Micah
Micah had been glad to get to work after breakfast with Rhina and Caleb, and he had, in fact, gotten in a workout. By the time he arrived at the coffee shop, he felt a little less depressed, but it was still a struggle to smile.
Adrien gave him a few questioning looks, but Micah just grinned and busied himself with another task. His interactions with customers and his colleagues were strained, so it was a relief when his lunch break rolled around and he could drop the happy façade while he ate his sandwich in the supply room that doubled as a break room next to Adrien’s office.
He’d just about finished his lunch when Greg popped his head in.
“Hey, Micah, I know you have about five minutes left on your break, but we’re getting slammed out here and Antonia and I don’t want to clock out and leave the boss on the floor on his own.” The stocky redheaded college kid had a pleading looking on his face.
Micah sighed and tossed out the last bite of his sandwich before heading to the door and grabbing his apron from a hook. He slipped it on as they walked toward the front of the store. As Micah rounded the corner of the free-standing wall, he stopped in his tracks, mouth agape.
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.” Adrien walked toward Micah, carefully holding a small vanilla frosted birthday cake topped with lit candles. He was singing along with their colleagues and about five of their regular customers who came in to study and socialize on Saturdays.
“Happy birthday to you!” The group finished singing and broke out into applause and whistles.
Micah looked out at them—their regulars, his co-workers. And finally, Adrien. The man’s smile was nervous and a little unsure as he stopped in front of Micah.
“Go ahead and make a wish before the wax melts on top of the entire cake,” he teased.
Micah swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, his vision blurry, before closing his eyes, making his wish, then blowing out the candles to applause from their little audience.
“Okay, who wants cake?” Antonia asked before counting the raised palms.
Greg lifted the confection from Adrien’s hands and took it to the kitchen to slice it up.
“How did you know?” Micah asked Adrien.
Adrien shrugged. “I realized I’d never asked you about your birthday one day at work, so I took your advice and looked in your file.”
“This week?” Micah asked.
“A month ago,” Adrien said before walking off to help a customer at the register.
For the next ten minutes, Micah, Adrien, Greg, and Antonia sliced up the birthday cake and handed the pieces out between serving the customers who came in.
“That’s an awfully nice thing to do for your employees,” Micah overheard Perry, one of their regulars, say to Adrien.
Micah’s mood dipped as he made a batch of drinks for a customer.
Of course. The cake hadn’t been something special just for him. Adrien probably did that for all his staff members. Micah leveled and tamped down the coffee he’d just freshly ground into the portafilter before affixing it to the group head and pulling his shot.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Antonia slid next to him as he poured his milk. “He doesn’t do this for everyone,” she said. The knot that had formed in Micah’s stomach a few minutes ago dissolved at her words.
Micah blinked then followed Antonia’s gaze which was on Adrien who was passing out the last of the cake, having already set aside a few pieces for himself, Micah, Antonia, and Greg. Then Adrien’s bright hazel eyes collided with Micah and his heart stuttered.
“It’s kind of sketch to date your boss.” Antonia’s voice drew Micah’s attention back to his task. He closed the steam valve and worked on finishing the drinks. “Just don’t make him sad. Okay?”
Micah topped off the latte, then set the pitcher down, turning to face Antonia.
“I won’t,” he said solemnly. She must have believed him, because she nodded and reached for the cake on the counter behind them.
About half an hour later, Micah was savoring the last bite of his birthday cake during a lull.
“So, did you do anything special today to celebrate the last year in your twenties,” Adrien asked Micah, shoving his hands in the pockets of his apron.
Micah shook his head and set down the now empty plate, the cake that had tasted delicious moments ago now sitting heavy as he remembered that Rhina and Caleb had forgotten his birthday.
“No, no plans,” he said quietly, avoiding Adrien’s eyes.
“Nothing planned with your family tonight either?”
Micah sighed, studying his feet.
“What is it, Micah?” Adrien stepped into Micah’s space, bringing them just a hair closer than what was probably appropriate for work.
“They forgot,” Micah said quietly. “My ex and my son. They forgot my birthday. Well, Rhina realized after a while. Caleb didn’t know when my birthday was to begin with.”
“Oh, babe—” At Adrien’s use of the endearment, Micah looked up, not sure the man realized he had even done it. That buoyed his spirits and convinced him to open up a bit.
