Page 30 of The Road Ahead
Cooper held up the shirt, showing off the front which had a cartoon picture of a group of different penguins. In the center of the group was an emperor penguin giving a little penguin heart eyes. Teresa snorted, and quickly covered her mouth to stifle her laughs. “Oh, that’s gold.”
I grinned. “I thought so too!”
Cooper placed the tee back in the bag and then wrapped his arm around my shoulder. We walked on, enjoying the sunshine, enjoying the company, and enjoying our newfound closeness.
Chapter 14
Cooper
Every band we saw that afternoon was going extra hard, celebrating the final day of the festival. As the sun set, we headed to the Main Marquee for what they called The Stony Rave—a dance party featuring two live bands and three separate DJs. We’d met back up with Brad for something to eat, but despite Teresa acting civilly towards him, he found a few friends who were there and told us he’d meet back up with us after the rave. Teresa seemed relieved by this, especially when a few people she knew joined us on the dance floor.
We spent hours dancing as a group, and later, as Teresa and her friends drifted away, just Rio and I. The flashing lights, the pounding bass, and the weight of the crowd pressing against us had all of my senses dialled to eleven. Rio was never far from me, and we moved together, grinding on one another, always touching.
Strangers came and went, sometimes dancing with us, sheer enjoyment on their faces. Every now and then, someone wouldget a little too close, pushing into our bubble and plastering themselves against us. We ducked and weaved, moving away each time, not wanting to offend or upset anyone with a blatant rejection. One guy was more persistent than others, and as he humped against me from behind for the third time, I turned to face him. I put my hand on his chest and pushed him away, holding him at arm’s length. “Sorry, man. I’m taken,” I yelled over the music.
His head bobbed, and he turned and made his way into the crowd, leaving my ass alone. I turned back to find Rio right there, and they wrapped their arms around me, grinning up at me. They looped a hand around the back of my neck, pulling me down so they could speak directly into my ear. “You’re so hot everyone wants a piece of you.”
“Yeah, well, no one gets me but you.”
Rio rewarded me with a searing kiss, and we made out in the middle of the mass of dancers, the strobing lights flickering against my closed eyelids. My hands found their way to Rio’s back, and I clenched at the sweaty material of their tank top. We were both drenched, and as we started to dance again, I noticed how the material clung to their torso. Their lithe body was grace and fire, fluid movements that had my cock jerking in my pants. Rio was sex personified, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from them.
The crowd, the music, everything faded into the background. My entire focus was on Rio. Our eyes locked, and they grinned at me, their dark eyes glistening in the flashing lights, and that adorable chipped tooth making their smile a little crooked. They turned and shimmied backwards, pushing their ass against my thigh, reaching up and behind them to link their hands around my neck. I took hold of their hips, and the bare skin was hot to the touch. My hands roamed, unable to remain still, sliding up under Rio’s tank to trace over their ribs, and dipping teasinglybelow their waistband. I was rock hard, and the way Rio ground against me told me they were well aware of this fact.
As much as I was enjoying the friction, I would much rather it be the other way around. I wantedRioto be the one pressing their erection againstmyass. I wanted them to pin me down and rut against me, slide inside and fill me. I wanted Rio to fuck me until I didn’t even know my own name, and then keep going until the only name I knew was theirs.
That was all part ofthe conversationwe needed to have. I hated that people looked at me and automatically assumedtop. Why? Why was it the norm for the bigger person to be the top? Why wasn’t it socially accepted for us to be the ones to bottom? Archaic power dynamics aside—I could rant about those all fucking day—why was it assumed that we didn’t also enjoy having our prostates pegged?
I’d walked away from many a guy who had refused to use condoms for blow jobs. I had walked away from even more because as I soon as I told them I preferred to bottom, they accused me of being a tease, of giving them the wrong impression. Why? Because of my height? Because my job demanded I be physically fit and I worked out? I never led them on. They had allassumed. And that was on them, not me. The handful of guys who had been vers had almost all made a big deal about it, some of them deciding that me being a bottom also meant I was submissive.
I wasn’t. It just wasn’t my thing. I wasn’t into D/s dynamics at all. Was it too much to ask for a balanced, equal exchange of power where we both enjoyed ourselves and got off, and I just happened to be on the bottom? I didn’t think so, but my experience was definitely skewed in that direction.
I was hoping that even if Rio wasn’t a top or vers, they would be happy to just do everythingbutpenetrative sex. It was the closeness and intimacy with them that I craved, and if we foundthat from just frottage and blow jobs, then I wasn’t going to complain. The complete opposite in fact. I was fairly confident we’d be able to work something out, but I couldn’t deny there was a little niggle of doubt in the very pit of my stomach.
I pushed away those thoughts for later. Now wasn’t the time to be worrying about what was to come. Instead, I needed to simply enjoy the present. Rio was in my arms, we were having fun, doing something we both enjoyed. That was what was important.
After another twenty minutes of dancing, I bent down close to Rio’s ear and said, “I have to hit the head.”
Rio nodded. “Me too!”
I took their hand, and we wove our way through the crowd towards the exit of the marquee. Once we were outside, I shook my head and worked my jaw, trying to stop the ringing in my ears from the music.
“Where are the nearest bathrooms?” Rio asked, and from the way several people turned to look at us, I could tell they were yelling. Their eyes went wide, and they tapped on one ear with their hand. “I can’t hear a damn thing!”
I laughed, but pointed in the direction we needed to go. “They’re over there,” I said, mouthing the words carefully so they would understand me.
We headed that way, and I was glad there wasn’t a long line like there was for the women’s restrooms. It was still busy, but at least we didn’t have to wait. We went inside and I headed for the urinals. Whenever Rio had used the men’s restrooms, they always preferred to use a stall, and from the corner of my eye, I saw them head in that direction.
A handful more people entered, and as soon as I’d finished pissing, I zipped up and headed for the sinks. I figured I’d wait for Rio outside and avoid the crowd, since there was nothing more awkward than just standing around watching guys withtheir dicks out. I turned towards the door and crashed straight into someone. “Shit, sorry, dude,” I automatically apologized, reaching out to steady the guy.
“No problem, sweetheart,” a deep voice growled in my ear.
The guy in front of me looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t tell from where. Until he reached around me and grabbed my ass. “What the fuck?” I snapped, knocking his hand away. I was ninety-nine percent sure this was the same guy who was grinding on me on the dance floor.
“Come on, baby, don’t play coy,” the dude said, his breath hot against my ear. “If you didn’t want someone to catch a handful of your ass, you wouldn’t have dressed it up so prettily for us.”
Before I could even respond, the guy was suddenly gone. It took me a moment to realize that he’d not just disappeared into thin air, but had been yanked away from me, flipped, and was now on the ground. Rio’s knees were pinning down the guy’s chest, and their forearm was pressed against his throat. “How dare you fucking touch him,” Rio snarled, pushing down hard enough to have the man’s face turning bright red. “The way he’s dressed doesnotequal consent. Do you understand?”
The guy was glaring at Rio, even as his lips began to take on a blueish tinge.
