Pranked

by J J Riley

  The memories made me chuckle even while they made my heart twinge. Pushing away the darker memories that followed I turned my attention to adding the last details to the pie in front of me. An apple pie wasn’t a very fancy dish, but it was my mother’s recipe that she made every Christmas and I carried on that tradition once I had my own place. Placing the last strip of lattice for the top of the pie, I carefully picked it up and placed it in the heated oven.

  Now I just had to wait and clean the place up before I sucked it up and went next door to see Jasper. If he will even let me. I wiped a hand across my face and laughed at the flour that I belatedly saw covering my arm. I guess I’d add another shower to that list of things to do.

  It didn’t take nearly long enough to clean up and in no time at all I found myself sitting by the oven with no distraction from the thoughts I had tried to push away earlier. After my mother died I was shuffled from foster home to foster home. Some weren’t bad at all and others I couldn’t wait to leave. There never seemed to be enough food at any of the homes, which was crazy considering I knew they got money for each kid they took in. I would watch the others push the younger kids out of the way to make sure they got a big share leaving the newer kids with barely anything to eat. A few times there wasn’t anything left and if we mentioned that to the parents all we got were glares or the sting of their hand for our impertinence. One incident really stuck out, it was my third or fourth foster home in two years and these parents were particularly nasty. The fridge was always locked and the mom always carried the key with her so we couldn’t eat without their permission, which was only begrudgingly given during meals.

  It was dinner time and I was slipping through to try and get one of the last portions of some nasty microwave fish sticks when an older kid, Levi Ward, pushed me out of the way to grab it.

  “Those were mine.” I thought I had whispered the protest softly but Levi turned to glare at me. Fuck.

  “What did you say to me punk?”

  I looked from side to side but the other fosters had turned at Levi’s words so I didn’t have a clear path to an exit.

  “I’m talking to you, four eyes.” Levi stepped up close and poked me in the chest hard enough that I stumbled back a step. “You got something to say?”

  I cleared my throat and shook my head. “No. No I didn’t say anything.”

  Levi smirked down at me and took a bite of the food right in front of me. “I didn’t think so.”

  My stomach let out a grumble as Levi turned around and he let out a taunting laugh that the others joined in as I stood there hungry and embarrassed.

  The jarring beep of the stove slowly dragged me out of the horrible memory and I jumped up to pull the pie out of the oven so it could cool before I walked it over.

  I hadn’t let memories of foster care or Levi Ward bother me in years. We both had been trying to survive in a household that tested it on a daily basis. I saw from others that the parents hadn’t been above corporeal punishment to get their point across, but I guess I had been lucky to not be on the receiving end of it. I just had to wonder if the only meal I’d get each day was school lunch or if I could push my way in to grab a share before it was gone.

  I groaned as I couldn’t seem to pull myself out of the memories and dug my phone out of my pocket dialing Leo’s number.

  “Ez, you know I have plans today. Wait, shouldn’t you be with your man volunteering right now?”

  I didn’t say anything for a minute trying to gather myself. As if Leo could sense it his voice became serious.

  “Ezra you better start talking to me or I’m coming down there myself. What’s going on? Did Jasper do something?”

  “No. No it’s not Jasper. If anything I d-did something dumb. I just, I can’t pull myself out right now. I can’t seem… I can’t seem to stop spinning.”

  I heard some rustling on the other end of the phone and then Leo talked louder. “You’re good, Ez. You aren’t in those homes anymore. If you want anything you can get it. Nobody is there to hurt you.”

  “I know that. It’s just… I don’t know why I can’t shake it off right now.”

  Pause.

  “Have you thought about seeing the therapist I’ve been telling you about? I think you should give her a try.” His voice was soft, but I could hear the steel underneath the suggestion. And I couldn’t disagree anymore. For whatever reason, the past year or so had been hitting me hard and maybe talking again would help me work through things I didn’t realize were unresolved.

