TWENTY-SEVEN
It was close to ten when Roman’s phone rang. His pulse kicked up, and when he saw Leo’s name on the screen, he fumbled ridiculously picking it up. It was Friday night, so he’d assumed Leo would be at work. He hadn’t expected to hear from him. “Hello?”
“Hey, Tough Guy. What are you doing?”
Roman wasn’t sure why, but his pulse sped again at the old nickname. He listened but didn’t hear music or anything in the background. “You didn’t have to work tonight?” he asked.
“I’m on break. I borrowed the keys to someone’s car, so I’m sitting in it. Needed some quiet. How was work?”
“Work was work. I had too many meetings and a few unhappy clients.”
“Sounds like your day was about as good as mine.”
They were quiet for a few moments. Roman wasn’t sure what to say. There was something different about Leo right now, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. “What did you do today?” he finally asked.
“Nothing important.”
Leo’s words sounded like a lie. No, he knew they were a lie. He’d always been able to tell when Leo was having a bad day or wasn’t being truthful with him. “I don’t believe you.”
There was a soft chuckle on the other end of the line. “I never could lie to you. I went to see my parents. It was a shitty day. I don’t want to talk about it. Where are you?”
Curiosity almost made him refuse to answer Leo’s question, but somehow he knew now wasn’t the time to talk about it. That wasn’t what Leo needed. “Lying in my bed.” At ten on a Friday night. He really needed to get a life. What would Leo do after work tonight? Would he bring someone home with him? The thought made Roman’s gut churn, but it wasn’t as if he had any claim on Leo. They hadn’t discussed anything.
“Have you done what I told you to do?” Leo asked, confusing him.
“What was that?”
“Finger yourself. Get to know your body.”
Roman immediately tensed up and hated himself for it. There was nothing wrong with masturbating. He’d jerked off too many times to count. Most people did, but this was different.
“Do it for me now, Ro,” Leo said, obviously not needing Roman to answer him.
“What? No.” There was a voice in his head telling him it wasn’t a big deal. Phone sex. People did it all the time. He felt like a novice when it came to being sexual. He’d worked hard to please Amy or other women he’d been with, but he wasn’t the kind of man who had phone sex or anything like that.
“Yes. You can do it. I don’t have much time, though. Let’s see… If I can make you come before I get back to work, what do I get?”
Roman didn’t answer. The truth was, he couldn’t imagine putting a finger up his own ass while he was on the phone with Leo.
“The only way to move forward is to let go of the past.” Leo’s words burst through his thoughts. They were true, another truth Roman needed to accept.
“Are you wearing anything?” Leo asked.
“Just my underwear.”
“Take them off for me. You have such a beautiful body. I couldn’t stop looking at it the other night.”
It was clearly a distraction, but…fuck, Roman thought maybe he wanted this too. Wanted to let loose and just do the kinds of things people dating did. He didn’t want to think about things that hurt or things that were hard, and he knew Leo didn’t either.
Roman did his best to turn his brain off, took a deep breath, and pulled his underwear down his legs. He kicked out of them and then pushed the blanket down so he was completely bare in the middle of his bed. “Okay, they’re off,” Roman told him, realizing he really wanted to do this. “How should I lie?”
“On your back. Put your feet flat on the bed, knees bent, legs open wide. Do you have any lube?”
“Yeah.” Roman leaned over, pulled open the drawer in his bedside table, and grabbed the small container of lube. “Okay, I have it.”
“Good. This is a big step. I’m so fucking proud of you, Ro. Let’s start easy. First, put some lube in your hand. Play with your dick first; dick, balls, nipples, whatever feels good and gets you going.”
“I’m already half-hard,” Roman admitted. Saying the words out loud made his cock fill even more. He wanted this so fucking badly now, wanted to skip the other stuff and just get something in his ass.
“You still gotta stroke it a little. Dicks need love too.”
Roman laughed at that. Damn, it felt good to be laughing with Leo again.
He did as Leo told him, squirting some lube in his hand and rubbing his erection. It stiffened with each pull.
“Are you doing it?” Leo asked.
“Yes.”
“I wish it was me jerking you.”
“I…” Roman tightened his grip…and let go… “I do too.”
He kept going, kept stroking his cock. He used his other hand to play with his sac as he listened to Leo breathe through the line.
