Rhett shuffled himself around in the doorway of Cole’s house awkwardly.

“Are you coming in?” Cole asked, continuing through the house and into the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and waited for Rhett to close the door and come inside.

“How does this work?” Rhett asked him, finally in the kitchen.

Cole set the water on the counter and walked over to him. He grabbed his hips and pulled him close, sliding a hand around and pressing his fingers into the seam of Rhett’s ass.

“Did I do a good job? Can you still feel me inside you?” he whispered, ignoring Rhett’s question. Rhett groaned and pushed back on his hand.

“I can,” Rhett whispered into his neck.

“That’s how it works. You come live with me and you’ll never have to worry about what it feels like to not be well used.” He inhaled the delicious smell of Rhett’s skin. “But I’m jet-lagged and I want to just rest, so come lie down with me.”

Cole dropped his arm and grabbed Rhett’s hand, leading him back through the house, up the stairs and into the bedroom. Cole undressed himself before removing every article of Rhett’s clothing with the utmost care. He paid extra attention to his favorite parts of Rhett’s body, laving gentle touches and soft glides of his lips across the bulging muscle in Rhett’s shoulder, the sloping angle of his hip, before laying him down in bed.

Rhett kicked the blankets out of the way and made room for Cole, who lay down beside him. He pulled the blankets up to their chests and quickly fell asleep.

“What day is it?” Rhett mumbled, before sitting upright and shouting out an obscenity. Cole laughed and sucked, his tongue flat against the underside of Rhett’s cock. He didn’t know how long they’d slept, but the room was dark and Cole woke up with an unquenchable need to taste Rhett’s dick in his mouth.

He hummed a greeting against Rhett’s cock and hollowed his cheeks, bobbing his head up and down. Rhett’s dick was magnificent. It was an easy handful with a graceful curve to the left just below the tip. The skin was pink and smooth, and so warm to the touch. He fingered Rhett’s balls, teasing his hole with the tips of his fingers.

“You’re gonna kill me,” Rhett whispered, dropping back against the pillows with a huff. Cole shook his head and pushed a finger inside. He twisted his wrist and felt around until he grazed a soft bundle of nerves that drew another shocked cry from Rhett’s throat.

Cole stroked Rhett’s prostate while he sucked his cock, his face and Rhett’s groin fully covered in spit.

“I’m gonna come,” Rhett panted. “Gonna come.”

Cole pressed against Rhett’s prostate and hummed happily when Rhett cried out, tangling his fingers into Cole’s hair. Rhett’s cock pulsed and throbbed, hot jets of cum landing against the back of his tongue.

He eased his finger and his mouth away from Rhett at the same time, leaning back with a sleepy smile and a lick of his lips.

“Is this an every morning thing?” Rhett mumbled, arm thrown over his face.

Cole crawled up his body, laying half on top of him and half beside him. He stroked his fingers down Rhett’s side, causing him to shiver. “It’s not morning.”

“I think you know what I meant.” Rhett dropped his arm, wrapping it around Cole’s shoulders. He smiled down at him and Cole’s entire body felt warm.

“There will be frequent cocksucking, I assure you,” Cole promised, uncertain of how this had become his life.

It was almost literally just yesterday when he’d been at Tubby’s, lamenting the possibility of losing his livelihood to a stranger when Rhett and this harebrained idea fell into his lap. This fake relationship that probably hadn’t ever been fake was terribly real now, the proof of it still slicking its way down the back of Cole’s tongue.

He cleared his throat and pressed a kiss against Rhett’s chest.

“I don’t know what time it is, but I’m starving. Do you want to eat?” he asked, forcing himself away from Rhett’s delicious body.

“I had a great time this week, but anything other than coconut, please,” Rhett begged with a small laugh.

“No coconut, I swear.” Cole stood and stretched, definitely catching Rhett checking out his ass. “Pizza or Chinese?”

“Oh, God. Pizza,” Rhett said, rolling onto his side and watching Cole retreat into the bathroom.

Cole laughed and took a quick piss, washed his hands, then splashed some water on his face. He finger combed his hair back and returned to the bedroom, pulling his pajamas off the floor and putting them on.

“I don’t even know where my phone is,” he mumbled, looking around the room. “I think it’s downstairs.”

“Is it okay if I grab a shower?” Rhett asked, still lazing around the bed like a cat.

“Of course. It’s your house now,” Cole reminded him.

The easy smile on Rhett’s face fell before he schooled his features back into something that resembled happiness.

“We’re gonna talk about that face of yours as soon as I’ve gotten food ordered,” Cole said, pointing at Rhett.

He knew this whole relationship between them hadn’t moved as either of them had planned, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t pleased with the turn of events. There had always been something that felt lacking when he’d dated other people. Whatever their gender, it had always been fun, but Cole had always felt like there was some sort of extra oomph that should have been there.

It never had been, but now it was.

As he walked downstairs, Cole thought of how different his life would have been if at any point in his youth he’d have just stopped and looked to Ryan’s side and seen Rhett there— really seen him—for the boy he’d been or the man he was now.

Cole found his phone lying on the kitchen counter and he dialed the local pizza shop, ordering a large pepperoni for delivery. He tapped out a text to Ryan, letting him know that he was back safe from Tahiti then made his way into the living room. He turned the TV on, flicking through channels until he settled on an I Love Lucy rerun.

