We were both shirtless, stripped down and changed into shorts. For the first time all week, we were at my new house, in the sunroom that I’d set up to be a mini yoga room. In the daytime, sunlight spilled through the windows, but right now, it was an incredible view of the moonlight rippling over the water in the dark.
And an incredible view of Hunter in the room, too.
“Remember to breathe as you come down into the cobra position,” I said, moving alongside Hunter so that our arms propped us up as we inverted our spines. I moved out of position, walking over to Hunter, tapping his back. “Pull back the shoulders. That’s it.”
He held the pose as I just watched him, admiring his form. It was an indulgence I wouldn’t have allowed myself even a few weeks ago—watching him so brazenly, letting him know my eyes were on him.
And I realized pretty quickly that I’d done as much of my nightly yoga as I was going to do. Because my cock was already getting hard now as I watched Hunter slowly come down out of cobra pose.
“Alright,” I said, my voice low and steady. “Flip on over into shavasana.”
“Is that the one where I just lie on my back?”
“That’s the one,” I said.
He flipped over slowly, looking up at me. I had sat nearby, still just watching him.
“You’re not doing it, too?” he asked.
“I’m watching you,” I said.
He lifted an eyebrow, but he gently closed his eyes as I ran my hand along his chest. “Just relax,” I said. “Breathe.”
He followed suit, smiling a little at first but then completely relaxing under my touch. I was slow, just moving my hands down along his collarbone, keeping my touch light. I had no real goal in mind other than to feel his body, to explore every inch of him like I’d wanted to do forever.
And Hunter caught on quick. After just a minute, I glanced down to see his cock perking up under his shorts.
I slowly moved so that I was straddling him, one knee on either side of his torso, and I brought my tongue to his chest. He pulled in a short, quick breath before moaning, relaxing more. I moved across his skin, just dragging my lips across the soft hair of his chest, and licking him as I reached his nipples.
“Is this… is this how yoga usually goes for you?” he uttered, his voice low.
I hummed in response, grinding my hips against his. He moaned, pushing his hips back up against mine. “I’ll take that as a no,” he said breathlessly.
I moved lower and in one quick motion, I stripped his shorts off, his cock bobbing free, beautiful and hard as ever.
“Mmh. Come with me,” I said, taking his hands in mine to help lift him up off the ground. I picked him up in my arms, carrying his naked body through the hall and to my bedroom, and he laughed a little as I threw him down onto the bed.
I cast my shorts off just as quickly. I needed my skin on his. I reached to flip him over on the bed, so that his ass was facing up and he was on his stomach, and then I got on top of him again, my cock resting along the cleft of his ass.
He groaned as I kissed along the back of his neck, perched above him. “You’re mine,” I growled close to his ear, and he moaned again, moving his hips to press his ass up against my cock.
“I’m yours,” he said.
“I’ve wanted you for so long, Hunter,” I said, pressing kisses down his back, flanking his spine. His body was so perfect, so taut and responsive to my touch.
“So take me,” he murmured in response.
And then I was the one groaning, completely out of my mind with desire for him. How many times had I fantasized about this? About Hunter underneath me, ready for me to have him in whatever way I wanted, gasping under my touch?
And with every move I made, I kept circling back to what we’d talked about earlier. Hunter wanted to be my boyfriend. I wasn’t convincing him to do this on some drunken night as a hookup between friends.
Hunter accepted me. All of me. And that wasn’t something I ever thought I would have.
My cock ached, dripping a bead of precum onto the top of Hunter’s ass. I moved lower, gently nibbling against the soft skin of his hips as I squeezed his ass hard with my fingers. And then I moved inward, kissing soft and slow against his skin until I reached his hole. I let my tongue slide over him there, feeling as his whole body relaxed, practically melting onto the bed.
“Oh God, Gavin, that’s—”
I swirled my tongue over him again and his words broke off into a desperate moan. I could have done it forever, especially for Hunter.
“I am so fucking ready for you,” he whispered a few minutes later, writhing underneath me.
When I pushed a finger inside of him, it slid in easily. Hunter was tight around my finger, but he was also right about being ready—he was relaxed and pushing back against me with ease. Impatience, even. He was so slicked already that I hadn’t even gotten lube yet but he was taking me with zero issue.
I slid a second finger in and he moved a little slower, halting against me for a moment before taking me in deep, all the way.
“It’s alright?” I asked.
“It’s so—fucking good,” he said. “I need you inside me.”
“You’ll have me inside you,” I said, sliding my fingers in and out of him in a steady rhythm. I reached over to my nightstand, retrieving a small bottle of lube and a condom with my free hand while keeping my fingers inside him. I slid my fingers out of him, and he moaned at the loss of contact.
“Just a second, baby.”
“I need you,” he repeated, his voice lower this time. I bent down over the top of him, my torso on top of his back, our skin burning hot between us. I kissed the back of his neck, nibbling gently.
“Hunter?” I said, my voice a low growl near his ear.
“Mmh?” came his broken response.
“I’m going to fuck you,” I said.
His guttural moan was exactly what I’d wanted to hear. “Please.”
