by Zach Jenkins
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’d have to move all your stuff. All I’ve got are those two bags, and I’m used to sleeping on the couch. The spare room will be fine for me. Come on, show me around, and then let’s figure out what we’re doing for dinner. You don’t have enough to cook anything, and I don’t really want to go out anyway. Is it okay if we have something delivered?”
I picked up both his bags and nodded toward the hallway. “How’s Chinese sound? We can just pick out a bunch of things and share, okay?”
Even with my parents cutting off my flow of incoming money, it would take ages to spend what I already had and to max out all my credit cards. I made a mental note to check the balances soon to see what my situation really was.
“Sounds perfect. Very romantic.”
When I spun to face him, he started laughing. “Just kidding. It was fun to see you jump though.”
While showing him the room, I replayed the words in my head.
Is staying home and ordering food delivery really the kind of stuff he thinks is romantic? Is he that much of a homebody?
I set his bags on the bed. “Feel free to move into the dressers if you want. Make yourself at home. It’s as much your place as mine for as long as you want to stay here.”
“Sounds great. I’ll do that tomorrow, though. I’m kinda worn out after our whirlwind marriage. Everything was so rush-rush and hectic all day, I just want to sit down somewhere and read a book, maybe have a couple beers, and eat some spicy Chinese food. Please tell me you like it hot and spicy.”
I waggled my eyebrows at Icarus. “Hot and spicy is the only way to do it.”
I laughed when he blushed. “Two can play at that game, sir. Come on. Help me find my laptop so I can get this order in.”
“Can you pay again? I’m still broke.”
“Of course. But if there’s an odd number of almond cookies, I get to eat the extra.”
It felt good to be able to help him out with something so easily.
While waiting for the food, we sat on opposite ends of the couch.
Icarus had a book about real-life ghost stories, and I had a new book from one of the science fiction series I was reading.
“That any good?” he asked.
“Do you like when aliens make humans explode and then eat their remains?” I asked.
Icarus scrunched up his nose. “Sounds gross.”
“That’s the best kind,” I said, turning the page.
We both jumped up when the doorbell rang.
As I marched toward the front door, Icarus trotted to the kitchen. Without a word passing between us, we both moved as one.
By the time I’d paid, he had set plates, forks, napkins, and two open beer bottles on the coffee table.
“Did I forget anything?”
“Nope. Looks like we’re a good team.” I opened the little boxes and set them down in rows between our plates. “Dig in.”
We settled into a comfortable silence again while we opened our books back up and read while we ate.
Each time he’d lift his egg roll to his mouth, I would sneak a glance to watch his lips wrap around it. I would have been too embarrassed to admit it, even to myself, but the sight of it was getting me turned on, especially when a little of the sauce would dribble down his chin.
To distract myself, I took a swig from my beer. Icarus did the same. A few seconds later we both burped at the same time. Which sent us both laughing hysterically.
“God, that felt good. I never feel comfortable enough to do that when I’m dating,” I said.
Icarus shoved me on the shoulder. “You bastard. You never did it while we were dating either. You waited until I was trapped with this wedding ring. Now I can’t escape.”
I lightly pushed him back. “Hey, you burped, too. If I’d known what a pig you were, I would’ve given this whole thing serious second thoughts.”
Icarus leaned toward me, and wiped a little sauce that I hadn’t noticed from my chin with his thumb.
Time slowed as I glanced down at his thin finger and felt the light touch on my skin. I licked my lips to moisten them and was just about to make a move to suck on his thumb when he pulled away. I knew that doing so would cross a line. Straight men didn’t suck other men’s thumbs.
But straight men also weren’t attracted to Icarus the way I was, and I wanted to do something to show him that I desperately wanted more than Chinese food with him.
“There. That’s better. It was driving me crazy.”
I dipped my finger into the middle of my noodles and smeared a little sauce right back on my chin, and prepared to grab his wrist to make him do it again.
My heart pounded in anticipation.
I had no idea what his reaction would be, but I had to take the chance. The day had been beyond perfect, and it kept getting better with each passing second.
Alone with him in the privacy of my apartment, all I could think about was how badly I suddenly needed this man, as more than just a friend.
I needed his body, too.
A shiver went through me as I realized exactly what I was proposing. All it would take to get us started was for him to raise his hand again.
Instead, he tossed his napkin at me. “Let’s get it clear, I’m not going to be your maid. You can clean up after yourself.” He spoke in the carefree manner we’d been speaking to each other the entire night.
He wasn’t mad at me, but he had either not read my signals, or had decided to shoot them down.
“Hey, I’ll be back in a second,” he said. “I’m going to change into my pajamas and get comfortable since I’m not leaving the house again tonight unless there’s a fire.”
“That’s a great idea. I might as well go do the same.”
The moment apart would help me calm down.
I had let my imagination run wild.
Icarus was gay, but that didn’t mean he would be interested in me just because I threw myself at him.
