Time for Love

by Lynn Michaels

  “Right. Ugh. There. Ollie. Yes.”

  “More?”

  “Yes...ah...faster.”

  Ollie sped up, fucked harder, needed more. Wanted more.

  “Touch me...touch...”

  Ollie reached a hand between them and grasped Jeremy’s cock. Hard and silky. He stroked. Faster. Fucked faster. His groans and grunts joined the chorus of Jeremy’s panting and skin slapping skin.

  “Ah....now-now...” Jeremy’s cock shot off, coating Ollie’s hand with cum. Jeremy called out again, something unintelligible, but it might have been Ollie’s name with way more syllables than it needed.

  “Ugh. I want you. Want your mouth.” Ollie tried to lean forward, wanting to kiss Jeremy, but his orgasm crawled through him from his lower back, up his spine, around his cock, until he exploded, filling the condom with evidence of his pleasure.

  He held there for a minute, observing Jeremy and his blissed out expression with a quirky smile on his lips and half-closed eyes, peeking up shyly. Having fun like this was something Ollie might need more of in his life.

  Thirteen – Jeremy

  Journal Entry: Ollie at the beach does strange things to my stomach.

  Even though Jeremy had been pleased that Ollie kept his promise and went to work the next day, he also discovered he was lonely. Ollie had dropped him off in front of his apartment building and left with a wave over his head. He didn’t want to go back to his aunt’s alone with her boxes of memories.

  His cousin had to work, and Bernie wasn’t coming until Saturday. Jeremy rubbed his hand over his face. Saturday. He’d pretty much talked Ollie into going to St. Augustine on Saturday, but he was supposed to be at the condo with Bernie and Scottie.

  Instead of heading inside, Jeremy walked to the little coffee shop. The big green and brown sign above the door read, “Coffee Kraze.” Jeremy nodded to himself as the bell on the door jingled. The name was appropriate—he needed more coffee.

  He ordered and took his drink to a small table by the windows. Sun streamed through and danced across the brown and white tiled floor.

  “Hey, it’s you again.” The hippie from his last visit slid onto a chair across from Jeremy. “How you been, man? Hey, you want some of this?” He gestured with his pastry before dropping it on the table. “Is it possible to be too sweet?”

  Jeremy smiled. “No, thank you.”

  “So... how’s the car?”

  “No change, but I did call the police.”

  “Well, something changed.” He looked at Jeremy over the rim of the cup.

  Jeremy squirmed a bit. Was it that obvious? “What do you mean?”

  “Your face is lit up like the fourth of July, and I know damn well, that couldn’t have anything to do with your missing vehicle.”

  Jeremy stared at his coffee. “No. No, that has to do with one of the police officers. He’s a specialist who made some kind of app thing to help solve cases.”

  “Ah...and I assume he solved more than cases with you?”

  Jeremy blushed, thinking about the night before. He opened his mouth to respond but couldn’t. He took a sip of his coffee instead.

  “That’s okay. You don’t know me. You don’t have to tell me anything, but I’m not judging. We each have our own paths.” The guy picked at his pastry and shoved little pieces in his mouth.

  A huge sigh escaped from Jeremy. “I like him. He’s fun. I want to spend more time with him, and I don’t give a shit about the car. I don’t much care about what we do with the condo, either. I still want to go home, back to Clearwater. But...seems like the universe wants me to stay here longer. I don’t know what to do.”

  The hippie took a long breath in and out. He winked at Jeremy, then followed his deep breathing by swallowing the rest of his coffee in one gulp. “Listen, friend. I’m not telling you what to do or not to do. I don’t think that’s what you need to hear, anyway.”

  “What do you think I need to hear?”

  “You’re not being decisive with your life. That’s not what being on your path means. Doing nothing is an action, but it can also be an excuse. You’re not supposed to go where ever the wind blows. Think about things deeply and make decisions that will keep you on your path. And don’t make that face at me, young man.”

  Jeremy relaxed. “I’m way too serious sometimes.”

  “Nah, I don’t see that. It seems to me that you aren’t serious enough. Too laid back and willing to go with whatever life throws at you.”

