Surprise Delivery
Page 23
One user was across town, somewhere near the old strip mall that was deteriorating but still did a brisk business at its dollar store. Another was at the high school. Geez, he hoped an underage student wasn’t on this app. But it was the third Thrust user that sent his heart into arrhythmia.
He’s in the building.
Ian stared at the profile pic of a guy who was right now in this very hospital. He didn’t know precisely where, only that when he clicked on the dot, it indicated the user was 300 feet from him.
He tapped on the profile for IonicCal.
Ian frowned, unsure what the name meant. Was it a typo? Maybe it was supposed to be IronicCal? He wasn’t sure he would be into someone so ironic they felt the need to put it in their name. In his experience, people say they’re ironic when they mean mean-spirited.
The profile picture caught his attention before he could write off the guy and go back to work. It wasn’t the typical abs or dick shot, but it didn’t show the man’s face. IonicCal’s torso was twisted, as if he was looking back over his shoulder. The shot showed his collar bones, pronounced enough Ian knew he must be slim. One side of the guy’s chest was revealed, but the nipple remained hidden by a slender but toned bicep and forearm.
Ian’s dick hardened into a full erection, which was ridiculous because he couldn’t even see anything revealing in the pic. But that only served to make it tantalizing, seeing bits of flesh but not the pieces he wanted.
He forced his eyes from the picture and skimmed the profile details, which were unsurprisingly vague. Age: 27, Orientation: G (for gay, Ian assumed, relieved that the app was for all variations of queer men despite being called XX). He’d written his hobbies as gaming, dancing, swimming and other rec league sports. Ian knew gaming only within the context of what his eighteen-year-old son liked, which mostly involved handing over his debit card for expensive games. He hadn’t danced since his marriage just before his son was born, so again, not a great sign he’d have much in common with this guy. But he could get behind swimming, especially if he got to see IonicCal in a swimsuit.
His heart lurched. What if it’s Casper Rollins? He was obviously into men, given the closet blow job Ian had witnessed. Shit, was he screwing around on Dr. Holtz? Or did they have an open relationship?
He didn’t know whether to be disturbed or intrigued by that thought when he glanced at the picture again. No, it wasn’t Casper. Idiot. Casper was far too muscled to be this guy. He’d seen him on the basketball court enough times to know better.
With an exhale of relief, Ian skimmed over the list of favorite bands and television shows. He was hopelessly out of touch with pop culture. But he read the last few lines, where IonicCal was asked to explain what he’s looking for out of a meet-up.
I’m up for anything. My dick does not discriminate, as long as you’re not an idiot or a bigot. I’m open to a relationship for the right guy, but if you just want to have fun, I’d love to get laid closer to home. Let’s form an ionic bond with our attraction, baby. Consider that fair warning that I’m a science nerd and proud of it.
Well, at least ionic wasn’t a typo. A quick Google search explained that an ionic bond was formed from electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions. He guessed Cal was attempting a play at the concept of opposites attract with chemistry humor.
Ian’s own message had been brief and far less creative: Bi guy looking to explore with a considerate partner.
His phone pinged a message, startling him.
IonicCal: Your body is impressive, if it’s really your chest and abs in that pic
Ian stared at the message, initially panicked that someone had tried to talk to him, especially someone so close by. Oh God, I don’t what to say. How to flirt. What am I doing?
Then the words registered and he got over his knee-jerk reaction. He got on the app to meet someone. This was a good thing.
He tapped out an answer, which took far too long on the tiny keys with his big fingers.
BigBiGuy: Hell yes it’s me
IonicCal: Likely story
BigBiGuy: It is!
IonicCal: Maybe you should prove it ;)
BigBiGuy: How?
IonicCal: Meet me in the third-floor bathroom on the east end of the hospital. I see you’re in the same building.
Ian’s heart hammered in his chest. Everything was happening too fast. But he’d typed his response before he could overthink it: Be there in 5.
***
Ian swiped sweaty palms on the legs of the scrubs he still wore. He was an idiot to be doing this at his place of work. But he was too curious not to follow through. The pic was totally hot, but Ian couldn’t shake the feeling he was going to be disappointed. The guy might have used a fake pic. Maybe that’s why he was so sure Ian had as well. Plus, he was bound to be someone Ian should steer clear of. He could be a patient, or with that chemistry humor, a doctor.
Holy fuck, what if he’s a doctor? I can’t fuck around with some guy that far above my pay grade.
He took a breath to steady his nerves and pushed open the bathroom door. He was already here, and he’d kick himself if he backed out now. So, he’d go in, see what he was dealing with, then pretend to be clueless if the guy wasn’t someone he wanted to meet. No problem.