“When I was—” He stopped and looked around but saw that no one was in earshot. “When, I was…away. I used to spend birthdays, well—every day really—imagining what it would be like when I got out. But everyone moved on without me.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I used to fantasize about getting out and spending birthdays and holidays with friends and family, people who care about me. The truth is the fantasy is better than the reality.”
Micah was a hanger-on. Allowed in but never really on the inside. Like he’d been at Rhina’s parents’ house on Thanksgiving. Like he was with Rhina and Caleb.
Even Adrien to an extent.
Micah smiled through the twisting sensation in the region of his heart, but he couldn’t manage it and looked away from Adrien whose eyes were owlish behind his glasses.
“Well, fuck that.”
What?
Micah blinked at a determined looking Adrien. “Tonight, fantasy meets reality,” he said firmly.
“Huh?” Micah cocked his head to the side, and Adrien gave him an exasperated look.
“We’re going out to celebrate your birthday.” He raised his chin toward the espresso machine. “And you should have a few shots to stay awake, ’cause after we hit the club, we’re going back to my place so I can give you your birthday gift.”
Micah’s face heated as Adrien turned to greet a customer.
Suddenly, twenty-nine was looking up.
***
Adrien
The pulsing blue lights blanketed the topless sweaty bodies on the dance floor at Collars and Cuffs night club.
Adrien pressed closer to Micah, bringing their damp torsos together. Like most of the other men in the club, they’d taken off their T-shirts and hung them out of their back pants pockets because it was so hot. But the heat didn’t deter them from getting their groove on. Adrien wanted to dance with his guy, heat be damned.
He turned, fitting his ass to Micah’s crotch and his back to Micah’s bare chest, leaning his head back against the man’s shoulder as Micah’s hands slid down the front of his abdomen and around his waist, all his worries fading to the background as he surrendered to the music. He hoped it was the same for Micah.
The sadness in Micah’s eyes when he’d confessed that his fantasies of being home were better than the reality made Adrien’s gut twist. He’d been determined to replace the disappointment on Micah’s face with expressions of joy…and desire.
So, after closing Bright Bean, they’d stopped by Adrien’s place so he could put in his contact lenses, change into a fresh shirt, and loan Micah a shirt. Twenty minutes later, they were headed back out to Main Street to a club he hadn’t been to in two years.
They’d arrived just as the club had started to fill up and soon found themselves crushed against writhing bodies. The occasional wandering hand stroked Adrien, and he’d caught the eye of a few different guys and Micah had too. But the two of them had been glued to each other the entire night, only taking a couple of breaks to go to the bar for shots.
Several good-looking young twinks had shown interest in both him and Micah at the bar. One had even been bold enough to sandwich himself between the two of them while they’d waited to order a drink.
The thought of sharing a guy with Micah wasn’t a turnoff to Adrien. The blazing look in Micah’s eyes as the toned, petite young man ground himself against the two of them had Adrien making a mental bookmark to revisit the idea in the future. He’d shared in the past and always had an enjoyable time.
But tonight, he wanted Micah all to himself. Besides, the two of them hadn’t even exhausted all of their sexual possibilities. Adrien hoped to work on that some more tonight too.
The DJ’s up-tempo song faded into a slower, sexy R&B hit, and the temperature on the dance floor kicked up a few degrees. Their collective movements pulsed. Every motion mimicked sex.
Adrien watched faces in rapture, heads thrown back in abandon, eyes closed, mouths joined, and he reveled in the hedonistic atmosphere. Micah’s hands maneuvered him so they were facing again, but before he could look up, the man had pulled Adrien’s hips into his own and began a slow grind.
Adrien threw his arms around Micah’s neck and answered the man’s sensuous motions with a tense grind of his own, his hips circling as he leaned back and thrust his pelvis forward. Micah mirrored his motions, and Adrien’s stiffening cock brushed against Micah’s dick, which was just as firm, their hips meeting in the middle.
His Micah was a damn good dancer.
Micah’s hands slipped down, possessively grabbing Adrien’s ass as the man leaned to the side, his hips not missing a beat of that circular motion. Adrien leaned the other way, their bare chests plastered together.
Each touch, each meeting of their hips and skin, a promise of things to come. But for now Adrien enjoyed what he could touch and taste before he consumed Micah later tonight.
His hands roamed Micah’s back as they rocked together, running up his spine to his neck as he pulled Micah’s head down a fraction to join their mouths. Then he tasted, their tongues tangled in a frenzy as Micah pulled him closer. The damp of Micah’s skin and the feel of his lips as the music carried them along pushed Adrien’s arousal over the edge.
