The Limelight

by Louisa Keller

“Do you need another?” I managed to gasp out, hoping against hope that he didn’t.

  “Just need you,” he panted.

  “Okay, okay,” I moaned, “just give me a second…”

  I withdrew my fingers and fumbled with the condom, eventually managing to rip it open. I rolled it down my cock, breathing deeply and concentrating on not coming. Levi made an impatient sound and leaned forward to nuzzle against my chest.

  “Please, Porter—”

  “I’ve got you,” I assured him, shuddering as I slicked lube over my cock. God, I wanted him so much. “Just…can you get up on your knees for a sec?”

  He obeyed, scrambling up to allow me to line myself up with his hole. Then, before I could even get out the words to tell him I was ready, he was sinking down onto me.

  It was the sweetest sensation, being engulfed by his heat, the tight squeeze of him. My cock throbbed almost painfully and I drew him into a deep kiss. My cock in his ass, my tongue in his mouth. I was exactly where I wanted to be.

  “Feel so full,” he mumbled against my mouth. I smiled and gave an experimental thrust. To my delight, he shimmied his hips, meeting my thrust and begging for more.

  “That’s it baby,” I whispered. “Take me as deep as you can.”

  He pulled almost all the way off and then sank down even further, taking me all the way to the hilt. I gave a shuddery little gasp and began pumping my hips, grinding into him. His hands were braced on my chest, and he began to squeeze at my nipples, pinching them between his fingers and sending little zips of lust through my entire body. I didn’t expect my orgasm to hit quite so quickly, but all of a sudden it was crashing over me, running down my spine and each of my limbs, impossibly hot and electric. I spilled into him, just the condom between us, and then I went limp.

  Sinking into the mattress, I smiled up at my beautiful Levi. He was beatific above me, still working himself on my cock in the last few seconds before it began to soften. Then he pulled slowly up and off, grimacing at the loss. I mustered the last of my energy to flip us over so that he was lying on the bed on his back with me more or less draped over him.

  I kissed at his hips and stomach as I reached down and pushed three slick fingers inside of him. He let out the sweetest little whine I had ever heard and planted his feet on the mattress so that he had enough leverage to thrust against my fingers. I pumped them in and out, fucking him desperately. The only thing I wanted in the entire world was to see my lover come undone. And Levi, my lovely punk prince, did not let me down. One moment he was thrusting and moaning, and the next he was arching his back, his eyes falling shut and his mouth opening in a silent cry of ecstasy. His cock spurted a veritable fountain of cum across his abs, and I fucked him through it with my fingers. Leaning forward, I swept my tongue through the mess, savoring the salty taste.

  He was sensitive afterwards, squirming a bit on the bed, but he reached down to stop me when I made to remove my fingers.

  “Not yet,” he begged me.

  So, I nodded and kissed him and flexed my fingers within his spent body.

  “You are incandescent,” I told him, my voice coming out utterly wrecked.

  “So’re you,” he slurred, clearly exhausted.

  “Was this what you wanted?” I asked, twitching my fingers just to tease him.

  He hissed, clearly torn between loving the sensation and wanting to get away from it.

  “It was everything I could ever have dreamed of,” he muttered.

  In the end we had to disengage. Much as I would have loved to stay nestled in his body forever, even Levi had a limit. I slipped my hand out and away, enjoying the way his hole twitched, clearly mourning the loss. He curled up to me, already barreling toward sleep, but I coaxed him into the bathroom to clean up.

  We crashed back into the bed as soon as we got out of the shower, and then we were tumbling into unconsciousness, our bodies wrapped snugly around each other without anything between us.

  I woke to the soft sounds of Levi puttering around the hotel room. I lay there for a minute, taking inventory of my body and just enjoying Levi’s presence first thing in the morning. Soon, however, the desire to speak to him, to touch him, to hear his voice, became too much.

  “What’re you doing?” I asked quietly.

  He turned to face me, a soft smile on his face. I felt my heart clench with something that felt suspiciously like love.

