would.” He laughed.

  21

  Tom

  There was something about Wren asking about my photo that spoke right to my heart. I’d seen the day I’d finished the window that he knew the photo was personal.

  Yes, it was a tragic story and some days I thought about my dads and wondered what it would have been like to have come home from school as a teenager, trying to figure out my sexuality and being able to talk to them. Not that my mom wasn’t good with that. She’d been absolutely brilliant, but it wasn’t the same.

  The purpose of using the photo hadn’t been to draw attention to my story, and as far as I was aware, no one knew the photo was mine. I just wanted to have something in the window that was really real. A couple that had a regular life, regular job, regular kid, they’d even had a regular death, the only different thing about them was that they were two men.

  My mom had told me they hadn’t joined in any of the LGBTQ activist events. They were, in her words, the most boring couple she’d ever known, and she even said I must have more of her DNA in me than that of my dad because I’d been anything but boring growing up.

  So yeah, the photo meant a lot, and Wren asking about it gave me the opportunity to talk about my parents, something I didn’t do much.

  I hadn’t expected the question about the store, but I was happy to share more of my dream. To be honest, lying in my bed in the dark of the night with Wren’s arms around me, I would have confessed to anything, so talking about my passion for fashion and changing people’s lives through it was the easiest thing I could do.

  “Can I confess something?” Wren said.

  “Of course.”

  “This is going to sound like a long-winded explanation but…listening to you talk about your store. I don’t know, maybe I need to tell someone.”

  “You can tell me anything, sweetie,” I said.

  He was quiet for a mere secon
d before saying in one breath, “I don’t play football anymore.”

  There was a strain in Wren’s voice. I wanted to show my support, so I stayed as we were cuddled together with me playing with the hairs on his chest.

  “I had an injury a couple of years ago. After the surgery on my knee I had a long recovery ahead, but I’d always thought I’d get back on to the field. Until the doctor said that if I didn’t want to risk permanent damage I’d retire. He also said I wouldn’t ever be as fast as before. It felt like a death sentence. Football was all I had and the only thing that made sense. I couldn’t tell my parents, not because they wouldn’t understand, but because I didn’t know who I was without it, and I didn’t want to burden them.”

  I wrapped my arms tight around him because I could tell this was a big thing. Had he ever said these words to anyone before? There was no doubt his parents would be fully supportive but maybe being so far away from home made it harder.

  “I’m so, so sorry, Wren. I don’t even know what to say to make you feel better.” Was there anything anyone could say? Oh my sweet Wren.

  Wren’s hand came up to my head and he played with my hair. It was soothing and so natural, like we’d been having late-night deep conversations since the dawn of time.

  He took a breath and carried on.

  “I received a small settlement for my injury, which allowed me to buy my apartment and retrain as a teacher. I work in a high school in San Diego as the football coach and physical education teacher.”

  “Do you like it?”

  “Surprisingly, I love it. The kids are great and I can pass on all the stuff I learned over the years. For the first time in my life I feel like I’m myself. I’m out at work and have great friends who think because I’m bi I need to date every single person we meet in a bar.”

  I liked that Wren was so open about his life in San Diego, and I knew he’d just confessed something really major, but there was an ugly gremlin inside me that didn’t want him to have a great life in San Diego, didn’t want to know of all the potential people he could be dating as soon as he went back.

  A pain cut through my chest so hard I had to cough and sit up in bed. He was going in less than a week. I wasn’t sure of the actual day, but Abi had mentioned something about the end of the bake-off.

  My eyes stung and I was so thankful that we were in the dark because it was easier to pretend my thoughts weren’t upsetting me, so I did what Tom does. Deflect.

  “Are you telling me your sob story so I fall asleep and you don’t have to tell me why you’re my forever bake-off rival?”

  He laughed and kissed my head as soon as I resumed my position.

  “When I got the news about my dad I didn’t think twice about coming home. It’s been a while since I was here and I missed it. I wanted to take the chance to speak to my parents too and tell them the truth, but then when I got to the store and saw their accounts my priorities changed.”

  “I still don’t understand how the store is struggling. We’re always so busy.”

  “The store is doing well, but they’ve had a few expenses, and I think they’ve also spent some money on really expensive equipment for Troy. I wish they’d asked for help because I could have bought some of the stuff. But anyway, it means the store needs to keep bringing the same level of income just to stay afloat, and if a big expense comes along they could be in real trouble.”

  “Wren?”

  “Yes, baby?”

  “We both have really good reasons to be in the bake-off. Can we put the result in the judges’ hands? I don’t want to fight with you. Whoever wins the prize deserves it wholeheartedly. And I’m sorry about how I behaved the other day. I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything, I know it wasn’t your fault. I was just so scared I hadn’t done enough to go through.”

  “That’s okay, I knew you how you felt because I was feeling the same. I’m not sorry for your revenge though,” he said, running a blunt nail from the back of my knee and up my thigh until his hands settled on my ass.

  “No?”

  “I’m pretty sure I came out the winner.”

