It was kind of awkward just hanging around, waiting for Kyle. Nic wasn’t sure how long bedtime was supposed to take for a four year old.

Before she left, Evie had given him the easiest possible babysitting gig: plopping him with Kevin on the couch, one of his favorite Lego sets, and his favorite cartoons.

Kevin had only asked for one snack in that whole time, and otherwise, had been completely happy to eat Froot Loops, put together Legos, and watch Batman cartoons.

It had been really nice, actually. Nic could get used to doing that all day. A lot easier than his childhood babysitting jobs, and one step better: from the little he did get to talk with Kevin, it was breathtaking how much like his father he was.

It filled Nic’s heart with all kinds of sappy emotional crap just to see a mini-Kyle being just as joyful and carefree.

Evie was in the kitchen, making tea—she’d asked if he wanted any and he said no. So while she tidied the kitchen, Nic fidgeted on the sofa, looking around at the half-assembled Lego town on the coffee table and the paused cartoon on the screen.

It was a warm, cozy house, and even though it was unconventional, a cozy family. It was the exact opposite of his own growing up, in every way. Not for that reason alone, he ached to be part of it.

But he couldn’t force his way in. If Evie was right and Kyle did like him, but he wasn’t ready to deal with that, he had to wait for Kyle to be ready on his own terms.

Hanging around was even more awkward under those circumstances. He really wanted to tell Evie he was just going to go home, but he assumed Kyle wasn’t staying the night, and then how would he get home? A taxi? If he couldn’t afford fifty bucks for snacks and a Netflix card, he couldn’t afford a taxi. But on the other hand, would he take this as a gesture of charity, too?

It seemed like hours, but it was probably just a few minutes before the hall door opened and Kyle came out.

“Hey,” he breathed out, heading straight for the living room.

Nic swallowed and raised a hand in an awkward wave. “Hi. Sorry, I wanted to make sure you were okay…”

Kyle’s expression flickered, and now that he was closer, Nic saw the tired lines around his eyes before he offered another quick, bright smile. “I’m okay. Can I ask another favor…? Could you drive me home?”

He pressed his palms together, his cheeks pink. It was clearly hard on him to ask anything—he was grinding his teeth slightly, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

If Nic hadn’t already been set to do it, he sure as hell would now. Anything. “Of course! Yeah. That’s why I waited.”

“Thank you,” Kyle told him, breathing out a quick sigh and holding Nic’s gaze for a few moments too long.

Just as Nic’s heart started to thud, Evie came out of the kitchen. “You’re going home? Good. Rest up.”

They hugged, and then Evie came to hug Nic.

“Like it or not—” Kyle started to warn Nic, “she’ll do this now.”

“Shut up. You hug more than me,” Evie told him.

Nic laughed and held out his arms for a quick hug. “It was no trouble,” he assured Evie every time she tried to thank him, then pulled back and almost sprinted for the door.

“I’ll get you donuts. So many donuts. You’ll be fat off donuts,” Evie told him.

Nic burst out laughing, and so did Kyle. “Thanks? I think?” Nic tilted his head.

“Thank you, sweetie,” Evie told him. Nic could already see it—she was warm and open-hearted, just like Kyle. No wonder they got along so well. He was dying to know the story between the two of them, but there was really no good time to ask yet.

Once they were in his car, Nic let silence fall as he pulled away from the house and started to get out to the main road. The first time he looked over, a couple minutes later, his mood sank again.

Kyle looked… broken.

Of course he did. What did he expect after a near-death experience? Sunshine and rainbows?

But he sure as hell didn’t expect his own heart to break at the sight. Nic dabbed a thumb along one eye and blinked a couple times, waiting until they were dry again before he cleared his throat and pulled over.

That got Kyle’s attention. He slowly looked over at Nic and blinked once. “Mm?”

“Feel free to say no, but… can I take you to my apartment?” Nic asked slowly. Kyle didn’t look like he could handle complicated questions. “You don’t look like you should be alone.”

If he’d found it hard not to tear up at the sadness on Kyle’s face a minute ago, the look of relief on Kyle’s face now was even harder.

Don’t cry. Keep it cool for him, for fuck’s sake. Nic blinked and pulled himself together with the art of practice.

“Please,” Kyle murmured, his shoulders even sinking. “I’d really… I need… yes.”

They didn’t say anything more as Nic nodded, pulled back onto the road, and did a U-turn.

The nervous anticipation when he led Kyle inside his condo was less awkward than Nic had expected. It was still impossible to miss the way they both caught their breath when they moved at the same moment for the living room and just the backs of their hands brushed.

Nic blushed from the heat that crawled along his whole hand, to his arm and chest, but he refocused his mind. He had to say this, now, too.

“It’s awkward to say out loud and all, but…” Nic trailed off, clearing his throat. “I’m not expecting anything.”

