Of Love (2 page)

“Do you have room for dessert, or would you like to walk off dinner first?” He knew of a little cheesecake shop that did an amazing duo plate to share.

“Let’s walk and then snack, huh? We can store your Hula-Hoop upstairs.”

“Upstairs?” Dex frowned. What was upstairs?

“My apartment. I like the building.”

“You coy devil, you. Upstairs it is.”

“What? It’s true.” Kent chuckled. “I told you, I’m in here all the time.”

“I believe you. I believe you.” He put up his hands. “Does that mean you get a discount on the food here?”

“Only when I remind them I own the building.”

“Well, to make sure they make their rent, I’m happy to pay full price.” Not to mention he’d offered to treat Kent at full price. He pulled his wallet out.

“I’ve got this one. You’re cooking Thursday.”

“Works for me. Thank you for dinner. I’m pretty sure I can’t rival candied bacon.” Hell, just the idea of candied bacon had never even occurred to him. Not to mention it was a rare indulgence, not something to be had several times a week.

“Oh man. Note I didn’t cook it. I just paid for it.”

“I’ll have to remember that.”

Dex was a good cook, though. He’d learned a lot about nutrition and cooking himself the best meals for training and running the triathlons. Hell, he’d invented the app for that. Which was why, in a roundabout way, Kent was coming for dinner on Thursday after their date at the rock-climbing gym. How cool was that?

“Come on up, honey. You can drop your hoop, and we’ll go have a wander. I love walking the city.”

“Sounds good.” Dex took a last sip of his water and followed Kent out the back entrance of the diner. This one led to the lobby of the building instead of outside. There were other stores, along with a bank of elevators, which was where they were headed.

The building was light, open, and they headed up to the penthouse level. The space here was spectacular—bright and modern, the white splashed with jewel tones.

“You have a decorator do this?” He suspected not. The brilliant color matched what he knew of Kent’s personality.

“Nah. I just put things where I wanted them, where it felt right.”

“Good, then this is you. And I love it. It’s a happy place. Kind of like you.” He wasn’t sure he’d ever met anyone as happy as Kent. It was infectious.

“Yeah? Thanks. I’ve been here three years and it’s home.”

“My place is considerably smaller.” It had a room for his workout equipment, though, and that’s what counted.

“Yeah. I’m not… please don’t think I was being all ‘look at me this is mine.’”

“Thought didn’t even cross my mind. You don’t strike me as the boastful type.”

Kent was just happy to show off his home. Dex could see that.

“No. That’s no fun. Playing is fun.”

“It sure is.” Chuckling, he got hold of Kent’s shirt and tugged him close. Tilting his head, he took a kiss.

“Oh.” Kent laughed into the caress, tongue sliding over his lips.

He opened up, letting Kent in. The kiss was playful, somehow light and lovely. He could easily have lost himself in it, but he was hoping for another chance before they parted ways. Anticipation was good for the soul, right?

“Oh, that is tempting.” Kent backed off. “Will you be offended if we walk now? I… I’m not a one-night-stand guy. I like to take it on the slow side. I know that’s odd, but… I really want to get to know you.”

“We’re on the same page—I was just thinking a little anticipation would make this even sweeter.”

“Oh good. Good. Excellent.”

He took Kent’s hand, and together they headed out to wander the city and find some dessert.

This was the best evening he’d had in a long, long time, and he couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

“MR. MCMANN?”

“Yes? Yes. Yes. Here.” God. God. What was he doing here? Kent followed the nurse into the back, balls crawling up into his body.

She took him into a little room with a chair, a table with a bunch of magazines, and a remote. There was a TV on the wall too. “Do you have any questions before I leave you?” she asked, handing him a little sterile bottle.

“I…. Can’t we just… invent babies?”

She chuckled. “I thought that’s what we were doing?” Then she patted his shoulder. “You’ve already done the hard work. You’ve picked your surrogate, you’ve both filled out all the paperwork and signed the contract. All that’s left is for the doctor to take your contribution and, indeed, invent babies.”

“Yeah. Yeah. I just leave it in the cabinet deal?”

“No, you bring this one to me. The doctor is waiting on it. Are you coming back this afternoon for the insemination?”

