“Here you are.”

Leo couldn’t deny it: he was hoping to be invited in. But, like a gentleman, he was dropping Dustin off at his apartment and giving him the choice whether to extend the invitation or not.

He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what Dustin had said—or hadn’t said—before the movie began. It sounded like he’d gotten his heart broken, or at least wounded, and had poured himself into his work.

Not too dissimilar from Leo himself, then. Maybe not in romance, but he’d used work to escape his family and this town and his own uncertainty about the future.

He was no more certain what the future held now, but he knew himself a little better. Most of all, he knew his own courage and capability. So why was this one relationship throwing everything out of balance?

I know how to date. Just not how to date men. And there shouldn’t be anything different, really.

Dustin was gazing at him, his expression tentative.

“Can I come in, or would you rather get some sleep?” Leo winked.

That seemed to be the opening Dustin was looking for. He relaxed and grinned. “I’d like you to come in. Who needs sleep?”

“Sleep is for the dead,” Leo agreed, then sobered up as he heard his own words. More than anyone else, in their line of work, they both understood how short life was. Why not grab what was good with both hands and never let go? “And I want you.”

Dustin slid out of the car and gestured with his fingers in a come here motion.

Leo shut off the car and locked it, following Dustin to his front step. They slipped inside the little bungalow together without saying a word until the door was closed.

“My room,” Dustin murmured. “Now.”

Leo slid his hands around Dustin’s hips and pulled him in for a long, slow kiss. He took his time, letting their lips press together with the warmth that burned deep in his chest. His hand slid slowly up Dustin’s hip and side to his chest, then up to his cheek to cup it.

Stubble burned his palm and pricked the tip of his thumb as he caressed Dustin’s jaw, his other hand still wrapped firmly around Dustin’s waist. Dustin swayed into him, his arms looped around Leo’s neck as the weight of his slender frame leaned against him.

Leo easily supported him, letting his hand slide around to the back of Dustin’s neck as their lips finally slid apart just enough for them both to catch a breath or two.

“What was I saying?” Dustin murmured.

Leo cracked a quiet laugh. “Did something interrupt your thoughts?”

When Dustin shifted his hips, Leo could feel the semi-hard length pressing into his thigh. He smirked. “Yeah, it did.”

“Oh, hello,” Leo greeted teasingly. His hand ran down Dustin’s back to cup his ass and squeeze. “You were talking about your bedroom, I recall.”

“Was I? Somehow we never get around to conversation when we’re alone together.” Dustin shook his head.

Leo winked and rubbed Dustin’s ass, teasingly hooking a finger under his waistband and then sliding his hand down bare skin to cup the cheeks. “Would you rather discuss the news? Sports? Weather?”

With each question, Dustin shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Ugh,” Dustin interrupted. “You’re sure of yourself.”

That couldn’t be further from the truth, but if Leo was fooling Dustin, at least he was doing his job. “I don’t think you mind that,” Leo pointed out and grinned.

“It’s hot,” Dustin admitted in a simple, breathy whisper that turned Leo on.

Keep it up, Leo thought. He felt himself puffing up like a peacock. “Yeah? You know what else is hot?”

“Hm?”

“You, when you talk to me without… all that bluster and stuff I’m used to from my buddies. You just talk to me honestly, and that’s… nice.” Leo’s words failed him at the very end and he grimaced. “Not nice. You know.”

“Meaningful,” Dustin suggested, his lips twitching into a smile.

“Yeah. Trusting. You trust me. And I… fuck, I do, too.”

“I hope you trust yourself. You seem like a stand-up kind of guy,” Dustin grinned. “I’d say you should.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Leo laughed. “I trust you, and you know it.” He turned Dustin around gently to steer him to the bedroom.

Dustin’s smile faded, but his expression was warm as he glanced over his shoulder to Leo. “I do, yeah.”

Leo shut the bedroom door behind them, and then Dustin took his hand to lead him to the bed to sit down. “Even after your experiences with that guy?”

“Which one?” Dustin’s brows furrowed, and then his expression cleared with understanding. “Oh. The one I mentioned earlier. He wasn’t a big deal. I only flirted with him for a little while. Then I realized…” he trailed off and grimaced. “I shouldn’t have brought him up on a date.”

Leo shook his head and scooted back on the bed until his head rested on pillows. He pulled Dustin against him. “Tell me. I want to know more about you.”