“I bet your hole is getting lonely…bet he wants to play too.”
Damned if Roman didn’t feel himself blush at that. “I’ve never had someone talk to me like that before.”
“You have now.” There was noise on the line as though he was moving around. “I want lube on both hands. Use one on that dick of yours. The other, rub the tip of a finger on your pretty hole.”
“Jesus,” he gritted out, almost coming right there. He couldn’t imagine someone calling his asshole pretty.
“It’s a nice hole, Roman. I told you your ass was made for fucking, and I wasn’t lying. Now hurry up. I don’t have a lot of time.”
Roman’s heart galloped against his ribs. The phone almost slipped out of the spot where he held it against his ear with his shoulder. He tried to ignore it, again tried to quiet his doubt as he lubed up some more. He used his left hand to play with his dick, and his right, he did as Leo said, rubbed back and forth across his asshole. It’s okay, he told himself. It’s okay to want this, to do this. There is nothing wrong with me.
Pleasure rushed through him, an overwhelming wave. “Oh fuck.”
“Feels good to play back there, doesn’t it? Keep rubbing, and when you’re ready, push the tip of your finger inside.”
Roman was ready right now. Just like when he blew Leo on the couch the other day, he wanted it all, wanted it all as fast as he could have it because he was so used to not feeling good. To losing the only thing, the only person who really made him feel that way.
So he did. He slipped the tip of his first finger inside himself and…well, not much yet. “I did it, Leo.”
“Already? You’re hungry for it, aren’t you? Your ass wants it.”
This was a different side of Leo that Roman hadn’t seen. An extremely vocal, sexual side. “Yes.”
In this moment, he could forget anything else existed. Nothing but him and Leo.
“Keep working your cock while you finger yourself. I wish I was there. I wish I could watch you—see your finger breach your pucker. How does it feel?”
“I don’t know,” Roman answered.
“Pour a little more lube onto your finger and then go deep. Find your prostate, and you’ll be flying. I promise you that.”
He stopped jerking off to lube himself a little more. Then he pushed deeper, first just…fucking himself the way Leo said, then looking for his prostate. At the same time he played with his balls again, rubbed them before rubbing the sensitive head of his prick.
The low rumble started deep inside him. His eyes rolled back. He thrust his hips, both fucking himself with his finger and jerking himself off.
It felt so good, so fucking incredible, his balls already wanted to unload.
“Learn your body. Find your prostate and rub it.”
“Okay…I…OH fuck!” He almost shot off the bed.
“I take it you found it.”
Roman couldn’t reply. His body was on sensory overload. He groaned, tensed, and shot his load all over his chest and stomach before collapsing back to the bed.
“That…that was…”
“Beautiful,” Leo told him. “I wish I could have been there.”
“Did you come too?” Roman asked him.
“Nah. I’m in someone else’s car, and I have to go back to work.”
The question was there, begging him to ask it. He didn’t know if he should or not, but the truth was, he couldn’t keep himself from muttering the words. “Will you take someone home tonight?”
There was a pause. Quiet. Leo took a deep breath and then said, “No.”
Roman exhaled a breath of his own; whether he had claim to Leo or not, he couldn’t imagine the thought of him with someone else. Not now.
“Now tell me what’s wrong,” Roman asked. He heard it in the roughness of Leo’s voice. Something had happened.
“Nothing that matters. I went to see my parents today. Mom pushes it sometimes, but it’s always a fucking disaster. This wasn’t an exception.”
Roman closed his eyes, wondered how they couldn’t know what an incredible man Leo was. “What happened?”
“Typical shit. I’m not good enough for my father and I never will be. It’s just… He said something, asked what I’ve done or what I have that’s so good, and the only things I could think of were my pride…my dignity. In a strange way, it made me feel like I was him.”
“You’re loyal,” Roman told him. “You were always loyal to me. You’d sacrifice anything for someone you care about—I don’t mean donating money and things like that—I mean something that comes from inside. Pieces of yourself. You would have given me anything. You would have done anything for me. Those qualities aren’t him.” They were all Leo. What had made Roman love him.
“I…” Leo started and then paused. “Thank you,” he said softly.
“Can I come over tomorrow?” Roman asked.
Another pause and then, “Yeah. I’d like that.”