“Like I’ve wanted to for so damn long.”
His hips jerked under me impatiently. “Quit talking about and fuck me, then,” he said.
I chuckled, my voice low. “Oh, you’re going to get it, now,” I said.
“And I’ll take every minute of it.”
He was teasing me mercilessly, and I was loving it. My cock was rock hard as I slid the condom on, slicking it with lube before lining my tip up between his cheeks. Hunter’s face was buried in a pillow face-down on the bed now, and I spread his legs a little wider before pushing gently against his hole.
“Oh God,” he said, his words muffled by the pillow.
“Too much?”
“Fuck—no—it’s just—” He broke off into another moan. “It’s so fucking good.”
I slid into him, slow and steady, reveling in the broken sounds it elicited from him.
“Breathe, baby,” I said, my voice low. “Just breathe for me.”
He was impossibly tight, and I fought the urge to sink deep into him immediately. I was slow and patient, watching my cock disappear inside him, trying to maintain some semblance of calm though I felt like I was two seconds away from losing it at any time.
When I finally was buried in him to the hilt, I let out a long, slow groan, digging my fingertips into his hips.
I was sure that he’d need more time, that I’d have to go slow for a long while, working up to a steady pace, but almost immediately he began to slide forward, then thrust back onto my cock.
“Oh my God,” I said, his tight hole gripping around me. “You are…”
“What?” he asked, pushing up off the pillow a little, sinking back onto my cock again.
“Perfect,” I said, reaching up and then smacking his ass. He let out the most delicious little gasp before speeding up even more, as if he was trying to get me back for the spank.
“Christ, Gavin, I had no idea,” he said. “I really meant it when I said we should have been fucking for years now.”
My cock pulsed inside him as he
said it. “You have no idea how hot that is,” I said. “All those years, wanting you… thinking about this… dreaming about pushing into your ass.”
“Why didn’t you?” he asked, his breath hitching as I pushed hard inside of him, using my hands to press his ass back into me.
“I don’t know, but I’ve got a lot of lost time to make up for,” I said, rocking my hips against him. He propped himself up on all fours, and I sat up on my knees. The new position made for a deeper fit, and immediately Hunter was reduced to wordlessness again.
I picked up my pace, thrusting into him, losing myself for a moment. It was a lot to process. The fact that not only did he want this as much as I did, but that I might even get to do this again, that this was something that could be a regular part of my life. It almost felt too good to be true. As I fucked him it was more than probably the hottest thing I’d ever experienced—I felt like I was slowly being dismantled, piece by piece, in the best way I could imagine. My body was heating up now, and Hunter was flushed and beautiful as he turned his neck to look back at me.
And then his eyes met mine, heavy-lidded and beautiful and irresistible.
“God, I love you,” I uttered.
“I love you so much,” he said. He bit his bottom lip as he looked back at me, looking angelic and utterly obscene all at once.
I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to last long, but there was no way I was going to come before him. I reached around his hips, nestling my body tight against his, and gripped my fist around his cock.
“Jesus, Gavin, if you do that I’m going to fucking come in two seconds flat,” he said, his voice dropping a bit as he spoke.
“Maybe that’s what I want,” I said as I began to stroke him in rhythm with my thrusts.
“Is that right?” he said, gasping.
“I want you to come for me,” I said.
His cock twitched in my hand as I spoke.
“Come right in my hand while I fuck you.”
“Oh God—” he said, but I didn’t hold back. I picked up my pace, stroking his cock quickly, focusing every effort I had on not coming immediately.
“It’s so good, it’s so fucking good—” he was uttering. “I’m so close—”
“Come for me,” I repeated, more a command than a request. And Hunter followed through, tensing up and calling out loudly as he gave in, coming over and over again as I stroked him. He started to whisper under his breath, various rambling nonsense and cursing and telling me he loved me, something close to what heaven might sound like.
I thrust deep and hard into him, unreserved now, knowing that Hunter had been taken care of.
“Please, please come inside me,” he said, turning back to look at me again. And it was all I needed. I felt the wave begin to crash over me as I watched him pushing back against me. I was coming, buried so deep inside him, and I’d given up any attempt at control.
“God, Hunter—”
It was one of the best orgasms I’d ever experienced. I was somewhere else completely, floating above everything, just me and Hunter and nothing else. I was as close to him as I needed to be. As close as possible, exactly like I’d known I’d needed for all of my adult life. Everything was right.
And everything was going to be right, as long as I was with this man I loved to the end of the Earth.
I was still breathing heavy, covered in sweat as I pulled out of him and crashed back down onto the bed near him. I tossed the condom into the trash and lay with my arms above my head, gathering myself, trying to remember how to exist again.
He nestled up against my side, our hot skin connecting. He dragged his fingertips along my chest as we both relaxed, connected by something beyond words.
I reached one hand down to run my fingertips through his hair, idly stroking his head.
“Breathe for me,” he said softly, and I smiled as he turned to look up at me, his eyes so sweet.
“Never a better time for yogic breathing techniques, huh?” I murmured.
“Than when your best friend has fucked you senseless?”
