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ADAM
I’ve been sitting alone at the table in my favorite French restaurant on Fifty-Seventh Street for the past twenty minutes, sipping a glass of wine and wondering what the fuck I was thinking. I don’t have time for games or bullshit, and it looks like Nick might be teasing me with both. He’d sounded so sincere on the phone, but now it looks like he’s not going to show for dinner.
“What the fuck,” I mutter under my breath. “I’ll go back to the office and—”
The sound of footsteps and someone panting pulls me out of my grumpy reverie.
It’s Nick, pushing the bangs from his eyes as he stands beside the table. His face is red, his hair is tousled and he looks frazzled and anxious.
“I’m so sorry,” he gushes. “I was running late. Then I couldn’t get a cab. And then I realized that I’d somehow left my phone at home.”
I push back from the table, walk around to the empty chair and pull it out so he can sit down.
“Relax,” I say, giving his arm a good squeeze. “I’m really glad to see you, handsome.” His cheeks turn a brighter shade of pink. “I was starting to wonder if you were fucking with me earlier.”
His eyebrows hitch higher. “I’d love to,” he says in a husky tone that I haven’t heard yet.
“Well, well,” I tell him. “Sounds like somebody’s feeling frisky and confident.”
He smiles. “My friend Dede told me to take the bull by the horns,” he replies.
I scoff. “Is that a real person or someone in your apparently very active imagination?”
“Oh, she’s totally real,” Nick says. “She’s my sage counsel. I actually work for her part-time, but we’ve become really close friends. She’s probably about your—”
When he stops in midsentence, I laugh at the look of panic on his face.
“My age?” I say. “Is that what you were going for?”
“Yes,” Nick answers. “But I don’t want you to think that I consider that old or anything.”
“Forty is old,” I say. “To some people.”
He squares his shoulders. “Not to me. I like older guys.”
“I gathered as much,” I reply. “I suspected it when I first saw you at Dirty Secrets. But when I was balls deep in your ass and you were calling my name, there was no guessing.”
He glances around the room nervously.
“Don’t worry,” I assure him. “They can’t hear me. And if they could, they’d probably be jealous.”
He glances down before taking the napkin from beside his plate and putting it on his lap.
“That should help,” he whispers. “I’m getting hard just sitting across from you.”
I smile. “Join the club, boy.”
Our eyes lock for a few seconds before the server walks up to the table. Once she has our beverage orders—another glass of pinot for me and a merlot for Nick—she heads for the bar.
“I’m really nervous,” he confesses. “I’m kind of glad this all happened so quickly. You know, you just asked me to dinner a few hours ago. If it had been longer, I think the anticipation would’ve killed me.”
“It’s strange, isn’t it?”
He frowns slightly. “How do you mean?”
“I think that we’re both feeling the same things,” I tell him. “Excited to see one another. Nervous to get together. Wondering what this is all about.”
The frown fades quickly, replaced by a playful grin. “I’m not wondering about part of it,” he says, lowering his voice. “I just can’t wait until it happens again.”
I lean forward. “Fucking?”
He nods. “And kissing and sucking and just feeling you on top of me.”
“Or beneath you,” I add. “We didn’t get around to that last week, but I sure would love to give it a try.”
“Me straddling your cock?” He smiles. “I was fantasizing about that in the shower the other day. I mean this in all seriousness; yours is the biggest that I’ve ever seen or enjoyed.”
The confession makes my dick lurch in my pants. I can feel the first drops of precum wetting my boxers.
“What else did you fantasize about?” I ask.
Nick closes his eyes and slowly licks his lower lip with the tip of his tongue. He’s about to answer my question when the woman returns with our drinks.
“Here you are, gentleman,” she says. “Another glass of pinot for you, sir. And a glass of Duckhorn for your son.”
It’s an innocent assumption, but I find it difficult to keep from laughing until she’s gone from the table. As soon as she’s back at the bar, I slip my right foot out of my loafer, raise my leg carefully and gently slide it between Nick’s legs.
“Oh!” he exclaims when it feels it pressing against his erection. “I didn’t…” He pauses to take a breath. “Wow! I’ve seen that in movies, but nobody’s ever done it to me before.”
“Stick with me, kid,” I say in my best Humphrey Bogart impression. “I’ll show you everything that you’ve never seen or tried before.”
He laughs. “Oh, yeah? Like what?”
“You name it.”
“The list’s pretty long,” he says. “I haven’t done all that much, if you want to know the truth.”
I stare at him in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me. After what we did last week, I’d guess that you’re well versed in pretty much everything.”
“Well, I suppose so.” He flutters his long lashes. “I definitely loved what we did, but I’ve been thinking about how hot it would be to meet a daddy who’s into trying some less mainstream stuff.”
I feel my cock press up against my jeans. Nick was making it increasingly difficult to stay on my side of the table. Half of me wanted to lunge over, slide my tongue in his mouth and my hand down his pants. The other half pressed for more decorum.
“Tell me,” I say, moving my napkin to my lap for the same reason that Nick did. “What do you want to do?”
He smiles. “In life?” he asks. “Or in bed?”
The fact that he asked about life first makes me realize that this boy is not solely focused on his cock. He’s interested in more than fucking and sucking. He wants to explore more than just the things that two men can do in the bedroom.
“I like that answer,” I tell him. “Why don’t you tell me what you want to do in both?”
The follow-up grin is infectious. In no time at all, I’m listening carefully as Nick discusses his painting aspirations and favorite galleries and the destinations that he’d like to visit. When he finishes a long and breathless story about his first trip to Miami with his parents as a young boy, I press my foot against his crotch again.
“And what about the other half of the equation?” I say. “What do you want to try with a daddy?”
After a lingering silence, Nick surprises me again.
“Everything that’s of mutual interest,” he says, sounding more mature than his years. “Spanking and pony play and toys and bondage. But I’d also like to just cuddle and watch Netflix. Or take long walks by the river and go for a carriage ride in the park.”
I smile. “And then go home and cook…what was it Oliver mentioned last week?”
Nick’s laugh is loud and rugged. “Quinoa burrito bowls,” he answers. “I’ve been teaching myself to cook lately, but it’s not all super healthy stuff. I can also make a mean chicken fried chicken steak and mashed potatoes loaded with bacon, sour cream and cheddar cheese.”
“Hayley’s going to love you,” I say without thinking. “She’s a huge fan of chicken fried anything.”
Nick arches one eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?”
“But some of the things you just mentioned sound really incredible,” I tell him. “I think that you might be a bit of an old romantic, Nick.”
“You’re the veteran romantic,” he says with a wink. “I’m the newbie that’s eager to learn.”