  Wren moved so he was on top of me. I gasped when I felt his hard cock against my hardening dick.

  “Are you going to let me play with your magic dick again?”

  “You bet I am.”

  Despite the looming bake-off final and Wren’s departure, I’d never felt as happy. Okay, so maybe I was ignoring the fact that we had three challenges to do on the day and we had no clue what they were, but because I couldn’t control it, I decided to not worry about it.

  And the same went for Wren’s departure. He hadn’t talked about it at all, almost as though he didn’t want to say when he was going in case it happened. And so I hadn’t pushed.

  Ignorance was bliss, as they say.

  Wren had spent all of his free time with me, including the nights. Abi had asked if I’d heard anything about him seeing someone because he hadn’t been home for days. I pleaded ignorance.

  Abi was starting to come back to herself since the day of Jonas’s heart attack, and I knew part of it was because Jonas was recovering well, and part of it was because she held hope that this person Wren was supposedly seeing was important enough for him to stay home.

  I didn’t want to break her heart by telling her it was unlikely. I had my own hopes.

  The gym was full to the brim with people coming to watch the final. Amy came to me as soon as I walked in.

  “Oh my god, I’m so nervous I think I’m going to puke.”

  “Stay away from me, woman. This outfit does not do well with body fluids.”

  I ran my hands down my new turquoise vest I’d made only last night as Wren had watched TV on my sofa. He’d looked so comfortable there, like he belonged in my space.

  He was driving with his parents, so I took my place at my station, noticing that for the final we each had our own.

  I looked around and saw Indy, Ellie, Hannah, and Ben waving. Ellie had a banner with my name on it in glitter. It was fabulous. I waved at them and made a heart sign with my hands.

  Wren smiled and winked as he walked past me on the way to his station. I felt like I was hovering, feet off the ground, with happiness.

  When we were given the sign to start I looked at the recipes we needed to make. A chocolate mousse, an apple pie, and a chocolate chip cookie. I figured the trick was in the timing. The mousse needed to set so I started with that.

  It was a simple recipe, but I was afraid the whipped egg whites would end up all flat, so I was super careful when I blended them in the chocolate mix.

  Once the mousse was in the individual ramekins and in the fridge, I decided to make the cookie as that wouldn’t take long. It was a tiny recipe just for one big cookie that I had to cook in a skillet.

  I made the mix and put it alongside the mousse in the small fridge I had on the counter.

  Then I moved on to the apple pie. I was feeling confident so far. Nothing had gone wrong yet, and one challenge was complete, pending cooling.

  I read through the recipe for the pie and that’s when I realized my mistake. I needed to make the pastry and it needed chilling. No point thinking about it. I’d cook the cookie while the dough was chilling.

  Three hours later and all three challenges were complete. Amy was in the station in front of me looking like she’d been in a war. I looked at Wren behind me and he wasn’t faring any better.

  We placed our desserts in front of our names for the last time and flipped the cards upside down before going back to the locker room.

  “I’m so glad this is over,” Amy said. “Don’t even care who wins anymore.”

  “Not unless you do win. Your pie looked so delicious,” I said.

  Wren sat next to me on the bench. I had my arms crossed over my chest and my legs outstretched in front of me. Wren mimicked my position and then I felt his fingers brush over mine and stay there for a while.

  I looked at him and it was then, as we shared such
an intimate moment in a room with other people, that I knew I was falling for Wren Mason. Maybe already had. I looked down at my feet with a smile and a warmth on my cheeks.

  Not long after, we were called back to find out who was the winner. My heart was beating so fast I struggled to hear the presenter’s speech.

  “And the winner of this year’s Pride festival bake-off is…drum roll…Wren Mason!”

  The crown cheered so loud it startled me. What did he say? Wren Mason. Wren had won. Happiness bloomed in my chest and I couldn’t stop smiling. I looked at Wren and his parents and Troy hugging and congratulating him.

  I couldn’t even get close to him because he was suddenly surrounded by the crowd of spectators, cheering and greeting him with hugs and high-fives. Everyone wanted Wren’s attention.

  His eyes were wide, like he couldn’t believe it had happened. When everybody finally gave him some breathing space, I saw it as my opening to celebrate with him.

  As I got near him I thought I felt him withdraw but put it down to him being overwhelmed with the attention. I reached out to touch his arm but he stepped back. He looked at me but his eyes were cold.

  My heart sank as he shook his head to stop me and then turned the other way.

  I ran out of the gym, not caring about seeing Indy, or any of my friends. I could barely see where I was going from the heavy tears in my eyes because I couldn’t believe I’d fallen hook, line, and sinker for a man who rejected me at the first opportunity once he’d got what he wanted.

  I just hoped no one had followed me because I didn’t know what I would say.

  22

  Wren

  The first two hours after they announced me as the winner of the bake-off were a blur. I’d had to be interviewed for all the local papers and radio as well as take photos with the mayor, who wouldn’t stop thanking me for the lack of major incidents this year, as though I was personally responsible for the other contestants. Then there were the people in town that wanted to congratulate me.