by Jenny Wood
He’d come in, shower, eat, and fall into bed. Gannon had him doing his homework before he could start on his community service hours and I found myself liking this Gannon guy more and more. We’d also been keeping a close check on Mama, though I suspected she was hiding a lot but I knew she was glad that Teo was doing so well down here in Madison.
After my lunch date with Murphy, I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face. I knew he’d given up too easily about paying for lunch, but when he tossed his money into my car and took off running, he looked so fucking adorable and I’d honestly not expected it. I called him that night to give him shit about it, and then I’d called him every night since. We talk about everything and nothing. We laughed about the group chat that Kingsley and Morgan added us to, along with the rest of their brood to share pictures of Wyatt and Gracie. We talked about hobbies and things we’d like to do but never had time for, like Murphy wanted to go camping and to take a road trip to the ocean. He told me about his mom and how hard it was to call her week after week when she didn’t know who he was. He told me about his ex that told him he was too much just because he wanted a commitment. And I told him about Jose and how unfair it was that he’d treated me the way he did when I wasn’t old enough to know why he was doing it. I confided in him about my mother and how badly it hurt that she didn’t stand up for me when her husband said hurtful things about me and to me. It felt like she was choosing him over my feelings and that sucked.
No matter what we talked about, Murphy was patient, insightful and understanding. He listened and teased me out of my maudlin moods and made me laugh with his witty sense of humor. Once he let his guard down and opened up a little bit; he was charming and funny. He could laugh at himself and joke about silly shit that made him even more attractive than his gorgeous face, and sexy ass body made him. He was impossible to not think about, and I found that I didn’t mind so much now that I’d gotten to know him.
When Thursday night rolled around, and I’d showered and got into bed, I picked up my phone and dialed his number as usual.
“Hey,” He sounded stuffed up and sniffy, and I wondered if he was sick.
“Hey, you okay?” I ask, bummed that he’d have to miss out on bowling tomorrow night, I’d already asked Teo, and he was all for it.
“Yeah, just a really tough day.” He says, sniffing again. He’s crying, and it hits me somewhere in the left chest, and I want to be close enough to pull him into my arms right now and shield him from whatever it is.
“What’s going on?” I ask, my voice much harsher than I intended.
“Work stuff. I can’t really talk about it, but, I just hate people sometimes, ya know?” He asks, clearing his throat in an attempt to disguise the broken way he sounded.
“I’m sorry, baby. If it’s any consolation, for every shitty day you have, you give someone a happy one. Like that little girl, you gave a double special day too. Kingsley and Morgan, who’re living so blissed out, it’s actually sickening, and you gave those babies two of the best daddies there could ever be. So, some days are hard, but you’re making a world of difference. Don’t forget that, okay?” I say, ignoring the endearment that just slipped passed my lips that I didn’t regret at all.
“I just don’t understand how people can have a child and then disregard them so easily or hurt them and not feel the least bit guilty or remorseful. I had to interview a child tonight. A 4-year old that was left alone in a home for about eight hours. A 4-year-old can’t cook themselves food or understand why they’re alone and afraid. Why do people do shit like that? How can they justify it as a good idea; anything could’ve happened.” He choked out. I didn’t know who he was talking about and I wondered where this happened since we didn’t get a call about it in our county and we would have most definitely arrested the piece of shit who’d done it.
“Sorry, sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Please keep it between us.”
“Of course. That goes without saying, but you can talk to me. We’re on different sides of the same coin here, you and me.” I tell him. I like that he felt comfortable enough to be vulnerable with me. He had crawled his way out of the one-night-stand box and was working his way into the “someone I could care about” box. Judging, by the way, I felt hearing him upset; he was really already firmly in there.