Dustin hesitated, but he finally took his time and made himself comfortable in the crook of Leo’s arm, his hand running across Leo’s stomach in slow, distracting circles. “It wasn’t that he was closeted, exactly. He never came out afterward, last I checked. I think it was some bullying crap. Trying to get my hopes up and dash them.”

Leo hadn’t paid that much attention to bullying tactics at school, so it took him a second to wrap his mind around it. “Really?”

“Yeah. There was him, and there was one of his buddies who asked me out to some dance in senior year—I never told my brothers about that, either,” Dustin hastily added, presumably in case they ever met and the subject came up. As it clearly so often does. He looks like he’s never told anyone this.

Leo gently stroked Dustin’s hair and cupped the back of his neck, then kissed him. “And?”

“And,” Dustin mumbled and shrugged. “I said why? And he kind of fled. I think he expected me to be so happy for any attention that I’d, you know, fall over myself.”

Come to think of it, Leo had known guys who did that to girls in school for that reason. He just hadn’t paid enough attention to the extra level of homophobia. Hell, Victor had done it to the girls he thought were ugly and laughed about it. Leo had only gotten him to stop doing it by telling him it made him look desperate. He winced and shook his head. “Yeah, I see how that works. Was that what’s held you back from dating?”

“No. There was my ex, Bryce, who was pretty much just… using me for sex. When my brothers figured it out, they scared him off.” Dustin smiled, his hand running up under Leo’s shirt. The way his fingers played against Leo’s ribs was very distracting, and it took great effort to actually listen to his words. “I’m not used to having hot guys actually mean it.”

Leo felt himself blush before he could stop. He thinks I’m hot. He tried to subtly flex his abs while Dustin touched him. “Yeah?”

Dustin’s giggle was lighthearted. Leo was so busted. “Yeah, Hotty McAbs. Don’t think I don’t notice.”

Distracting Dustin from the past—and the feelings that brought up—was Leo’s goal, so hearing him laugh told him he was doing well, even if he embarrassed himself in the process. “Good. You should. I work enough on these. I’m going to show them off.”

“Believe me, I’ve noticed.” Dustin scooted up the bed to kiss him once, harder. Then, he swung a knee over his hip and pulled Leo’s shirt up and off, straddling him and gazing up and down. “There. That’s better.”

Leo let him get a good eyeful, his grin bashful. “It’s been a while since anyone has,” he admitted.

“Good for me,” Dustin hummed, winking. He leaned down to press slow kisses along the side of Leo’s neck to his chest.

Holy fuck. Leo hadn’t realized how many sensitive nerves were just waiting for the right warm lips and tongue flicks. Dustin was waking nerves throughout his own body with each slow, measured, light kiss.

“You tease,” Leo whispered.

Dustin grinned. “Just taking my time. Enjoying myself.” His nimble fingers slid slowly around Leo’s nipple and then plucked gently, sending a sting of pleasurable pain ricocheting through Leo’s body.

“Oof! Fuck,” Leo moaned. He caressed Dustin’s hair with one hand, his other resting on Dustin’s shoulder.

“I remember how much you liked sucking me off in the kitchen,” Dustin murmured, his warm breath teasing the nipple before he leaned in and sucked.

Leo’s grunting gasp was enough of an answer. He tried to press his hips upward for contact with Dustin’s thigh, but Dustin wasn’t letting him grind yet. He moaned in protest and settled flat on the bed again, his toes curling into the bed.

He would let this sexy little twink torture him all night long if he wanted. It might drive him out of his mind, but the pleasure was far more intense than he’d expected.

“Good?” Dustin whispered. He ran his tongue around Leo’s nipple once, then looked up.

“Please!” was all Leo could manage in response. “For fuck’s sake. God, you’re good.”

The sight of Dustin’s tongue peeking out between his lips as he dragged the warm tip up Leo’s chest toward his nipple made Leo catch his breath in anticipation.

Then he was sucking it into his mouth, flicking the sensitive nub back and forth until Leo arched off the bed again, gasping Dustin’s name like a prayer for more.

Dustin kissed his way over to the other nipple and Leo dug his nails into his shoulders, growling under his breath with how hard it was to resist flipping him over and ravishing him.

The pent-up tension shivering through him seemed to make his cock even harder. No amount of adjusting himself was going to help now. He needed to be naked now.