“No. No, she’s bringing her husband. This is her second time doing it, so I want her to be comfortable.”

“Well, then you just bring me the container and let us handle the rest of it.” She offered him what he assumed was supposed to be an encouraging smile and left him alone in the little room.

Right. Right, what was he doing? Building a family, that was what. He had time, money, and he wanted to have a baby. There wasn’t anything wrong with that, right? Right.

Not that any of these girly magazines were likely to help him proceed with that. What they needed was a running magazine with Dex on the cover. Now
that
would be jerk-off material.

Kent was going to see Dex this afternoon. Get to watch the long-legged guy climb a rock. Or a wall. Whatever. His cock started paying attention to his thoughts.

Maybe this wouldn’t be awful. He just needed to think about the possibilities.

He’d bet watching Dex climb above him would give him the perfect view of Dex’s ass. That was a possibility. Dex. That tight little ass. Pitching. Catching. He liked this idea.

His cock pushed at his zipper and he opened his pants, touched himself as he let the images flash through his mind. He closed his eyes, forced himself to ignore his surroundings, ignore the smells of antiseptic.

He bet Dex would smell good, all sweaty and manly. Yeah. He could see it, that ripped belly, the way the sweat would slide down the creases left by the muscles. He got his hand around his cock, started tugging.

He already knew Dex tasted good, but he’d really get to know that flavor when they kissed again, when they kissed longer. He did love a long, slow seduction. He rubbed his fingers over the slit in the tip of his prick. It made him feel good, knowing Dex hadn’t wanted a one-off quickie but wanted to take his time, keep seeing Kent.

God, he hoped he was going to be able to shoot into a cup.

If Dex was here to help… he could imagine that big, firm hand wrapped around his cock. Helping him aim. Stroking him. Whispering dirty things into his ear.

Oh, he’d have to see if Dex was a talker. He liked that. He liked it a lot. And Dex had a great voice.

His balls started to ache, encouraged by the thought of what Dex might say to him. Sucking. Fucking. Moans and promises and low whispers. He could hear and feel it now like Dex was actually here with him.

“Want to learn all about you.” He whispered the words, and that was enough, he grabbed the cup and spent. Okay. That was odd.

The image of Dex lingered, along with the ghostly sensation of Dex holding him. He almost expected to find Dex in the room with him, but he was alone.

He zipped up, put the lid on the cup, the cup in the bag, and washed his hands. He just shot in a cup to see if he could make a baby. And after he dropped it off with the nurse, he was going to go get ready for his date. How crazy was that? Totally.

It was also perfect.

He couldn’t wait.

DEX LET
Kent into his condo. He was actually eager to show off his place. It wasn’t nearly as big as Kent’s, but it was clean and neat. He had a tiny, cozy living room separated from the kitchenette by a bar, a bathroom with a huge shower stall, his bedroom, and his workout room.

He and Kent were both rosy-cheeked from working out on the rock wall. It had been quite the challenge but so much fun.

He found himself grinning at Kent as he closed the door. “You want the five-cent tour?”

“You know it, especially if there’s a cold drink at the end. That was fun but hot!”

“We’ll grab some Gatorade out of the fridge on our way through the kitchen.” He led Kent down the hall to give him a quick peek at the bedroom and workout room first. They could end up in the kitchen so he could get Kent that drink and start supper at the same time.

“Oh, I like the windows. You have a killer view.” Kent admired everything, lit up and excited.

Dex loved Kent’s enthusiasm. The man really threw himself into life, and Dex appreciated that bone-deep. A lot of the guys on the circuit didn’t have time for anything but training for the big race days, but Dex appreciated a little variety. Man could not live on racing alone. Of course, in the beginning, he’d been one of those narrow-focused runners himself. Time and experience had proved to him that you burnt out if all you did was race.

“The view’s the best part. And the big windows.” He was only on the second floor of the three-story building, but he looked out onto a park, nothing but trees and grass and flowers.

“How often do you run?” Kent asked. “Every day?”

“Every second day. I swim on opposite days and either go out biking or do it on the stationary every day.” He started pulling vegetables out of the fridge.

“Wow. That’s impressive.”