“This is my favorite show.”

Rhett’s voice from behind him made him jump. Cole raised a hand to his chest in fright and turned, finding Rhett lingering in the doorway.

“You scared the shit out of me,” Cole admitted, the adrenaline in his body starting to settle once he realized there wasn’t a threat present. “Come sit with me.”

Cole patted the couch and turned, sliding back against the arm of the couch where he’d been sitting. Rhett didn’t show up, so Cole twisted around and looked behind him.

“Is this a thing you’ve always done or is it just for me?” Cole asked, making a come here motion with his finger. Rhett walked into the room, taking the seat beside Cole.

“What do you mean?”

“You linger in doorways, like you’re not sure if you should keep going or turn back,” Cole told him, quickly shaking his head when he realized what a metaphor Rhett’s continual hesitation was for their relationship.

Rhett eyed him speculatively and shrugged. “I wouldn’t read too much into it if I were you.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna work with me,” Cole informed him, taking his hand and pressing soft kisses against his knuckles. “Between the weird faces you make at me and the doorway loitering, I can tell something isn’t right with you and I want to know what it is. And if you want this fake relationship to be a real relationship, you’re going to need to pony up.”

Rhett pursed his lips together and stared at their joined hands. A minute, two, three. The silence growing between them.

“What are you scared of?” Cole whispered.

“Nothing,” Rhett answered quickly, eyes snapping up to focus on Cole’s worried face. “It’s not like that.”

“What is it like then?” Cole pressed, giving Rhett’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

“This is crazy, right? We’ve known each other our whole lives and neither of us gave the other a second look, and now after a week of pretending to be with each other, we really are with each other?” Rhett paused. “I’ve loved the past three days, but none of that changes the fact you didn’t even know I existed before then.”

Cole chewed his lip between his teeth, hating the conflict that looked like it was tearing Rhett apart. Even when they’d planned on this being fake, he’d never wanted to make things worse for Rhett.

“I’m not going to change my mind,” Cole assured him. He gripped Rhett’s chin in his face and turned him so they were looking at each other. “Now that I’ve had you, I don’t want to go back. I won’t go back.”

Cole pressed their mouths together, kissing Rhett with what he hoped was a convincing level of dedication to the newest development between them.

“You move between partners so fast,” Rhett mumbled against his lips.

“None of them were you,” Cole reminded him. “None of them ever made me feel the way you do.”

Rhett nodded and dipped his head, cheeks coloring slightly.

“This is real, Rhett.”

“Okay,” Rhett conceded.

“Isn’t it real for you?”

Rhett scoffed. “I think that’s obvious.”

“What does that even mean?” Cole asked with a small chuckle.

“Jesus, Cole. Look at you.” Rhett swiped his hand through the air in front of Cole’s chest.

“Look at me?” Cole barked out a laugh. “Look at you.”

He pushed Rhett backward onto the couch and sucked one of his nipples into his mouth.

“Look at this sexy little pink nipple,” he murmured against Rhett’s tender flesh. He kissed his way down Rhett’s ribs to the slight V where his muscles angled down to his cock. He licked a hot stripe across the skin. “Look at this muscle here, like an arrow showing me where to find what I’ve been looking for my whole life.”

Cole took the waistband of Rhett’s pants in his hands and lowered them slightly, exposing the curled hairs around the base of his cock. He pulled another inch. “Look at this cock. It’s perfect and it hurts me so good that I can’t stop coming.”

Rhett’s cock flexed against Cole’s chin. He kissed his way back up Rhett’s body, sliding his tongue through the grooves made by the muscles and bones until he reached Rhett’s neck. He latched his mouth around the thin skin at the base of Rhett’s throat and sucked a bruise onto his skin that would be visible to everyone.

Cole was not above marking his territory. He pulled away from his throat with a wet pop and licked his way up Rhett’s chin to his mouth, dropping quick kisses across the surface of his lips. “And this mouth. Jesus, Rhett. This mouth makes me so hard.”

Rhett’s mouth parted and Cole swiped his tongue against his teeth before pulling away with a mischievous look. “I can’t keep my hands off of you.”

Rhett panted beneath him and smiled up, his eyes glassy with want. “You shouldn’t then.”

“But we need food,” Cole complained weakly, forcing himself away. He sat on his hands and smiled over at Rhett innocently.

“You’re no fun. You’re a boring former fake boyfriend. Has anyone ever told you that?” Rhett pushed himself into a sitting position, getting comfortable in front of the TV again.

“Nope,” Cole laughed. “That’s one thing I’ve never been accused of.”

The doorbell rang and Rhett jumped up. “I’ll get it. I’m starving.”

“My wallet is in the bowl by the door, just give him the blue debit card in front,” Cole said, pointing toward the door.

Rhett saluted him and Cole smiled at his back, seeing those telltale patterned flush spots decorating Rhett’s spine again. It made him irrationally happy that Rhett wanted him as badly as he did.

“Shit, I don’t have a shirt on,” Rhett said, turning around embarrassed with a hand over his chest.

“It’s just the pizza guy,” Cole reminded him with a roll of his eyes. He turned back to the TV.

Rhett pulled the door open and coughed, an awkward and terrified noise that had Cole looking toward the door again.

“Ryan, hey,” Rhett choked out. “What’s up?”