Chapter Eight
For the first time since moving into the apartment house, Doug climbed the wooden staircase to the second floor, and knocked on Stewart’s door. Stewart opened the door smiling, in jeans with a long sleeved, blue cotton jersey that matched his gorgeous eyes. Doug couldn’t speak for a moment, his overpowering attraction to this man tightening his throat.
“Hey, just let me grab my keys.”
Stewart disappeared into the kitchen and Doug stepped just inside the doorway, his eyes darting around the living room. The layout of the apartment was identical to his, but that’s where the similarities ended. Walls a soothing pale green, lots of bamboo decorations, brown leather furniture and healthy looking plants, it was like walking into a spa. And it was immaculately clean, the wood floor gleaming. Doug wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but with all the parties he’d heard taking place up here, he supposed he’d though he’d find more of a frat house atmosphere. But everything was stylish and crisp and calm, the scent of eucalyptus hanging in the air.
Stewart came out of the kitchen. “Okay, ready?”
“Yeah.”
It was a nice night, spring breeze cool but soft as they made the trek down to the bar. Stewart seemed in a good mood, whistling periodically as they walked. “Where’s Corey tonight?” Doug asked.
“Oh, a friend of his is having a hard time, so Corey’s staying over there, trying to help out.”
“Helping him find his bliss?” Doug asked, sarcasm bubbling up before he could stop it.
Stewart glanced at him as they walked. “It’s a her. And her mother just died. So I doubt they’ll be any bliss involved.”
“Oh, shit,” Doug said. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that.”
Stewart laughed. “It’s okay. Corey’s been giving you a hard time, I get it. But he does have a compassionate side, you just haven’t seen it.”
Doug nodded, but decided to keep his big mouth shut.
“Can I ask a favor?” Stewart said as they approached the front door of Bernie’s Brew Pub.
“Yeah, sure.”
Stewart stopped and faced Doug. “Can we not talk about Corey tonight?”
Doug nodded. “Yeah. Of course. No Corey talk. I promise.”
“Good.” Stewart’s delicious smile returned, and he opened the heavy wooden door, waving Doug in ahead of him.
While there were a lot of people inside, the bar wasn’t nearly as crowded as it had been Friday night, lots of empty tables now. There was no band, but festive music played over the sound system. A man and woman immediately approached and greeted Stewart with hugs and handshakes. Her hair was long and twisted into dreadlocks, the man tall and lanky. “Where’s Corey?” the woman asked, then her eyes darted to Doug.
“This is my neighbor, Doug,” Stewart said, making introductions.
“Hi.” Doug shook each of their hands, feeling awkward.
“We’re gonna grab a table, nice to see you guys.”
“You too, Stewart,” the guy said. “Nice to meet, you, Doug.”
“Same here.”
Doug followed Stewart to a table in a darkened corner, which pleased him. He’d been disappointed when the couple approached, thinking he wouldn’t get Stewart to himself. It didn’t go unnoticed to him that Stewart ignored their question about where Corey was.
As Doug sat down, Stewart said “What do you want to drink?”
“I can get it,” Doug said, rising from his chair. “You bought me a drink last time I came here.”
“I did a lot of things last time you came here,” Stewart said with a gleam in his eye. “Sit. I’ll get it.”
Doug laughed. “Ah, okay.” He sat back down. “Beer then. Whatever kind you’re getting. Surprise me.”
Stewart left the table and returned shortly after with two draft beers, setting them down. He took his seat and looked across the table at Doug, blue eyes soft. “I’m glad you called.”
“I’m glad you didn’t mind. I was afraid you’d think I was stalking you.”
Stewart grinned. “You know where I live. If you wanted to stalk me, you wouldn’t have to call.”
Doug nodded, grinning. “Speaking of, I saw you leave early this morning while I was getting ready for my run. You had to work?”
“Yeah,” Stewart said. “Plumbing job. I work a lot of weekends.”
“You like the work?”
“Yeah, I do, actually.” Stewart smiled at him. “I like looking at a problem and figuring out how to solve it, put it all back together again to make it work. Even if it’s just pipes and valves, I find it satisfying.”
“I get that,” Doug said. “What I do is similar in a way.” He took a sip of beer, growing comfortable. This felt good. Talking with Stewart about normal, life stuff.
Yeah, like friends, his mind taunted. But okay, if they were to be only friends, so be it. He’d take what he could get. Just being in Stewart’s presence made him happy. And eventually...maybe...the flaming, heart-stopping heat he felt when he looked at Stewart would lessen.
