Player

by Sean Ashcroft

  None of that stopped the spark of hope in his heart as Isaac looked over at him from the court, grinning broadly.

  He was so screwed.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Isaac groaned as he collapsed onto the couch, sinking into the deep, plush cushions with a sigh of pleasure. One day down, one day to go.

  He could manage this. He’d be fine.

  The sound of footsteps told him Julian had found the ice pack he’d promised to go and get and was coming back with it, and a thrill of anticipation ran through Isaac’s body. He leaned forward, making a soft grunt as the cold touched his shoulder.

  “Better?” Julian asked.

  Isaac was really, really glad Julian had agreed to come home with him. Not just for his services as ice pack holder.

  It was nice not to be alone. To have company instead of sitting in silence during the come-down, as the nerves and adrenaline of the day faded.

  It was nice to have Julian, whenever he had him. Isaac had barely thought of anything else all day, except when he’d been in the middle of a match. Even then…

  Yeah, he was really far gone, here. He was in love with Julian, and the thought was just as exciting now as it had been before.

  “Way better,” Isaac said after a moment. “Glad I showered right after the match, though, because I couldn’t do it now.”

  “I would have helped,” Julian responded.

  A curl of heat settled in the pit of Isaac’s stomach at the thought. He was too exhausted to be much use to Julian, but he wanted him all the same.

  He always felt like this after he played, but he usually chose to ignore it. Or fell asleep with his cock in his hand, halfway through trying to get himself off.

  “Well, if I’d known that…” Isaac trailed off, not sure he should even hint that he was maybe up for sex. He knew he’d be disappointing, but he also knew Julian wouldn’t care all that much.

  Not that he planned on taking Julian for granted.

  Cuddling would have been nice, though. Since Julian had come home with him, that seemed like something he could ask for.

  Isaac hummed as he felt Julian’s fingers in his hair, warmth flowing down from his scalp and settling in his gut. He loved the way Julian touched him, the care he put into every brush of his fingers.

  No one had ever made him feel like this before. No one had ever made him feel valued, wanted for who he was underneath the top layers.

  Well, except Julian. Isaac just hadn’t come to appreciate it as much as he should have before now.

  “I think I’m iced enough,” Isaac said after a few moments, still enjoying Julian’s gentle touches.

  Julian took the ice pack away, letting his fingers linger in Isaac’s hair a few moments longer.

  “I’ll put this in the freezer,” he murmured, running his fingers over Isaac’s scalp one last time, and then disappearing.

  Isaac sat back, letting the couch take all of his weight, and closed his eyes. He could do one more day of this. Now that he’d iced his shoulder, he felt way better.

  The couch cushions shifted as Julian sat down next to him, curling up against Isaac’s side and resting his chin on his good shoulder. Isaac smiled, forcing himself to open his eyes again.

  That same feeling he’d had earlier in the day welled up in his chest again. He loved Julian. He loved Julian so damned much that he could barely contain it.

  The thought made him want to laugh, but if he did that, he’d have to explain himself. As sure as he was…

  Would Julian want to hear it? He definitely deserved to, but what if he didn’t feel the same way? Now seemed like a bad time to make things awkward between them.

  Julian pressed a soft kiss to the crook of Isaac’s neck, nuzzling gently. The contact made Isaac’s skin tingle, a pleasant wave of warmth washing over him as Julian kissed him again, butterfly-soft.

  Isaac gasped as Julian splayed a hand over his stomach, snuggling closer. It felt amazing to be touched like this, but he was going to have to tell Julian how exhausted he was.

  “Hey, uh…” Isaac began, guilt welling up in his chest. “I don’t think… I’m so tired, and it’s not that I don’t want to, I just…”

  “I know,” Julian said softly. “I’m not expecting anything. I can back off if I’m making you uncomfortable.”

  Isaac shook his head. “No, I… this is nice. I like this,” he said, suddenly feeling like the shy little boy he once was, before he’d even met Julian.

  “I was gonna offer to suck your cock, if you want.”