“I know,” Kyle murmured, and then he took Nic’s hand.

Oh, God. His hand was warm and strong, and now he was cupping Nic’s hand between both of his own, kneading gently.

“I’m sorry for… flipping out at Target. I, uh. I have issues, I shouldn’t have put them on you.”

Nic opened his mouth, but sound wouldn’t come out for a second. He wasn’t sure how to react to someone apologizing for treating him badly and owning up to it so succinctly.

“Uh. I.” He cleared his throat, but those earnest eyes searching his own made it even harder to focus. If Kyle weren’t touching him, he’d have stood half a chance at saying something coherent. “It’s okay. I’ve had issues too. I… got that.”

“Still,” Kyle murmured, “I know you’re not that kind of guy. The sugar daddy kind, or whatever I said when I was… freaking out.”

Nic’s heart was thumping now. Kyle wasn’t letting go of his hand. Instead, Kyle let their palms rest together, and he was touching the backs of Nic’s fingers with his own thumb, staring down at his hand as he gently traced along it. Then, Kyle met his eyes again.

“I need someone to hold me. I want it to be you. If you’re not… if I haven’t been…”

Nic smiled slightly and waited for him to finish the sentence, even though he wanted to wrap his arms around Kyle and pull him in forever.

Kyle cleared his throat. “…If you’re still interested. For tonight, at least.”

Tonight? Christ, Nic had no words for how much he wanted to hold him. Trying not to be overeager, Nic nodded once. “I’d love that, too.”

Their fingers laced as Kyle lowered his hand, then looked around. “Where’s your room?”

“This way.”

Nic had daydreamed enough about Kyle’s green hair and radiant smile against his pillow, but when he saw it for himself, he lost his breath for several seconds.

“Something wrong?”

“No,” Nic breathed out. He yanked off his t-shirt one-handed and tossed it aside, then slid onto the bed and straddled Kyle with a knee on either side of his hips while Kyle ran his hands up his sides. “Not at all. You’re gorgeous.”

When Kyle’s cheeks went pink, their saturation was as rich as the green of his hair. It was hard not to sit back and admire him, and Nic took a moment to do just that as he ran his hand up Kyle’s chest, then unbuttoned his shirt slowly.

By the time he trailed his fingertips along the bare skin he’d revealed, all the way from his chest down to the elastic of his underwear that peeked out from his waistband, Kyle was squirming under him.

“I’m going to need you to do more than that,” Kyle grumbled when he noticed Nic watching him.

Nic grinned. “Like what?” he teased, letting his fingers very gently run over the fabric covering each thigh.

“Hah!” Kyle twitched hard and then shivered, rolling his head back. “Naked. Please.”

God, and how could Nic turn him down?

I want to tell him. But I’ll only scare him off. I have to tame him, let him get close to me before I try to harness the typhoon that’s his spirit.

He slipped the button free from Kyle’s trousers and slid them down, running his hands along bare skin the whole way to his knees. While Kyle kicked them off, Nic rubbed his palm along the package that was stiffening under the thin fabric.

Kyle’s squirm and grunt of pleasure was totally worth it. Nic grinned, watching Kyle’s eyes squeeze closed while his lips parted, the tip of his tongue darting out to moisten his lips.

God, they were kissable.

Nic leaned down over Kyle to kiss him hard and suddenly, and Kyle pressed up into the kiss with teeth and a low growl.

Yet, after a few seconds of fire running through their veins, the second kiss was exploratory, delicate, maybe even… tender. He needed to be held, and Nic wanted to do that. He didn’t want this round to be uncontrollable passion like last time.

Nic pulled back enough to tug Kyle’s underwear down, then unbuttoned his own jeans, yanking them down along with his underwear. Kyle helped him push them off his body, but before long, his hands were just in the way.

“Gerroff—you can’t—stop that—” Nic laughed as Kyle’s hands got in the way. He could swear Kyle was doing it deliberately. And there it was: a playful sparkle in his eye. He was. “You little…”

Kyle beamed innocently and held his hands in the air. “Wha’? Me?”

“Yes, you,” Nic chided, rolling onto his side so he could kick the damn things off. “Jesus. They’re tight.”

“I like your ass in them, though. Much better than trousers.”

“Thanks. I should wear them more often.”

Kyle grinned playfully at him. “Welllll. I might have to see them again before I judge that. Just for science.”

“We’ll see what we can work out,” Nic winked.

The fact that Kyle was joking around didn’t fool him, though. He knew defensive mechanisms like the back of his hand, and Kyle? When he was too wounded to be his usual open book, hurting too much to be sweet and vulnerable, Kyle was the type to hide it behind a grin.

“I wanna suck your cock this time,” Nic told Kyle.

Kyle’s jaw dropped. He stared at Nic, his parted lips so tempting that Nic leaned in for a quick kiss or three. That was his aroused look, and it was so damn hot. “You sure?”

