Grown-up (10 page)

“It’s exactly like riding a bicycle. I even have helmets.” He removed his wallet and pulled out a strip of rubbers, then held them up.

Ben looked like he couldn’t decide whether to be pleased or upset, so Austin smiled placatingly. “When I was thirteen years old, Sam made me swear I’d always practice safe sex. He lost way too many friends, you know? And since I’m not always all that responsible… okay, I’m not
usually
all that responsible… I always carry protection. So I won’t be able to break my promise by using the excuse,
Oh, bummer, no rubbers handy
.”

Ben’s expression softened. “Sam’s great. I don’t have a clue who my father was, but man, if I could choose a dad…. You’re really lucky, Oz.”

“I know.”

“And you’re not quite as wild as you think you are. Maybe you haven’t been the steadiest guy I know, but you’ve always had a pretty solid core.”

Warmth spread through Austin at the compliment. Nobody except Sam had ever hinted that he might be something other than a frivolous, immature kid. And if he dwelled on this much longer, he was going to lose it completely. He hadn’t come home with Ben to feel… feelings. He was here to top off Ben’s single evening of recklessness by making sure the guy got to experience a one-night stand. That was all.

“I have a pretty solid
something
,” Austin said with a forced leer, glancing down significantly at his crotch.

“Oh, jeez.” Ben rolled his eyes and, for good measure, shook his head. But he also moved closer and settled his hand on Austin’s shoulder. “Like a bicycle, huh?” he said. Then he began to unbutton Austin’s shirt.

The kind of sex Austin usually engaged in required a minimal amount of undressing and just the important parts exposed. And even when he did get naked with someone, the process of clothing removal was short and to the point, with every man for himself. Having someone undress him was novel and surprisingly sexy. His breaths were coming quickly even before the shirt hit the ground.

“You have tattoos,” Ben said, stroking the ink on Austin’s chest.

“More youthful indiscretions, I’m afraid.” The tribal armband had already been passé when he got it right after his eighteenth birthday. The rainbow flag on his left pec—which Ben was currently petting—was clichéd but not awful. But there was no excuse for the tat on his lower back. If things went as planned, Ben was going to see that one pretty soon. Might as well get it over with. With a small sigh, Austin turned around.

Ben chortled. “Seriously?”

“’Fraid so.”

“But… a flying unicorn?”

It had a rainbow-colored horn. “I was really, really drunk.”

With a few loud chuckles, Ben spun him back around. “Well, even drunk you managed to keep the markings in places you could cover for work. See? A whisper of mature thinking, even when you’re engaging in ridiculous body modification.” And as if to seal his point, he kissed Austin’s shoulder.

They’d kissed already, back in the club, but something about the soft press of Ben’s lips on his bare skin made Austin go weak at the knees. He had to clutch Ben’s waist for support, and Ben must have approved, because he kissed Austin again—this time on the cord of his neck.

“Fuck,” Austin moaned.

Ben didn’t say anything. He simply reached down and unbuttoned Austin’s jeans, then carefully lowered the zipper. As he did so, his fingers brushed against Austin’s rapidly growing erection, making him moan again.

As it turned out, Ben was a skilled multitasker. He eased Austin’s pants and briefs down past his hips—carefully—while laying kisses on his collarbones and sternum. Getting free of the clothing should have been a challenge, because Austin still wore shoes. But Ben knelt and, with Austin’s fingertips on his shoulders for balance, slid off the shoes and then the jeans and underwear. That left Austin completely naked, while Ben was still fully dressed. And, fuck, that was sexy, the rubbing of cotton against his skin maddening and wonderful.

But Ben stepped back and took a long look, like a man inspecting a statue in a museum. “You’re so beautiful,” he said. And Austin, who knew he was cute, suddenly felt beautiful instead.

Austin reached for Ben, who ducked out of range. He wasn’t teasing, though—or at least not mostly. He removed his glasses and placed them on the nightstand atop his tower of books. Then he smiled sheepishly at Austin. “I can’t see worth a damn without them, but they get in the way. And I probably look less like King of the Nerds when they’re off.”

“I like you in glasses,” Austin said honestly.

Ben snorted.

“No, really!” Austin protested. “They suit you. And anyway, better King of the Nerds than Champion Goofball.”

“I don’t think you’re a champ anymore, Oz. Lately you’ve hardly even been a contender.”

