by Avery Ford
He was nervous.
Which was dumb, of course.
As far as he knew, they were just going to have dinner there at Ben’s house. No fancy picnic in a magical glade, no road trip to Joplin.
Just the two of them together, having a nice time.
And hopefully some sex.
But that would just be a bonus. Chase was mostly looking forward to spending time with Ben without any distractions or other people around. There were only a handful of days left until Chase had to pack up and go, and this was probably one of the last times he’d get to see Ben one-on-one—especially like this, where they had the whole night to themselves.
The thought made him sad and sent a little pang of regret through him that they hadn’t tried anything this whole dating thing before. It had turned out better than Chase would have ever thought possible.
He thought it would be good, no doubt. It was him and Ben, after all. How could that ever be a bad thing?
But it hadn’t been just good. It had been fucking great. Almost too great, if Chase was being honest.
And that was what made him nervous.
He shoved a hand back over his buzzed hair and drummed the fingers of his free hand against the steering wheel. What was he scared of? That he might go in there and confess to Ben that he was having second thoughts about moving? That he hadn’t expected to get so attached to the idea of dating Ben, and now he was having a really hard time considering himself single?
Yeah.
Yep.
Chase was worried about all of those things, and then some. And the last thing he wanted to do was to ruin Ben’s night by letting any of that slip.
Ben had specifically warned him not to get too attached, and Chase should have done a better job of listening. Now he was going to have a really fucking hard time leaving—and that hadn’t been the plan at all.
Chase couldn’t tell Ben those things. Not tonight.
This night was going to be about fun and relaxation and spending time together.
His mind made up, Chase finally opened the truck door and stepped out onto the driveway. He was going to have a good time with Chase, and he wasn’t going to risk ruining it by talking about his feelings.
That was against Ben’s rules, and now it made perfect sense why he’d insisted on that rule in the first place. Ben somehow had already known what Chase was just figuring out.
Everything seemed to get complicated once feelings got involved, even between best friends.
Chase walked up to Ben’s front door and knocked, decidedly not feeling anxious about all of the things that were still on his mind. He was looking forward to seeing Ben, and that was what he was going to focus on.
A task made much easier once the door swung open and Ben welcomed him inside with a kiss. Jesus, the man’s lips and hands worked wonders in getting rid of Chase’s stress.
It never failed. If Ben’s sexy, soothing energy or whatever it was could be bottled up and sold, Chase would be carefree for the rest of his life. Being around Ben was just that good.
All the time. Every time.
“You’re early,” Ben said, taking Chase’s hand and leading him through to the kitchen. “Dinner is almost ready, though, so you won’t have to wait too long if you’re starving.”
“How could you tell?” Chase asked, stopping and pulling Ben back into his arms for another kiss. It was nearly impossible for Chase to keep his hands off Ben. Not that Chase tried very hard. “I tried to wait it out so you didn’t feel rushed or anything, but…” Chase shrugged. “I sort of gave up.”
“You don’t ever have to wait if you want to see me,” Ben said, smiling against Chase’s lips and sending a tingle through his body that made every single nerve ending come alive. “And it’s always a safe bet that you’re hungry, so don’t worry about rushing me. I’ve got plenty of food on hand.”
Ben cast a furtive glance toward the kitchen, and Chase reluctantly loosened his grip around the man’s waist. He didn’t want to be the reason for any burnt food, even if he was definitely willing to risk it for just one more kiss.
Or maybe two more.
Damn, he wished he had more time left before he had to move. It didn’t seem fair that the stars had only aligned for this tiny, perfect window of time. Why couldn’t Chase be this lucky all the time?
“Everything okay?” Ben asked, quirking an eyebrow as he looked back over his shoulder at Chase.
“Yep,” Chase nodded, belatedly realizing he’d probably been frowning at the thoughts that were running through his head. He flashed Ben a quick smile, and added, “I was just distracted watching your ass as you walked back to the kitchen.”
