I woke early the next morning, still giddy with the joy of the previous night. Not only had the encounter with Peter been sexy as hell and straight out of a wet dream, it had clarified his feelings and brought us so much closer. I now knew that he really did care for me, he’d been upset that I hadn’t shown up at his games. He had looked for me and missed me when I wasn’t there. If last night was any indication, he might even ache for me the way I often found myself aching for him. To make things even better, the ecstasy of our shared release had led to two of the most productive hours of work on my thesis I’d had yet. I was closer to the finish line on it than I had ever imagined I would be this far out from its due date.

Not to mention, I already had a date to see Peter again. It was too early to head over there now, though. I wanted him to sleep off as much of the pain as possible. I decided to run off the excess energy I felt pulsing through my veins as I waited for a more acceptable time to bring him breakfast. I pulled on shorts and a t-shirt and laced up my sneakers, plotting my route. I decided to run to the monuments and back, knowing that the elation of last night would power me through the six-mile loop. I threw my headphones on and pulled up the giddy-with-Peter running playlist I’d made before passing out last night. I jogged off campus grinning to Adam Lambert’s “If I Had You,” the first song Peter and I had danced to at the club. “If I had you, that would be the only thing I’d ever need,” was exactly how I felt about Peter and I grinned happily, thinking that I just might have him after all.

It was a warm, sunny morning with the perfect breeze to keep me cool as I jogged. And I’d forgotten just how beautiful the route was. Once I’d run through the cobbled streets of Georgetown, careful not to trip on any loose bricks, and through the shopping district already crowded with Sunday morning brunch goers, I emerged onto the open running path along the bank of the Potomac. I giggled outright and sped up as Selena Gomez began singing through my headphones, mouthing the words as she crooned about being unable to keep her hands to herself, “Can’t keep my hands to myself/I mean I could but why would I want to?” She was preaching to the choir.

As I breezed past the Kennedy Center perched on the edge of the water, I thought idly that I should check their schedule to see if there was anything I might take Peter to. It would be nice to have a dressed-up night on the town, just the two of us. There were so many places in the city I wanted to share with him. I wanted to ice skate with him on the reflecting pool and show him my favorite displays at the National History Museum. I wanted to take him for sushi in Chinatown and then across the lush lawn of the nearby sculpture garden. I wanted us to steal a weekend away skiing in Pennsylvania or club-hopping in New York. I thought of at least a dozen other date ideas for us as I jogged down Constitution Avenue, past the city’s many museums and landmarks. I decided to head for the Washington Monument first, where I would reverse my loop and jog past the reflecting pool, toward the Lincoln Memorial.

There were tourists everywhere, even this early in the day, with i love dc t-shirts of every color of the rainbow marking out different groups. Even their slow, ambling walks and seizure of the entire width of the sidewalks couldn’t get me down today. I was running on Peter, and the sun was glinting off the reflecting pool, and my favorite monument of all was ahead. I switched to the Rocky theme song as I approached the Lincoln memorial, then jogged up the marble stairs until I reached the austere columns marking the entrance to the great man’s shrine. I pulled out my headphones and took a moment to admire the solemn beauty of the man who’d changed the country. Something about this monument had always struck me dumb with gratitude and admiration for Lincoln, got me emotional in a way none of the other monuments could. I passed a quiet moment there before I started up my music again and started to jog back to campus.

The jog back passed quickly and I wondered if I’d broken a personal record in my anticipation to see Peter again. Back at my dorm, I showered and dressed carefully, then headed to Wisey’s to grab Peter a bacon, egg, and cheese croissant and a couple of cookies to settle his stomach against the booze. I got a sandwich for myself, a couple of cups of steaming coffee, grabbed some aspirin and a massive water bottle, then headed to Peter’s apartment. It was nearing eleven now and I hoped I’d given him enough time to sleep.

I waited a long moment after knocking softly on his door. When he opened it, his face was creased and his hair was wild, sticking up at ends on one side while matted against his head on the other. His eyes were only halfway open, though his face broke into a wide grin when he saw me. “Jack!” he said.