“Then what am I?” Wow. That came out more pathetic than Austin had planned.

“You’re you. Austin Phoenix Beier. And I think that’s a good thing to be.”

At the moment, so did Austin.

He wasn’t especially smooth or elegant at stripping Ben, but he got the job done. A flush of arousal made Ben’s face and upper chest pink, while his dick stood up proudly and showed off its rosy head.

They embraced again, this time with nothing at all between them, and they made out and they groped—Ben had a very fine ass—and honestly, if that was all they did, Austin would have been more than satisfied. But then they sort of tipped over onto the bed, where Ben proceeded to kiss, lick, and pet just about every inch of Austin.

“Thought you were out of practice,” Austin gasped, slightly surprised he could utter a coherent sentence.

Ben grinned evilly from his position near Austin’s balls. “Bicycle.”

After a while, Austin learned that Ben had an agile tongue and just enough of a cruel streak to make Austin beg. If they’d been doing this at Austin’s apartment, Kyle would be pounding on the door for them to quiet down. The neighbors might complain too. Here in Ben’s place, Austin was blissfully loud.

They quickly fumbled lube out of the nightstand drawer and retrieved the rubbers from the floor, where Austin had dropped them. But then Ben took his time prepping Austin—who was now on his hands and knees—not just stretching and slicking him but also mouthing at Austin’s asscheeks and smoothing the insides of his thighs. Just as Ben slid into him and began to slowly thrust, Austin realized they weren’t simply fucking. This was making love.

But Ben didn’t love Austin, and Austin couldn’t let himself love Ben.

So it was better to just enjoy the ride and make sure Ben got as good as he gave.

Austin came first, noisily, with fireworks and singing angels and his heart forgetting it had to beat. He was still shuddering through the aftershocks when Ben climaxed too, then briefly draped himself across Austin’s sweaty back.

After a while Austin’s mouth worked again. “If that was you out of practice, you’d kill me if you were really in the groove.”

“That was… good.” Ben sounded shaky. He rolled off Austin, removed the condom, and tossed it into a nearby wastebasket.

Austin knew what he had to do next. What he always did next, on the rare occasions when he’d had sex at someone’s house instead of somewhere more public. Get dressed. Drive home. Go to sleep in his own damn bed.

But… Ben’s bed was nicer, with a firm mattress and silky sheets. And when Ben clicked the light off and curled around Austin’s back, his soft damp cock nestled against Austin’s ass, that felt so much better than lying alone.

“Good night,” Ben said, his breath tickling the back of Austin’s neck.

Just a few minutes
, Austin thought.
Then I’ll get up.

“S
HIT
! S
HIT
!”

Austin awoke suddenly, disoriented. It took a moment for his dusty brain to recognize the swearing naked figure as Ben, and to remember he was in Ben’s bed. Meanwhile, Ben was fumbling around for the glasses he’d knocked out of reach.

“What’s the matter?” Austin asked with a yawn.

“Work! I’m late for work!”

Austin squinted at the clock radio, which read 9:03. Yep. Ben was definitely late for work. Austin caught his arm. “It’s okay, Benny. Sam’s not going to fire you over one late morning. Just call and tell him it’s my fault. Hell, I’ll tell him myself.”

Still without his glasses, Ben turned to glare. “It’s
my
responsibility, not yours. I’m the one who forgot to set his alarm.”

“Well… just call him. It’s no big deal.”

Only it obviously was a big deal, because Ben looked almost frantic.

Austin sat up, reached around him, and grabbed the glasses, which he handed to Ben. “There. Now you can see.”

Ben mumbled something and ran bare-assed from the room. A moment later, Austin heard him talking—on the phone, presumably—offering excuses to Sam. “I’m so sorry! I overslept. I’ll be in right away…. No, I’m fine… I’ll be there. Just give me a half hour or so…. Thanks. Bye.” Then some clattering came from the kitchen.

Austin got out of bed. He quickly gathered the scattered items of clothing and put them on; they smelled like JayJay’s and sweat. His mouth tasted foul, and his hair undoubtedly looked awful.

He was slipping on his second shoe just as Ben returned to the bedroom. “Sam says it’s fine,” Ben said.

“See? I told you.”

“But I shouldn’t have—I know better.”

“And I don’t.”