At least the moment had passed quickly and maybe even without him noticing. I’d have to shut it down, but it looked like things wouldn’t need to be awkward between us.
When I came out of my room a few minutes later wearing just a pair of blue pajama pants, I laughed when I saw Icarus sitting on the couch in green ones.
“Nice pajamas,” I said.
“You, too,” he said, after a quick glance before diving back into his book.
His chest was smooth. He must have waxed it. I hadn’t seen many men with that look before, and certainly none that I found attractive.
Staring at his lean muscles and his tiny nipples, all I could think about was how hard it was going to be to live with my new sexy husband and not be able to touch him.
Nine
Icarus
The following Friday, Harley came along for another one of my tours. He brought a few friends, too. Plus, Earl, the old man we’d bumped into the other night, showed up, along with his wife and Chihuahua.
The group made one of the largest crowds I’d taken on my tour in ages.
It was hard not to imagine that meeting Harley was going to do good things for my career. He did a better job of marketing my business than I did. He definitely seemed more invested in it than I was, after so many weeks of no-shows at the end of last season.
If only I could tell how invested he was in me.
Life at his apartment had been going amazingly. Except for when he was away during his football practices, we were practically inseparable. He’d had no trouble blending in with my friends. Most days I thought they looked forward to seeing him more than me.
I know Echo did. He always ate at least twice as much as I did whenever we visited her bakery.
“The legend has it that every May twenty-fourth, on the anniversary of her death, if you stand right here and take a picture with one of the old-school Polaroid cameras, when the picture develops, you’ll see the ghost of Maribel Wilson.”
“That’s too creepy,” the blonde girlfriend of one of
Harley’s football buddies said.
“Where do you think she lives the rest of the year?” the guy asked, squeezing his girlfriend tight to comfort her.
I opened my mouth to answer, but Harley beat me to it.
He grabbed them both by the shoulders and spun them before pointing toward the backyard. “See that shed back there? Her parents used to lock her in there when she was misbehaving. Some say she blames herself for the fire that killed her and her family. Because of that, she has punished herself by confining herself to the shed except for that one night each year. The night of the fire. Isn’t that so cool?”
I couldn’t believe he’d remembered the details after just one tour.
He must’ve really been paying attention to me.
“But why would she still do that forty years later? Why doesn’t she just go away?” the woman asked.
We didn’t talk about that the night of my tour with Harley. I stepped in front of him so I could answer.
He wrapped his arm over my shoulder and pulled me back against his chest. He felt so solid and real. He was exactly the kind of man I needed to find some day after our fake marriage was through.
His move caught me off guard and gave him the chance to speak before me. “There’s a lot of theories about that. The one I believe most is that ghosts need an anchor otherwise they’ll get dragged off to the pearly gates for judgment. The shed being so small and dingy probably makes it easier to keep herself tethered to Earth. It’s easier to keep the details of a small, boring object firm in your head than something spacious or cluttered.”
“Are you sure about that?” his other football buddy asked. “Did Icarus teach you that or did you just get it off some random Google search? I’m not sure being a newlywed to a ghost expert makes you one, especially considering you guys just met last week. Why don’t you shut up and let the expert do the talking?”
His smile told me that this was just normal friendly fighting.
I personally thought Harley’s newfound interest in the paranormal was adorable.
I also happened to agree with him. There were lots of theories about what causes a ghost to haunt a certain spot, but that one made the most sense to me too.
They never gave me a chance to stand up for him, though.
“Speaking of your marriage,” the other friend cut in. He looked around for the old couple but they had wandered to the other side of the yard to get a better view of the shed and take some pictures. “What’s up with it? Is it legit? I mean, no judgment from me, but is this some kind of insurance scam or citizenship thing? I’ve known you my whole life and I’m having trouble believing that you’ve been hiding being gay all these years.”
Harley held up his ring. “It looks pretty legit to me.”
His friend punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Rings don’t mean anything. It just means you’re legal. I asked are you ‘legit’.” His friend made a circle with the fingers on one hand and poked his other index finger through it while raising his eyebrows.
I hadn’t really considered what Harley’s friends would think about all this.
Mine had been there from the start so they knew there were no real feelings between us.
It was probably much more confusing to his friends if he hadn’t explained it to them yet.
Before I could assure the friends that Harley was definitely still straight, and was just helping me out, I felt Harley’s hand on my chin as he turned my head, and then his lips on mine as he took my breath away with a passionate kiss that made me rise on my tiptoes as I turned my body into his, forgetting for the moment that he wasn’t gay at all.
With my eyes closed, I moaned as he pulled away.
What the hell?
Not that I was going to complain at all.
The kiss on our wedding day had been a fun, silly moment. Sure, he was a great kisser, but I didn’t think it had meant anything.
But being kissed so passionately right in front of his friends felt like a whole new level.
Before he let go of me, he whispered into my ear, “Damn, I want you.”
