“He suggests that I don’t go home for at least another week or two. If it’s an inconvenience, I can stay with Calliope or one of the girls.”
I leaned in even closer, the back of my hand brushing his jaw before I inched my fingers around to the back of his neck. “I’d prefer it if you stayed right here with me.”
“You would?” Alex licked his lips.
My heart beat, every muscle inside me taught with anticipation. “Yeah, I would.” Tightening my grip on Alex, I pulled him closer. The smell of coffee still lingered around his lips as I kissed him softly. “I was worried.”
“I know you were. I’m sorry. If there’s a next time, I’ll call you right after the cops, I promise.”
“I want you to call me because you want me with you. Work isn’t more important, your safety is.”
Alex leaned back. “But . . . but we just met, how can you be so certain?” He slid one hand up my Orange County Fire Department issued navy blue BDUs. He paused, fingering the edge of the pocket on my thigh.
“I’m certain, I knew it that first day. I had never felt anything like that before.” Taking several gulps, then reaching for Alex’s hand, I held it tightly. “I think we should talk first.”
“Okay, about what?” Just from his expression I could tell that I had totally baffled him.
“About our experience or lack of,” I stated.
“Oh. Don’t worry, Coop, I know that this is all new to you.”
“How can you tell? Can you smell the virgin on me? How many men are thirty-year-old virgins?”
“You’d be shocked by how many. Especially in situations like yours, where you know you’re gay but you are scared of people not accepting you, so you hide it. Girls do nothing for you and guys are forbidden just in case someone sees you and your secret is out.”
“But you weren’t ever afraid, you have no problem telling people to fuck off if they don’t like you.” Burying my head in my hands, I stared down at my black, steel-toe boots. They were scuffed and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d polished them.
Alex set Chiquita off his lap again, why he bothered I had no idea, she would just jump back up like she did last time. “Okay, little Fuck Trumpet, you need to go play with your toys for a while.” He grasped hold of my chin and lifted my face so that my eyes met his. “As you know, I was kicked out of my home for being gay, so I made my way to the nearest large city, which was Atlanta. By car it was just under three hours away, so I started walking. I got a few rides before a trucker gave me a ride the rest of the way. Her name was Alice.”
“Wait, all of your waitresses—”
“Yep, it was her idea to use the old diner show as a theme. Anyway, I’ll tell you more about Alice later. She wasn’t allowed to go into the city itself since she didn’t deliver there, so she dropped me off at a truck stop and gave me fifty dollars. From there, I found my way into the gay party scene, which is a totally different crowd from those who want a committed lifestyle. For years, I thought being gay was all about parties, drinking, and men.” Alex flung one hand in the air. “Don’t get me wrong, it still is all about the men, but now we are just a little more discriminating.” He winked.
It was at that moment I saw it. Ringo was his persona, the shield that protected him from feeling vulnerable, and Alex was his raw self, the side with the scars, the part of him that revealed his heart.
“I didn’t know any better and thought that was all there was until I saw an older couple holding hands and knew with my whole heart that was what I wanted. I moved on and headed to the happiest place on earth.” I laughed. “Orlando is supportive of the gay community, and they have supported me, which is why attending Pride Fest is important to me. I’m not trying to head down to the Keys or to the Magic Kingdom for red shirt day, but I am going to be part of something and return the support. Maybe someone who is lost will see me or see the queens and it will help them. I’ve got my life together, I know what I want.”
“And that is?” I asked, totally fishing for an answer that could take us to the next level.
“You, I want you, Cooper Dash. As crazy as this sounds, I can see myself growing old with you.”
“You’ve got a head start.” I teased since he was four years older.
Ringo
This was it. I could feel it in every bone of my body, okay, more in one particular bone.
“Follow me.” Cooper stood and held out one hand.
Instantly my Disney-lovin’ brain went to Aladdin asking Jasmine if she trusted him. Placing my hand in his gave me the strangest feeling ever. I was older than he was, more experienced, and yet, he was the protector, dominant, and quickly finding his footing in that role.
Cooper walked in front but was careful never to pull on my arm and add strain to my chest. When we turned the corner into his room, my breath was taken away, it was much like the rest of his house, nice not gorgeous, just nice. Ikea furniture, some accessories that a salesclerk said he needed or were shown on the cardboard insert that accompanied his bed-in-a-bag bed set. It was a dark plum purple, under certain lighting, it could appear almost black. There were a few matching throw pillows that had gold roping on them and white sheets that had purple flowers that matched those embroidered on the bed set.
Cooper and I sat next to each other on the edge of the bed, and he moved his mouth to mine but didn’t attempt to deepen our kiss. Instead, he rose, moving each touch of his lips around my face, then slowly edging down my cheeks, the curve of my neck, and slowly on to my collarbone. The faint smell of maple syrup lingered on him.
“Have you eaten since breakfast?” I asked.
He shook his head and continued his assault on my skin, moving his fingers to my jeans, button, and zipper.
Quickly, I placed one hand on his, halting his exploration. “I love this, I do, but are you sure?”
“Positive,” Cooper declared.
“Then let me show you, your first time needs to be memorable.”
“Was yours?”