“Tell me,” Stewart said. “About your job. How it’s similar.”
Doug shrugged. “Oh well, let me see. Like for instance, we’re working on a new safety valve, to keep oil away from the high-temperature zone in an engine cavity. That’s easy enough, but the pistons need at least some oil to stay lubricated, but not too much that it’ll combust. I have to figure out how to make that work.”
“So you’ve got brains to go with that beautiful face.” Stewart laughed, giving Doug’s shoulder a playful shove.
Doug grinned, focusing on his beer. While the comment warmed him, he almost wished Stewart would not flirt with him. It was confusing.
A handsome, fresh faced guy with a brunette buzz cut approached, leaning over and resting his palms on the table. “Hey, Stewart.”
Stewart looked up at him. “Hey, Zach.”
Doug looked him over. He was young, early twenties with a lean physique, well defined biceps straining against a blue, nylon ribbed tee shirt. Doug felt a tickle of envy—not because the guy was talking to Stewart, but because he possessed that glowing, effortless beauty of youth, a spring blossom that had years to go before it would show any signs of wilting. While Doug only had maybe five or six years on the kid, that smooth, unlined face was a biting reminder of the budding crow’s feet Doug saw when he looked in the mirror every morning.
“Where’s Corey?” the kid asked.
Stewart gave him a look that was not altogether friendly. “Not here.”
“But where is he?”
“Not here,” Stewart repeated.
“Okay, fine.” The kid straightened up, removing his hands from the table. “Just asking.” He turned abruptly and walked away.
Stewart muttered a curse under his breath, and took a sip of beer.
“Who’s that?” Doug asked.
Stewart shook his head. “Zach. One of Corey’s fan club.” He met Doug’s eyes. “This is why I didn’t want to talk about Corey tonight. I get fucking tired of everyone trying to go through me to get to him. And when you told me you talked to your brother about him...” He shrugged, looking down. “I don’t know.”
Doug leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
Stewart looked up. “Corey wins everyone over eventually. I guess I liked the idea that with you...with you, for once it seemed to be only about me.”
“Hold on,” Doug said. “You don’t think I’m into Corey, do you?”
Stewart held his eyes. “I won’t hold it against you if you are. He did come onto you today. And he’s hard to resist.”
Doug laughed, shaking his head. “Oh, Stewart. You couldn’t be any more wrong. I’m not into Corey.” He took a deep breath. “To be honest...” He shook his head, second guessing what he was about to say.
“To be honest, what?” Stewart said, his hand drifting across the table, stopping just before touching Doug’s.
Heat and arousal climbed through Doug, muddying his brain. Stewart’s blue eyes studied him, expectant. “To be honest,” Doug said, “I kind of wish there wasn’t a Corey. I was...I am all about you.” He shrugged. “I wish you were single. There. I said it.” He looked away, picking up his beer, afraid to see what was in Stewart’s eyes.
He looked back when Stewart uttered a soft groan. Stewart leaned back in his chair, raking his fingers over his face. He focused back on Doug. “Well, this is a fine mess.”
“No,” Doug said. “I don’t wanna be anyone’s mess. I can be your friend. I can try, anyway.”
“I’m the one who wanted the open relationship,” Stewart blurted out.
Doug’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You...you wanted it?”
“You probably figured it was Corey’s idea, right?”
“That’s exactly what I thought. Do you…want to talk about it?”
Shaking his head, Stewart sighed. “I said I didn’t want to talk about him tonight, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, you said that. I don’t mind if you do, though. He’s part of your life. I get it.”
Stewart gave Doug’s hand a squeeze. “You’re awesome. I don’t deserve you.”
“You don’t have me,” Doug said with a wry grin.
“Thanks for the reminder. Getting ahead of myself.”
Another lurch of excitement welled up in Doug, and he cursed himself for it. He couldn’t get his hopes up here. Getting his hopes up could, and likely would, lead to disaster. Stewart had a boyfriend, for fuck sakes. He lived with him.
Determined to sober his arousal, he looked away from Stewart’s gorgeous face for a moment, pulling his hand back. “Tell me about you and Corey,” he said. “I want to know.”
Stewart twisted his beer glass in a circle as he spoke. “I told you I left England when I was a kid. Fifteen. I had grown up in a kind of rough old coal mining town. I was always getting in fights. My parents had four other kids, and not a lot of money, so they didn’t have much patience with me getting dragged home by the cops with black eyes and bloody knuckles every other week.” He smiled slightly. “So they shipped me off to America to live with my Uncle Tony and his wife in Nebraska. A very small town.”