I gasped in surprise, but before I could answer, Earl poked me in the back with his cane and said, “I’m convinced. That there was a real kiss. But Ethel and I could teach you two how to do it right.”
Earl reached out his hand for Ethel.
One of Harley’s friends coughed while the other said, “We should probably head down to the next site before we run out of time, right? Please?”
Everyone laughed except Earl. “You goddamn prudes. You wouldn’t know passion if it bit you on the ass.”
I skipped ahead and waited for the group to follow. As I led them toward the next house a couple of blocks away, I stole several glances back toward Harley. Each time he was staring directly at me. Based on the expression on his face, he had something in mind. We made it through the rest of the tour in record time. I couldn’t wait to find out what Harley wanted.
Ten
Harley
“That was such a rush,” Icarus said, flopping onto the couch.
We’d come straight home after the tour, and Icarus practically killed me by rushing to his bedroom to change into his pajamas, acting like nothing had happened.
“God, it’s so great having that many people around, and needing to answer all their questions, and making sure they were all having a good time. And it couldn’t have happened without you. Thanks, Harley.”
My pulse was still racing, and whenever my imagination started to stray back to kissing Icarus, my dick would start to harden.
I had no idea what had come over me during the kiss. It was all I could think about since we’d come home over an hour ago, but I was too afraid to say anything out loud about it. I wasn’t sure if I was more afraid of him making fun of me or of him accepting my offer.
I didn’t even know what my offer had really been.
Will I really sleep with him if he gives me the chance?
I’d been swept up by my own rush of emotions during the tour. Watching Icarus perform, and knowing that at least part of the reason he practically glowed was because I’d helped by getting people to come on the tour, all without needing to use any of my family’s money, felt great.
The genuine smile that had been on his face through it all had left me feeling more than frisky, and I’d expected us to hurry straight into bed when we’d made it back home.
The thought of taking Icarus to my bed didn’t slow me one bit.
He was certainly attractive enough, if you were into men, as I was learning that I must be.
He was also friendlier than anyone I’d been with for ages.
I had no doubts at all of being with a man as long as it was with Icarus, I realized. Being gay, or, I guess, bisexual, didn’t really seem like that big of a change to me in the grand scheme of things. Sure, there would be plenty of people who would treat me differently, or maybe even badly, but anybody I actually cared about would be fine with it.
I thought so at least.
I really didn’t care.
Especially each time I saw Icarus again.
I looked his way, and when I caught sight of his naked chest and those thin pajama pants, I only had one thought.
I need this night with Icarus.
Steeling my nerve, I set down the book I was reading; finally ready to tell him I wanted to have sex.
As if reading my mind, without lowering his book, Icarus spoke. “So, that…thing earlier. I think you said you wanted me? What exactly would you like to do with me?”
I got dizzy imagining all the things I wanted us to do with each other’s bodies.
My mouth froze.
My palms got sweaty.
My dick was hard as a rock.
As I sat there unable to speak, Icarus looked over the top of his book and down at my crotch. His eyes went wide and he smiled. “Would it be easier for you to just show me?”
When he rubbed his palm over his own dick, and his eyes locked with mine, t
here was no going back. I was going to make him mine. He was my husband and I was ready to consummate the hell out of him.
The room seemed to be getting hotter, and maybe spinning a little bit, but I vowed not to let my nerves keep me from what I wanted.
Icarus.
As nice and sweet as he was to me, my thoughts were not pure, nor were my intentions gentle.
I undid the button on my pajama pants and my dick sprang free.
“Oh my. Aren’t you a big guy?” Icarus said playfully, bringing his hand to his lips and feigning surprise. He winked at me. “But I’ve known that from the day I moved in. Those pajama pants of yours are so thin they don’t leave anything to the imagination...and thank you for that nightly show.”
My confidence bolstered at his flattering words, I managed to say, “Suck my dick.”
I hadn’t started off meaning to sound so alpha and demanding, but I was so nervous that I couldn’t form a longer sentence.
Based on the smile on Icarus’ face, he seemed to approve.
He nodded, and threw his book across the room. As he made his move to crawl across the couch and over my body, he reached into his pocket and set something on the coffee table.
I couldn’t bring myself to look away from his mouth as I tried to prepare myself for the feel of those lips along my shaft. “What’s that?” I asked.
“Just a condom and some lube. I figured if you didn’t want to come in my mouth, it might come in handy if you decided to come in my ass.”
My dick twitched in anticipation. I was so hard that it hurt. I couldn’t wait another second.
When I reached for the back of his head to pull him down onto me, he said, “It’s about time.”
His tongue flicked across my slit as he tasted my wetness.
“Mmm. That’s good.”
He moved too slowly.
I wasn’t looking to be teased or played with to build up anticipation.
I just needed release.
I applied another light touch to the back of his head, and he followed my lead.
He steadily lowered himself, taking all that would fit before wrapping a hand around the base of my cock. Working his mouth and hand as one, and applying a firm pressure, he didn’t give me a chance to catch my breath.