“Hey,” I said, feeling suddenly shy as I took him in, suddenly worried he might’ve been too drunk to even remember my offer to bring breakfast the night before.

But I needn’t have worried. He glanced down at the Wisey’s bag I held and brightened, grabbing the cups of coffee from my hands. “You’re an angel.” He set the coffee down on a table just inside the door and pulled me in for a classic, perfectly Peter bear hug. He was still warm and sleepy from bed and he held me against him for a long moment before he pulled away.

I smiled up at him. “Hungry?”

Peter groaned. “Starved.” He beckoned me inside and grabbed one of the coffees, slurping half of it down.

“You’re the only one I’ve ever seen drink coffee like that,” I laughed. “I don’t know how you have any tongue left.”

Peter laughed. “Yeah, it’s pretty much perpetually burned.”

He beckoned to the coffee table and I put down the bag of food, pulling out our sandwiches. Peter handed me my coffee and came to settle in next to me on the low couch.

“How’re you feeling?” I asked him, unwrapping my sandwich from its foil.

Peter smiled wryly. “Definitely feeling last night but I’ve had worse. My head’s pounding a little and I’m a bit queasy, but this should really help.”

“Oh,” I said, “here.” I pulled out the water bottle and aspirin tucked into the bottom of the bag and handed them to Peter. His smile grew and he reached over, kissing me on the cheek. I could feel myself blushing.

“You really are an angel,” he said. “Thank you.” He downed a couple of aspirin with water before starting in on his sandwich. “God, I love Wisey’s,” he said, as he took his first bite.

I hummed in agreement. You really couldn’t beat their breakfast sandwiches. “There’s some Oreo cookies in there too,” I said.

“Best hangover cure ever,” Peter said appreciatively. “Delivery by Jack. I’d say you should start a business if I didn’t want you all to myself.” It was his turn to blush, as if he hadn’t thought through what he’d said before the words left his mouth. My cheeks ached with the force of my smile and Peter, seeing this, grinned just as brightly back.

“I take it your stuff didn’t get stolen last night?” Peter asked.

I shook my head. “Nope, all good. And, apparently, you’re good for my productivity. I got a solid chunk of my thesis done after…we met up,” I said.

Peter smiled again, his eyes twinkling. “That’s awesome. Meanwhile, I’ve been pretty much passed out since I saw you.”

I laughed. “Well, I didn’t have alumni making me do shots.”

Peter groaned. “Don’t remind me. I really needed to work last night, too, which means I’ll be working even longer today. I’ve got this paper due for philosophy. God, I hate that class.”

“Oh man, I hate those too. Philosophy papers are the worst. What’s it on?”

“Just war theory. More interesting than some stuff, but still, it’s all so…vague. I hate that kind of writing.”

“Me too. I’m no expert but I’d be happy to read over it when you’re done if you want. I did war theory last semester and I remember it well enough.”

Peter smiled. “Really? That would be seriously awesome.”

I smiled back. “Sure. Wanna just text me when you’re done and we can meet up?”

“Perfect. Thank you, Jack. For all of this.” He rubbed his non-existent belly, the flat planes of which I’d felt for myself last night. I could feel heat flooding to my face with the thought of it. I leaned in to kiss him, unable to help myself.

“You taste like coffee and chocolate,” I breathed.

Peter grinned. “So do you.”

I pulled away reluctantly. “I guess I should let you get to work.”

Peter groaned but nodded, standing up and clearing the trash from the coffee table before walking me to the door.

“Until tonight?” he asked me, towering over me in the doorway, his breath warm against my face.

“Until tonight.” He brushed his lips against mine once, then again. I kissed him one last time, lingering, before I turned to trudge back to my dorm.

* * *

I did my best to start prepping for my interview at Google, practicing the standard questions about my background and experience, reading up on Google and Jim’s role there. He worked in Google’s Cloud department, helping Google expand the use of its services to the private and public sector alike as well as improve the product. Though I was far from a tech expert, I was glad to have taken a full year of computer science as an elective my sophomore year. That would help me at least talk intelligently about this stuff in my interview. And I would, of course, let Jim know that I’d be willing to study up on anything else I might need to know. Just let me work at Google and I’ll do whatever it takes, I wanted to tell him. I’d have to think of a less needy way of saying that.