God, Adrien craved him. Yearned to be in him so much he could fuck right there on the dance floor with everyone watching. Their cocks came into contact, and Adrien’s dick was as hard as his own, kicking Adrien’s desire up one hundred notches. What would it be like to have Micah’s hardness inside him? Or better yet, to be inside Micah? Adrien’s dick twitched as he visualized pushing inside Micah’s ass, and he fucked the man’s mouth with his tongue the way he fantasized about fucking his ass.
Micah’s moan vibrated against Adrien’s chest, and he sank into their kiss, squeezing Adrien’s ass in both hands. Adrien pressed against Micah, urging him on. Kissing Micah never got old but tonight his body demanded more. They’d been fucking around for weeks, and Adrien had teased and played with Micah’s pucker many times, but he longed to slip more than his finger inside Micah. Adrien had to get closer to Micah, but he wasn’t sure if the other man was on the same page.
Adrien drew his fingertips around Micah’s torso then down his taut abs, sliding lower to cup his cock. Micah reached between the two of them and placed his hand on Adrien’s, briefly pulling away to meet Adrien’s eyes. Even in the dim lighting, Adrien could see Micah’s puffy and damp lips, his wild and needy eyes. Micah leaned in, placing his mouth alongside Adrien’s ear.
“Touch me,” he said over the din of the music.
Adrien scanned the room. There were several couples doing more than dancing. Adrien saw hands down the fronts or backs of their writhing partners’ pants. One guy was even down on his knees, a cock in his mouth in a shadowy corner.
If security came around, blow job guy would definitely get kicked out. Usually when things progressed to that point, all parties excused themselves to a welcoming restroom stall or the dark hallway that ran behind the bar that security intentionally didn’t check.
Adrien didn’t think they would take it that far here—they’d save that for when they got back to his place. But he wasn’t opposed to getting Micah warmed up.
They were in a corner of the dance floor, partially hidden by a pillar, so Adrien felt okay undoing Micah’s jeans. He felt rather than heard Micah groan as he rubbed Micah’s hardness on top of his boxers.
But then ice cold liquid trailed down Adrien’s back and he jerked around.
“Fuck.” A lanky doe-eyed guy stared at Adrien in shock.
“I’m so sorry,” the guy shouted over the music, before skittering away.
Micah grabbed his hand and motioned toward the patio area that was off the dance floor, and Adrien nodded, following him outside. They made their way around guys making out and clusters of men talking and smoking until they found an open space along the wall of the building.
Micah turned to Adrien. “You okay? I think someone bumped that kid and that’s why he spilled on you.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just think my ass is wet.” Adrien turned his back to Micah so he could assess the damage. He didn’t know if the damp seeping through his jeans and briefs was sweat or the drink that had been spilled on him.
Micah pressed his fingertips to Adrien’s backside. “Yeah, that’s definitely a cocktail. And something fruity based on the stickiness.”
“Great.” Adrien huffed. Then he remembered his shirt was in his back pocket.
“Fuck.” He reached for the black shirt and was relieved to find that it had been spared in the deluge. “Thank God,” he said before slipping it over his head. Micah laughed, and Adrien lightly punched him in the arm as they both leaned against the wall.
“Thanks for bringing me out tonight,” Micah said quietly. “I really needed that and I had a great time. It’s the best birthday I’ve had in—well, probably ever.”
Adrien puffed with pride and looked at Micah. He’d righted his pants and slipped on his own shirt, but his smile was the most natural and relaxed Adrien had ever seen it, his eyes bright and dancing, skin pink and glowing.
Adrien had put that smile on Micah’s lips. That look in his eyes. That glow in his cheeks. He could get addicted to making Micah happy. Making him feel good.
“You’re welcome.” He smiled over at Micah, awareness washing through him. “But I have another surprise for you.”
Micah slipped his arms around Adrien’s waist, widened his legs, and pulled Adrien between them, their chests pressed together.
“Oh yeah?” Micah asked in a low voice. “What else do you have for me?”
Adrien tilted his head up and drew Micah’s mouth down to his own in a soft kiss before pulling back. “The sexual favor of your choice.”
Micah’s gaze dropped to the ground as he worried his lip before looking back up at Adrien.
“I want you to fuck me. I want to feel you inside me.”
Adrien’s breath caught in his throat at Micah’s request, the man’s face questioning. Adrien answered, “It would be my pleasure.”