The huge butterflies in his stomach disagreed. It was a big fucking deal to be meeting a guy with any kind of intent. Ian was so far in the closet it’d taken him a while to find himself in there with the regrets about his failed marriage, rocky relationship with his son, and expectations of his large, traditional family that included two testosterone-driven brothers and one overbearing mother.
He walked the length of the bathroom, then seeing he was alone, entered the last stall. He left the door unlatched. They hadn’t discussed how exactly they’d find each other, and Ian almost hoped IonicCal would glance inside, see no one and leave.
A few minutes later the outer door opened and clunked shut. He listened to a guy’s footsteps. He walked lightly across the bathroom tile until he was just outside Ian’s stall. Ian could make out slim legs, wearing slacks, not scrubs. That didn’t mean much, except the guy probably wasn’t a nurse. Plenty of doctors wore slacks, and so did a good number of other staff members and patients.
The door swung inward, and Ian leaned back, cramming his broad shoulders into the corner and contorting his large body around the toilet to allow room for the door to swing in.
A guy with dirty blond hair, warm brown eyes and a wide mouth stared at him.
A familiar guy.
“Ian?” the lab tech said in astonishment.
Ian’s heart dropped to his stomach. “Callum, hi. This is awkward.”
***
Callum Price chuckled at Ian’s massive understatement. Awkward, yes. But then Callum and awkwardness were closely acquainted. He knew the guy from the app might be someone he knew, but he never would have guessed Ian.
He swallowed hard, staring at Ian’s massive everything. The orderly was six-foot-four, compared with Callum’s modest five-foot-eight height. Broad and muscled, Ian could toss Callum across the room with very little effort. That sent a thrill of fear through his body and a frisson of excitement straight to his cock.
You are one screwed up puppy.
He licked his lips and raked his eyes over Ian’s chest and stomach, too obscured by the loose scrub top to hint at the goodies beneath. “I didn’t know you were ...”
“Me either,” Ian said. Then coughed with embarrassment. “I mean, I’m bi and just now exploring my ... curiosity.”
“Bi or bi curious? They’re not the same.”
“Are we really going to have a serious talk about sexuality in the john?”
Ian had a point. Callum was reeling from the realization that BigBiGuy was Ian, the orderly who played in the same staff pick-up basketball games with him. He’d noticed Ian was a big guy; it would have been impossible not to notice. But he’d figured him for straight and filed him into the unavailable cate
gory, and as a result, hadn’t really appreciated the man’s body.
He wasn’t about to miss an opportunity now that he’d recategorized Ian into the please, yes file.
“Take off your shirt.”
Ian’s eyes went wide, and he glanced over Callum’s shoulder toward the bathroom at-large. Right, public place. Cal squeezed into the stall, latching the door behind him. It left about an inch between their bodies.
“You said you’d prove it was your pic,” he said.
Ian scoffed. “You know it was my pic. You know me.”
Cal blinked, making his eyes innocent. “How do I know that?”
Ian turned red, which was kind of adorable. Here was this older, buffer dude going shy. His hazel eyes skimmed over Cal’s button-down shirt, fitted to his slender form, and Cal’s insides fluttered. Was Ian attracted to him? People who knew Callum in his daily life thought he was a nerd. Hi ex-boyfriend Doug was big on telling Cal he was lucky he had a tight ass. That shit was annoying, if true. When he went out, he didn’t have too much trouble landing a guy as long as he dressed the part of a twink and toned down his nerdy inclinations.
Not possible with Ian. The man knew he was a medical lab tech. Didn’t get much geekier than that.
“We’ve played basketball together,” Ian protested, “and I’ve taken off my shirt before.”
Foiled. He and Ian played with a small group of hospital staffers for fun, but they hadn’t gotten together since Casper Rollins sprained an ankle doing one of his famous layups.
Cal tapped his lips, unable to concede the point. “I must not have been paying attention,” he said. “So, I’m going to have to insist. It’s a pretty tight fit in here, though. How about I help you?”
“Wha—”
Ian’s voice cut off with a strangled garble as Callum grabbed the hem of Ian’s scrub top. He’d shocked him. He only hoped it was a good shock, and he didn’t get knocked on his ass for being too forward.
“Lift your arms,” he said, projecting as much confidence as he could as he pushed Ian’s shirt over those delectable abs. The man was seriously cut. That picture was no lie.
Ian obeyed, and a moment later he was shirtless. Holy muscles, Batman.