“How was that?” Doug asked.
“Boring. But my aunt and uncle were great. Tony taught me the plumbing trade. I liked it, so I studied and advanced and got older, as people do. I was able to get my own business started. But I was still out of my mind bored. There was nothing to do where I lived, one bar, a lot of corn, and not much else. The only gay people in town seemed to be the creepy old guys that hung out at the rest area. I had to get the fuck out. So three years ago, after saving some money, I picked up and moved to Boston.”
“And that’s when you met Corey.”
“Ha, yeah.” Stewart nodded, smiling. “I met Corey the first week I was in Boston. My uncle had hooked me up with some friends of his here in the city to help me get on my feet and find a place and all. They wanted to show me a good time, so they took me to a play at The Huntington Theater. As You Like It by William Shakespeare. I thought it was gonna be boring as hell. I’d never even been to a play before.”
“But it wasn’t?”
Stewart chuckled. “There was this gorgeous blond guy playing Orlando, and I was fucking mesmerized.”
Doug’s jaw fell. “Corey?”
Stewart nodded.
“Corey was an actor?”
“Corey dabbles in everything for a little while until he gets tired of it. He did some local theater for a bit after he left med school. I met him during that time. You can imagine. Here I am, sheltered guy from Nebraska. And here’s Corey, this larger than life presence. I got up my courage to approach him after the play, and he invited me to a party. We started dating, and my life changed.” Stewart smiled, looking distant. “He showed me this whole other world. I was blown away. It was all fun and parties and weird, eccentric people, just the opposite of where I’d come from. It was just what I’d been hoping to find. Better than I could have imagined.”
Shit, Doug thought. His previous thoughts of stealing Stewart from Corey drifted away on a cloud of dust. He felt a bit foolish, thinking he could compete with Corey. Corey was Corey. Beefcake model. Actor. Messiah of the magic hands.
And Doug was just Doug.
“So you fell head over heels in love,” Doug said.
Stewart’s eyelids lowered as he looked down, twisting his beer glass. “I thought I did.” His lashes fluttered as he blinked, and looked up at Doug. “But I think it was more infatuation. Of course, who knows the difference? But everyone wanted Corey. And Corey picked me. I’d be lying if I said that didn’t give me a little charge. That I was the guy who won him.”
“I can see the allure,” Doug said. “Were you two...monogamous?”
“At first,” Stewart said. “We moved in together after dating for eight months. We were monogamous for another six months after that. Then he cheated on me.”
Doug went still. “He did?”
Stewart nodded, then his dimpled grin appeared. “Like I said. Corey dabbles in everything for a while. Until he gets tired of it. It was the same with monogamy I guess.”
“So you...what, caught him?”
“No,” Stewart said. “He told me. That’s Corey. Mr. Honesty. He said he was sorry, that he loved me, and wanted me to forgive him. But there had been something else going on with me at the time. The buzz had worn off.” He looked up at Doug. “The spell of Corey had already started to wane. I was falling out of love, I guess. Or infatuation. You know, people say when that initial, new relationship excitement wears off, it gets replaced with something deeper, right? Something quieter, but better.”
Doug nodded. “That’s what they say.”
Stewart shook his head. “But I didn’t feel that. I cared about Corey, but going from such heights back down to...indifference, almost. I hated it. I’d liked being in love with Corey. That rush. The excitement of it. I wanted to feel that way again. I’d never felt anything like it.”
Doug remained silent. It was hard hearing these things, with his budding feelings for Stewart. But he was curious to see where it was going.
“When Corey confessed to cheating on me...” He paused, taking a breath. “When I knew that he’d been with another man, and I was forced to...imagine that, suddenly I felt something again. Anger. Jealousy. Possessiveness. It took me back to when we’d first met. When I felt so lucky that everyone wanted Corey. But that I was the one who got to wake up with him in the morning.”
Doug let out a breath. “Wow.”
Stewart laughed. “Yeah. At first, when I suggested opening things up, Corey thought I was trying to punish him. He rejected the idea. But hot guys are always throwing themselves at Corey. It didn’t take long for him to realize it wasn’t such a bad deal. And I got my excitement back. Corey thinks I get off on him being with other guys. But I don’t. Not sexually. It just...it keeps the spark there.”
Moments passed in silence.
“Does that make any sense to you?” Stewart asked.