I shook my head. “But I promise yours will be.” I pulled Cooper onto the bed next to me and then I stood so that I could trail my eyes along his muscular frame. Bending, I gently removed his boots and socks before standing back up to unfasten his trousers. I didn’t yank them down; instead I peppered kisses on his pelvic bone, then followed the smooth skin down into the valley of his pelvis. His skin was textured with goose bumps as he shivered each time my lips got near his cock. I lowered his clothes a tad more and his penis reflexed.
Placing one hand over the clothes covered area, I lightly stroked.
“Uhhh, mmmm.”
“You like that?” I asked.
“Yes, but don’t do too much, please. I want to explore you.”
“Don’t worry, we have plenty of time.” I continued my assault until his pants and boxers were resting on the floor and his cock was free.
I lowered to my knees and took in the earthy scent of man that hardy mixture of body wash and natural smell. Just inhaling Cooper had me feeling wild for him. I lightly licked around the head.
“Oh, god, Alex, don’t do that or this will be over before it barely begins.”
“Lie back, enjoy, think about what’s happening, who you’re with. We have all the time.”
“But I want to see you, touch you. Please.” Cooper held my gaze. “Please.”
I smiled and nodded, which was all the permission he needed. He jumped from the bed, yanked his T-shirt by the collar and tugged it up and over his head. Then he slowly unbuttoned my shirt and let it slide off my body. While he was doing that, I unfastened my jeans and inched them down over my hips before letting them fall. I stepped out of my jeans and we both moved back to the bed, I rested on my left side, and we were face-to-face, our bodies touching.
Cooper moved in for a kiss, and if I had the strength, I would have grabbed on to his hips and pull him even closer. But I could feel him getting harder, and that was enough.
Our lips melded, and o
ur tongues tangled as our kiss deepened. “Cooper, I love this, I do. I love feeling you.” I pressed my hips slightly forward, Cooper’s cock twitched against mine. “Are you sure you’re ready for this next step?”
“With you? Yes. I trust you, I want it to be with you. Sounds crazy, I know.”
“Not crazy at all, I’m flattered.” I wrapped my fingers around his throbbing cock and slowly began to massage up and down.
“Ohhh.” A sigh of satisfaction escaped Cooper’s mouth.
Increasing my grip, I continued my pace, thinking about how I could get my condoms and lube without coming across as if I expected more. Moving my thumb along the head, I trailed it through a bead of liquid and used it as lube to increase the tension.
“Oh, God, you need to stop,” Cooper begged.
But I didn’t want to, I wanted him to experience everything. Lowering my mouth to the tip, I took him in, and his groan of pleasure was probably heard by the neighbors.
“Alex, you need to stop,” he begged, but there was no way he wanted me to stop. I tightened my mouth and trailed my tongue up and down his long, hard shaft.
“Alex, oh, the pressure.” I lifted up, pulling him from my mouth slowly until I reached the very tip then dove back down, taking him to the back of my throat. “Fuucckkkk.”
He had no clue what his words were doing to me, they were fueling me.
“Please, please, please,” Cooper begged. I wasn’t sure what he was wishing for, so I crossed my fingers and wished that whatever it was that I was the one to make it come true.
I licked under the head. Cooper’s fingers pressed into my head, his hips thrust up, and warm liquid filled my mouth.
When he relaxed, I sat up and smiled. “That was wonderful.”
“How? You didn’t come. What can I do for you?” Cooper frowned at me.
“Stop, you don’t get it, there is no tit for tat. There is only next time. There is something different, something more . . . next time.”
I lay back, sleep suddenly overwhelming me, even though it couldn’t be much past four in the afternoon at this point.
“Hey, wake up,” Cooper said softly. “Alex, dinner is ready.”
I cracked an eye open and stared at him. He was fully dressed and tied back up into his tight little shell.
“Nothing fancy, I just reheated what my mom sent with us.”
Sticking my left arm up in the air, I held up one finger. “Okay, I’ll be there in a moment.”
Cooper turned and left, something about his demeanor burned worse than that heated bullet. Quickly picking up my clothes from the floor, I dressed before shuffling out to the kitchen. “Thanks for doing this.”
“No problem. You want water or Coke?”
“Water is fine,” I assured him as he grabbed two bottles and set them on the table.
He started eating but didn’t say a word.
“I can’t believe I haven’t eaten all day.”
“Yep. Sometimes sleep is more important.”
“Not just sleep,” I teased.
“Alex, don’t.”
“Why not? We have been in close confines for a week and a half. We were bound to have feelings, good or bad. I mean, we’ve barely been out of each other’s sight.”
“We barely know each other,” Cooper snapped back.
“Excuse me. I didn’t mean to be your first one-night stand.” His words hurt. “But I’ve met your family, you know all of my friends, we stayed up all night in the hospital talking. If you don’t know me then no one does.” I pushed my chair back and stood. “Obviously you need to get your tight little world back in order.”
“Alex, don’t. I’m just not ready—”
“Cooper, I’m not saying you have to commit your life to me, but I’ll be damned if our first major step forward will turn out to be a fight, my fault, or end up being your biggest regret. I think it’s best if I leave before I say something that I can’t take back.”