  Sudden tension pulled Isaac’s belly tight, the immediate flare of arousal making him squirm just the tiniest bit. That was hard to say no to.

  “No pressure,” Julian said. “And it’s just for you, no need to do anything but sit back and enjoy it.”

  Isaac swallowed. He didn’t deserve this, or Julian’s kindness in general, but he wanted it.

  He nodded, unable to bring himself to refuse. He could already feel blood rushing to his cock at the thought of having Julian’s mouth on him again, memories of the last time flooding back.

  Julian beamed at him, kissing his lips softly before sliding off the couch to kneel between Isaac’s spread thighs, already tense with anticipation.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, Julian reached out and cupped Isaac’s half-hard cock through his jeans, pushing the heel of his palm firmly against it. Isaac wriggled, biting his lip already, Julian’s confidence with touching him turning the slow-burning embers of arousal in his gut into a full-blown blaze.

  “You’re so responsive,” Julian said, awe in his voice.

  Isaac had never heard that before, but it sounded like a good thing. No one had ever really… paused and appreciated his body before. He’d always been quick to make it about them, and what they wanted, but Julian…

  Julian had allowed him to sit back and reassess, and he really, really liked being taken care of for once. If Isaac had known this was how sex with guys would feel, he would have tried it a lot sooner.

  Isaac let a soft little whimper escape him as Julian flicked open the button of his jeans, figuring Julian would like that. He wanted Julian to enjoy this, too, even if he wasn’t exactly up to the kind of enthusiastic, athletic sex he suddenly, desperately wanted to have with him.

  They hadn’t had nearly enough sex for Isaac’s taste yet, but that was his fault, and he’d start fixing it after the tournament. He just needed to get this weekend over and done with.

  Assuming Julian still wanted him after this.

  With the way Julian’s fingers were sending sparks of pleasure bouncing all over Isaac’s skin as he pushed his jeans down and out of the way, Isaac hoped he would. He had other reasons, too, but he’d never known sex could feel this good.

  It was good because of Julian. Not even necessarily because he was a man, but because of who he was, how he was. His kindness and thoughtfulness shone through in everything he did. Offering to suck his tired boyfriend’s cock with no thought of getting anything in return included.

  “Hips,” Julian demanded, dragging Isaac out of his thoughts and all the way back to the present. Isaac obliged, lifting his hips up so Julian could pull his jeans and underwear down in one fluid movement, pushing them past his knees to pool around his ankles.

  He felt ridiculous like this, spread out on his couch with his legs trapped in his pants, rapidly-hardening cock on full display.

  The look Julian was giving him made it all worth it. A wave of lust rolled through him, fueled by the way Julian’s eyes raked over his body, finally settling on his cock.

  Julian wet his lips, his pink tongue just barely peeking out from between them.

  “You’re so pretty,” Julian said softly, shuffling closer. He pressed a kiss to the inside of Isaac’s thigh, day-old stubble scratching against the sensitive skin there, making Isaac shiver.

  He reached out to put a hand in Julian’s hair, remembering how nice it’d felt when Julian had been doing that to him. Even
if it was just this, he wanted to give back.

  Soft lips kissed their way up his thigh, Julian’s agonizingly slow progress making Isaac shift restlessly, a low throb of need making his balls ache. Isaac moaned as Julian’s cheek brushed against them, already desperate.

  Julian laughed.

  “Someone’s enjoying this,” he said teasingly, finally turning his mouth toward Isaac’s cock. So close that Isaac could feel the heat of his breath ghosting over his skin, but not close enough.

  Julian hovered closer to him, breathing short, hot breaths over him on purpose, making Isaac bite down on his lip. A whimper escaped him, an unmistakable sound of need, and Julian only hummed in response.

  Isaac was going to die like this. Waiting for Julian to do something, anything.

  “Please,” Isaac whispered, any concerns about his dignity long gone.

  He wanted to come in Julian’s mouth. That was all he could think of right now. How soft Julian’s lips were, how good his tongue had felt on him last time, how desperate he was to get off.

  How lucky he was that Julian was willing to do this for him. Even if he was teasing.