Dustin grinned, finally kneeling upright and shrugging his shirt off. “It’s nice to be in charge sometimes,” he commented while Leo’s gaze hungrily wandered up and down Dustin’s slender body.

“I like it, too,” Leo approved. “I’m not used to… well. Being on the bottom.” Then, his cheeks flushed. Maybe he’ll think I mean, like, bottoming.

Dustin did indeed take it that way. He tilted his head. “Really? Never?”

Stay honest, Leo told himself. He gulped and then nodded slightly. “Do you usually? It just kind of happened last time.”

“Yeah. I’m greedy.” Dustin grinned, running his finger down the center of Leo’s chest to pop his fly button open and unzip him. “But if you wanted to take a turn…”

“What does it feel like?”

Dustin winked. “No way to describe it better than feeling it yourself.”

Leo’s heart started to race. “Would you really top?”

“Um… hell, yeah,” Dustin said with another big grin. “Watching you squirm around like that is hot as fuck.”

I bet those assholes didn’t let him top. Leo made his mind up. He wasn’t ashamed of wanting to feel every kind of pleasure he could. Dustin had already shown him so many new things, and he wanted it all. “Then… yeah.”

“I’ll take it slow,” Dustin promised as he pulled the rest of Leo’s clothes off. He wasn’t wasting a moment. “I want you to… to feel as good as you make me feel.”

How could Leo not beam at that? His hard cock rested along his stomach now as he kicked the last of his clothes off, with Dustin’s help.

Dustin squirmed out of his own skinny jeans and briefs and tossed them aside, and then he crawled back over Leo.

So much warm, bare skin slid together in one sensual movement that Leo’s whole body shivered with pleasure. “Fuck,” Leo whispered. Watching Dustin over him, moving with all the confidence and grace of a panther who had his next target in mind…

I want him. I want this. So bad I can’t even describe it.

This ran so much deeper than any physical attraction he’d felt before. Leo had a hundred ideas for what he wanted to do to Dustin, and vice versa. He wanted him, not just wanted him. It was the subtlest difference, but now that he’d noticed, he couldn’t forget it.

“If you wanna go get tested with me sometime, we could ditch the condoms.” Dustin said it casually as he grabbed lube and a condom from the bedside table, but there was something too casual about that tone.

Leo caught his breath. Was that an offer of… monogamy? A relationship? Exclusive-friends-with-benefits? “You’re not seeing anyone else?”

“Because I have so much free time for boring losers who don’t even give me a turn to come,” Dustin snorted.

Leo chuckled. “I take that as a no. Um. Neither am I, so…”

“Think about it and let me know,” Dustin said.

Leo gripped Dustin’s wrist to make him look at him, then smiled when they made eye contact. “Yes.”

Dustin’s cheeks went red. He stuttered for a moment before he managed, “You can think about it, too.”

“I don’t need to.”

Dustin blinked. “I haven’t even fucked you yet.”

“I don’t care. You could be the worst at it and I wouldn’t know any different,” Leo grinned.

That made Dustin laugh. “I see your point. No pressure, then.”

“None,” Leo agreed. “Especially for me. I hope I don’t suck.”

“You won’t,” Dustin assured him. He cracked the tube of lubricant, spreading wetness across his fingers.

Leo caught his breath and tried not to tense up. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brows. Relax, he told himself, which didn’t help matters. Just do it.

“Kiss me,” Dustin murmured, and Leo opened his eyes again to find Dustin hovering over him, his forearm braced next to him on the bed.

Leo smiled. He could do that. He leaned up and met Dustin’s lips before Dustin pressed him back to the bed with a series of hot, hard presses of their mouths.

Dustin’s fingers slipped between his thighs, and Leo spread his legs, resisting the jolt of nervousness that shuddered through him. But Dustin wasn’t sliding his fingers in him yet. He was just circling them gently around the tight hole, teasing the nerves.

Then, Dustin kissed his way slowly down the middle of Leo’s body. When Leo realized what he was doing, he moaned Dustin’s name again.

Dustin grinned. “Yeah?”

“Little cocktease,” Leo muttered, “S’good. You’re good.”

Dustin’s eyes scrunched in that adorable beaming grin of his, and then he kissed the tip of Leo’s cock. “See if you call it teasing in a minute.”