“Yeah,” Doug said. “It makes sense.”
“You think I’m completely dysfunctional.” Stewart let out one of his belly laughs. As always, it was contagious and Doug laughed with him.
“No, I just don’t understand how you can subject yourself to that kind of pain.”
“There is no pain,” Stewart said.
“Stewart. I saw your face in my room the other night. When you heard Corey and Jairo through the radiator. You looked sad. It bothers you.”
Unexpectedly, Stewart grabbed Doug’s hand. “I was sad. But not because of Corey being with Jairo. Not because I heard them fooling around.”
Doug shrugged, pulse speeding a bit with the contact of Stewart’s fingers wrapped around his. “Then why?”
“I was sad because I realized I didn’t care. I was sad because it didn’t bother me.”
Doug looked into his eyes, gripping his hand, the moment thick and pregnant with awkward anticipation. “Stewart,” Doug said. “Are you trying to say you want to leave Corey?”
Stewart shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“But you’re confused.”
He nodded. “Especially since meeting you.”
When they eventually left the bar and made the slow trek back toward home, they were quiet. Doug didn’t know how to feel about Stewart’s confession. Sure, Stewart was obviously having relationship problems before Doug ever came along, but he didn’t want to be the one to push those problems over the cliff, didn’t want to be the nail in the coffin. He didn’t want to be that guy. How could he be that guy? He hated that guy.
The silence grew more awkward as they walked, so Doug decided to break the tension, and bring things back into the comfortable friend zone. “So do you still talk to your parents?”
“Oh, they came to visit a couple times when I lived in Nebraska, but we’re not exactly close.”
“Are you out to them?”
Stewart’s belly laugh echoed into the night. “Hell, no. My folks aren’t quite the share your feelings type. They don’t ask much about my life, and I have no compulsion to tell them. I bear them no ill will. Just don’t have much in common with them.”
“I see.”
He glanced at Doug. “What about your parents?”
“They live in Connecticut, but we’re close, I guess. No real issues.”
Despite the small talk, the awkwardness returned as the two of them crossed their front yard and climbed up onto the porch. They simultaneously pulled out their keys and went to unlock the door, then looked at each other and laughed.
“My key or yours?” Stewart said.
Doug stepped back, chuckling. “Go ahead.”
Stewart unlocked the door and they stepped into the foyer.
Doug closed the front door, then lingered outside his own apartment. Stewart glanced up the stairs, then turned to Doug. “You have to work early?”
He shrugged. “Around eight. But I usually get up at five to run.”
Stewart laughed. “And you say Corey’s crazy.”
Doug laughed, his mouth still open when Stewart captured it with a kiss, pressing his back against the apartment door.
Thought deserted. The taste of Stewart’s tongue, the press of his body, wiped Doug’s brain of all logic. He could only feel, his body reacting to Stewart instantaneously, opening his mouth to accept his tongue, gripping his shoulders to pull him tighter against his chest.
Stewart broke the kiss but kept his face close. His hand came up, gripping Doug’s jaw. “Invite me in,” he whispered.
“Stewart—”
Stewart kissed him again, turning his face to get deeper into Doug’s mouth, fingers gripping his jaw. He pushed his body harder against Doug’s, sliding a leg between his thighs, grinding their hips together.
Doug groaned, aching need flooding through him.
Stewart pulled back, both hands on Doug’s face now. “Invite me in.”
Doug let out a quivering breath. Stewart’s expression was intense, almost desperate, those blue eyes commanding. Turning, Doug unlocked the door, fingers trembling.
As soon as they were inside, Stewart took his arm and all but dragged him through the darkened house, toward the bedroom. A bit buzzed from the beer, Doug stumbled, and laughed as Stewart caught him in the hallway. “Slow down,” he said. “It’s dark.”
“I know the way,” Stewart said, and guided him along.
They made it just inside the bedroom door when Stewart pushed Doug against the wall, kissing him deeply. Doug melted into it with a sigh of resignation. His cock stiffened with each stroke of Stewart’s tongue against his. Stewart devoured his mouth, and Doug responded to his fervor, the possessive press of his body.
Stewart pulled back suddenly, uttering a laugh. “Damn, I have to take a piss. Must be the beer.”
Doug laughed through his shortness of breath. “How romantic.”
Arms astride Doug’s shoulders, palms pressed against the wall, Stewart leaned in and kissed him again, slow and soft. His breath brushed Doug’s lips as he pulled back. “Have fewer clothes on when I get back,” he said, and left the room.
