“Did you want a glass of water before I let you have your second dramatic moment?”

Oscar glared at Roman, but he couldn’t keep it up for longer than a few seconds before he cracked and laughed. “It’s a good thing I like the bad boys.”

“Do you?” Roman smiled, kicking his shoes off and leaned on the doorway, hooking his thumbs into the belt loops of his jeans. “Maybe I need to be more of a jerk, then.” He lowered his voice to a growl. “You want water or a good fuck?”

Oscar smirked. He could tell Roman was playing the clown to amuse him, but there was no way he’d pass the chance up. After all, their sex last time had been fucking hot. “Yes, sir, if you please.”

They made eye contact for a few moments longer, Roman’s eyes widening and then slowly narrowing as he clearly thought over the idea.

Gotcha. Oscar hid his smile as Roman swallowed hard and turned away. “Kitchen’s this way.”

“Mmm.” Oscar followed close on his heels. With the knee brace and years of developing a high pain tolerance, he only had a slight limp.

Nevertheless, Roman pulled out a chair at the kitchen island for him and ushered him into it with more hands than, strictly speaking, needed to be on his body.

Oscar swallowed his own reaction, trying to will away the prickling heat in his body. They had at least all night—weeks, maybe, if Roman was serious about letting him stay here.

That reminded him to look around at the kitchen, checking out how it was decorated. You could tell a lot about a man from his home, Oscar had always thought.

Very cozy, down to the painting of a bowl of fruit hanging near the stove. He hid a smile. “This isn’t what I expected. It’s a lot less…”

“Bachelor pad?” Roman finished with a sigh. “I know. This is why I don’t bring guys back here.”

“You have an image to maintain?” Oscar took the glass of water, their hands brushing as Roman leaned against the island next to him. He sipped slowly.

Roman looked embarrassed for a moment. “I… uh. I guess? Anyway, there are some things that need fixing.” He waved a hand around. “I’m tearing out the kitchen cupboards sometime, that kind of stuff. It’ll be sleeker in a few years.”

“All that and a handyman, too,” Oscar teased.

Roman’s cheeks flushed and he stared at his glass. “On occasion.”

Oscar couldn’t drag his eyes off Roman’s face. For such a confident man—brash, even, from their first meeting—he had this dimension to him that he couldn’t figure out yet. “You really don’t mind me staying here?”

That got his attention. “Oh, of course not.” Roman looked at him. “Seriously, the guest room never gets used. And it’s renovated. I shouldn’t have done it first. Nobody comes to visit anyway, aside from Nico, and now he stays with Deen. Should’ve done the damn kitchen instead,” he grumbled, then chuckled. “But I guess it came in handy at last.”

“I guess so.” Oscar turned to face him, setting aside the water glass. “Listen, I really appreciate it. Even if I’m Falcon’s best friend and whatever… you don’t have to.”

“Stop trying to talk me out of it.” Roman ran his hand up Oscar’s arm from his elbow to his shoulder in a gentle, affectionate touch. “You obviously can’t stay on the top floor of a building with your knee in that shape. Does he know, anyway?”

“Not yet. He vanishes for days at time these days. No wonder they’re moving in together.” Oscar didn’t mention that he hadn’t texted Falcon because he wasn’t sure how to break the news: I dislocated my kneecap walking down some stairs and fucked over my whole life. No, he had to wait to talk to him in person.

Roman smirked. “Yeah. No point paying rent if they’re nesting at Blane’s house all the time.”

Oscar chuckled, noticing that Roman still hadn’t moved his hand from his shoulder. “Imagine what they’ll think: us, living together. Only question is, which of us breaks the other’s heart? And who kicks whose ass?”

“I think it’ll just be an all-out brawl,” Roman decided, grinning. “Are the rumors true, then?”

“Are yours true?” Oscar countered, sliding his knees along the outsides of Roman’s thighs to pull him between his legs. “Flying all over the world, breaking hearts as you go…”

Roman scoffed. “That’s a second date question, at least.”

“Are we not on our second date?” Oscar smirked. “Second fuck, I was hoping.”

He couldn’t grip Roman’s waist with his knees like he normally might, but he raised his good leg to wrap around his waist, his arms around Roman’s shoulders. He balanced his other heel on the rung of the chair.

With the length of his body pressed against Roman’s, Roman pushed against him as he’d hoped, his back pressing into the kitchen island as they ground together slowly.