  “I thought. Uh, well...I don’t know. I’ve been too busy trying to enjoy my moments in life.”

  “Nothing wrong with that, but...that doesn’t mean you have to live your life like a leaf in the wind. You do have a path, but you have to make an effort to stay on it or life will knock you off it.” He raised his cup, as if to salute Jeremy, then stood up.

  “Are you leaving?”

  “I have my own path, too.”

  “Are you a Taoist? A guide?”

  The hippie smiled and walked away, leaving Jeremy with a lot more questions and no answers. He reflected on what was said. Had he strayed from his path by going with the flow? He hadn’t examined that aspect enough. Did seeing Ollie again mean going with the flow?

  He got a refill of his coffee and headed for the door when his phone buzzed. His heart leapt, thinking it was Ollie. He set his cup on a table and pulled his phone out. A text from an unknown number.

  I no u called cops—very dangerous 4 u J—back off.

  What? Was that Nick? Star? He had a feeling it wasn’t them, but Dano who’d sent the text. Dano might have been more than a hot guy they hung around with. His stomach turned. He needed to tell Ollie about the text.

  He put his phone away and went home. Home to his aunt’s condo anyway. He missed his tiny apartment in Clearwater. It was a dump, but he’d personalized it carefully, making it something he could thoroughly enjoy. Ollie’s home was in New York, which seemed foreign to Jeremy. New York might as well be in a different country or on a different planet. They were both temporary residents of Jacksonville, and both had lives elsewhere. He needed to remember that Ollie couldn’t be anything more than a summer fling. He didn’t want to worry about it, but it would be very foolish to see Ollie again. He had to protect his heart. This thing between them had been more than a hookup, but it still wasn’t a relationship. Jeremy had to choose his path. Whether he liked it or not, Ollie wasn’t on that path. He was the wind knocking him off of it.

  He set his mind to get through the cleaning and put the condo on the market. He’d have to figure out how to get back to Clearwater afterward. Maybe he’d buy a new vehicle. His had been shit, anyway. Too many decisions to be made, when all he wanted was to go to work, hang out at the beach, and enjoy his days like he’d been doing before his aunt passed.

  Fourteen – Jeremy

  Journal Entry: Thinking about what the guide said. I need to make a decision today. Maybe just one.

  Jeremy’s phone beeped incessantly, waking him up the next morning. He peeled his eyes open to see the text from Ollie, Found your car. Can you come to the station ASAP?

  That pretty much determined how Jeremy would spend his day. He got dressed and called an Uber. He met the guy out front. His name was Carlos, and he drove a Honda Civic, green, according to the app. The green civic turned out to be neon green and very sporty. Carlos turned out to be a little standoffish. He said he needed the extra money but didn’t like strangers in his baby. He side-eyed Jeremy the whole way. He was polite with a goodbye and a fist-bump and a “Hope you work your shit out, dude,” before driving away.

  Jeremy went in and asked for Oliver Mendosa at the front counter. The station was very typical and pretty much like he expected with waxed linoleum floors and a caged in front desk with a few uniformed police officers manning it. It didn’t take long before a side door opened, and Ollie walked out.

  The sight of him in a pair of loose, tan cargo pants and a tight charcoal colored t-shirt that pulled against hi
s chest muscles made his dick tingle. All that luscious dark hair that he wanted to get his hands into shined under the fluorescent lights. Ollie smiled that smile he had that was full of warmth and said he was so happy to see Jeremy without needing to actually speak a word, and Jeremy’s heart did a backflip off the diving board of his common sense. Nothing was more important than spending more time with Ollie. More time doing fun things and more time in bed with him.

  He’d been determined to cancel their Saturday plans, but as Ollie casually walked over, he choked that thought back. “Hi.” His voice sounded too breathy, too desperate, but Ollie didn’t seem to mind since he smiled so wide, Jeremy worried his face might split in two.

  “Hey, J. Been thinking about you,” he said, leaning in and speaking quietly.

  “Me too.” Jeremy’s throat tightened.

  “We found your car, but it’s totaled. I have paperwork for you back at my desk. Come on.”