Ben gave him a skeptical look. “You’ve never been a very good liar. But that was almost a compliment, so I’ll take it.”
“Not a lie, and definitely a compliment,” Chase winked, leaning back against the cabinet. “Can I help with anything, or would you rather me stand here and ogle you some more?”
Sometimes it was a blessing and a little bit of a curse that Ben knew him so well. On the one hand, it was amazing to be around someone who understood almost every thought that passed through his mind. On the other hand, it did make it incredibly difficult to hide his feelings about anything.
He was determined to keep things upbeat for this night, though. They could talk about the heavy stuff later, if they had to.
When they had to.
Or maybe it would be easier if Chase just kept it a simple goodbye when the time came. He didn’t want to cause any more angst in Ben’s life if he could avoid it. God knows the man had already been through enough.
“I’m okay with the ogling,” Ben said. “But you’re giving me that look again, and I can tell when something is wrong with you, Chase. Why don’t you make it easy on both of us and just say whatever it is.”
“What look?” Chase shook his head. “Are you sure it wasn’t the look I get when I wanna jump your bones? Because that’s what I’m thinking about right now.”
Not technically a lie, since he was literally always thinking about getting Ben naked. Still, he was clearly doing a shitty job of keeping things light and upbeat if Ben was already concerned about him after the first five minutes.
“Oh yeah?” Ben asked. Chase could tell he was trying to look serious, but that failed when the corners of his mouth twitched up into a half-smile. “Does that mean you want to skip dinner? I made lasagna, but… I guess I could be persuaded to eat it cold if you’d rather do… other things.”
Jesus. Chase wasn’t sure if Ben was joking or not, but just the way he was looking at him with those sexy brown eyes had Chase’s dick throbbing. If Ben kept tempting him like that, Chase really would have to bend him over the kitchen counter—even with his all-time favorite meal waiting.
“I’d hate to see all that hard work go to waste, though,” Chase said, looking from Ben to the oven with almost equal amounts of lust. “Maybe we can compromise? Maybe… eat naked?”
Ben laughed. “Sounds like a dangerous thing to do with piping hot lasagna. Maybe we just do one thing at a time, then?”
“You drive a hard bargain,” Chase sighed. “But I am starving…” He paused, then added, “The minute we’re done eating, though, these clothes are coming off.”
Ben crossed the distance between them and placed a hand on Chase’s chest, then let his fingers slowly trail down the front of Chase’s shirt, over his abs until they reached his waist. “That sounds like a fair compromise to me. Just make sure you eat fast.”
Chase nodded, wide-eyed. The way Ben was touching and teasing him had made his throat so dry he couldn’t even speak.
As much as he was looking forward to Ben’s lasagna, he was looking forward to seeing Ben naked again even more. This was going to be the quickest meal of his life.
Despite Chase’s best efforts to eat fast and get naked as soon as possible, he found that he was still sitting in the dining room with Ben nearly two hours later—a solid hour af
ter they’d both taken their last bites of lasagna.
He always seemed to forget how easy it was to lose himself in conversation with Ben, probably due to the fact that in addition to being insanely sexy, Ben also had a knack for getting Chase into conversations that covered just about every topic under the sun.
As teenagers, they used to spend hours sitting around talking about everything and nothing, and Chase was grateful that they could still fall back into that same routine after all these years.
Even if they never did anything romantic together again after this week, Chase didn’t want to lose that ability to have those long, random conversations. No matter what else happened, Chase vowed that he wasn’t going to lose touch with Ben again like he did when he joined the Marines.
He could see clearly now what he’d been missing, and even though he was very proud of his military service, he was also ready to put that time behind him and move forward with his life—wherever that ended up taking him.
Across from him, Ben looked up at the clock on the wall and raised an eyebrow. “I think some congratulations are in order.”
Chase didn’t have any idea what Ben was talking about now, but he was more than happy to play along. “Okay. Congratulations.”
