Page 18 of Daily Grind
They paid and headed out. Brian didn’t pull away when Rob took his hand. In fact, it was Brian who tangled their fingers together.
Rob let out a breath. “I wasn’t sure how you felt.” Especially after the whole family conversation.
A soft chuckle. “That makes two of us.”
After all that flirting? He glanced at Brian. Had Rob somehow given off the wrong impression? “I’m very interested, Bri. I hope you’ll give me a chance.”
Another laugh—this one had the edge of nervousness. “I know. You’re—” He swallowed. “I never thought you weren’t interested.”
Oh. So it wasBrianwho also didn’t know what Brian wanted. He would have let go if Brian hadn’t been holding his hand so tight. “Are you—”
“Yes.” A quiet answer. “Yes, I am.” There was almost a wonderment about those words.
Rob ran through all their interactions again. They did seem to be pointing in one particular direction—and if Rob was right—he needed to let Brian lead the way. Rob gave Brian’s hand a gentle squeeze, and they stopped briefly at his car to drop off the iPad before continuing up the hill.
They reached the top of Murray Avenue where it intersected with Forbes and the ice cream parlor on the corner. Two cones later, they were walking hand in hand again. Now that the sun had fallen behind the horizon, the air had cooled. Still, they meandered down the business district, stopping to look in windows. This time, the quiet between them was cozy and warm. They were, for a time, on the same page—whatever page that was.
I like you, Bri.It had been a while since he’d even bothered aiming for a relationship. He didn’t have family. Couldn’t keep his own mother alive. The last guy he’d “dated” wanted only sex and cash. Work had been a blessing in a way—it kept people at a distance.
He’d hooked up once or twice since the fiasco with Greg. Stellar sex, which made him feel all the more lonely. Therapy had helped. And now?
Now he was walking down a street, holding Brian’s hand and eating ice cream. So maybe hewasready for more. “Sometimes it’s hard being what’s left of your family.”
Brian slowed. “And you’re over here and not there.”
Yes. A different country, but that didn’t bother him. “I’d rather be here, to be honest. I miss England from time to time, but I built my lifehere.” He paused. “And I’m a citizen now, so thisishome.” He waved at the street.
They stood by the window of a sweets shop and Brian faced him, his cone half eaten. “I wouldn’t mind hearing that story sometime, if you want to share.” Little blotches of melted ice cream slid down his fingers.
“Thank you.” It was a kindness, both the offer and the realization that Rob might not want to share. “It’s mostly boring, but—yes. I’ll tell you sometime.” Not tonight, because the walls of his past were too thin. Something about Brian seemed strangely fragile, too. He stared at the ice cream on Brian’s fingers.
Brian must have noticed, because he stretched out the digits and looked. A sly smile curled his lips. “Youdohave a thing for cream, don’t you?”
From melancholy to horny in no time flat. He drew in a breath. “I do, yes.” He certainly wanted a taste of Brian.
Brian shivered. He tried to hide it, but Rob knew the dance well enough to see. He let his gaze move down Brian’s body, and yes, that answer had made an impression. “Don’t want you getting dirty.”
“Oh,” Brian said as he untangled his fingers from Rob’s and switched the cone to the other hand. “I doubt that.” He licked the drops of ice cream off his fingers.
Rob didn’t bother to hide the tremor that ran through him, his intake of breath, or the hardening of his cock. Brian was very thorough sucking and licking and it didn’t take that much imagination at all to think of that mouth and tongue on his shaft.
Brian finished the rest of his cone and crumpled the wrapper into his hand. “You’re getting ice cream on yourself, too.”
Rob looked at his own mostly eaten cone, and yes, chocolate had dripped onto his fingers. “Do you want to lick them clean, as well?”
Brian’s brows shot up into his hairline and he inhaled. The answer was as plain as day on his face, though he didn’t say a word.
Rob finished his cone, stepped in, and held out his hand.
The vein in Brian’s neck pulsed out a fast beat and he seemed to stop breathing. But then he moved forward and his lips pressed against the chocolate on Rob’s forefinger.
Rob gasped. Couldn’t help it, not with Brian’s tongue rasping against his skin and those warm lips sucking so gently. That touch radiated out and set every part of his skin on fire. Brian took his wrist and kissed and sucked all of the chocolate away, leaving Rob breathless, hard, and shaken. He’d wanted the touch of those lips far too much, wanted more of Brian so badly.
“Better?” Brian’s voice was shaky and thin.
“Yes.” He cupped the back of Brian’s neck and drew him into the kiss he needed more than air. Same warmth to Brian’s lips, but now they were moving on Rob’s. A faint taste of chocolate against Rob’s tongue as he opened Brian’s mouth and deepened the kiss.
Brian moaned softly, barely audible over the rapid rush of blood in Rob’s head. Their bodies pressed together, their hard lengths brushing each other. Rob gripped Brian’s waist and pulled him close.