  The first touch of Julian’s tongue against him made Isaac moan out loud, the sound welling up from the pit of his stomach. Julian didn’t hesitate this time, licking a broad stripe up Isaac’s cock and sucking the head into his mouth in one fluid movement.

  Isaac’s fingers tightened in his hair, his thighs tensing up as Julian sealed his lips tight, hollowed his cheeks, and sucked. The feeling shot all the way down his cock, making his hips jerk minutely.

  He wasn’t going to hurt Julian, not for the world, but this was already testing the limits of his self-control. Julian’s mouth was so warm, and just the thought of him doing this was enough to make Isaac’s skin tingle all over.

  “Jules,” he gasped, surprised by his own use of a nickname that he’d only used a few times in his life before.

  They’d been times like these, though. Or not… they’d never done this, but times when Isaac’s affection for Julian had swelled up in his chest, so much that it was hard to breathe past the overwhelming feelings he felt for his best friend.

  He’d dismissed it over and over as just feeling lucky to have a best friend like him. Someone he could always rely on, always trust.

  It had been more than that. And maybe it was for the better that he hadn’t realized back then, maybe it was good that they’d walked away and lived their lives and seen the world for themselves, but…

  Right now, all Isaac could think of was how much he wished he’d kissed Julian the last time he’d called him by that nickname.

  He groaned as Julian pulled back, his lips pursed around the tip of his cock, tongue just barely teasing the slit, and looked up at him.

  They didn’t have to talk. Julian’s eyes said it all, told him how much it meant to him to hear his name like that.

  Isaac released the white-knuckled grip he had on the couch cushion and moved his free hand to Julian’s jaw, stroking his thumb along it as Julian took him deeper into his mouth this time. He could feel the muscles working, stretching as he widened his jaw.

  When Julian curled his fingers around the rest of Isaac’s cock, stroking and sucking in a perfectly-coordinated rhythm, Isaac had to look away or risk coming way too soon. He let his head fall back, staring at the ceiling at first, and then closing his eyes.

  He could feel his cock leaking into Julian’s mouth, and he could feel Julian licking and sucking precome away, swallowing around him.

  If Julian kept this up, he wasn’t going to last long anyway. Isaac was tired, and needy, and it felt so damned good to be taken care of. A heavy warmth settled over his hips, gentle rocking all he could manage to do with them, in time with Julian’s strokes.

  “Julian,” he whispered, the word a plea and a promise on his lips.

  Julian moved his hand out of the way, taking Isaac’s cock deep into his throat, and that was the beginning of the end. A rush of warmth flooded Isaac’s belly, tension welling up just behind his balls, his thighs tense with the urge to thrust deep into Julian’s mouth.

  His fingers tightened in Julian’s hair, making Julian moan around him, suck even harder. A low, rumbling groan welled up from the depths of his gut, as he started to come, rocking his hips just the smallest amount.

  Julian pulled back a little way, far enough to massage the underside of Isaac’s cock with his tongue as the first wave of his orgasm hit, swallowing rhythmically around him as he came. Isaac finally opened his eyes again, looking down at Julian and finding him eyes closed, lips swollen, pleasure written all over his face.

  Another wave rolled through him, ripping a second moan from Isaac’s throat. He gasped and panted his way through it, Julian still swallowing around him as though he couldn’t get enough.

  Isaac had never felt this wanted in his life.

  He finished with a broken Julian, the sound barely coming out of his throat, his head spinning and his body exhausted and wrung out.

  He’d had some great orgasms in his life, but this one felt more or less like Julian had sucked his brains out through his cock.

  He wriggled in place as Julian licked him clean, soft little touches of his tongue against Isaac’s oversensitive skin overloading his senses all over again, making him whimper as he hovered between pleasure and pain.

  Julian stopped a half-second before Isaac was about to beg him to. He pressed a kiss to the inside of Isaac’s thigh, and then sat back, looking up at him with dark, glazed eyes.