“Not for me,” Ben said, laughing. “Congratulations to you. It’s after eight o’clock and you’ve somehow managed to keep all of your clothes on. Through dinner and dessert.” He gave Chase a slow clap as he smirked. “That’s quite an accomplishment, Mr. Carpenter.”
Chase burst out laughing and threw his napkin at Ben. “You’re a real smartass, Mr. Harper,” he said, still laughing. “It’s a good thing you’re so damn sexy.”
Ben looked at him with an exaggerated pout. “And here I thought you liked me for my cooking skills.”
Chase grinned as he stood up from the table, but didn’t answer until he had walked around to Ben’s side of the table and helped him to his feet. He pulled Ben close and leaned in to whisper into his ear.
“I like you for all of your skills,” Chase said, nipping playfully at Ben’s earlobe. “In fact, I can’t think of a single thing about you that I don’t like.” He kissed Ben’s neck. “From your head…” Chase let his hands roam down Ben’s back until he was able to grab that perfect ass, lifting Ben off his feet as he their lips met again. “To your cute feet.”
Ben leaned back just enough to laugh and look into Chase’s eyes. “You liar. You don’t even like feet. You don’t even like your own feet.”
Chase grinned down at Ben. He did have a point, Chase couldn’t really deny that. “Maybe I’ve changed,” he shrugged. “You’re right that I don’t like my feet, though. But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate yours. Especially when they’re connected to those sexy legs, and this unbelievable ass…”
He gave that unbelievable ass another squeeze to emphasize his point, and was rewarded with a low moan from Ben. It was more than enough to make Chase’s cock strain against the confining jeans he was wearing.
“I don’t think you’ve changed that much,” Ben said. “But you’re making me so horny that I can’t remember what my point was.”
“Mission accomplished,” Chase kissed him again, his tongue caressing Ben’s, exploring Ben’s mouth insistently, hungrily.
He didn’t want to talk about feet or food or anything else at the moment, anyway.
All Chase wanted was to get Ben naked.
Now.
Chase rolled his hips forward, loving the way Ben’s cock felt as it pressed against his own, even if there were still way too many layers of clothing between them.
Which was a problem Chase intended to fix immediately.
“Oh my God, Chase,” Ben groaned as he pressed himself harder against Chase’s body. “Are you trying to torture me?”
“Never.” Chase tugged at the hem of Ben’s shirt, lifting it over his head and wasting no time before bending down and letting his teeth graze across one of those dime-size pink nipples.
Ben moaned louder, only encouraging Chase to nip a little harder while he brought his hand up to tweak the other nipple. He could feel Ben’s entire body tremble at his touch, and the strangled little sound that escaped from the back of Ben’s throat was almost enough to make Chase come undone right then and there.
Chase let his fingers meander across the light dusting of hair on Ben’s chest, down his abs to follow that happy trail as it disappeared into the waistband of Ben’s jeans.
He already had the button undone when Ben pulled back, taking Chase’s hands in his own. “Wait…”
Chase froze and pulled his hands back as if he’d been burned. Had he done something wrong? Pushed too hard? Surely Ben knew that he was just joking around about all the naked eating stuff earlier.
Well, he was mostly joking, anyway. He would have actually stripped down in an instant if Ben had asked.
“I’m sorry,” Chase said, searching Ben’s eyes for a sign of… whatever the problem was. “We don’t have to—”
“No,” Ben smiled, taking Chase’s hands again. “That’s not what I meant. I want to—to do this. But not here in the dining room. Not when I have a big, comfortable bed that’s just waiting for us back there.”
“Oh, right.” Chase exhaled as a wave of relief washed over him. “Good idea. Let’s, uh… go back there. Like, right now?”
Not that he didn’t like the kissing and the touching and everything they’d been doing in the dining room, of course. Chase would’ve been happy to do it on the table, on the countertops, on the tile floor—wherever and whenever.
But if the bedroom made Ben happy, that’s what Chase wanted, too. Preferably as soon as possible.
