Page 109 of Role Model

Harris scoffed. “Compared to you? Hardly.”

“Well, how about we make our time here hockey-free?”

Harris smiled without opening his eyes. “Sounds perfect.”

His skin was already deep pink from the hot water, and it made the white line of his scar stand out more. Troy tried not to stare at it, but he couldn’t help but worry about the heart behind it.

“Still beating,” Harris said mildly. Troy noticed that his eyes had opened, and he flooded with embarrassment.

“Sorry. I wasn’t staring.”

Harris brushed his foot against Troy’s. “Yes you were. It’s okay. I get it. That’s why I don’t lounge around in a bathing suit very often.”

“I’m sorry,” Troy said again. He wanted to tell him he didn’t need to hide his scars, but he was the last person who should be telling someone not to hide. Instead, he reached under the water and pulled Harris’s foot onto his lap. He lightly caressed the hills and valleys of his ankle.

Harris sighed happily. “Do I get a massage before my massage?”

“I just want to touch you.”

Harris’s eyes went a little gooey. “Are you nervous, being here with me?”

“No,” Troy said, then corrected himself. “Not as nervous as I thought I’d be anyway.”

“That’s good.”

“I mean, there’s nothing to hide at this point. We’re two men enjoying a couple’s retreat at a romantic spa. No one can misinterpret that. There’s something freeing about having that worry taken away.”

Harris inched a little closer to him. “That’s true.”

“Was it scary for you, when you came out?”

“Of course. Even when you’re sure your friends and family will be cool and supportive, it’s still scary. But most of my fear was, like you said, around the possibility of someone finding out my secret. Once it wasn’t a secret anymore, I didn’t have to worry about that.”

“I’d like to know how that feels. I’ve been fucking terrified my whole life that someone would find out. I didn’t touch another man until Adrian, when I was twenty-three. So if I’m doing anything wrong in bed, that’s my excuse.”

“You’re definitely not doing anything wrong in bed, stud.”

Troy smiled and ran his palm up Harris’s shin, then back down. When his hand returned to Harris’s knee, Harris, gave a shaky laugh and said, “Don’t go any higher or I’m going to have an awkward time leaving the bath.”

Troy’s own dick perked up. He wished he could haul Harris out of the water and take him right here on the fancy stone tiles. He would love to hear Harris’s moans echoing in the quiet, cavernous room. “Is this too high?” he asked, walking his fingers up Harris’s thigh.

Harris swatted his hand away. “Fuck off. I mean it. Don’t make this weird for the poor staff.”

“Serves them right for making this place so sexy.”

Harris grinned and sank deeper into the water, retrieving his leg from Troy’s lap. “It is sexy. But I can wait until we’re in our cabin. The waiting makes it sexier, right?”

“You know, we don’t have to get the massages...”

“No way, superstar. Some of us don’t get daily rubdowns. I haven’t had a massage in ages.”

“Fine.”

“And Troy?”

“Mm?”

“This is already the best date I’ve ever been on.”

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