Page 28 of Poolside

“Fine. We can call Leonard apossumif it makes you happy. Either way, he’s a problem for future Chuck,” he mumbled, grabbing a fry and dipping it in ketchup before popping it into his mouth. “Thanks for cooking.”

Tommy shrugged as he grabbed his plate. “It’s nothing. I like doing shit like this, you know.”

Chuck nodded. “I know.” He pointed one of his toes toward the TV. “Spartacus?”

“Let’s do it.”

* * *

“Hey T?”

“Hm?”

Tommy’s eyelids were getting heavy, but he couldn’t imagine moving. He was too comfortable.

“Do you mind if I paint my nails while we watch?”

Tommy looked over at him. “Why would I mind?”

Chuck shrugged, his gaze cast down.

“Dude, go for it. Honestly, I want to see how you do it.”

Chuck’s expression shifted to one of amusement. “I’ll be right back.”

He came back a moment later with a little wicker basket. He settled back onto the couch, grabbing what Tommy recognized as a nail file. Splaying one of his hands on his thigh, Chuck started to work on his nails.

Tommy only had one eye on the show, most of his attention on Chuck’s long, thin fingers. Once he’d shaped his short nails, he briefly buffed them, before picking out a rich, royal blue color. His movements were slow and meticulous, each pass with the brush leaving a perfect stripe of color.

“You’re really good at that,” Tommy mused as Chuck finished. When Chuck went to screw the cap back on, Tommy reached over, taking over the task. “I got it,” he said to Chuck. “You don’t want to mess them up before they dry.”

Chuck blinked, looking at Tommy with a deep furrow between his brows.

Tommy didn’t know what he’d done, but figured moving on was the best bet. He put the bottle in the basket and then turned back to the TV. “So who’s the hottest?”

Chuck made an amused noise as he waved his splayed hands in the air. “I mean, all of their bodies are ridiculous. But Gannicus,” he tilted his head to the side. “He’s hot. And obviously Spartacus. And the Doctore. He’s beautiful.”

Tommy frowned at the screen, watching the training sequence playing out. The gladiators were barely covered by loin cloths and their muscles gleamed and flexed with every movement. “I can see it,” he said, nodding.

They went quiet, and the scene changed. As soon as Tommy saw the torchlight and heard the change in the music, he knew they were in for a sex scene. One of the scenes where the rich Romans and their gladiators and slaves got down in a way that was undeniably fucked up but also hot.

Very fucking hot.

He shifted in his seat as he felt a throb between his legs.

He watched as clothes were dropped, and bare asses and naked tits were revealed.Shit. His dick was getting hard.

Crossing his legs worked. Sort of. At least his boner wasn’t there on display.

He glanced over at Chuck, and his lungs froze when he saw Chuck biting down on his lower lip, his eyes fixed on the scene playing out on the screen.

Swallowing, Tommy turned back to the screen. “So,” he said, needing to say something, to break whatever was causing his breath to feel stuck in his throat. “What makes an ass hot?”

What the fuck was that?

Tommy tried to backtrack. “I mean, there are a lot of asses up there. You know. On the screen. Butts of all sizes and colors. Lots of butts.”

Men were thrusting into men and women were on women’s laps, mouths on tits and mouths on mouths andfuck me,Tommy was hard, but all he could do was stare at the screen while he waited for Chuck to say something, the slapping bodies and moans amplified on the surround sound.

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