“Thank you. So, talk to me about something else. I need to get my mind off of it. How’s Teo doing with Gannon and Shade? Is it getting any easier?” He snickered, likely remembering the reenactment I gave him when describing Teo trying to walk in the mornings. His legs were sore and rubbery, and yesterday when he’d been especially testy, I’d grabbed hold of his thigh and squeezed just slightly. He crumbled to the ground, and I honestly thought he might cry. I still laughed thinking about it. Okay, so I wasn’t getting any big brother of the year awards, but he was being a brat.
“He’s hurtin’. I’ve got to commend his commitment though; he’s sticking with it.” I say proudly. Teo has shown a lot of maturity since coming to stay with me and even though his father is now in hospice care at home, he’s staying strong for Mamá. I’m proud of him.
“That’s great. Are you bringing him in for his drug screen tomorrow?” He asks hesitantly, and I wonder what he’s thinking.
“Yeah, I was going to bring him by right after school before taking him to the gym. Probably a quarter after three, will that be okay?” I ask, hoping for a chance to see him for a minute instead of dealing solely with Donetta. Extremely selfish on my part, I just want to see him. I hadn’t since Sunday.
“Yeah, I should be. I don’t have any hearings tomorrow, and it’s supposed to be a light day. Fingers crossed.” He says, sounding much better than he did when he first answered the phone.
“You in bed yet?” I ask when I hear him shifting around to get comfortable. The little groan he emits when he sighs has me on high alert.
“Watch it, vato, sounds like you’re getting too comfortable.” I try to tease, but it comes out more of a growl. I hear him inhale sharply and wonder if he’s all the sudden as hard as I am.
“No, I’m not, I wasn’t… I mean, yeah I’m in bed but… I’m not too comfortable.” He mumbles huskily, and for a second, I thought I might’ve said that last thought out loud.
“What are you so stammer’y about? Did you think I meant something dirty?” I can’t help but tease him but quickly realize it’s torture to me too.
“What are you doing?” Murphy whispers sexily confused, breathing heavier through the phone. I shouldn’t do it, we have a good thing going right now, and I like that we’re becoming friends while I sort my head out but right this second, I’m hard as a rock, and I’ve been thinking about him nonstop for weeks.
“Hmmm.” I hummed, grabbing my cock and stroking it only once.
“Cruz…” He breathes, and he sounds every bit as turned on as I am.
“Yeah…” I reply on a moan I can’t contain.
“What are you doing?” He asks, quietly.
“The truth?” I ask, “I’m strokin’ my cock, remembering how you felt so tight around me” I moan on his gasp. Fuck, I hear him say before he hisses out a breath.
“What are you doing? The truth.” I ask him, hoping, hoping so badly that he’s doing the same thing I’m doing.
“The same thing you’re doing, only remembering how big you felt inside me. How much I needed it and how many times I’ve made myself come just thinking about it.” He whimpers and I can picture his flushed face and wet, plump lips that I couldn’t stop kissing the night we shared.
“You make yourself come for me, a lot, do you?” I ask him, running my hand down my sweat-slicked chest and stomach, stroking slowly but with purpose.
“I do.” He hums.
“If you want me, Murphy, you only have to tell me. I’ll fuck you so good, make you scream for me, beg me.” I promise. “Want you to beg me, baby. Beg for my come.”
“Fuck!” He spits loudly. “Fuck, Cruz, I ca-can’t.” He groans. Not v
ery convincing if I say so myself.
“You can and you will. I’m gonna own that ass, Murphy. Make it fit me just right.” It’s a promise. One I plan on making good on and soon.
“Yeah, I want that,” Murphy says, close to begging already. “So bad.” He has me ready to shoot already; the way he’s whining for me, whimpering and grunting his every word. I wonder if he’s got his fingers inside, thinking of me. The thought is too much; I feel that all too familiar tingle in my spine and I want him with me.
“Faster, baby. I wanna hear you come for me. Stroke yourself faster, harder. I want that come.” I growl again, losing my own control.
“Ungh, yeah. So good inside me, so big and hard, holding me down with your body. I’m gonna come. I’m gonna come; I’m gonna come.” He gasps at last, and I can hear his voice and his body shaking through the phone.