  Jeremy followed Ollie back the way he’d come. “Totaled? What does that mean exactly?”

  “I’ll show you the pictures. It was found out in North Carolina late last night. Destroyed. Burned. A complete mess.”

  “Ah...my Cruiser!” After a series of turns, they stopped at a desk, half cluttered with paperwork and half cleared of anything except one open file. The picture of his car sat right on top. Rather, what used to be his car. The interior had been torched, black with soot and nothing left. The front end looked mangled. “North Carolina? Sheesh!”

  “Right.” Ollie flipped through the file and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Jeremy. “This is the official report. Your copy. Give it to your insurance company.”

  He would, though his insurance probably wouldn’t help much. Jeremy sat down in a chair beside the desk with a thump. “Yeah, okay.”

  “Sorry. I mean it. I’m really sorry. Honestly, J, despite what I’d said, I didn’t think we’d even find it, so this was important.”

  “Okay.”

  “I can’t go with you tomorrow.”

  “What?” The abrupt change in the conversation threw him. “Why?”

  Ollie tapped the folder and closed it. “I have to go out to North Carolina.”

  “Oh.”

  Ollie shrugged, but he didn’t look at all casual. His shoulders stiffened and his back looked rigid. His wide happy smile fell into a scowling frown complete with crinkled forehead. “I don’t want to. And I’m afraid you’ll be gone when I get back.”

  Jeremy bit his lip. Decisions needed to be made. Just one. “No, uh...I won’t probably. I may be here another week. There’s still a lot to do, and I don’t have any way to get back home yet. So...” Decision made. He’d stick around for a bit longer. “I’ll wait for you. If you’re coming back. Yeah. Not going anywhere.”

  Some of Ollie’s previous smile returned, looking a little shier. “I’ll be back late Sunday. Will you come over?” He pulled a pack of candy out of his desk drawer and fiddled with the wrapper.

  “Sure. I’d like that.” There would be more time with Ollie. His heart took a few laps around the pool, doing the butterfly stroke. “Let me know when.”

  “I’ll text you when I know.”

  “Text. Oh. I almost forgot. I need to show you this.” Jeremy whipped out his phone and scrolled to his earlier text.

  “That doesn’t sound good, Jeremy. I don’t want you staying at the condo alone. Or at all. At least until I get back.”

  “I don’t have anywhere else to stay. I can’t afford a hotel. I haven’t worked for a few days, and I’m low on cash.” Jeremy took his phone back and noticed another text had come in. This one was from Uber. A notification that his funds didn’t clear and now he owed them an extra fee. “Shit.”

  “What another threat?”

  “No. Wait a second.” He flipped through to his bank app and entered his password. His bank account had negative numbers. He scrolled through transactions. “Shit. Look.” He showed Ollie the account.

  “That’s when we were at the beach.” Ollie glared at him.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t know.” The transaction was made in North Carolina. A large cash withdrawal that emptied his account. “I didn’t give them anything else. Only my car. I did notice I was short on cash after we went out with Dano, but I could have been careless with it, but if he took it, it was only a few bucks. And my bank card isn’t missing.”

  “They don’t need your actual card. Just the numbers off of it. I’d bet they got your address out of your glove compartment.”

  “Oh yeah. Registration paperwork and insurance cards.”

  “Call your bank. Right now.”

  Walker came in while Jeremy was on the phone with the bank and spoke with Ollie, handing him another file. He waved as he left. Jeremy waved back, but couldn’t talk to him, since the lady at the bank was telling him he needed to file a police report and bring a copy to their office. They would probably be able to refund the transactions, but it would take time. He’d be broke until he worked the mess out.

  When he hung up, Ollie handed him the file Walker had given him. “Tell me if you recognize anyone in these photos.”

  He looked closely. A lot of people stood around, maybe dancing. “Is this a party?”

  “Yes. I think so. Anyone?”

  Jeremy looked again. “This is Nick. By the bar in the red shirt.” He handed the picture back, pointing at Nick. “I don’t see anyone else. Not even Star.”

  “Hmm... Okay.” Ollie tapped on his phone. “You definitely can’t go back to that condo. Don’t let your family go back, either. Just in case.”