  “Getting your caffeine fix,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

  I propped myself up on my elbows and regarded Levi. He was so beautiful.

  “I’m good,” I told him. “Really good.”

  His expression was amused as he said, “Don’t sound so surprised.”

  I flushed and muttered, “Sorry.”

  “Well, I’m glad that you’re feeling good,” he said.

  I nodded and opened my mouth to say…something. But I wasn’t sure exactly what I should say to him in the light of the morning. And the uncertainty of the daytime was sending me into a typical Porter anxiety spiral. God, I wanted to go back to the night before and just stay there forever.

  “Will you come back to bed?” I finally asked.

  Levi’s face broke into a huge smile and he nodded, making his way back toward the bed and crawling right into my lap.

  “God, you’re gorgeous,” he murmured, his eyes raking over my face. He looked so peaceful, so full of affection, that my heart felt like it was swelling with joy. I was on an emotional rollercoaster, careening around with Levi at my side. Oh, what a ride to be on.

  “You’re staring,” I said.

  Levi came right back with, “You’re letting me.” His voice was positively awestruck, and it warmed me from the inside out.

  “I guess I am,” I said, my gaze flicking down to his full lips.

  Those lips will be the death of me, I thought fondly.

  Then I was kissing him sweetly, dragging my own lips across his. Of course, it only took Levi about a second to escalate things, cupping my jaw and shifting against me in a tantalizing way that made my cock stir.

  “Fuck,” I muttered.

  He ground down against me, showing me how hard his cock already was, and I let out a little groan.

  “Fuck indeed,” he said, clearly pleased with himself. “How do you want me?”

  He reached for my cock, stroking it lovingly. I shuddered, bucking into his touch.

  “God,” I moaned.

  He was pulling out all the stops, running his thumb around the head of my cock, sliding his fingers along the sensitive vein on the underside, teasing at my perineum.

  “Maybe…on my back?” he suggested. “Or…on all fours?”

  “Jesus Levi,” I began, but we were interrupted by Levi’s phone. It was vibrating against the bedside table, the noise exceptionally loud in the quiet moment.

  “Ignore it,” said Levi. “Where was I?”

  “On…” I tried, swallowing thickly. “On all fours?”

  “Right. Or I could—oh for christsake,” he grumbled as the phone buzzed again. He rolled off of me and grabbed it, then froze as he read his missed text messages.

  “Everything okay?” I asked, reaching out to rub Levi’s back soothingly.

  “I’m not sure. Cooper asked me to call him, is it okay if we pause for a sec?” he asked, reaching down to adjust his cock.

  “Of course. Should I leave, or…?”

  God, I thought, it must be serious if he’s delaying sex to take a phone call.

  “Nah,” said Levi, “I’m sure it’s fine.”

  Cooper picked up almost immediately and I could hear his voice even from a couple of feet away, tinny through the speaker.

  “Levi, thanks for calling,” he said.

  Levi stiffened visibly. “No problem, what’s going on?”

  “We have a bit of a situation,” said Cooper. “Is Porter with you?”

  “Yeah, he’s here,” said Levi.

  “Put me on speaker,” Cooper said.

  �
�What?” asked Levi. “Why?”

  “Just do it, Levi, I have like ninety seconds before I have to go.”

  Levi rolled his eyes but did as he was told.

  “Okay, you’re broadcasting loud and clear, what’s the big emergency?”

  Cooper didn’t beat around the bush. “Somebody got pictures of you guys making out at some club last night.”

  The anxiety hit me all at once. I didn’t even have a chance to scramble for control before I was freefalling into panic. Questions raced through my mind.

  What does this mean for us? For the band? We fucked up, didn’t we? Oh fuck.

  Levi snorted, completely oblivious to my freak out. “That’s it? You’re freaking out because someone saw us kissing?”

  He looked over at me and his expression shifted.