“Really fucking sure,” Nic breathed.

Kyle’s cock was hardening now, rising in front of Nic’s eyes. When Nic cast a quick, appreciative look at it, it twitched.

“Hnh. Uh. Condoms in the… over there,” Kyle gestured, losing his vocabulary for bedside table for a moment.

Nic smirked and leaned over to grab a couple, plus the lube. God knew what they’d need next, but it was better to be prepared now. When he tore open the package and looked back at Kyle, Kyle was watching him with a strange expression.

Not just lustful, not wistful… like he wanted him, but not just his mouth or his ass.

Oh, fuck. This is real.

It was nerve-racking, but Nic’s heart soared once again. He grinned, unrolling the condom slowly down Kyle’s cock one-handed while cupping Kyle’s cheek with the other hand. He kissed him hard.

“Mmm,” Kyle groaned in appreciation, thrusting his hips into Nic’s tight fingers. Nic let him fuck his hand one or two more times, then pulled back from the kiss and pressed his lips into Kyle’s neck, then his chest.

By the time he reached his nipples, Kyle was panting for breath.

“Speaking of sensitive,” Nic breathed out.

“S’perfect,” Kyle moaned, his thighs trembling—Nic could feel them against his own legs. “Just hard. So fucking hard. I need you, Nic.”

Nic did, too. He needed to make Kyle feel good. He needed Kyle close to him, and he needed Kyle all around him.

As a one-night stand went, he’d never felt so… intimate, so fast. Two-night stand now. Nic was so glad of that fact.

He licked Kyle’s nipples one at a time, regretting that they didn’t have all night for him to find every spot that made Kyle whimper his name. Sometime, if he was very lucky, he’d get that chance.

For now, he lingered around his hipbones and kissed once or twice along the inside of his thigh, then wrapped his mouth around Kyle’s balls, gently pulling them between his lips.

Kyle’s were more sensitive than his, and their core was softer. Nic was a fan, though. He loved their shape, their weight in his mouth, and how they drew tight when he was about to come…

Nic licked his way up the shaft to the tip, enjoying the way Kyle’s thighs pressed against his shoulders, squeezing his arms by his side. He unhooked his arms to get them free, pushing Kyle’s legs further up the bed, and licked around the head now that he could grip the shaft with one hand.

“I’m—Jesus fuck, Nic, if you take much longer I’m going to come on the spot.”

Nic clicked his tongue. “The art of foreplay is a dying one. ’Tis a pity.”

Kyle managed to swallow his moan of frustration, but the choked noise was audible—and so fucking hot. “Yes, Sir Nicolas,” he hissed.

“Sir? If you insist,” Nic smirked, wrapping his lips around the warm, firm pointed head. He sucked the swollen shaft into his mouth, running his closed fingers down to the base of the shaft ahead of his mouth, then stroking back up in time.

Kyle was big, but not impossibly so. How the fuck he managed to control it under his skirts and things, Nic wanted to know. Nic was sure even his boners would show if he wasn’t careful.

“Oh, God, Nic.” Kyle’s hands slid into his hair, his thumb caressing Nic’s jaw. “Oh, my God. Yes…”

Nic swallowed it as deep as he could and moaned, sucking hard enough to make Kyle’s thighs tremble around his sides.

Kyle’s breath caught as he grunted, then pushed his hips up into Nic’s face. “Yes!”

Nic held still to let him thrust a few times, running his hand along Kyle’s thigh and up to his hip, then under to feel the strong muscles in his ass pushing his weight up off the bed.

Fucking. Goddamn. Perfect.

He’d let this man ride his mouth all damn night.

“Oh, fuck, you make me want you,” Kyle breathed out, his voice hoarser than it had been a minute ago. It was rough and low, and laced with desire.

Nic slowly pulled his mouth up off his shaft, then grinned as he shifted his weight further up the bed, his toes curling in anticipation. “You wanna show me how?”

Kyle rolled onto his side and pulled Nic into his front, their thighs sliding together and cocks pressing into each other’s hips. The warmth from chest to thigh ignited the simmer under Nic’s to a rolling boil again.

“Fuck,” Nic whispered, wrapping his arms around Kyle’s waist to maneuver him over top of him. “You feel good.”

Kyle’s hands were tight on his hip and ass, keeping him crushed between Kyle’s body and the bed so the friction burned as much as possible.

Kyle’s weight over him was good—his heat even better. But best of all were his lips pressing soft and gentle and thankful kisses against Nic’s lips.

He drank them in greedily, gasping against Kyle’s mouth. “Wha’?”

“Shh. Thank you,” Kyle breathed out.

“You didn’t even come yet.”