Though meeting up with Peter last night had set me on a major productive streak, it seemed the anticipation of seeing him later was having the opposite effect. My mind kept wandering from interview prep to Peter, to his hands, his body, his rigid, massive, glorious cock. I hoped he would want to meet up at his apartment later, hoped his roommate wouldn’t be there. I daydreamed about his body, bare but for the slinky boxer briefs he’d been wearing last night, a tiny piece of skin-tight fabric that would cup his perfect cock just right, the sculpted arms and chest that hugged me close, the V of abs and obliques leading down the happy trail to his cock. Less than an hour after leaving him I was back in the shower, cock hard and ready in my hand as the water streamed hot against my skin. I pictured Peter’s hands on me, cupping my balls and teasing across my shaft, then tugging me to orgasm as he lay naked above me. I came fast and hard across the bathroom tiles, breathing out Peter’s name with my release.

I forced myself to sit through another hour of interview prep before I gave up on my attention span for the day, deciding to run a few errands to kill some time. The clock was dragging too slowly and trying to focus on a screen was only making the time drag more and more. The pharmacy and grocery store killed a couple of hours and I spent the next two in the dorm’s kitchen, cooking up a week’s worth of healthy food to supplement my one meal a day dining hall allotment. By the time Peter texted me saying he was just finishing up, my mini fridge was stocked and I was re-watching Parks and Rec for the hundredth time. The long wait was finally over and Peter, as I’d hoped, wanted to meet at his apartment. I threw on my shoes and was out the door.

* * *

Peter’s roommate answered the door this time and I tried to press down my disappointment. “Jack?” he asked, and I nodded, reaching out my hand.

“Steve Janden,” he said, motioning over his shoulder to Peter’s bedroom. “He’s back there.”

Peter’s door was part way open and he sat at his desk, his head resting on one fist as he stared at the laptop open in front of him. I knocked lightly as I walked in. “Hey.”

Peter turned with a tired smile. “Hey,” he said, standing up and coming over to hug me.

“How’d it go?” I asked him.

“It’s done, at least,” Peter said. “Sure you don’t mind reading it over?”

“I’m sure,” I told him.

He motioned to the desk and I sat down. “I’m gonna hop in the shower while you read,” he told me. “If that’s cool?”

I took a long moment to answer as I pictured Peter’s muscled body in the shower, the hot water raining down his abs and through the hair that rested just above his massive cock. “Yeah,” I said, my voice breaking a little, “of course.”

“Cool,” Peter said, brushing a kiss on my cheek as he headed from the room.

I started reading, doing my best not to get distracted by thoughts of Peter in the shower. I rested my hands on the keys, ready to suggest edits and revisions. But soon my hands relaxed at my sides and I forgot about Peter in the shower. I found myself completely engrossed in Peter’s words. It was a short essay, only six double-spaced pages, but it was obvious how engaged Peter was with the material. He presented just war theory more clearly and concisely than I’d seen in any philosophy text and analyzed the theory in a way that both respected the genius of the philosophers at hand while also clearly identifying and discussing its weaknesses. It was the most compelling discussion of philosophy I’d ever read.

When Peter came back from his shower, a bright white towel wrapped around his hips, water droplets were still dripping from his curls and running slowly down his pecs to his abs, down the muscular V that disappeared into the towel. I swallowed quickly and met Peter’s eyes. He was smiling shyly.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” I replied, standing up and walking over to him. He shut his bedroom door behind him as I approached. I paused a few feet away from him and shook my head to clear it. I looked up into his eyes and held his gaze. “I—really want to touch you. Holy fuck, you’re hot,” I said. He was blushing now. I wanted desperately to see how far the blush went down his body, but I kept my eyes on his. “But I also promised to read your paper so, before I do, I have to tell you.”