  “I think you’re right.” My voice cracked. “I’ll call to make an appointment tomorrow. I just need—”

  “Ezra do you know what set this off?”

  “No, not really. Maybe.” I let out a sigh. “I’m just confused and raw from the bit of memories coming back to me.”

  “Why don’t you do a Hallmark movie marathon? I know how you like those cheesy movies,” he teased. “Plus something light could help even if it’s just happy background noise.”

  I took a deep breath, “That’s actually a really good idea. I’ll do that after.”

  “After what?”

  I groaned. “I was kind of a jerk this morning to Jasper so I’m going to apologize.”

  “This morning? As in Jasper stayed over last night?”

  “I am not talking about this right now with you.”

  I could almost see Leo’s pout at my words. “That’s not right, Ez. We’re best friends. No worries though, I’ll get you to share later.”

  I let loose a laugh and smile. “Thanks for helping me feel a bit better.”

  “Always, Ez. Now go apologize for being an asshat and call tomorrow. I’ll bug the shit out of you until you do.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I promise.”

  “Good.”

  Click.

  I put my phone back in my pocket and stared at the apple pie in front of me. Apologize to Jasper then Hallmark movie marathon for the second day in a row. Hopefully this talk with Jasper goes smoothly because I’m not sure I can handle more bad memories today.

  Jasper

  The moment I heard the knock on the door, I knew it was Ezra. Part of me wanted to ignore him, but the bigger part of me, the more rational part of me knew he didn’t mean it. It didn’t excuse his words, he was kind of an ass, but I think I was more embarrassed than mad. I wasn’t ashamed of having consensual, casual sex, but I hated the thought that it bothered him… that he’d think less of me. His opinion mattered more than anyone else's, and boy was that a big revelation to have this early in the morning.

  After letting him sweat for a second, I made my way down the stairs to the door. My heart clenched at the look on his face. It was deeper than guilt, something was off. I opened the door to greet him, but he cut me off before anything came out. A bit of that fire shone through, and a smirk fought to move across my face, but I held onto my mask of indifference.

  “Look, I was a dick. I don’t think less of you for having the confidence to be yourself and certainly not for having sex. I had no right to say that and I didn’t even fucking mean it, I was letting my anxiety talk and you didn’t deserve that. I promise to do better,” he rambled, seemingly barely holding it together. He finally took a breath, but trudged on before I could respond. “Don’t say anything right now. Think about it, okay? Also, I thought the fact you were making your mom’s cocoa was really sweet, so I figured I’d share a bit of my mom with you. This was her recipe, it’s still a bit warm, so be careful.” He pushed a dish, I belatedly realized he was holding, into my hands and he started talking again before I could keep up with the whiplash his ramblings gave me.

  “Okay, please call or text me later or whatever if I haven’t completely fucked this up.” He tried to turn and run, but I wasn’t having any of that. I tossed the pie on the bouncer’s table as gently as I could before lunging forward and snagging his coat. I gave it a tug, sending him flying into my arms, holding him close.

  “You think I’m that delica
te, Sweetheart?” I whispered, nibbling at his ear and making him relax into me.

  “I’m so fucking sorry,” he whispered, his voice cracking and making me tighten my arms around him a bit more.

  “Ezra, if we’re going to be dating, it won’t be the only time one of us does something stupid. So, let’s not keep apologizing and dwelling on it. How about you come upstairs and we share your mom’s pie and watch a movie. I might even be persuaded to watch an adorably cheesy holiday movie, but it’ll cost you.”

  I lightly traced the edge of his ear with my tongue and as I kept a close hold on him I could slowly feel him start to relax fully into me, realizing I wasn’t going to hold this morning against him. After a few minutes of savoring him in my arms and memories of last night twining together I felt him hum slightly.

  “Oh yeah, and what’ll it cost?” he said, turning in my arms and smiling softly up at me. I grinned at the mischievous spark in his eyes again. I hated seeing him lose that, even for a few moments. Fuck, I’m in this way deeper than I thought.