  Isaac’s gaze fell on the impressive bulge at the front of his pants. He wanted…

  If he felt like he could move any of his limbs and he didn’t need to do a lot of running tomorrow, he would have rolled over onto his stomach and begged Julian to fuck him. He wanted it even now, despite having just come, because he wanted Julian. Wanted to feel close again, the way he had before.

  “Come up here,” Isaac said, his voice cracking. “Take your pants off.”

  Julian looked at him uncertainly. “I told you, I don’t need anything in return.”

  “I need you,” Isaac said softly. He wasn’t ready for Julian to back off. He needed more time with him, more contact.

  Slowly but surely, Julian rose from the floor, kicked his shoes off, and then dropped his pants and underwear, sighing softly as he freed his hard, leaking cock from its confines.

  Isaac wet his lips, staring at the way Julian’s cock curved up toward his belly. Julian was hard and wet from sucking him off.

  That was hot. Hotter than anything else Isaac could bring to mind right now.

  “Come here,” he repeated, kicking his own shoes and jeans off with a little more effort, bringing his thighs closer together so Julian could straddle his lap.

  Julian didn’t hesitate this time, making Isaac sigh with pleasure as they sat together, skin against skin, both of them still panting for breath.

  “I wanna watch you get off,” Isaac said. “Please.”

  Julian swallowed audibly, but nodded. “Yeah, I can do that. Not gonna last long, though.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Just wanna look at you,” Isaac said, because he did. He wanted to see Julian getting off, study the way he touched himself, listen to the sounds he made.

  A deep, shuddering breath rattled through Julian as he shifted to make himself comfortable. Isaac hesitated a moment before laying one hand on Julian’s thigh to steady him—no, just to touch him, because he wanted to.

  It was okay to want this. Julian had shown him that over and over.

  Julian leaned forward, resting his forehead against Isaac’s, their breath mingling in the few inches of space between them.

  The position made this all the more intimate. More intimate, even, than having Julian’s mouth wrapped around his cock.

  Isaac glanced down as Julian wrapped his fingers around himself, taking in his soft hiss. He stroked at Julian’s thigh with his thumb, wetting his lips as he watched a bead of precome well up at t
he tip of Julian’s cock.

  The urge to taste it hit him hard, curiosity welling up inside him. Oral sex wasn’t new to him, but never with a man. He suddenly wanted to know how Julian tasted.

  Another time. There’d be another time, because there was no way Isaac was ready to give this up.

  Julian’s breaths came in quick pants, broken up by desperate whimpers and moans, his hips rocking into his hand even as he stroked his cock. He squeezed, twisted, spread precome down the length, and if Isaac hadn’t just come he would have been hard all over again at the sight—at the thought—of Julian getting off like this.

  He hadn’t been kidding about being close, either. Isaac could feel the way his thighs were tensing, tightening around Isaac’s own, feel his movements stuttering, hear the harshness in every breath. He’d been there a thousand times, right on the edge and desperate to fall over it.

  Julian’s hand moved to his jaw, tilting his face up so he could seize it in a biting, burning kiss.

  Isaac’s head spun as he realized he could taste himself in Julian’s mouth. Everyone else who’d sucked his cock had been quick to go and rinse, but not Julian.

  Isaac moved his hand to the back of Julian’s head, holding him in place as he sucked on his best friend’s tongue and explored the strange, new feeling of knowing so intimately that they’d been together.

  A low groan pushed into his mouth told Isaac Julian had come, his hips jerking, a hot spurt of fluid hitting Isaac’s stomach where Julian’s cock had almost been brushing against it as he wriggled closer.

  Arousal rushed directly to Isaac’s cock, which twitched once and then gave up. He was too exhausted for more now, but he’d be a liar if he said he didn’t want it.

  Right now, he would have been happy to crawl into bed with Julian and not leave until Julian had to go to work on Monday, screw the rest of the tournament.

  He just… wanted to be with him. All the time. It was an impossible thought to get out of his head.

  Isaac pressed one last, soft kiss to Julian’s lips before backing off an inch, his whole body tense at what he knew he was about to say.

  “Hey, I love you,” he murmured in the tiny space between them, voice just barely loud enough to hear.