Peter looked nervous, glancing down at his feet as he waited for my verdict. “Peter, that was the best philosophy paper I’ve ever read.”

He looked up then, meeting my eyes again. “You don’t have to say that.”

“I know I don’t,” I told him. “And I wouldn’t if I didn’t mean it. But seriously—where the fuck did that come from?”

He was blushing fiercely now as he shrugged. “The war theory stuff was just more interesting than I thought.”

“Well I never thought it was interesting before I read that,” I said, pointing to his laptop. “You’ll ace it for sure.”

Peter let out a slow exhale. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” I told him. “Thanks for letting me read it.” I closed the distance between us and pressed my fingers to his hip bones where they jutted out just above the towel. “Now, I’ve got to kiss you,” I told him, pulling him to me.

His lips on mine were warm and wet, and droplets of water dripped from his curls onto my neck, making me shiver. I felt my t-shirt grow damp from being pressed against his wet chest. “Guess you’ll just have to lose this,” Peter whispered, tugging on the hem of my shirt and then pulling it over my head. “Don’t want these getting wet either,” he said, undoing the button of my jeans and pulling down the zipper. “You’re so sexy, Jack,” he said then, pulling back to take in the full length of my body as I stood before him in just my boxers. He nudged me back toward his bed until I lay back willingly, beckoning him to join me.

His towel fell off as he climbed on top of me and I tossed it away from the bed gleefully, taking in his stiffened cock in all its glory. I pressed the length of my body against his, moaning at the warmth of his freshly showered skin against mine. “I want you so bad,” I told him, taking his cock into my hand.

“I want you,” he breathed, his voice unsteady. He trailed his lips down my neck and lingered at my collarbone, then pressed kisses across my chest. I arched up toward him as he sucked my nipple into his mouth, taking my cock in his huge hand. “I want to taste you,” he whispered against my skin, moving lower now, trailing kisses down to my belly button and making me squirm. He lingered at my hip bone and sucked the skin into his mouth for a long moment.

“Peter,” I breathed, begging, pleading.

Then his lips were opening around my cock, taking me fully into his mouth and throat as he cupped my balls in one hand. His tongue traced along my shaft from base to tip, where he swirled the pre-cum gathering there before taking me deep into his throat again. I moaned out his name, “Peter.” I tugged at his hair until he looked up at me, his lips still wrapped around my pulsing cock.

“Come up here,” I told him. “Turn around and let me taste you too.” His eyes darkened and he nodded, pressing another kiss to my skin before he pulled away. He kissed me quickly on the lips before settling himself above me in a 69, his gorgeous cock stiff and ready for my lips. I licked and sucked at the tip before taking him into my mouth as deep as I could go. I grasped the length of him that wouldn’t fit in my mouth, stroking the base of his cock as I sucked and licked the long stretch of his shaft. Peter moaned and took me back into his mouth. I groaned and hummed around him as his warm tongue lapped and teased along my dick, matching his rhythm with my own. I pulled and sucked his warm, pulsing skin as he took me deeper into his mouth and the feel of his mouth around my cock while I brought him the same pleasure was the hottest thing I’d ever known. I wouldn’t be lasting long.

Already, a warm tingling was beginning to spread out from my balls as his lips worked around me, his tongue hot and yielding to my gentle thrusts as he thrust himself into my throat. I moaned deep and low as the orgasm washed over me, humming in my throat and pulsing around Peter’s cock as I came. He shuddered at the vibrations and was soon coming himself, spurting warm and wet into my mouth. I swallowed and released him slowly, licking up his full length a final time and kissing him goodbye. He released me and turned over, collapsing on the bed beside me with a contented sigh. I leaned over and cuddled into his warm chest, brushing a kiss across his cheek.

Peter smiled and pulled me closer, tucking me under his arm. “Wow,” he said.

I giggled. “You’re amazing,” I told him.

He pressed a kiss against my head. “Will you stay?” he asked.

My heart swelled and I cuddled closer. “Yes, please,” I said. I fell asleep in his warm, sturdy arms.