“Oh, fuck! Fuck, fuck, yeah… that’s it. You sound so good. Make me come just hearing that dirty fuckin’ mouth.” I curse, pumping my cock, so, so close.
“Wanna taste that. Want you to pull out of my ass and put me on my knees so you can shoot that load down my throat.” And that did it. The blood roared through my ears blocking out the rest of his filthy words, but I didn’t need them. I pictured all I needed to, to make me nearly pass out with the strength of my orgasm. And I wanted every single thing I’d pictured….with him.
“Hmmm,” he sighed contentedly while we both take a few minutes to catch our breath. I can’t believe I just jacked off like a teenager on the phone with him. I don’t think I’d ever done that shit before, but hearing his voice and the soft noises he made, it was impossible not to. He was quickly becoming an addiction; I knew that didn’t bode well. Still, I was going with it for now.
“You good?” I asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the peacefulness of an after-orgasm quiet.
“Sleepy.” He slurred, and he sounded about half asleep already. I couldn’t help but laugh, though I made it a quiet one so he could rest.
“Alright, baby. You sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?” I ask, but he only hums in reply. Whispering goodnight, I hang up and hope he doesn’t sleep on top of his phone all night. Yeah. I thought to myself; he was definitely becoming an addiction. One I didn’t wanna give up anytime soon.
Murphy
“I have a crush on Cruz,” I tell Cameron and Foster as they come in, bringing me lunch at my office. That wasn’t awkward.
“Duh.” Cameron says, pulling up a chair before disbursing the burgers and curly fries he got through the drive-through before coming.
“What?” I ask, ready to demand an explanation.
“Morgan said you looked like someone stole your puppy when he walked in on you last weekend. He said Cruz was outside with Mason and they were looking kind of flirty, and you didn’t like that, not one little bit.” Foster grinned from ear to ear. “Now, I could put in a good word, you know my man works with your man.
“He isn’t my man. It’s not like that.” I tell them, feeling the ball in my stomach settle in, nice and heavy. What I wouldn’t give for that possibility, though.
“According to Wade, he sure was watching you an awful lot for it not to be like that.” Foster eyed me with seriousness. “According to Wade, he watched you damn near all night.”
“Couldn’t have been all night if he was outside with Mason.” Cam shot back, and that ball got bigger, heavier. “Are we sure he’s even gay?” Cameron asked, and Foster looked to be thinking about that.
“I’ve never seen him with anyone, but I’m pretty positive he is.” He settled. I wasn’t going to tell them that I had firsthand knowledge that he was in fact, at the very least, bisexual.
“So, what are you gonna do about it?” Foster asks around a giant bite of his burger. I’d been back and forth over two very plausible possibilities. I could either hang out with him tonight at the bowling alley or, avoid him until I could get a passport together, change my name and identity and skip the country. When I think about the things I did and all the things I said to him last night on the phone; the more that second possibility was looking even better.
“You look like you’re gonna be sick.” Cameron picked up a pad of legal paper and started fanning my overly hot face.
“He’s stopping by today for his brother’s check-in. I don’t want it to be awkward.” I tell them honestly, at least a piece of my most recent dilemma
“Why would it be awkward?” Foster asks.
“Because I have a crush on him and I’m shit at hiding stuff like that. I don’t want him to know.” I grumble into my burger. It was a good thing I ran this morning because this thing was dripping with grease.
“I say go for it. What’s the worst that could happen?” Foster offered, and the rest of our lunch was spent with me thinking of every possible way it could go wrong. I was glad they dropped in though, it seemed several of the guys had made a point to keep in touch since I’d met them at Morgan and Kingsley’s party. I was having fun getting to know these people and now considered a few of them friends. None of which I enjoyed talking to as much as Cruz, though.