“It’s what I do.” He had sponsors and shit even. Between that and the apps, he was putting away a good nest egg and doing what he loved. “Eventually I’ll have to give it up.”

“Why? I mean, I get that being a competitive athlete is for the young, but they have age brackets, don’t they?”

Dex nodded. He knew, but thirty was barreling down on him, and he was feeling it. In his head anyway.

“Well, then. You don’t have to worry, right?”

“Ask again after my birthday.” He gave Kent a grin. Putting the cutting board on the bar, he started dicing up vegetables.

“When’s your birthday? What’s your sign? And can I help?”

“Naw, you’re my guest. My birthday is in a month. I think I’m a Libra?”

“I’m an Aquarian. Valentine’s Day.”

“Your birthday is Valentine’s Day?” He wasn’t sure if that was cool or annoying. “That’ll be hard to forget.”

“It is what it is. I didn’t request it.”

That had him laughing. “What day would be your birthday if you could request it?” He dumped the vegetables in a pan and turned on the burner. Then he got the water going.

“Oh…. Oh, like April or—no! October. Wouldn’t being a Halloween baby rock?”

Dex chuckled. “I’ve kind of always wanted to have February 29 as my birthday. I’d only be seven and a half that way.”

“Yeah, but then… very few birthday parties.”

Dex shrugged. “I never had that many growing up anyway.”

“No? I had one every year. I love birthdays.”

“Cool. My mom didn’t have a lot of money. You get to a certain age, and you say you just want to go to the movies with her or something because you get it, you know?”

“My folks were solidly middle class. Totally normal. Mom made a cake, there were probably balloons.”

“Single mom, money was always a struggle. She loved the hell out of me, though, and didn’t even blink when I came out.” They just weren’t very close. He thought she’d been kind of relieved when he’d left home, not having to worry about him anymore.

“My folks knew before I did. They’re totally unconcerned about my sexuality, except for in that ‘eww, my baby has sex’ way.”

Dex laughed. “Please, I was a virgin birth.”

“Yeah. My parents had sex two times. Me and Kari. That’s it.”

“There you go.”

He put the pasta in the water now that it was boiling. “You mind if we don’t have meat with our pasta?” There were eight hundred different vegetables after all.

“I’m easy. I like eating food.”

“Good, good. I love food too. And the training means I can eat a lot.”

“I have the metabolism of a three-year-old,” Kent admitted.

“I bet you eat as much candy as a three-year-old too.” There was just something about Kent that said carefree and happy and, yeah, candy loving.

“Oh man. I can go for days on nothing but. I love sweet and tart.”

“I’ll remember that.” There was a new candy store on Washington that did candy bouquets. It would be fun to have someone to buy one for. Maybe if they had another date.

Kent beamed at him, eyes twinkling. “Have I said thank you for introducing me to rock climbing?”

“No, you have not. Do you have any special way of doing it in mind?” He waggled his eyebrows, but the truth was he really wanted a kiss.

“I do. It involves putting my lips on yours.”

Dex put his knife down and came around to the other side of the bar. “You were saying?”

“I was saying thank you, and hey, I really want to kiss you again.”

“You’re welcome and you should.” He leaned in.

Kent’s hand was on his chest, fingers stroking lightly, almost petting him as their lips met. It felt damn good, both the touch of hand and of lips. Smooth and soft, Kent’s skin moved against his, and it made him warm.

“I do enjoy kissing you, honey,” Kent said quietly.

“Ditto. Can we do it again?” But just one more because his food was on the stove, and he knew if he wasn’t careful, he’d forget to do anything else but kiss Kent.

“Mmm. Yes, please.”

Kent was addictive, like a ball of energetic joy. Dex liked him. A lot.

This time, Dex let his tongue tease its way along Kent’s lower lip before pressing his lips against Kent’s, a little harder than before.

Kent smiled against his lips. “Mmm. Hungry.”

Oh, right. Food. Nodding, Dex stepped back, then took another step before turning and going back to stir his vegetables. He added a bit of stock to the pot, deglazing it and turning the vegetables into a sauce for the pasta.

“Mmm. Smells amazing.” Kent came into the kitchen to stand behind him, hands on Dex’s hips.