Page 78 of Tameron

I was ready for more. Dayton hadn’t put any pressure on me, which meant a lot to me. He probably hadn’t wanted to put any pressure on me, and I respected the hell out of him for that. But I wanted more. Hell, I wasn’t even sure why I had waited this long.

The only remaining question was whether I wanted to top or bottom for my first time. Topping would be much easier, of course, and I had no doubt Dayton would let me. But was that what I really wanted?

Not to get all philosophical and shit, but if I wanted to open up more and let people truly into my life, wasn’t this a great metaphor for what I needed to do with Dayton? Let him in…literally?

Hence my research. I’d seen gay porn, obviously. One did not discover one was bisexual without watching some. That had to be some kind of law or something. And it had been hot as fuck. The Ballsy Boys especially had some amazing stuff. But pornwas not real, and so I’d wanted to get my facts straight, no pun intended.

Now all that was left was telling Dayton. How in the name of everything holy did one approach that? I wasn’t romantic by any definition—in fact, one ex-girlfriend had accused me of not having a romantic bone in my body, and she probably wasn’t far off—but even I could see that an announcement like “I’m ready to fuck or get fucked, should you be so inclined” wouldn’t exactly set the mood. And with Dayton hell-bent on respecting my boundaries, he wouldn’t bring it up, so it would have to be me.

We’d ordered in from some hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese place that had the most amazing pho I’d ever tasted, and now we were stretched out on Dayton’s couch, watching the originalTwistermovie.

“I love disaster movies,” Dayton said as he played with the short hairs on my neck, his arm firmly wrapped around me. “The more stressed I am, the more I appreciate them. As if watching someone else’s life fall apart makes mine seem better.”

I chuckled. “I’ve never looked at it like that, but you’re right.”

“Though I do have to turn off my brain sometimes because they get so much wrong, especially when emergency responders are involved.”

“God, yes. It’s one of the reasons I can’t watch anything about the military. Well, more specifically about the Army. I lovedTop Gun, for example, even though I know damn well very little of that movie is real.”

Dayton snorted. “That movie has scenes that are so homoerotic straight men get aroused.”

Homoerotic? What was he talking about? Then it hit. “Oh, you mean the volleyball scene?”

“Tell me that didn’t turn you on, even before you realized you were bi.”

Had it? I only needed to think about it for a moment before the truth hit. “Jesus, you’re right. How did I never realize that?”

His laugh reverberated through his chest. “Like I said, even straight men react to that, so don’t worry. And they did a beautifully updated version inTop Gun: Maverick. Miles Teller is”—he kissed his fingers dramatically—“chef’s kiss.”

“I assume you’re not talking about his volleyball skills?” I asked dryly.

“Your assumption is correct.”

“Hmm, if we want to get in the right mood, maybe we should put that one on because this”—I pointed at Bill Paxton, who was now trying to get his truck out of a precarious situation while Helen Hunt yelled at him—“is not one I watch for the eye candy. No offense.”

Dayton half-turned to me so we were face-to-face. “The right mood? For what?”

And here I was, thinking I’d been subtle. “You know, mood. In general.”

His eyes narrowed. “I thought you were in a good mood? Is something wrong?”

Fucking hell, I sucked at this. “For sex. I was trying to set the mood for sex.”

“Since when do we need to have a certain mood for sex?”

I let out a bone-deep sigh, surrendering to the inevitable. “I wanted to work up to a moment where I could subtly tell you that I’m ready for more than what we’ve been doing so far and not make it sound transactional. Clearly, I failed spectacularly.”

At first, Dayton’s eyes widened, but then he slapped a hand over his mouth as a snicker escaped him. I sighed. “You’re allowed to laugh.”

And so he did, but then he grabbed my neck and dragged me in for a kiss, and pretty soon, neither of us was laughing. AsTwistercontinued in the background, we kissed until our bodieswere pressed flush together, until our lips were throbbing, until we ran out of breath. And then Dayton’s gorgeous brown eyes focused on me. “You sure?”

“Yes. And I want to bottom.”

He swallowed. “That’s… I can’t wait to be inside you, baby. I’ll make it good for you, I promise.”

Something soft and fuzzy unfurled in my chest. “I know.”

He kissed me again. “Bedroom?”

---