  Instead of answering, I smiled smugly and pulled him in for a kiss. I meant it to be soft and sweet; it was anything but. The heat that seared through me had me groaning into his lips, tasting him the moment he parted his lips for me. Despite the fire in Ezra, he practically melted into me with each kiss, something primal in me preening at the unspoken compliment. Ezra was a man of controlled emotions and masks. If I could turn him into this, then I was definitely doing something right.

  “Can we take this upstairs?” he begged, stepping closer so his hard cock was pushed against my leg. I let out a low growl, not sure where it came from but not stopping long enough to question it. Sweeping an arm behind him, I urged him to jump up. He didn’t hesitate to comply, wrapping his arms and legs around me as he broke the kiss, kissing his way down my neck as I tried to navigate our way through the bar to the entrance of my apartment. The moment his teeth dug into my sensitive skin, I knew we weren’t making it upstairs. My eyes locked on the pool table in the back, out of the view of the front windows and I sauntered over with a grin.

  “Jasper, no!” he protested as I deposited him on the edge of the table. “We can’t in here, what if someone walks in?!”

  “There’s no reason for them to, plus, I want you, now. Turn around, Ezra.” He whimpered at the order, putting his hands on the table and spreading his legs, giving me a perfect view of his bubble butt. He shivered as I ran my hands over the curve of his ass, before circling his waist with a firm grip. My cock was so hard that it hurt and I was done playing, I grabbed the band of his sweatpants and yanked them down, groaning when I realized he was commando. A flush of warmth went through me, realizing he was probably so upset and wanting to fix things that he didn’t bother with them.

  Grabbing the wallet still in my jeans, I took out the lube and condom I kept in there before dropping my pants too. There was nothing sweet about this encounter, but I wanted him too fucking much to care.

  “You’re so fucking sexy. You should feel how hard you make me,” I teased him, letting out a groan as he reached around to give my dick a slow tug. He parted his legs more, grinding his ass into me at the same time. That was all I could take, I tore open the packet and slicked my fingers, forcing myself to not rush as I teased my hand between his cheeks. His moans were taking on new heights as I slowly pushed one finger inside, pumping it in and out before adding another. The moment I teased over his prostate, he collapsed onto the pool table, his chest and face resting on the green felt as I fucked him with my hand.

  “I can’t wait, Sweetheart, you feel too good,” I hissed, pulling my hand away before grabbing the condom and rolling it over myself, using my slicked hand to add more lube before slowly pushing inside him. His body barely resisted me and he was already pushing back into me before my balls were hitting his ass.

  He felt so good that my dick was ready to explode the moment I thrusted into him. I kept pace with long deep thrusts, my legs shaking with my impending orgasm. I could feel the pressure building, my entire world narrowed down to this moment, to his noises and the feel of his heat around me.

  “More,” he begged, trailing off into incomprehensible phrases as I picked up the pace. I was fucking him so hard that the entire pool table was protesting under the sudden movements, the sound of our skin slapping together just as loud. I shifted him, moving my hands to his thighs and lifting his smaller frame into a new position so I could hit his prostate with each thrust. I didn't even have to wonder when I hit it, his cries taking new heights and his blunt nails clawing at the felt before he was exploding, painting the base of the table with his cum. I groaned as his body tightened around me, begging me to come with him. I thrust with everything I had until I tightened my grip and called out his name as I filled the condom, thrusting through the orgasm, my vision tunneling as it slammed into me. I’ve had good sex, but sex with Ezra was on a new level that left me shaking and incoherent in the end.

  “Fuck,” he whimpered, not even bothering to move right away. I grinned, feeling proud that I was able to bring him out of his head and help him relax. Somehow I managed to stand, tying off the condom and throwing it in the trash. I walked over and gently tugged his sweatpants back up, before walking off to find cleaning supplies, cleaning up our mess then guiding him upstairs.

  “The pie,” he said as we collapsed onto the sofa, the reminder making us laugh.