Doug chuckled at that. Judging from last time they were together, Stewart wasn’t one to waste much time with the undressing portion of seduction. Memories of their last encounter surfaced, making Doug’s dick even harder.
“I want you naked, so drop ’em.” But once they had gotten naked, their lovemaking hadn’t been rushed. He wasn’t sure how long they’d rolled around that night before finally stroking each other to climax, but it was a while, leaving Doug satisfied, the skin around his mouth deliciously raw the next day from all the kissing. And now they were going to do it again.
As he kicked his shoes off, doubt tried to creep back in, reminding him of his conscience, a niggling sense of self-preservation telling him to stop this, before he got in too deep. There were far too many variables that could end up with him getting hurt.
But he’d been the one to send that text to Stewart tonight. Try as he might to lie to himself, he knew even then that this was what he wanted, what he’d hoped would happen.
He took off his shirt, stripped down to his boxers, then retrieved some candles from his meditation room. Corey tried to worm his way into Doug’s thoughts, but he shoved him back out, and set the candles up around his bedroom.
Doug was lighting the final candle when Stewart stepped back into the room. He paused, and then sighed before moving over to Doug. “This is nice,” he said. Smokey gaze on Doug, Stewart stripped out of his clothes. The firelight made his midnight blue eyes look almost black.
When he’d removed everything but his boxers, he approached Doug and grabbed him around the waist. They stood by the bed kissing, erections straining against their underpants. A shuddering breath left Doug as Stewart’s mouth moved down to his neck, suckling.
“Stewart...are you...sure you want to do this?”
Stewart dropped to his knees and tugged Doug’s boxers down. Doug hissed when Stewart’s hot tongue licked up his shaft. He looked up at Doug, eyes glimmering. “Does it feel like I’m sure?” he asked, then took Doug’s cock fully into his mouth, sucking him deep.
“Oh, fuck.” Doug’s knees threatened to buckle. His fingers gripped Stewart’s silky dark hair, his stomach quivering as that hot mouth glided up and down his cock.
Stewart slid Doug out of his mouth and worked his way up his body, nibbling his hipbone, then trailing his tongue up and over his ribs, to his chest, sucking Doug’s left nipple.
Doug gripped his shoulders, panting. “Bed,” he said. “Now.”
Stewart straightened up, cheeks flushed. He slid off his boxers, exposing his swollen cock, then stepped backward until he reached the bed, easing down onto it. He slid over to the center and stretched back. “Get over here.”
Doug’s boxers were still around his ankles, and he stepped out of them. He climbed onto the bed and lowered himself onto Stewart’s warm body. Stewart arched up into him as Doug’s tongue invaded his mouth. Doug kissed him everywhere, gliding his body up and down Stewart’s silken flesh. He used his knees to spread Stewart’s legs, then pushed up onto his arms and looked down at him as he glided their erections together. He wanted to be inside him suddenly, to feel Stewart’s hot channel gripping his throbbing cock.
“What do you want?” Doug asked. The question left his lips with a bit more emotion than he’d planned. He was referring to Stewart’s sexual pleasure, but the question was loaded with inquiries unresolved.
“I want you to take me,” Stewart answered without hesitation.
Doug looked down at him, cock pulsing with each beat of his heart. He gave a slight nod, then climbed out of bed and went to the bedside drawer for condoms and lube. There was a moment of panic when he thought he’d neglected to unpack the items, but found them stuffed in the back of the drawer.
As he tore open a condom, he looked over at Stewart on the bed, seeking affirmation. Stewart gazed back at him, his hand drifting to his cock, rubbing himself. Doug swallowed hard, the sight making him dizzy. Stewart’s pale skin looked golden in the firelight, his dark hair spread over the pillow, one muscular arm stretched back beside his head.
Doug rolled the condom onto his stiff erection, then filled his palm with lube. He climbed onto the bed, kneeling between Stewart’s parted thighs. After slickening the condom with his palm, he reached down and took Stewart’s cock in his hand.
Stewart hissed and closed his eyes as Doug worked him with his lubed hand. Stewart thickened under his touch, his hips lifting to meet each stroke. His eyes opened, half-lidded as he gazed up at Doug. “Take me.”
Doug sucked in a breath and trailed his fingers down to Stewart’s balls, drifting over and under until he found his opening. Stewart spread his legs and lifted as Doug penetrated him with one finger, gasping again when he felt his tight heat. He dragged his finger over Stewart’s prostate, then glided it in again, watching the emotions play on his face.