Leo swallowed hard at the promise in those words. The warm, wet suction of Dustin’s mouth around the tip of his cock made it impossible to think up a smart-ass reply. “Oh, fuck,” he whispered.

The nerves igniting in his ass were connected to those in the tip of his cock, somehow. His whole body sparked again with electric pleasure as Dustin sucked the tip of his cock into his mouth and slid just the tip of his finger inside at the same moment.

Pinned between Dustin’s mouth and hand, he couldn’t thrust up or down without a surge of pleasure. Leo took a few moments to gather his wits as Dustin kept his finger still and slowly bobbed his head down, taking his whole shaft in easily.

“Oh, fuck,” Leo whispered. He made deep-throating look easy. The sight of his whole length disappearing between Dustin’s pretty lips was matched only by the tight sensation of his throat around the tip of Leo’s throbbing shaft.

Dustin moaned quietly as he pulled his head up and lapped the tip of his cock. He was working the finger inside slowly now, a little at a time, while his mouth did sinfully incredible things to Leo’s hard cock.

By the time Dustin’s second finger was sliding inside, Leo was pushing into it. The hunger was inexplicable and all-consuming. He needed to feel their bodies joined together, Dustin hot and hard and pushing inside him.

“Please,” Leo whimpered when Dustin’s crooked fingers rubbed his prostate just right, making him throb with pleasure and clench around them. “Oh, fuck. Dustin. Come on.”

“You sound about ready now,” Dustin murmured teasingly.

“Before I flip you over and ride you into next week,” Leo growled.

Dustin moaned. “Hot,” he approved. “You can do that later, cowboy. But first…”

The fingers left a void inside Leo—not just physical, but a deeper need to feel Dustin inside him again. He was starting to understand why Dustin felt like being the bottom all the time was greedy. It was fucking good in a way nothing else could compare to.

Dustin hurried with the condom and a little extra lube, but even that seemed like an eternity when Leo was waiting for him. He made a mental note to be quicker about it next time he was on top.

And then Dustin crouched over him. His hand on Leo’s hip was exactly the grounding touch Leo needed to stay relaxed as Dustin pressed against him. He didn’t push inside yet. Just as before, he ground against Leo, his hard shaft sliding between the cheeks, back and forth and around the sensitive hole until Leo was about ready to beg for it.

Leo grabbed Dustin’s cheeks and pulled him down for a series of hard kisses, nipping his lower lip and sucking the tip of his tongue until Dustin looked breathless and turned on as hell. “Fuck me,” Leo whispered. “Come on. I’m ready.”

The heat and pressure gave way to pain for a few moments, and then gradual pleasure. Leo caught his breath, but Dustin rubbed his side, gently reminding him in a whisper to breathe.

And breathe Leo did, burying his head in the side of Dustin’s neck and inhaling his scent.

It’s Dustin. I trust him. I want this. It’ll feel good. He gradually relaxed, calling on the memory from just a minute ago when he couldn’t get enough of Dustin’s fingers in him.

But this was Dustin’s aroused shaft inside him, and it already pressed the sensitive spot inside him in a way that made Leo’s toes curl.

The slightest thrust of his hips made the head rub across the spot, and Leo moaned.

“Yeah?” Dustin whispered. “You feel that?”

Leo gulped and nodded sharply. “I feel you. It’s good. I didn’t… I get it now.”

When he opened his eyes, Dustin was smiling. He pressed their foreheads together, his lips barely brushing Leo’s. “I’ve never liked this as much as now, either. It’s you. That’s the difference.”

Thank God he said it. A whoosh of breath rushed out of Leo’s lungs as he grinned up at Dustin. “Yeah. I was just thinking that.”

He didn’t have time to ruminate on it, though. Dustin was pushing inside him with one steady thrust at a time until he had a rhythm going. The bed creaked gently under them, and Dustin’s hot breaths across his neck and cheek made Leo shudder.

But nothing was as good as the cock surging inside him with careful, measured thrusts. Leo was hard as hell, so much so that it almost ached. He felt full to burst, the pleasure coming with a sharp edge that he recognized from descriptions of prostate orgasms. Everything was different when it was his own body, not something he was reading from a website.

It was completely surreal, but one of the best moments he could remember.

I love him.

It wasn’t a revelation—just like a curtain had been drawn back to show him what everything added up to: the trust in him, the desire to know more about him, and the pleasure that came from every innocent touch of his hand and every dirty thrust of his cock deep into Leo’s body.