Ben shook his head. “That’s not what I meant.” He yanked open a dresser drawer and pulled out gray underwear and navy socks.

In a falsely bright tone, with a falsely bright smile, Austin waved. “Well, gotta book. Got shit to do.”

“Thank you. For last night. It was….”

“Oh, yeah, that was a blast. We should do it again sometime.” Austin was proud of himself for keeping his voice from cracking.

He walked to the front door, Ben padding quietly in his wake. Austin paused with his hand on the knob but didn’t turn around. “So, uh. I’ll see ya around. Tell Sam hi for me.” He wasn’t going to look at Ben. Didn’t want to see the expression on his face. Sure as hell didn’t want Ben to see his.

“Austin….”

Austin opened the door and walked out into the glaring morning sun.

Chapter Eight

“A
USTIN
,
CAN
you see if we have any more bacon body wash in the back?”

After picking a plastic frog off the floor and tossing it into its bin, Austin nodded. “Sure, Tabby.” He liked the smell of bacon well enough, but he wouldn’t want to go around smelling like it all day. Hell, if customers really wanted to smell like bacon, maybe they should work the breakfast shift at Rosenberg’s.

He dug around in the stockroom, but the body wash supply was depleted. He did discover bacon soap and toothpaste, however, so he grabbed one of each and took them out front. But Tabby’s customer—a tan bleached blonde in her forties—wasn’t satisfied. “Soap isn’t the same as body wash,” she complained.

Austin tried to look sympathetic. “I know. But functionally, they’re almost equivalent. Who’s the gift for?”

“My brother. He’s turning fifty and he’s feeling traumatized.”

“Sure, I understand. How about if I help you put together a really fun gift basket for him?”

The woman perked up. “You can do that?”

“Of course. We can even package it in something like a retro lunchbox.”

“Okay,” she said, smiling broadly.

It took over twenty minutes, but eventually he helped her choose a variety of toys, candies, novelty socks, and other small items. She didn’t even blink at the total. He wrapped her purchase up prettily with colored cellophane, and she practically danced out of the store.

The store was quiet, so Tabby had observed the entire transaction. After the lady left, Tabby approached Austin. “That was pretty amazing. Instead of losing a ten-dollar sale, we rang up over a hundred bucks. And I’m sure she’ll be back next time she needs a gift.”

“I’m glad I made her happy.” He reached over to straighten a display of shell necklaces on a rack.

Tabby watched him for a moment or two. “You’ve been here almost five weeks now.”

“Um, yeah, that sounds right.”

“You’ve been on time every day and you’ve worked really hard. And you’re great with the customers.”

He preened a little under the praise. “Thanks. I enjoy working here.”

“Would you enjoy it even more with a raise and benefits?”

“I sure would!”

“Good,” she said with a grin. “And I’m thinking you need a title too. How about Assistant Manager?”

“Seriously? That’s fantastic! Thank you!” He bounced up and down a little, which made her laugh.

“It’s a slow day and Kit will be in soon. Take the afternoon off to celebrate, Austin. I’ll pay you for the whole shift.”

He didn’t need to be given that offer twice. After a few more words of gratitude, he zoomed out the door. Only to be brought up short when he hit the sidewalk. Here he had some great news—the kind of news that needed to be shared. But who could he tell? His roommates didn’t give a shit where he worked or what his title was as long as he paid the bills on time. Randy, Colton, and his other friends wouldn’t care either.

Ben.

But Austin hadn’t talked to Ben since the night they had sex. Hadn’t even texted him. Not that he hadn’t
wanted
to. God, he’d pulled out his phone and started tapping about a thousand times over the past couple of weeks, but he’d always hit Delete instead of Send. He didn’t want to be clingy. He didn’t want to fool himself into thinking the thing with Ben was more than it was. And Ben hadn’t made any contact with him either, which broke Austin’s heart, but he understood. Ben wanted to get back to his life. Maybe wanted to forget the night had ever happened. And hell, it was supposed to be a one-night stand. Ben and Austin both knew that. Wasn’t Austin’s fault his heart never got the memo.

“I’m going to tell Sam,” he said out loud, prompting a passing hipster to stare.

He walked home quickly, hopped into his car, and prayed it would start, which it finally did. With a raise, maybe he could get the thing fixed. Or better yet, secure a loan for a reliable used car. Sam might be willing to cosign now that there was a good likelihood Austin would make the payments.