Stewart propped himself up and gently took Doug’s hand, gliding the finger out of him. He looked in his eyes as he grabbed Doug’s cock, letting him know what he wanted, that he was ready. Then he released it and eased himself back onto the pillows.
Doug huffed and followed him down, falling onto his elbows, lips a breath away from Stewart’s. Stewart’s hand reached down again and guided the head of Doug’s cock, rubbing it against his opening.
With a sigh, Doug pressed himself in.
“Take me,” Stewart whispered so softly Doug almost didn’t hear it.
Fingers tangled in Stewart’s hair, Doug pulled out and eased back in. Stewart’s channel was tight but yielding, so he didn’t hold back the next time, pulling out then filling him to the base.
Stewart elicited a low groan and he grabbed Doug’s ass with both hands, pulling him flush against him. Doug’s control left him then, his hips finding a motion. He pumped hard and fast into Stewart, urged on by the grip of the other man’s hands on his ass. With open mouths their lips grazed, tongue tips gently connecting.
Stewart’s hands left Doug’s ass and drifted over his back and shoulders, then came to light on his face, cupping his chin, stroking his beard stubble. “Love your face,” Stewart said, the sound of his voice sending a current straight through Doug’s belly and down to his groin.
Teeth clenched, Doug withdrew a little then thrust in hard, making Stewart cry out. “Love your ass,” he responded, repeating the action, the clenching friction on his cock threatening to push him over the edge.
Stewart’s muscle squeezed around Doug’s shaft, taking some of his control and making him lightheaded. “Fuck. Stewart, Jesus.”
“Keep going,” Stewart huffed, thrusting his pelvis up. “Do it hard, Doug, make me come.”
Pushing himself up a bit he gripped Stewart’s shoulders, then finding his angle, gave it everything he could, fucking him with a deep, hard rhythm. Fear of leaving Stewart unsatisfied outweighed his fear of coming too fast, so he let go, losing himself in the motion, using his leg muscles to add thrust and weight to the rhythm.
It seemed to do the trick, as Stewart’s breaths came hard from his open mouth. Palm on the mattress, Doug pushed himself up, then reached down and fisted Stewart’s cock. He stroked him hard and fast, praying he could get him off before his own release, which hovered just beyond the edge, tightening his balls.
A deep cry pealed from Stewart and his body jerked, back arching, forcing Doug deeper. Doug’s control left him and he gave a firm thrust, shooting his load into condom. He continued to fist Stewart’s cock as he rode the wave of bliss, rewarded with a blast of hot, slick juices coating his hand.
“Oh fuck,” Stewart said. “Oh God.”
Doug milked him until he began to soften and his body relaxed back down into the mattress, then released his hold. His heart still pounded violently in his chest as his own orgasm ebbed. Reaching down, he pinched the end of the condom, drawing himself out, then fell over onto his back beside Stewart, struggling to catch his breath.
They lay that way for a long time, side by side, staring at the ceiling, silent but for the sound of their heavy breaths gradually slowing to a normal rhythm. Doug glanced at Stewart. Sweat had made ringlets of dark hair around his forehead. He kept his eyes closed.
Remembering the post-climax silence of their last encounter, Doug wondered if he was going to hear another word out of him now that it was over. He watched him for a moment longer, then climbed out of bed to retrieve a towel from the bathroom and ditch the condom.
When he returned, Stewart’s eyes were open, but he still stared at the ceiling, silent.
“Here.” Doug tossed Stewart a wet towel. It landed on his chest. Stewart looked down and grabbed it, then sat up.
“Be right back,” he said, and headed off to the bathroom with it.
Doug watched him go, then took a deep breath, retrieving his fallen boxer shorts and slipping them on. He got back in bed and turned on his side, facing the radiator. He didn’t move when he heard Stewart come back into the room. He expected Stewart would want to leave and go back upstairs, and Doug didn’t want to make it any harder on him by trying to engage him in conversation.
He heard him blow out the candles, then felt the mattress shift. Stewart’s warm body pressed against his back. A strong arm slid around his waist and pulled him in tight. Stewart’s lips tickled the skin behind Doug’s ear as he nuzzled in, his breath warm. “You okay there, serial killer?”
Doug chuckled softly. “I’m great.”
Stewart’s arm tightened around him. “Yeah,” he said. “You are.”
Doug smiled in the darkness. Stewart continued to hold him close as he drifted off to sleep.