Joel has a Question
One year later
Athena bumped Joel's shoulder as they leaned over the glass case. She tapped her fingernail against the glass repeatedly and started to jump up and down. “This one, Baby J! This is the one!” With her free hand, she motioned for the sales girl to come over and help them. “This is the one! Can we see this one?”
Joel reached his hand over, stilling Athena’s tapping fingernail. “Throttle down, Theenie. Let’s take a look first, okay?” He held out his hand and the sales girl dropped the ring into his palm. He held the weight of it, and for the first time thought he might be jumping the gun. He picked up the ring in his fingers, looking at it in the light, furrowing his brows.
“Do you not like it?” the sales girl spoke up, her cheerful voice now reflecting that tone which only ever came with a potentially lost commission.
“No, I do like it.” He set the ring down on the gray felt pad the sales girl had slid onto the glass case in front of them. “Is this too much, Theenie?” He picked up the ring again, holding it between his thumb and finger.
Athena tilted her head at him. “Why would it be too much? Don’t you think you’ve waited long enough for handsome boyfriend to pop the question on his own?” She plucked the ring from his grasp, turning it in her palm and smiling at Joel.
“But, it’s Gabriel. Everything with him is always so...planned and orchestrated. Shouldn't I wait? He obviously doesn’t want to marry me or he would have by now. I’ve been living with him for a year and he hasn’t even fucking hinted at it.” Joel began to hyperventilate as his anxiety over Gabriel's seeming lack of commitment overtook him. He snatched the ring from Athena and put it back down on the felt pad.
Athena picked up the ring once more and held it in front of Joel's face. His eyes zeroed in on the sturdy black tungsten circle and two rubies inlaid in the band. He held his hand out and Athena dropped the ring into it.
“Baby J. Gabriel is going to be yours for the rest of your life, ring or otherwise, you know that. You two have a special bond.” Athena chuckled, and Joel barked out a nervous-sounding laugh, continuing his assessment of the ring. “Gabriel would bend heaven and earth if it was what you wanted, and if this is what you want, then he’ll give it to you gladly.”
“I know he will, but I want him to want it, too.” Joel slid the ring down onto his finger and found it far too large for his delicate hands.
“He wants what you want. He loves what you love. You know this, Baby J. If you want to wait around for him to do it, then wait for him. If not, buy the fucking ring.” Athena shouldered her purse, effectively telling Joel to make a decision. She tilted her eyes down to the ring on his finger and smiled, looking back up at his face. Joel was staring at the ring himself, smiling, and then he gave a slow nod as he reached with his right hand into his pocket for his wallet.
“Alright, yeah. Let’s get it.”
The sales girl perked up, gladly taking Joel's credit card and running off to charge him for the purchase. He started to shake and slid the ring off, dropping it with a clatter onto the glass case.
“Holy shit, Athena.” His voice shook like his hands.
“Holy shit, Joel.” Her eyes widened and she smiled at him.
The sales girl returned with his card and receipt, reaching for the ring. “I’ll box this up for you.” But Joel reached out and stopped her, slamming his hand with a little more force than necessary over the ring.
“No, that’s fine. I’ll take it.” He picked up the ring and slipped it into his front pocket before returning his card to his wallet. “Thank you,” he muttered, chewing at his lip before following Athena out of the store.
“This is the best decision you’ve made all year, Baby J.” Athena pushed into him with her hip as they walked back to the parking lot.
Climbing into his car, he offered her a worried smile. The look she gave him in return was wide and bright. “Stop it. You got this. Call me when it’s over. I can’t wait to start planning. Mr. and Mr. Handsome Boyfriend! It’s going to be epic, Baby J!” Athena was still chattering on as Joel closed his door and backed out of the parking spot, heading home.
After Joel had returned to him, Gabriel had refused to let him leave. Joel had moved in the same day, his belongings from his apartment magically showing up in boxes the following morning. They hadn’t stayed in the condo for long, though. Gabriel had decided to sell it and buy them a beautifully renovated craftsman bungalow in Silverlake. Joel loved it there, with its small back yard where Gabriel had planted him a patch of zinnia and jonquils, because I’ll always desire your affections, he told him.
Joel pulled into the driveway, parking and giving the ring in his pocket one last reassuring squeeze before unlocking the door and going inside. As soon as he closed the front door, he was immediately lifted and slammed into the wall by Gabriel's body.
“I didn’t know you were home,” Joel sputtered. He had planned to find somewhere to hide the damn ring before Gabriel got home from work, but now wouldn't have the chance.
“Is it a problem for me to be here? In my home? With the man I love?” Gabriel pressed his face into Joel's neck, biting at his pulse point.
“Fuck no,” Joel moaned, reaching up to pull Gabriel's dress shirt loose from his pants. Gabriel grabbed Joel's hands, pinning them to the wall over his head, finishing untucking his shirt by himself.
“Did you have a nice lunch with Athena?” Gabriel sucked Joel's earlobe into his mouth. Joel shuddered and bucked his hips against Gabriel, trying to find any friction for his quickly growing erection.