Callum stared at Ian’s broad, hairy chest, heaving with nervous breaths. His nipples, a dusky rose, tipped impressive pecs. His body was strong and cut, his stomach not just flat but rippling with muscle. Callum wasn’t sure he’d ever seen a man this built in person. He’d seen Ian without a shirt at the court once or twice, of course, but preoccupied with trying to pass the ball without tripping over his own feet, Cal had clearly missed an impressive sight.
“Well? Satisfied now?” Ian asked impatiently.
Callum was about to answer in the affirmative when his gaze dipped below Ian’s waistband and he saw the tent the man was pitching under his pants.
“Holy shit,” Callum said, and impulsively reached out to curl his fingers around Ian’s thick erection. “You’re hard.”
Ian groaned. “Cal ...”
“Are you hard for me?” Callum whispered in wonder. Dragging his eyes up Ian’s body, he met a burning amber gaze. Ian’s red-tinted brown hair, stubbled jaw and sculpted lips were seriously sexy, a fact that Callum couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed before now. It wasn’t often you found both a good-looking face and a hot, built bod. He’d done enough online hook-ups to know. He’d hit the jackpot.
“Take off your shirt,” Ian said hoarsely.
Were they really going to go this? They both worked at the hospital. Different departments, so no big. But they played basketball, which Cal could take or leave. Again, no big. But they knew a lot of the same people ... which was bigger.
“Maybe we should hit pause,” Callum said thoughtfully, but his hand was still wrapped around Ian’s dick. Dude was packing, but that was no surprise given his large everything else. Ian pushed his hips forward, pressing his dick harder into Cal’s hand.
“No way. You got to see me, and that pic of you was fucking hot.”
“Really?”
Callum had only done that pose because he was too damn skinny and had no abs worth showing off. Not like Ian. And despite being pretty happy with his cock, he wasn’t ready to flash it all over the Internet.
Ian fixed him with a hot gaze. “It was a tease, revealing and hiding at the same time.”
“Huh?”
“Come on. Take off your shirt. Then if you still want to call this off, we can.”
Yeah, right. If Ian was in, Callum didn’t have strength to resist. When would he have another chance at a guy like this?
Cal lifted his hands and unbuttoned his shirt. The weight of Ian’s gaze was like a touch as he revealed his skin bit by bit. When his shirt was open, he slid it off his shoulders, eyes cast down so he wouldn’t see the disappointment in Ian’s eyes.
“Fuck,” Ian said.
There was no misreading that tone. Cal looked up through his lowered lashes.
“Your skin is so perfect.”
Callum blurted a laugh. “That’s what you got, huh?”
Ian blushed but tried again. “You’re sexy.”
Callum’s eyebrows went up. He did okay with guys who liked a certain type. Looked like Ian was one of them. He checked out Ian again, then reached out and gripped his cock again, drawing a gasp.
Ian cupped a large hand around the nape of his neck, his palm hot against Cal’s skin. His other hand settled just above Callum’s waistband on his hip.
“Either let go of my dick or do something,” Ian said.
Cal licked his lips. “I’m not letting go.”
Watch Amazon for the release of Orderly Affair, expected in April 2018!
Thank you for reading!
Thank you for reading Surprise Delivery. I’d be so thankful if you could leave a review; even just a few words help!
If you haven’t yet explored the Hearts and Health series, I urge you to check out Heart Trouble, Bedside Manner, Urgent Care and Room for Recovery. Soon, I’ll be releasing a sixth book in the series, Orderly Affair, so watch for that!
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About the author
DJ Jamison is the author of more than a dozen m/m romances, including the Ashe Sentinel series and the Hearts and Health series. She writes a variety of queer characters, from gay to bisexual to asexual, with a focus on telling love stories that are more about common ground than lust at first sight. DJ grew up in the Midwest in a working-class family, and those influences can be found in her writing through characters coping with real-life problems: money troubles, workplace drama, family conflicts and, of course, falling in love. DJ spent more than a decade in the newspaper industry before chasing her first dream to write fiction. She spent a lifetime reading before that and continues to avidly devour her fellow authors’ books each night. She lives in Kansas with her husband, two sons, two fish and, regrettably, one snake.
Books by DJ Jamison
Ashe Sentinel Connections
Changing Focus
Source of Protection
Rewriting His Love Life
Winter Blom
Hard Press
Chance for Christmas
Hearts and Health
Heart Trouble
Bedside Manner
Urgent Care
Room for Recovery
Surprise Delivery
Real Estate Relations
Full Disclosure
My Anti-Series
My Anti-Valentine
My Anti-Boyfriend
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br /> The Espinoza Boys
Earning Edie (m/f)
Catching Jaime (m/m)
Standalones
Love by Number
Yours for the Holiday