Speaking of, I was actually really swamped with this Jurgen case that I was called to yesterday. It was in Green County, which is just to the west of Madison. I was called in because the advocate for their county was actually the neglected baby’s relation. It was a huge conflict of interest, so the case is now mine. Sure, I’ll have to travel sporadically to Green County, but it wasn’t the furthest I had traveled, and it wouldn’t be until after the mother was released from jail. The baby’s grandmother had temporary custody for the time being, and everyone seemed okay with that. My initial visit, I’d done a walkthrough of her house, and she had everything she needed for the small boy and seemed very protective of him. She was just a mess that her daughter would do such a thing and I seconded that, wholeheartedly.
So now, I was snooping around to see if she had any other run-ins with the law and talking with the baby’s mothers’ employer on the phone when Donetta knocked quietly and peeked her head in. I held a finger up in acknowledgment but she waved me off and closed the door. It wasn’t until I’d gotten off the phone and checked my cell that I realized it was after three-thirty and that I had a text from Cruz.
Cruz: Your lady said you were on a call. I really hope you weren’t avoiding me.
I wasn’t, but I kind of had been. I was relieved I didn’t have to see him, I hadn’t worked out how I wanted it to go, yet. On the one hand, I wanted desperately all the things he’d promised in heated passion last night. I wanted it all, over and over again for hours on end; but on the other hand. I just wasn’t into casual hookups or friends with benefits. I enjoyed talking to him on the phone and being friends with him, or at least friendly. But I obsessed over what the terms of endearment meant and then I reveled in each one. I loved the way his accent thickened when he was aroused or talking dirty to me, and it about made me lose my mind, but then I wondered if he’d gone home with the guy from Saturday or if I was just someone to let off some steam with. I liked to know where I stood and what to expect, but you can’t ask a guy that without scaring him off, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to lose him just yet.
Me: I really was on a call, I didn’t notice the time. I’m sorry.
Cruz: It’s okay, I’ll see you tonight.
Bowling. I was supposed to go bowling with him and Mateo tonight, but should I? It sounded like fun, sure; but could I do it and not be falling over Cruz all night? It was laughable that I was a thirty-two-year-old man when I emotionally resembled a fourteen-year-old girl.
It turns out, I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter because when I walked out of work at five after five, Cruz was sitting in his car doing what looked like, paperwork.
“Hey,” I called to him from a few feet away from his car. His head snapped up, and he looked around like he’d forgotten he’d been there. It made me wonder how long he’d actually been out here.
“Hey.” He said, stac
king the papers in his lap and putting them back into a giant manila envelope and then tossing them in his back seat. “So, here’s the deal; Teo’s staying at the gym tonight for a lock-in with the junior boxing league. Apparently, that’s a thing. So, I’m going to go to my house, get showered and changed and then in an hour, I’m coming to get you, and we’re going to go to dinner. I’m paying, so wrap your head around that. Then, you and I are going bowling, and I came here to tell you all this in person because I want to go out and have fun with you and I’m hoping you won’t say no to my face.” He finishes and smiles so huge it’s downright irresistible. It also sounds like a date, which is also so damn irresistible that I can’t even be embarrassed about what we did on the phone last night.
“I’ll agree if I can pay for bowling and or any food or beverages we consume there.” I tilt my head in question but he’s shaking his head before I finish my sentence.
“No, this is my date. You can pay on the one you pick. Deal?” He puts his arm out the window for me to shake it. I stare at it for a long minute before stepping forward to grasp it. He doesn’t shake it, he just holds it. “Deal?”
“Yeah, alright. Deal.” I agree, knowing I was going to anyway because not only are we going on a date, but he’s already mentioned another one. I am so fucked.
“Alright. Go get cute, I’ll pick you up in an hour.” He winked, making my stomach flutter as he started up his cruiser.
“You need my address?” I ask, walking backward to my own car, not wanting to take my eyes off him just yet. I hear his dangerous, challenging chuckle as he pulls away.
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