  “Levi,” said Cooper impatiently. “I thought you should have a heads up before you leave the hotel room. This isn’t a small thing, it’s all over the internet. The band is on the brink of being huge right now, you’re trending all over social media. You know the talent scout last night was singing your praise on Twitter? You should check out the stats on Spotify, they’re skyrocketing. So yeah, people care that our front man was groping another guy in public last night.”

  Oh no. This is bad, this is really, really bad.

  “We didn’t do anything wrong,” argued Levi. “What, you’re mad because an openly gay guy was doing gay things?”

  “I’m not mad,” said Cooper. “You’re right, you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re not in trouble, I’m not lecturing you, I’m warning you that there’s a lot of attention coming your way. So, I thought you should know before someone shoves a camera in your face and starts asking about your sex life.”

  Cameras? Abort, abort…

  “Oh, come one,” said Levi, “nobody cares about my sex life.” He shot me a look and added, “Well, except for Porter.” Then, directed at me: “You okay?”

  I blinked slowly. “I’m…not sure.”

  Cooper made a sympathetic noise. “Hang in there, Porter. I’ll be there in a few hours and we can come up with a contingency plan for keeping you out of the limelight. I’d suggest you both hang tight and stay clear of the internet. But I know you’re probably going to ignore my advice, Levi, so for the love of God use common sense if you venture out.”

  Leaving the room was the last thing I wanted to do. With the threat of unsolicited attention hanging over me, I just wanted to crawl back under the covers and never resurface.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Coop,” Levi snapped. “Enjoy your meeting.”

  “Have a good morning, guys,” said Cooper, and then the line went dead.

  My breathing was rapid-fire, my pulse racing, the edges of my vision darkening. I was descending into panic, and I had no idea how to swim back to the surface.

  “Goddamn,” said Levi, “what a way to start the day.” Then he saw my face and added, “Oh shit, I’m sorry. You’re upset…uh…this is going to be okay. You’re…it’ll be fine. I’m so sorry about all of this, Porter.”

  I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t think. So, Levi took over, maneuvering us so that he was lying flat on the bed and my head was resting on his chest. His arms were strong and sure around me, and my tortured mind latched onto that sensation. The waves of my panic crested and crashed, whipping me between one terrifying thought and another.

  We messed up. This is wrong. We’re not going to make it. I’m not going to make it. This is the end of everything.

  I had no idea how long I was out of it, trapped in my own head, but after a very long time I found the words I needed to say.

  “Can we just stay like this? Away from everyone else?”

  My chest clenched as I waited for Levi’s answer. But of course, he was perfect.

  He hugged me tightly and said, “Of course. It’s just you and me.”

  >>DOM: Saw the news

  >>DOM: You doing okay?

  >>DOM: Give me a call when you have a chance

  >>CARSON: Hey man, just wanted to make sure you’re okay

  >>CARSON: Let me know if you need anything

  >>LEO: fuckkkkkkkkk yeah

  >>LEO: get some!!!!!1!!

  >>FINLEY: It’s been over 12 hours since you went viral

  >>FINLEY: Why haven’t you spilled the deets??

  >>FINLEY: Do you not love me? Is that it?

  >>FINLEY: Porter PLEASE

  >>FINLEY: I can’t believe you scored with a rockstar before Leo did

  10

  Levi

  New York, NY/Pittsburgh, PA

  Self-control wasn’t exactly my strong suit.

  I made a real effort for Porter—of course I did, he was quickly becoming my favorite person on the planet—but the minute he wandered into the bathroom to take a shower, I opened up Twitter and started reading through the avalanche of press relating to my band and my love life.

  The pictures themselves weren’t as bad as I had been imagining. They must have been taken shortly before Porter and I hustled off to the bathroom, because we were on the main dance floor, pressed tightly against each other. And yeah, there was one where we were clearly groping each other. It’s not like anyone could write it off as platonic. But it wasn’t like we were caught in flagrante delicto.

  The comments, of course, were more risqué than the pictures themselves.

  Pop-punk front man caught getting it on with mystery man in public!