He somehow managed to keep his hands mostly to himself on the excruciatingly long trip to the opposite end of the house. But once they were in Ben’s room, all bets were off.
“Have I told you how fucking sexy you are?” Chase asked, burying his head in Ben’s neck and planting a line of kisses along his collarbone.
In the back of Chase’s mind, he briefly wondered when collarbones started being a thing that turned him on. He couldn’t even remember noticing that feature on anyone else, like… ever.
But on Ben, every part, every line and crevice and hard plane of muscle was something that deserved to be kissed, touched, and caressed.
“Oh my God,” Ben gasped when Chase made his way to the base of his throat. “Every time you—ah… kiss me… there… God, it feels so good.”
Chase paused and smiled against Ben’s skin, making a mental note to never, ever neglect that particular area.
Just hearing Ben speak in that low, breathless tone sent an electric jolt through Chase’s body. He could’ve been happy to kiss and touch and explore Ben’s body all night and into the next day… normally.
Not tonight, though.
This night, Chase was so full of emotions, so keyed up thinking about how happy Ben made him and how sad it was to think that he had to leave soon, that he was almost in a frenzy as he resumed undressing Ben.
He wanted that skin-on-skin contact that he seemed to crave every time he was anywhere near Ben. The kind that only happened when they were both naked and hard and pressed so close against each other that it was impossible to tell where one man ended and the other began.
Chase wanted that now.
Needed it.
“I wanna make you feel good,” Chase whispered, finally able to push those damn jeans and underwear down to Ben’s thighs and let his beautiful cock free. “I wanna kiss you and touch you and hold you all night, if you’ll let me.”
“Yes,” Ben gasped, but it was hard to tell whether he was answering Chase or just excited about the fact that Chase’s hand was now wrapped around his rock-hard cock. “God, yes. But I want you naked, too.”
He certainly didn’t need to ask twice.
As Ben kicked his own jeans and underwear free from his body, Chase undressed, getting rid of his shirt, pants, and boxers in the blink of an eye.
This was what he’d been waiting for, and Chase pulled Ben close, letting his hands roam up and down Ben’s back from his ass to his shoulders, savoring the way Ben’s body felt against him.
Chase’s cock throbbed as he leaned in to kiss Ben, first on his forehead, then his lips, then trailed down, down past his chest and stomach until Chase was finally on his knees in front of this sexy, naked man.
He kissed the head of Ben’s cock and then rubbed his lips along the shaft, smiling to himself that the way Ben’s leg had started shaking was because of what Chase was doing, because he was giving Ben pleasure, making Ben happy.
It was what his whole world was about when they were together.
Ben’s cock twitched under the attention of Chase’s lips, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, I get the message,” he said, looking up and tossing Ben a cheeky grin. “You want me to stop wasting time and suck it?”
“Yes—I mean…” Ben’s face flushed a delicious shade of pink. “I want you to do whatever feels right. But… yeah… if you don’t start sucking it, I might have a case of permanent blue balls.”
“I’d hate to be held responsible for that,” Chase said, turning his attention back to the cock that was bobbing right in front of his mouth.
He licked at the tip, where a clear drop of precum had formed, letting it sit on his tongue for a moment before opening wider and taking the head into his mouth. Ben moaned as Chase swallowed those first couple of inches, massaging the shaft with his tongue and hoping that it felt as good as the times when Ben had done it.
“Feels so good,” Ben murmured, reaching out and gently kneading Chase’s short hair and scalp in his hands.
He wasn’t pulling Chase in, but holding him steady, thankfully letting Chase set the pace and control the tempo. Chase slowly started to bob up and down on the shaft, careful not to take too much at once so he didn’t embarrass himself by gagging on the hot, thick cock.
Chase hoped he could make up in enthusiasm what he might have lacked in skill and technique, and judging by the way Ben’s eyes were closed and his head lolled back, Chase was doing an okay job.