“Some men might call you easy,” Roman commented, his eyes sparkling. “I like easy.”

Oscar winked. “Takes one to know one. Are you gonna show me my bedroom now? And that good fuck you promised earlier?”

“Come here, trouble,” Roman told him. He slid his hands under Oscar’s ass and hoisted him up, his grip rock-solid.

Oscar relaxed into him, still half-tense in case of a trip-and-fall or clumsy moment, but instinctively trusting Roman to keep him safe. It was frustrating not to be able to lock his ankles around Roman’s waist, but he tried not to dwell on it.

Roman carried him like a feather despite Oscar’s deceptively slender body of solid muscle. He couldn’t deny that being manhandled like this did things for him. Oscar’s cock was already twitching into a hard line against Roman’s stomach.

“I thought of you a lot in the cockpit on the way back here,” Roman murmured. “They don’t call it a cockpit for nothing.”

Oscar shivered and pressed his face into Roman’s neck, breathing in his cologne. “The photos I sent?”

Clearly, he’d made the right call to stay in touch after their hot hookup. The energy between them was every bit as intense as it had been last time he’d found himself in Roman’s arms, not even two weeks ago now. A week? Time had slid by without his even noticing.

“Yeah, those photos, you little minx.” Roman shouldered through a doorway and dumped him on the bed. He didn’t even give him the chance to look around. He was already hauling Oscar’s shirt off, his gaze hungry—no, famished. “You know how hard it is to silently jerk off in the crew bathroom?”

Oscar nearly ripped Roman’s shirt off in return, the need to see him shirtless making him almost incoherent. He’d been longing for those huge biceps and firm abs since their first hookup. He restrained himself at the last moment. Roman didn’t seem the type to appreciate his expensive dress shirt buttons getting pulled off willy-nilly. “About as hard as jerking off in the group showers at rehearsals.”

A few seconds’ patience gave him what he was looking for: Roman’s bare chest pressed against his, crushing him into the bed. Roman’s lips followed immediately. “Not sorry,” he mumbled into Oscar’s mouth, then sucked his lower lip hard and bit it. “You deserve a good, hard fuck for all that teasing.”

Oscar whimpered and bucked against Roman’s body, but that just ground their hard lengths together. “I do. And you should be the one to do it.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” Roman was already pulling Oscar’s jeans down, going extra-carefully around his knee and when working them over his feet, then straddling his hips again.

“Thanks,” Oscar murmured, watching him unbutton and unzip his own trousers.

“Huh?” Roman paused and looked at him, his brow furrowed with confusion.

“For not just bashing my knee around.”

“I don’t know what kind of guys you’ve been fucking, but I’ll knock their heads together if they hurt you.”

Oscar laughed under his breath. “Not deliberately. They just don’t seem to…” Care, I almost said. Too honest? Probably. “Think,” he finished instead.

“Most guys don’t think with the right brain,” Roman agreed with an upward quirk of his lip. “It’s a shame they’re so hot I can’t keep my hands off.” He ran his hands up Oscar’s bare stomach and chest for emphasis. “And I keep trying to marry them, for some goddamn reason. Probably the unlimited sex. Haven’t found one to say yes yet, don’t worry.”

Oscar laughed again, his heart light. Despite everything—despite his shitty afternoon and worse evening, until Roman walked through the door and made everything better—he could almost forget about it now. With Roman’s hands on him, his calm and confident demeanor was like permission to relax.

And relax Oscar did, even though he was tense with arousal. He grinned as he watched Roman fight his trousers off like an unwanted hug in a bar. “You’re adorable.”

Roman looked more surprised at this than he had a moment ago. “I don’t usually… I mean, people don’t usually…” he trailed off.

Oscar smiled. “Tell you that? Well, it’s true.” He could see how Roman was in danger of being the hot playboy hunk, but there was this new and fascinating side to him, too—easily frustrated in tiny matters, but cool-headed in large ones, and shy about showing off his home. Something about him was intriguing in a way Oscar hadn’t felt before.

Roman didn’t say anything, but his cheeks were red. He pinched Oscar’s nipple and rolled it between his fingers.

“Oof!” Oscar exclaimed, his body jerking, but not unpleasantly so. In fact, a tingle of arousal shot straight to his cock. “Fine. I won’t tell you you’re adorable… you hot, kinky bastard.”

Roman grinned. “Better,” he said with a laugh. He leaned down to kiss the sensitive nub, then the other one. That also lined their cocks up for the perfect grinding motion.