“I want you here, I need to know you’re safe,” Cooper pleaded. “I just don’t want anyone else to know; can’t you curb it for me?”
His words hurt me because I was a strong personality, and to some, it may appear that I was walking over him, but I wasn’t. I just deserved the same respect. “I’m not trying to force you out of the proverbial closet. Would I like you out, sure, but that is because I have feelings for you. Real feelings, and they have been growing stronger every day. But at the same time, you can’t expect me to go into the closet just to suit your comfort zone. It makes me feel cheap, skeletons are kept in the closet, not me.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just confused. I have no clue how I’m supposed to feel about all of this.” Cooper stared down at the floor.
“That’s the problem, you’re looking for how someone says you’re supposed to feel instead of looking inside yourself and understanding how you truly feel.” I picked up my plate and my bottle of water. “I’m going to my room.”
Dash
Ready to bang my head on the steering wheel, I sat in the parking lot of the station for several minutes, debating whether this was all worth it. Working at this station with Kevin and being stressed every single day I was on shift, was draining me.
After grabbing my stuff, I headed into the station and went straight for my locker. Ever since Kevin’s prank, I eased my locker door open, in preparation for whatever might be inside.
“Hey, how is everything?” Everly asked over my shoulder.
I tilted my head, and she was practically resting her face on my shoulder. “I heard it was a little tumultuous, I hope you didn’t go too hard on him.”
I busted out laughing. It was exactly what I needed to break the tension I felt.
“What? What’s so funny? Do I have something in my teeth?” She ran her tongue aggressively over her teeth.
“No, no, nothing like that. Just something you said made me laugh.”
“What?” I could see her replaying our conversation. “Oh my god, you’ve been hanging around Stella too much. Go hard on him? Is that what you’re laughing about?”
I started laughing again and couldn’t stop. No matter how much I wanted to.
“It isn’t that funny.” Everly crossed her arms.
“I . . . I . . . I know.” I just needed to get it out of my system. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time.
The alarm went off, Mallory’s voice came across our intercom system, “All fire units needed at Boone and Orange, multi-occupant fire.”
Within minutes, we were on the road rolling to the call. My four-man crew headed out in our rescue truck, which sort of resembled a small fire truck but the back was a medic room and transport for up to two patients. We were on scene if needed or assisting the other trucks if not.
As we fought our way through downtown Orlando traffic, I glanced over at Kevin. Events over the last few weeks played across my mind: Kevin appearing late at Bananas, all dirty and sweaty after the shooting, his increased intolerance toward not just me but all gay people, then there was him trying to get in to see Alex at the hospital with his minister. Hell, I had no clue if it was even a real minister.
“What’s on your mind over there?” Kevin asked over our closed circuit radios. “You thinking about those guys we just passed who were running shirtless?”
“Don’t start, Kevin,” Mac, the driver engineer—or, as we call him, the chauffeur—barked through our headsets. Mac was in charge of our crew.
The rest of the ride was silent, and when we pulled up to the scene, we all jumped out, happy to see stations fifty-three and fifty-five already there drowning the fire.
My team ran to the assistant chief, who was the highest ranking official on scene and therefore assumed control of the scene.
“AC, house fifty-two, paramedic crew one checking in.”
“Great, Mac, take your crew to that diner and check on the patrons, there were a few resting on the edge of the street still coughing.”
“On it, sir.” With that, we head
ed off.
It was hot as hell on this mid-June day in Florida, add to it the heat from flames still dancing high above the buildings and our biggest problem was going to be overheating. We would need to rotate in and out to avoid collapsing.
We checked on the staff and customers, but overall, they were fine, mainly shock and fear from what all happened causing a few to hyperventilate.
We walked around the area, stopping to check on anyone sitting on the edge of the street or that had soot on their faces or clothes.
By the time we returned to the assistant chief, the fire had been wrangled and the nearest department, station fifty-five, was in charge, so we were no longer needed. It didn’t take long before we were heading back.
“I bet I know why someone wanted to burn this place down,” Kevin stated.
“Why?” I asked.
“At the top is the gay rights office center.”
“How do you even know that?” Darren asked over the radios.
It was a good question, since not even I knew where the center was.
We got back to the station, and the firefighters headed off to shower because bunker gear could get rank in this heat. I grabbed a fresh shirt from my locker and changed into it before using more deodorant just to be safe.
We were all settled back into the common room watching Deadpool while Logan and Everly cooked. It was about halfway through the movie when I turned and saw this figure in white coming toward us. I couldn’t move, open my mouth to say something, or hell, even blink.
“Yoo hoo.” Everyone turned, and Everly and Logan stepped out of the kitchen to see who made that sound. “I have a singing telegram for one of you fine fellas.”
No, no, no. I couldn’t believe I was seeing Calliope in action. She was in the perfect rendition of Marilyn Monroe, white summer dress, tiny waist, vintage pumps, blonde hair, and ruby-red lips. I glanced over at Everly, who was laughing but holding her phone up, obviously recording this downward spiral.
Ringo, Slippery Banana: A Beautiful Love Story (Iron Orchids Book 7) Page 7