Page 16 of Steam

But he couldn’t deny that he wanted more from Barrett and he wanted it immediately. Barrett had gotten to enjoy it all from his own side, and Josh hadn’t even realized anyone was listening. It was a little exhilarating to understand, then, that Barrett had been downstairs for weeks, listening to him every night, appreciating the practice.

He was so far from the asshole Josh had judged him to be. Josh was seized with an impulse: he wanted to make this guy’s goddamn day.

“Well, I, uh, I won’t keep you since I know you’re practicing,” Barrett said, still blushing. “But would it… ah, nevermind.”

“Go ahead,” Josh urged.

“Josh, forgive me if this is too forward but… would you like to come downstairs for a glass of wine tonight?”

Josh laughed for the second time that day. Barrett’s face fell. He misunderstood, clearly. Josh was laughing because he’d been mentally undressing him since the moment he walked through the door and the guy was worried about being too forward.

Josh didn’t bother to answer. Instead, he put his coffee cup on the counter, stepped forward, and caught Barrett in a kiss.

* * *

Barrett didn’t usewords like “earthshaking” and “mind-meltingly hot” lightly. He believed in the power of words, and when you overused them, they lost their gravity.

But if someone had asked, he might’ve ventured to say that the first kiss with Josh Rosen, the artist, the secret pianist upstairs that Barrett had longed for, was both earthshaking and, well, mind-meltingly hot.

Josh moved with confidence, kissing him abruptly, not stopping at the shocked little noise Barrett made. After he got over his own surprise, Barrett responded, opening to him. It was a rush like nothing Barrett had expected. He’d never kissed a stranger like this before—but even as he thought it, he felt as if maybe they weren’t strangers. How many nights had they unknowingly shared music together? He knew what pieces Josh loved to play the most, how the man warmed up and how he liked to end his nightly concerts. He knew intimate things about Josh—things maybe no one else did.

The kiss was electric and slick and better than Barrett had ever imagined a first kiss could be. His heartbeat was out of control and he damned the fact that he was wearing sweatpants, which would conceal none of the excitement he felt.

When they broke, Barrett was panting and Josh was smiling.

“Too forward?” Josh asked.

Barrett could barely breathe. “No. Not at all…”

“Thank God,” Josh said, stepping forward. He moved his hand over the back of Barrett’s neck and kissed him again. This time was just as intense, all reluctance wiped away from Barrett’s mind. It was undeniably erotic, and it took all of Barrett’s presence of mind not to groan openly into the other man’s mouth. Josh’s full lips slid against Barrett’s as Josh pressed his body up against him, his hands sitting lightly on Barrett’s waist before traveling lower.

Josh stroked a palm against his hardness and Barrett was shocked enough that he couldn’t stifle a rough moan. Did he really want Barrett this badly? The admiration was definitely returned: Barrett was hard enough to cut glass, straining against the front of his soft pants.

“I don’t normally—“

“You could, normally, you know,” Josh said. He hadn’t dropped his hand from where he was holding it against Barrett’s cock.

Barrett puffed a laugh through his nose.

“I’m just saying, this isn’t, like, you know—this is moving fast, right?” he said, falling over his own words.

“Does that mean you want me to stop?” Josh asked, stilling his hand.

“Fuck no,” Barrett breathed out. That earned another low chuckle from Josh.

“Like I said, if you don’t hate listening to me play, I think we could get along,” Josh said, walking him backwards towards the piano.

He backed Barrett up until his calves hit the piano bench. Barrett almost lost his balance, but Josh quickly steadied him with strong hands on Barrett’s hips. Josh kicked him softly in one ankle.

“C’mon.”

It took Barrett a minute to understand that Josh wanted him to sit.

Oh my God, is he—

Josh hooked his thumbs into the waistband of Barrett’s pants.

“This okay?” he asked, his eyebrow raised.

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