Joey

He’s definitely not gay

 

It was well after noon when Theo left his apartment and I came back to my place to shower and get ready for rehearsals. But as I showered, I replayed our conversation in my head.

The one where I confessed again why I thought he was gay.

“You seriously thought I was gay, huh?”

I think I may have hurt his feelings. Or deflated his fragile ego. I mean, I did at one point have to show him how to act like an alpha. It’s not entirely my fault.

“There were certain tells,” I admit guiltily, pulling my wrinkled shirt on over my head. I guess it was a case of mistaken identity. My heart felt you and wanted to believe you were a hetero man, but there were so many arrows pointing in the wrong direction. It’s not only your friendship with Patrick, but then you never made a move on me, so instead of believing you weren’t attracted to me because of me, I assumed it was because I was female.”

“Wow, that’s crazy. Who knew I made such a great gay guy?”

Theo stands in front of his closet and pulls from the dress shirts hanging there, slipping it on his body.

He buttons the final button and rubs his forehead like this is causing him an insurmountable headache.

Theo slips on his shorts and walks toward me, cupping my face in his hands and pulling me into him. It makes me feel so good. Secure. Wanted. Understood.

“I certainly hope I dispelled all those myths by the way I fucked you last night and this morning.” He quirks an eyebrow, full of cockiness and sexy attitude.

The heat rushes to my face and between my thighs.

But I go with a snarky response and shrug my shoulders.

“Still not exactly convinced you’re not bi.”

I give a little shout of glee as he picks me up and throws me on the bed, and I end up in a heap on top of the messy, well-used sheets.

With every step he takes toward me, he emphasizes his reply.

“I. Am. Not. Gay. Or Bi. Got it?”

And then he lands on top of me, swiftly lifting me and flipping me on top of him as he rolls on his back. He combs my loose curls out of my face and stares into my eyes.

“Well, maybe I need more convincing…”

His expression turns serious.

“Do you think other’s think I am? Birdie said something about it the other day. No one has ever commented on it before.”

I shake my head. “I don’t think so. Theo, I just misunderstood. I misread all the signals that lead me to believe that about you. For one, you’re living here with Pat and have a history with him, and you were talking about your ex, Al…what was I supposed to think?”

He kisses me square on the mouth before lowering his head to the mattress below.

“Okay, let’s forget about all of that. But we need to talk about the rest of this week. The rehearsals. The crew. Marlon. You and me together.”

Pushing up on my elbows, I place one hand across his chest, the warmth a contradiction to the cold blast of seriousness from his tone. I knew we’d have to hold this conversation, but I still wasn’t ready for it.

“How do you want to play it?”

I was leaving it all up to him. He has to take the lead. It isn’t my call because it’s his profession. His real job and his career. I’m just along for the fun ride.

He smooths back an errant curl and sighs.

“No one can know about this” he points between us. “It’s going to be hard as hell to keep my eyes and hands off you, but if anyone knew what was happening, it could cause problems. It could damage my credibility that I’m trying to build as a director and playwright. I hope…”

I interrupt him with my finger to his lips.

“Theo, I totally get it. I got you. I’ll keep my hands and mouth and eyes to myself unless we’re in a scene or we’re behind closed doors. But then all bets are off.”

I smirk as I allow my hand to trail down to the front of his pants, where I feel the bulge begin to bloom. My inner diva shakes her hips in delight.

“God you’re perfect,” he admires, giving me a quick kiss. “But I need to get going and so do you. So that will have to wait until tonight.”

I give him my best pouty face but roll off him and then stand from the bed, righting my clothes. He stands too, and I lean up on my tiptoes to give him a kiss. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull him in tighter.

“Thank you,” I murmur into the kiss, tasting the coffee and lingering musky scent of me on his lips. “For giving me this chance. For having faith in me and entrusting me to represent your character. This is the most thrilling thing I’ve done since college. Maybe even before that. And it’s all because of you.”

He steps into me. “Joey, you’re the one doing me the honors. I’ll see ya later, okay, babe?”

He kisses me hard, open-mouthed until I’m dizzy and can’t see straight.

And then he rushes out the door to head to the theater where he has a meeting with Birdie before everyone arrives.

The warm jets of water begin to turn chilly as I finish rinsing my hair under the shower head. I run my hands down the back of my head, playing the night on rewind as my fingers seem to have a mind of their own. I glide them down my neck, touching the spot where he sucked a mark that’s now faint but still visible. A rush of heat sparks between my legs, and my nipples pucker up.

I’ve always enjoyed sex, but I’m not a one-night stand kind of girl. So my sexual experiences aren’t very well rounded and are few and far between. There was Brendon my freshman year in college, but that was forgettable.

Etienne my senior year. He was a French student studying abroad and was pretty good with his mouth, but he smoked like a chimney and I choked every time I smelled the stale cigarette scent on his clothes and skin.

And my last partner was Jordan. He liked to stick his finger in places I wasn’t sure I wanted them and requested a quid pro quo of the same type. No way was I going to tickle his taint. I’m way too squeamish for that sort of lover’s game.

Jordan quickly tired of my inability to perform the way he wanted me too and it ended after three fucks. They were good, but nothing compared to the fun I had in the sack with Theo.

He is just downright amazing. There were times it felt like he read my mind and knew instinctively what I wanted. And then other times, he’d ask me. It was thrilling to have someone interested in my desire and physical responses.

But then there was the time when he commanded…no demanded…that I come. It was heady and powerful. And oh, so alpha.

So unlike the first time I met him.

Just the sight of him – when he walks into the room – is enough to get me hot and bothered and quivering with desire.

I turn off the water and towel off. And then it dawns on me.

How the hell am I going to hide these feelings from everyone in the production?

It’s going to be all over my face the minute I walk in there. I mean, I’m an acting novice. Sure, I can read from the script and take my acting cues from him, but to mask my emotions on my own? Act as though he means nothing more to me than just a friend? Pretend I haven’t seen him naked and know what he can do with his very large kick stand?

That’s going to be a complication.

And I’m going to have to work very hard to avoid slipping up in front of people.

Or just avoid tripping over my feet around Theo when I try not to imagine him naked.

We spoke about keeping our relationship under wraps because it could really cause problems for him long term. And there’s no way I want to do anything that would get in the way of Theo fulfilling his dreams.

He means too much to me already to be an obstacle to his success.

Plus, I still need to worry about making a fool of myself in front of an audience.

For some reason, Theo has faith in me and doesn’t seem at all worried that I could fuck up everything in his production.

With just a slip of the tongue.