His eyes were open enough to see the fondness in the smile Kyle gave him. And now he couldn’t look away, couldn’t break the dark gaze that was fixed on him from just inches away. “Don’t have to,” Kyle whispered. “Sex is more than orgasm after orgasm.”

Kyle was crushed between Nic’s thighs, his nails running up Nic’s side to hold him down by his hip and shoulder.

Sex is more than orgasm… Nic nodded wordlessly, not because he disagreed, but because he’d forgotten the last time he’d hooked up with someone who thought that. “For what it’s worth, your blowjobs are great, too,” he mumbled.

Kyle grinned at him, pushing his hips forward slowly until their cocks pressed together. “Are they?”

His hard length was still damp from Nic’s mouth, and the wetness made for the perfect friction as their dicks slid along each other’s.

It was Nic’s turn to roll his head back into the pillow and grab at Kyle’s back. “Ah! Nnnh!” Nic couldn’t think straight, couldn’t bear the sensation, but couldn’t bear to be without it.

Kyle leaned down and sucked Nic’s lower lip slowly into his mouth, and Nic gave up on anything except panting into Kyle’s mouth and arching his hips against Kyle’s, rolling them so their manhoods slid together at just the right speed.

Already, Nic couldn’t hold back. He needed it faster and harder. He wrapped his arm around Kyle’s back, combing his other hand through Kyle’s hair and running it down his back to grab his ass. “Please…”

“Yes, baby,” Kyle breathed out, his lips pressing at the crook of Nic’s neck. He thrust harder against Nic while he kissed up to behind Nic’s ear until his nerves were on fire, his whole body tensing up as his muscles pulled tight. “You’re so fucking hot.”

“Y-You… too.” Nic moaned, then whimpered as his shaft pressed tight against Kyle’s, the whole length of Kyle’s dick rubbing against his from base to tip. Every time the heads rubbed against each other, the edge of Kyle’s head caught on the tip of his dick and sent an extra thrill through him.

“And your dick feels amazing,” Kyle breathed out, his voice faint and harsh. “Fucking perfect. I’m so close…” He pressed his mouth hard against Nic’s, open-mouthed, their tongues twisting and twirling as Nic moaned into Kyle’s mouth again.

The kiss was short, but incredibly hot because it was the kind neither of them had the energy to follow up on. Their bodies were too wrapped up in this dance, their climaxes so close Nic could taste it…

“I need… I’m gonna… Kyle!” Nic clenched hard and then thrust up against Kyle’s cock, grabbing his ass with one hand and digging his nails into his back with the other.

He thrust hard as his dick pulsed, the wetness between them making Kyle’s cock run along his own easier. He squeezed his eyes shut, but that didn’t stop Kyle kissing him hard as he came. Kyle drank in every second of his bliss with that intense fucking focus that Nic only associated with him.

And then he realized that Kyle was moaning his own name into his mouth. “Yes…! Nic, fuck, yes, Nic… Nic!”

He opened his eyes and pulled back from the kiss to watch the pleasure roll across Kyle’s face. Kyle’s gorgeous lips were swollen from kisses, reddened, and he leaned up to catch and suck one of those lips while Kyle’s whole body trembled and shuddered against his. “You’re fucking gorgeous, Kyle. Come on, baby.”

“Nnnh. You’re too hot,” Kyle whispered, out of breath. Nic couldn’t move, his whole body trapped against the bed by Kyle’s weight as Kyle used his cock for friction and hard texture, his hips jerking in rhythmic, unconscious thrusts he couldn’t control.

“Oh my God, yes,” Nic moaned his approval when Kyle collapsed onto his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around Kyle to hold him close.

Kyle moaned and slowly rolled off him to give him space, then plucked at the condom.

Nic breathed out a quick laugh. “We could’ve done without, you know.”

“Nnh.” Kyle slowly opened his eyes. “Habit. Plus, if you’ve been…”

“Sleeping with anyone else? Lame, I know, but no.” Nic’s cheeks burned. Don’t question me on why. I’m not even sure what I’ll tell you.

Kyle didn’t question it, though. He just gave a slow, lazy smile as he tossed aside the condom, then rolled onto Nic again, this time shifting so their softening cocks weren’t pressed too hard against one another’s.

That felt good. That felt… really good. In return, Nic looped both his arms around Kyle’s waist and held him tight, pressing his lips into Kyle’s neck, then against his ear.

He found himself idly kissing the rim of Kyle’s ear, noticing which spots made him flinch and quiver with pleasure.

God, it would be fun to sleep with this man every night.

Don’t get ahead of yourself. This might be it.

In his blissful euphoria, Nic felt Kyle’s fingers run along his ribs, gently along his nipple and down his side to his hip. The affection wasn’t lost on him.

The last thing Nic remembered was planning how he’d kiss his way back to Kyle’s lips just as Kyle pressed his forehead into the pillow by Nic’s head.

He’d do it soon, then. After a moment’s rest.