Wherever the hell this was going between them, Leo wanted more.

A grin nearly split his face as he grabbed Dustin and kissed him hard. Dustin went limp in his arms and Leo didn’t relent for a moment. He just rolled them over carefully and braced himself on his knees.

It took a moment to figure out the difference when he was on this end, but his hips adjusted to the different movement quickly. Within a few thrusts, he had a quick, hard rhythm going.

Dustin was squirming under him, his hands curled into the sheets on either side of his head. “Fuck, yes! Leo,” he panted. “Oh, fuck, that’s good.”

Leo’s pleasure was building up like an electric charge barely contained by his skin, his climax not far off. And it was going to be mindblowing—he could already tell from the way the world narrowed to focus on just Dustin.

Nothing else mattered but crossing that edge, letting Dustin have every bit of his pleasure.

“Come on, baby,” Dustin whispered, and then a gentle but firm grip encircled his swollen shaft. “You gonna come on me? Make me yours. Show me how hot you are when you’re coming for me.”

Leo groaned and threw his head back, clenching hard around Dustin’s shaft. “Yeah!” he urged, and Dustin’s grip tightened.

Dustin stroked him a few more times and then Dustin’s grip weakened. “I’m—fuck, I can’t—” Dustin groaned. “Baby, I’m almost there.”

Leo took over, balancing himself with one hand while he stroked himself hard with the other.

A few more thrusts later and he was coming hard enough to cry Dustin’s name breathlessly. His heat spilled from him in quick and remarkably strong jets of passion as pleasure crashed recklessly through his body, weakening his limbs.

As he squeezed around Dustin, he felt Dustin shudder and jolt, then cry out under him. Leo opened his eyes again in time to watch his own hand milking himself and Dustin’s gaze wandering from his face down to his cock and back, clearly memorizing the sight.

The pleasure Dustin took in the moment only made it that much better for Leo. As Dustin’s orgasm hit, his nails dug into Leo’s hips and he hissed, rolling his head back against the pillow.

“Yes!” Dustin managed through gritted teeth.

Leo touched his shoulder and chest gently, slowing his pace so he didn’t hurt Dustin or himself. He was sensitive all over now, aware of every breeze passing against sweaty skin as he slowly drew himself up and off Dustin, then collapsed on him.

“Fucking… that’s… Jesus.” Dustin laughed in disbelief, shaking his head.

“What?” Leo murmured, grinning as he gradually settled himself on his forearms over Dustin so he didn’t totally crush the smaller man.

Dustin looped his arms around Leo and yanked him down. Apparently he wanted Leo blanketing him. “I loved that. That’s fucking amazing.”

“I thought so too,” Leo grinned. He barely kept himself from saying, But I don’t know any better. But Dustin knew that he wasn’t much of a bottom—even if he didn’t know just how new to it all Leo was. “Is it always like that?”

Dustin snorted with laughter. His spirits were light, and he hadn’t stopped smiling. “I’ve had significantly worse sex. Not with you, though. Yet.”

“Give me time. I’ll find a way to fuck it up,” Leo promised, laughing. He rolled onto his side and drew Dustin against him. “If you want there to be a next time.”

Dustin cracked an eye and glared. “Was I not obvious enough? I want you.”

Hearing it said so simply yet conclusively… It made Leo’s head spin. A pang of jealousy hit him—Dustin knew exactly who he was and what he wanted. He’d figured it out years ago.

But how was Leo to know whether Dustin was the right one for him? He was certain now that he could love Dustin, and that he wanted more. Was he supposed to just date Dustin until things became obvious?

As they lay together, eyes closed and breathing falling into sync, reality started to creep in and nibble at the corners of Leo’s happiness.

He would have to come out to his family and friends and coworkers. Over and over again, not just once. His whole identity was shifting—already, he’d caught himself thinking about himself as bi and not straight.

Dustin had crashed into his life totally unexpectedly, and as welcome as it was, being with him meant Leo had to risk it all. If Dustin ever decided to walk away… he wasn’t sure he would want another man. Or anyone, really.

Sure, Dustin’s heart was on the line, too, but was that enough? Two people afraid of hurting each other?

As Dustin pressed closer to Leo and buried his nose in the crook of Leo’s neck, Leo took a deep breath and made a conscious decision to set aside those thoughts.

Yes. For tonight, it would be enough.