  “Do you think they’re dangerous?”

  “Yes. I can’t tell you any more than that. Please, trust me. Can you stay with your family?”

  “I’ll call Scottie now and see.”

  “If not, you can stay at mine.”

  A lovely suggestion. A part of Jeremy bounced around, cheering with his poor heart still doing the butterfly across his pool of common sense. He shook his head. “I can’t do that.” But damn, he wanted to.

  Fifteen – Ollie

  Ollie tapped the new information into the app on his phone. He was excited since it might help solve the case, but he also sympathized with Jeremy. His protective nature kicked in, making him do and say things that wouldn’t ordinarily be on the table yet—if ever. Stay at his place? No. Too early. But he’d spit that nonsense out. Offered it up, like he could save the day like some kind of hero. If he wanted to be a hero, he’d be on patrol. That wasn’t his thing. He’d joined law enforcement for the good he could do behind the scenes. Like his app.

  Jeremy declined staying at his apartment, instead going to his cousin’s place. Relief and guilt washed over Ollie, simultaneously. He wouldn’t linger, though. The main idea was getting Jeremy away from his Aunt’s condo. They were dealing with dangerous people, and he took the threat seriously.

  “So, what does that thing do exactly?” Jeremy tucked his phone back in his pocket.

  “It’s predictive software. It takes the information, like...your apartment location, what was stolen, when...stuff like that, and then uses it to predict where and when the suspects might strike next. It also hooks into a few police databases and predicts who might be a suspect.”

  “Is that how you got that picture of Nick?”

  Ollie’s eyes fell to the picture on top of the desk. “Yes. This guy, these people...” He gestured to the picture. “They aren’t who you think they are. They lied to you. I can’t tell you a lot, but I can tell you that this Star, yeah, she does not have a grandmother living in your complex.”

  Jeremy’s eyebrows pinched in, and Ollie swore his eyes darkened, ocean blue like the depths of the sea. He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, and Ollie wanted to kiss him. That wouldn’t happen here. “I wish I didn’t have to go, but I need to get this information. Fast. Please promise me you’ll stay at Scottie’s and do not go back to the condo. Not until I’m back.”

&nbs
p; “Sure. I was pretty sick of the place anyway. Scottie’s coming to pick me up. Man! I have no money, no car. I want to go home. That’s all.” He rubbed his face in his hands, clearly exasperated.

  “Hey. When I get back, if you still want to go, I’ll borrow Walker’s car and take you myself.”

  Jeremy peered up at him from behind his fingers. “You’d do that? For me?”

  “Yes. Hey, I offered to let you stay at my place... Look. I like you. A lot. I trust you. I know we haven’t known each other long, but...”

  “It’s been fun.”

  “Yeah, it has.” Ollie stared at his phone, purposefully avoiding eye contact with those gorgeous blues Jeremy flashed at him. “A lot of fun. I don’t want you to go back to Clearwater.”

  “I’ll stay. A little longer. Come pick me up when you get home on Sunday.” He pulled out his phone and stared at it. “That’s Scottie. I have to go.”

  Ollie stood and moved closer to Jeremy. He wanted to smell him, breathe him in, keep that memory while he was gone. “Text me the address.” He did lean over then and kiss Jeremy, lightly on the corner of his mouth. When that corner turned up in a smile, warmth spread through his chest, and a peaceful sensation took up residence inside him. “I’ll see you Sunday.”

  “Okay, sexy.” Jeremy winked at him, slyly.

  “Are you trying to flirt with me?” He laughed a little. “That’s too cute.”

  “Cute? Nah. Come on. You know I’m sexy.” He turned and wiggled his ass at Ollie. “You want this.”

  Ollie laughed again and grabbed Jeremy’s shoulders, spun him around and pulled him into a big hug. “You’re crazy. I like that.”

  Jeremy’s answer was deeper and husky. “I like you. Want you.”

  “Mm...that’s been great, right? Sunday. I promise.”

  “Okay. Don’t forget me in North Carolina.”

  “No way. Impossible.” Not ever.