Page 36 of Convenient Rivals

They both reluctantly agreed, and after a few more minutes, they left. Gregory had never spent Christmas Day alone. His mother always made a big deal out of it. He’d already spoken to her this morning, so his obligation was out of the way. As if on autopilot, he went to his gaming room. Getting lost in another world was just what he needed.

It was eight o’clock at night, and still no sign of Jason. Calls and texts had been ignored. Gregory had gamed for a few hours, and mindlessly scrolled through all his streaming services, but couldn’t find anything he wanted to watch. He was restless and needed a distraction. Without thinking about it too much, he texted Oscar.

Gregory:Are you free to talk?

Oscar:I’ll be home in 10 mins. Call you then.

Gregory:Can I meet you at your place?

There was a long pause as the three dots bounced around, then disappeared, then bounced around again. Was he writing an essay?

Oscar:Sure.

That was it? He took that long just to say “sure.” Gregory wondered if going round to see Oscar in person was a mistake, but he had it in his head now. He ordered an Uber, which was double the price given it was Christmas Day, but it would take too long for him to walk and he might change his mind.

Twenty minutes later, Oscar was opening his front door. He smiled at Gregory, but there was a hesitancy to it like he was bracing himself for something.

Gregory gripped Oscar by the face and pulled him into a bruising kiss. After a few seconds, Oscar pulled away.

“What are you doing?”

“Take your pants off and bend over.”

There was a flash of heat in Oscar’s eyes before it was replaced with a scowl.

“You were clear the other day that this couldn’t happen between us again. What’s changed your mind?”

“Does it matter? I know you love my cock inside you.”

“Jesus, Gregory, I don’t know where I stand with you. First you hate me, then you fuck me, then you hate me again, and you come on my face in your parents’ back garden, then back to the hate, more fucking, and now we’re getting married, and you want to fuck again. You were absolutely adamant the other day. What’s happened?”

Gregory was still rock hard, and his brain wasn’t thinking logically. All he could picture was driving his cock into Oscar’s hole as hard as he could, taking him apart, making him come his brains out, and then leaving and going to sleep. Did that make him a bad person? No. Did it make him a selfish twat? Absolutely. But he wasn’t about to vocalise any of that. Gregory wanted Oscar more than he’d ever wanted anyone else. Perhaps they could come to an agreement to just hook up once a week. Once they were married, neither of them could fuck anyone else. What if people found out? He was sure Oscar would negotiate.

“You need to leave, Gregory.”

He wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly and knew he must look confused.

“You need to leave,” said Oscar, opening the front door.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t think this is a good idea. You were right before. We should keep things simple between us and not muddy the water.”

“Er... okay.”

Gregory wasn’t sure what to say. He’d always been confident with sex, but he knew he’d crossed a line here and upset Oscar. He wasn’t sure what he’d done. When trying to understand other people’s feelings, he was always at a loss; he could barely get his head round his own. He felt embarrassed, so before he said something he couldn’t take back, he said goodbye and left.

CHAPTER10

OSCAR

It was New Year’s Eve, and had been six days since he’d kicked Gregory out of his house. They were supposed to be getting engaged tonight, and they were effectively ghosting each other. Neither of them had made a move to reach out. When did this become so complicated? It was supposed to be a business transaction – a million quid and in return Oscar got his mother off his back about getting married. Why was everything in life so difficult? He remembered something his grandfather used to say all the time.

“Every piece of crap life throws at you is an opportunity to learn.”

It was a good philosophy to live by, but his grandfather liked to be cryptic, so there was always another meaning to everything he said. They were a small family. His mother had been an only child, as had Oscar. Based on the crap Gregory was dealing with from Barty, he’d never been happier not to have siblings.

Gregory was everything Oscar wanted in a partner, and not just in the bedroom. He was intelligent, geeky, and sugarcoated nothing. It was refreshing. Because of his wealth, and how he looked, Oscar was used to guys being disingenuous. They either wanted his wallet, or to be railed by a jock. Often it was both. Gregory also had experience of the world Oscar had been born into, and they’d both made their own success, away from the family wealth. On paper, they were perfect for each other. In the bedroom, they were perfect for each other. But history meant it could never be, and that was Oscar’s doing because of his insecurities as a teenager. Now, all he could do was protect his heart, and if they kept having sex, he’d fall in love with Gregory. He was already halfway there.

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