“When your boyfriend just let you come deep inside him,” I said.
“You’re incredible,” he said. “Stay with me, will you?”
“I’m here forever.”
Hunter and I drifted off to sleep next to one another, and I knew so completely that I belonged here. It wouldn’t have mattered if we were in Kinley or Seattle or on goddamn Mars—I was at home when I was with Hunter.
It had taken me far too long to figure it out, but I was ready to spend the rest of my life making up for it.
Epilogue
Hunter, Three Months Later
“What does this even mean?” Gavin said, squinting at the unfolded purple paper with gold along the edges.
“Which step?” I asked.
“Step nine, the last one. It says ‘Look for the gold at the end of the brown.’ What? I see gold at the edge of this paper, but no brown,” he said. “It’s weird.”
I leaned over, looking at the paper in the dim evening light. “I mean, I sure as hell hope it didn’t mean we’ve been fed gold leaf and we’re about to shit it out. I don’t typically love ingesting heavy metals, but I guess I could make an exception for tonight.”
“I wouldn’t put it past your mom, but no, I think it’s probably something much less disgusting. Jesus, Hunter.”
“Oh, please. You know my humor knows no bounds.”
“I do,” Gavin said, smiling at me.
We were under the big oak tree at the edge of my parents’ property, and the sun had just set over the water to the west. The sky was full of diminishing dim blue light, but the string lights running between the trees in the yard illuminated the space.
My mom was having her annual scavenger hunt party, and yes, that was something my mother had done every year since us kids were young. It had started out as a birthday party for Caleb, actually—one year, she set up a little scavenger hunt for him and his preschool friends, and then every year after, it had gotten more and more elaborate. When Caleb and I were teenagers, the hunts got fun enough that adults wanted to join in, and now my mom was known for it around the island.
The parties were dubbed “Linny Hunts” and had blossomed into big, sprawling parties full of barbecue, music, plenty of drinks, and now apparently gilt-edged pieces of cardstock for the hunting clues.
The guests were scattered all around my parents’ lawn and inside the house at the moment. The scavenger hunt had begun a few minutes ago, and already, people were out for blood. Landon Luna, Marcie’s son and Caleb’s coworker, had just sprinted past us, heading toward the shed for some reason.
“We’re already so behind,” I said.
“We did step one!” Gavin said.
It was there, written on the paper and crossed out by Gavin: I’ll keep you cold or keep you freezing, and my face is nothing but memories. It was the fridge, covered in photographs and cards on the front. Inside had been the first item, a little ceramic strawberry we’d taken a photo with.
“But we have eight more steps,” I said. “C’mon. I think I know what the second one means.”
I led Gavin around the house to the front lawn, where my mom kept immaculate yellow rose bushes.
“The clue says ‘stop and smell the yellow, and you’ll be a happy fellow.’”
“I’m not even going to comment on that one,” Gavin said.
“Hush,” I said, dipping to search the rose bushes. And sure enough, there it was, the little bouquet statuette that signaled we had successfully found what we were supposed to. Gavin and I posed for a picture with it next to the roses, and crossed the second item off the list.
Caleb came around the corner, glancing at us and grinning. “Only on the second one, huh?”
“Shut up,” I said.
“I’m on the fifth,” he said. “Not to brag.”
Before I could slap him on the shoulder he’d already jogged off, surely heading toward victory.
�
�You know he’s probably bullshitting you, right?” Gavin said. “There’s no reason we have to do these in order.”
“I know, I know, it’s just easier to do them in order.”
“Fair enough.”
The third item was confusing at first—it told us to look for something that sang for its supper.
“Do you think my mom is referring to… my dad, there? I mean, he does love opera, and when he tries to sing it before dinner she always yells at him….”
“Could be…” he said, furrowing his brow. He leaned against one of the wooden columns nearby that supported the front deck of the house.
“Mm,” I hummed, taking a step closer to him and wrapping my arms around his shoulders. “I love the way you look when you’re focused.”
He looked to me, smiling. “You like it when I look focused on you the best.”
“Of course,” I said. “But also when you focus on other things. I like watching you work.”
“I like watching you do anything,” he said, dipping to catch my mouth in a slow, sweet kiss. I could still smell the faint hint of sunblock on his skin—we’d been out in his backyard by the water earlier this afternoon, lying on a big blanket in the sun.
Days like this were really what I thought of when I pictured a “perfect” day. Just this morning, Gavin had heard news from friends in Seattle that Royce had tried and failed to get another investment firm interested in building a bridge to Kinley. Since quitting Alto Ventures, Royce had been dead set on continuing the bridge project somehow, but he hadn’t been able to get any traction whatsoever.
It seemed like half of the investment firms no longer wanted anything to do with a bridge project, and the rest of them would rather support Gavin than someone like Royce.
Gavin had also been working day and night on getting the hospital plans off the ground. He was right that it was going to be a complex, multi-year process to get the hospital built, but already he was making headway into the preliminary planning steps. It seemed like he knew people in all sectors of business, and I had no doubt that within a couple years, ground would be broken on a small but very necessary hospital for Kinley.
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