They both felt it at once and pushed against each other, the tip of Roman’s cock already slick against Oscar’s shaft.

“There! Yes,” Oscar gasped when the veiny shaft rubbed against the head of his own just right, sending a thrill of pleasure through him.

Roman rubbed his body against Oscar’s, harder this time. Their cocks were trapped between their stomachs now, rubbing back and forth just slow enough not to sting as slickness covered them both.

“You like that?” Roman growled. “I can feel you getting even harder.” He licked his palm and knelt up enough to fit his hand between them, then stroked their cocks to make it easier.

Oscar whimpered and nodded when Roman pushed his hips forward again, almost experimentally, and easily slid along Oscar’s cock. That felt even better, and his nails dug into the back of Roman’s hips, then into his ass as he kneaded it. “You can fuck me anytime, gorgeous.”

“Yeah,” Roman grunted his pleasure. “I love fucking you, too. You squirm so much.”

Oscar hadn’t even realized he was pushing up against Roman and wriggling, making Roman’s job harder. He blushed and tried to settle down, but the next thrust sent sparks dancing along his skin, all the way to his fingers and toes. He wriggled again with pleasure. “Oh, I could come just like this.”

“Really?” Roman’s eyes lit up with a devilish gleam.

Oscar caught his breath and moaned as Roman thrust harder, faster, his hands resting on Oscar’s shoulder and hip to hold him still against the bed. “Oh, yeah. Oh, fuck.” He suddenly couldn’t breathe. His toes curled into the bed with every thrust.

It felt like Roman stretched it out forever specifically to tease him—dragged his body against Oscar’s, slow and steady and relentless, however much Oscar begged and squirmed—before he pushed harder and faster.

“Oscar,” Roman growled, between his gasps for breath. “Wanna feel you come, baby. I’m gonna make a hell of a mess.”

“Been holding out for me?” Oscar teased, and he was suddenly even more breathless as Roman hesitated to answer. He really hadn’t expected this.

Roman finally half-shrugged and kissed him until he was out of breath and moaning into Roman’s mouth, desperately seeking another caress of Roman’s tongue against his lips.

His body tightened and pushed against Roman’s, his body spilling its passion across them both. Roman kissed him hard, swallowing his moans. Then, Roman thrust a few more times, flexing that incredible ass effortlessly until his warmth shot across them both—plentifully, like he’d warned him.

Oscar’s brain switched back on as he realized they were wet and sweaty, Roman collapsed where he was and pressing him into the bed. He looped his arms around Roman’s waist and kissed his neck, his mind suddenly back to those words a minute ago.

“Yeah,” Roman muttered.

“Huh?”

“Yeah, I was holding out, I guess. I just didn’t feel like it in Hong Kong.” Roman sounded gruff, like he wouldn’t have minded not admitting it, which made Oscar wonder why he was saying it.

Instead, Oscar swallowed his curiosity and kissed Roman a few more times. “Was it worth the wait? You didn’t even get inside me.”

“Fuck, yeah.” Roman’s grin was careless and jaunty again as he pushed himself to sit upright, then rolled off him and grabbed handfuls of tissues to clean them up. “There’s nothing like two cocks rubbing. Who wouldn’t want that?”

“True,” Oscar grinned, holding still until he was dry, then glanced around at the room: very comfortable, and almost sparkling compared to the rest of the place, not that he’d gotten a good look yet. This room was homey, down to the writing desk in the corner. Hell, there was a quilt on the bed that almost looked handmade.

Perhaps noticing him looking, Roman pushed himself to stand and gestured around. “This is yours. Bathroom’s through there. I better get to bed. You know where the kitchen is, if you need anything.”

Before Oscar could invite him to share the bed, Roman strode out the door. Shortly afterward, another shower sounded from somewhere in the house.

Oscar shook his head and lay there, still and warm and confused.

What the hell was that about? And, more importantly, was it going to continue? Or was this it for sleeping together, now that their friends’ scrutiny was about to be turned upon them? No doubt Roman was having the same thoughts.

It was really none of their business, except that Oscar knew in the back of his head that their friends were right: their lifestyles just didn’t fit, and neither of them were the settling-down type, and… and…

A hundred excuses for why they wouldn’t work floated to mind, but every one lost the battle against the satisfied glow deep in his belly when he lay down for sleep, and the smile that just wouldn’t leave his lips.