  “Oh yeah, the goal was pie and a movie,” I snorted, knowing neither of us were sorry in the least. “I’ll go grab it in a minute.”

  “I’m good here for now, you pick the movie this time,” he offered, curling up on his side with his head on my lap. I started flipping through the options and gently played with his hair. I finally settled on a new superhero movie, relaxing when he didn’t protest. Halfway through, I heard his stomach rumble, reminding me that in all the chaos, I hadn’t eaten yet either.

  “Let me up, I’m going to go fix us something to eat,” I said gently, leaning down and kissing the top of his head. He groaned, moving out of the way.

  “I’d offer to help, but you don’t want me to ruin it,” he said with a light laugh, stretching as he sat up.

  “I still don’t get how such a good baker can’t cook,” I teased, walking to the kitchen and smiling to myself when he trailed along. He jumped on the counter out of the way to keep me company, the moment feeling so perfect I was almost waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  “Baking is precise, no chance to fuck it up. You know what you’re getting when you put something in an evenly heated oven. No adjusting necessary once it’s perfected. It’s soothing. This, this is stressful,” he said, pointing at the stove top as I sat a pot and pan on the top.

  “Big bad Ezra is afraid of a stove?” I teased, grabbing out the ingredients for homemade alfredo sauce. He watched me with a look of confusion as I whipped the cream and butter together, adding the rest and slowly turning it into the sauce base. He didn’t seem to grasp what I was cooking and that amused me even more. “You afraid of spicy?” I asked, a container of ground cayenne in my hand waiting for the go ahead.

  “I love spicy,” he said, smirking at me playfully. He was still relaxed, his clothes rumbled and one knee tucked under his chin as he watched. I don’t think I’d ever seen anyone look more beautiful. “I’m not always boring, you know.”

  “I never thought you were. It’s always the quiet ones you have to look out for.”

  “True. Quiet bakers have been known to start prank wars,” he said, his tone nonchalant, but his shoulders shaking in silent laughter.

  “Lose, prank wars you mean,” I said, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

  “I seem to remember it ending on my prank.”

  “That’s because I’m lulling you into complacency.”

  “Oh, okay. Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he said, barking out laughter at my obvious deflection.

  “Just wait, Sweetheart, I always come out on top.” I winked at him and grin
ned as a blush blossomed across his cheeks at the innuendo.

  “Okay, I give up. What the fuck are you making?” he asked, waving his hand at the sauce simmering on low as I steamed broccoli and boiled noodles. It seemed obvious to me, but he was clearly not joking about having a cooking aversion.

  “Alfredo,” I laughed, shaking my head at him.

  “You can make that on the stove like that?” he said emphatically, hopping down and walking over so he could peek over my shoulder. “I didn’t even notice you adding the noodles, duh,” he joked, laughing at himself before wrapping his arms around my waist as I worked.

  “Want to learn how to make decent garlic spread? Though I don’t think my bread could rival yours,” I joked.

  “I don’t doubt that, you have to have some qualities that make you less perfect so I don’t feel inadequate. How about I run over and grab a loaf of bread from the bakery and bring up the pie?”

  “You don’t have to,” I protested, but he placed a kiss on the back of my neck and hurried off. I finished throwing together our pasta while I waited, letting it cool down while I grabbed out the ingredients for garlic spread.

  “Perfect timing,” I said, smiling over at him as he walked in. He wasn’t as bad at helping in the kitchen as he let on, he followed each direction, smiling up at me each time our hands or arms brushed against each other. I don’t think I’ve ever been so turned on while making garlic bread.

  “This is so good!” he moaned around his first bite when we finally sat down to eat. I squirmed in my seat so he couldn’t see what his reaction did to me, grinning at the praise.

  “I’ll be singing your praises when we cut into this pie, just wait.”

  “Pie is far less impressive, though it’s my mom’s recipe, so I’m a bit biased on how good it is.” He grinned, a tinge of sadness behind the smile.