  Levi Montgomery throws decorum out the window!

  He’s got the sex and the rock’n’roll…all he needs is the drugs!

  Rising star gets his rocks off in hip club!

  What ever happened to a good old-fashioned clandestine affair?

  Gay rock star tanks career before it’s even begun!

  Who’s the lucky man who stole Levi Montgomery’s heart?

  Mysterious beardy man scores with punk prince!

  So, there was all of that to contend with. I should’ve probably been pissed, but I was actually kind of amused by the whole thing. I mean, I was a performer. If I couldn’t handle a little attention, I definitely wouldn’t be making it far in this industry.

  And then there was the fact that the talent scout had promoted us like crazy on Twitter and Facebook and pretty much every other social media platform. We were making it big. His words had catapulted us, overnight, from an up-and-coming band to the kind of band that would consistently sell out shows. I could practically see people lining up hours in advance to get as close as possible to the stage, desperate to see Serotonin Sindrome on our first tour.

  Down the road, those people would tell their friends, Yeah, I saw them when they were first getting big.

  I was basically salivating over the thought. God fucking dammit, we were doing it. My music was going to resonate with people all over the world. They would throw my songs onto playlists with Green Day and Panic! at the Disco and Simple Plan.

  Fuck me.

  But then I started sinking into the bowels of the internet, spiraling from link to link. And there were some really scary things circulating around. Some indie streaming app that was developed by a bunch of guys from Georgia had taken all of our songs down. There were an awful lot of people posting about the sanctity of marriage (which, like, didn’t apply to our situation at all?), and bitching about how I should be a positive role model. That constantly-misinterpreted passage from Leviticus was all over the place.

  I guess I knew that hate was going to come along with fame. But that was the first time that I had been tagged in a snarled mess of abusive posts, my name showing up alongside words like “hellfire” and “damnation.”

  Maybe Cooper’s right, I thought. Maybe we should lay low for a while.

  So, I ordered us room service and set my phone aside and waited for Porter to come out to join me. When he was finally done with his shower, we curled back up together and feasted on whatever I had ordered. I forgot what I was eating before I had even cleared my
plate.

  Porter was very, very quiet. And even though I wanted to comfort him more than I wanted just about anything else, I was at a total loss as to how I could do that. So, I just held him close, my arms around him, and hoped against hope that things wouldn’t go to utter fucking shit.

  “How are you holding up?” Cooper asked, his eyes flicking from me to Porter.

  I shrugged. “I’m not really sure, to be honest.”

  Porter was looking anywhere but at Cooper.

  “Well,” Cooper said, “I want to fill you in on the meetings I had today. I think it will make you feel better.”

  “Were they about this?” I asked, gesturing between Porter and myself. “About us?”

  “Mostly,” said Cooper, “although we were also conference calling with the talent scout. He left for the UK this morning, but he was singing your praises. And judging by the reaction from everyone else in the meeting, you are well on your way to negotiating a fantastic contract.”

  My chest felt like it was going to burst. I mean, come on, you’re a kid like me just bee-bopping your way through life, and then one day your dreams start coming true right before your fucking eyes? You’d be over the moon too.

  “You really think so?” I asked, leaning forward.

  Cooper nodded, smiling at me. “I really do. Not everyone can make it in this industry, Levi, but I think you all are building a really solid foundation.”

  Porter, who had been examining his fingernails, chimed in at last.

  “I didn’t fuck this up for them, did I?”

  I turned to him, my brow furrowed.

  “Why the hell would you think that?” I asked. I mean, Jesus Christ, that was the last thing on my mind. “Coop, tell him—”

  “I really don’t think so,” Cooper said, reaching out to place a hand on Porter’s shoulder. “I hope I didn’t give you that impression this morning. You haven’t harmed the band’s trajectory at all. In fact, this kind of situation is where the phrase all press is good press comes from. This happened the same night the band got promoted by a huge name. We can spin this so that it works in our favor.”