“Yes.”
“Did you do anything unexpected?” Gabriel licked his tongue down the side of Joel's jaw, pressing against Joel's lips, urging him to open.
“What?” Joel mumbled against the kiss, opening himself to Gabriel.
“Don't you dare move your hands,” Gabriel changed the subject, dropping Joel so he could undo Joel's pants, pushing them down enough to expose Joel's hard cock and tight balls. Joel scratched at the wall with his hands, wiling himself not to move as Gabriel tugged up the hem of Joel's shirt between his fingers and pulled it over his head.
Gabriel undid his fly, pulling his own cock free, and reached into his back pocket for a packet of lube, which he tore open with his teeth before coating himself with it. He forced one of Joel's pant legs off before hoisting him against the wall, too overtaken by his lust to remove them completely.
“Hold on to me now,” Gabriel murmured into Joel's mouth, and Joel's hands left the wall to grasp securely to the hair at the base of Gabriel's neck. Gabriel slid one slick finger against Joel's tight pucker before easily sliding inside. Gabriel moaned at the heat of it, and pushed another finger inside, eliciting a gasp from Joel, which Gabriel promptly swallowed with his mouth.
Joel thrust himself down against Gabriel's fingers, panting eagerly as Gabriel used his body to force Joel into the wall. “Let me give you what you need, Little Red,” Gabriel whispered, pulling his fingers free and quickly replacing them with his cock. Joel gasped out a stuttering moan as Gabriel slowly inched his way inside Joel's heat. “Fuck.” He pulled back, then slowly slid himself back inside until he was fully seated. Joel shivered, trying to take more of Gabriel's cock inside.
“Gabriel,” Joel moaned as Gabriel thrust into him, driving Joel's back into the wall with his slow and determined strokes. “Don’t be easy. Love me the way I like it.” Joel undulated his ass, now fully resting against Gabriel's thighs.
Gabriel reached a hand up to Joel's throat, grasping it and tilting his head at an angle, leaving Joel’s neck open for his mouth to devour. Gabriel sucked the skin between Joel's neck and shoulder into his mouth, quickening his movements to fuck Joel in earnest. He bit down hard, and Joel cried out.
“You never answered me, Joel. Did you do anything unexpected today?” Gabriel fucked him, sweat starting to bead and glisten across his forehead as he forced Joel to look at him.
“What?” Joel breathed out, barely above a whisper, as Gabriel's cock tapped Joel's prostate with every stroke. “Fuck, Gabriel.”
“Anything.” Thrust. “Unexpected.” Thrust. Stop.
Gabriel ground his pelvis against Joel, smashing Joel's cock painfully between their stomachs.
A flicker of understanding flitted across Joel's face as Gabriel pressed a kiss against his lips.
“Were you following me again?” Joel asked.
Gabriel's lips tipped in a small smile. “I told you I wouldn’t do that anymore.” Gabriel reached down between them with his left hand to stroke Joel's cock as he resumed fucking into Joel's hole.
“Gabriel,” Joel tried to chide, but the pressure against his prostate and the tight squeeze of Gabriel's hand proved to be too much. “Fuck, fuck!” Joel clenched, his cock shooting its release between the two of them. Joel's breath was labored and Gabriel allowed him a moment to catch it before he started fucking Joel again, now chasing his own release.
Gabriel nipped Joel's lower lip between his teeth, applying enough pressure to make Joel gasp. Gabriel smiled at the pain and pressed his forehead to Joel's.
“Is there something you wanted to tell me, Joel? Something you want to ask me?” Gabriel's eyes widened as Joel closed his own in a long, unsteady blink.
There was no sound in the room beyond the slippery friction of skin against skin. Gabriel's pace became erratic, teetering on the edge of orgasm as he framed Joel's face with his cum-covered hands.
“Fuck, Joel. Do it. Put the ring on my fucking finger. Let me be yours.” Gabriel shoved into him hard one more time as his cock exploded, releasing a torrent of hot cum deep inside of Joel. Both men cried out at the intensity of the feeling, and Joel scrambled one hand down to the pocket of his jeans, still around his thighs. He dug out the ring, and before he could second-guess himself, pushed it onto Gabriel's left ring finger.
Gabriel held his hand up to Joel's mouth in a silent invitation and Joel licked his cum eagerly from Gabriel's fingers, pressing a final kiss against the black band at home on his hand.
Gabriel pulled himself free from Joel with a wince and turned, pressing his back against the wall and sliding down it, all while supporting Joel's weight in his arms. He kissed the top of Joel's hair, now naturally light red, and repeated himself, “So, did anything unexpected happen today?” He smiled as he inhaled the scent of sweat mixed with his own shampoo.
“You'll never stop, will you?” Joel countered, answering Gabriel's question with his own.
Gabriel looked thoughtful for a moment, before answering, “You asked for my love, Joel. This is my kind of love.”
Joel reached for Gabriel's hand, pressing another kiss to the black band. “Never stop loving me, Gabriel. Never, ever fucking stop.”
The End.