By the Numbers (6 page)

"Sounds good to me." Deuce nodded. "Do you dance?"

"Not really. I observe." Trey leaned his head back on the couch and turned it so he could see Deuce. "Watching people is way more entertaining for me." Wow, they were sitting closer than he'd thought. Trey could see that Deuce's eyes weren't brown, as he'd first thought. More hazel, with little flecks of gold. Nice.

"And what do you learn, when you're watching people?" Deuce was looking back, smiling a little. He didn't seem nervous at all, not even slightly. "Or do you just go for the entertainment value, watching people be dumb to impress each other?"

"It's both." Either the wine was going to his head, or Trey was relaxed enough to feel warm all over. Their feet were almost touching and Trey could feel the heat of Deuce's body next to him on the couch. "But I learn the most while I'm at work, from the calls we get. It lets me profile people. Then I judge them while I'm out at a bar."

"And what kind of things do you judge?" Deuce's smile grew, and he seemed to lean in a bit.

Trey leaned in too, almost without realizing it. "If they're pretending to have money. If they're trying to show off. If they're just out to have fun or if they want something else." Their heads were very close together now.

"I don't see the point in pretending to have money -- that illusion can't last. Want to have some fun?" Deuce's gaze dropped and then came back up, leaving Trey with the impression that he'd just lost a layer of clothes without even noticing.

"With you?" Oh, Christ. Of course Deuce meant him. Trey was totally not used to this direct hit thing.

Deuce laughed softly. "How about dessert? More wine?"

"If I drink more wine, I'll sleep through my alarm tomorrow. But dessert, sure." Trey hesitated for a second, unsure if he'd read the moment correctly.

Deuce looked him over again and smiled, the twinkle kicking up a notch. "I'm probably going to kiss you, if you don't go take care of dessert right now. Just so you know."

Get up. Get up, get up, get up,
his conscience said,
get up now and take yourself out of what could be a really difficult situation.

Trey didn't, of course. He stayed where he was and let his gaze drop to Deuce's mouth, then back up again. The thing was, he wanted to be kissed. "In a second," Trey whispered. "I'll get it in a second."

"Okay." Deuce nodded. "You ponder it for a few minutes." Then he leaned the few remaining inches and kissed Trey's mouth, soft and slow. Then he did it again.

It was everything Trey was asking for, even if his conscience was sighing and shaking its head at him. Trey didn't care. Deuce's mouth was warm, and he smelled good, and the wine was letting Trey do stuff that he normally would have kept in check. This was his future roommate, after all.

Deuce was a really good kisser, though. Trey lifted a hand to cup the back of his Deuce's and found his hair to be soft and. Trey shifted a bit on the couch to get closer and opened his mouth slightly, letting his tongue touch the edges of Deuce's lips.

The kiss grew deeper, Deuce apparently taking Trey's touches for a signal of some kind. He let Trey in and tasted back, one hand on Trey's arm. He brushed Trey's jaw and cheek before settling his hand back on Trey's bicep, and Trey felt more than heard a very soft sound of pleasure.

The tiny noise went straight to his cock. One electric jolt of sensation right from his mouth to his groin, and all because Deuce was kissing him and apparently enjoying it. Trey hadn't thought a simple kiss would be this... this... detailed. There was sound and sense and taste and Trey wanted to absorb it all, then get more.

So, he went for more. The gentle tasting of each other that they were doing with their tongues turned into exploring each other's mouths. Trey discovered that Deuce not only knew how to kiss, but had probably majored in it or something. The guy was doing stuff with just his tongue that Trey didn't even know was possible.

Deuce didn't even come up for air so much as he granted a slight reprieve and then took Trey's senses over again. The hand on Trey's arm squeezed gently and then moved to slide around to Trey's back, pulling them closer together. It stayed there, warm and heavy in the hollow above his waist, anchoring him in place.

It was only after another minute or two of kissing that Trey managed to engage his brain. He pulled back slightly, regretting it for a moment when he heard Deuce make a sound of protest, but putting distance between them all the same. "You're supposed to live here," Trey said quietly. Deuce was just inches from his face and making it hard to think. "This isn't smart. Is it?" He knew the answer to his own question but asked it anyway.

"It's not dumb." Deuce shrugged. "I like you. You like me. I'm not expecting anything momentous to happen, but I find that closing doors just because something might not be brilliant is a good way of missing out on a lot of good things."

It made sense, in theory. Almost enough sense for Trey to lean forward again for more soft kisses, but that damn voice in his head spoke up.
You need to think about what you're doing.

"I like you," he agreed. He did, a lot. Deuce was cute and funny and smart. "And I don't want to close the door on it." Also true. "But maybe we should live together for a while before we jump into that." It sounded weird to say it that way. Living together before the relationship happened was not usually the way it worked.

"Isn't that sort of backward?" Deuce said with a slow smile. He didn't seem pissed, though, and he wasn't saying no. He also wasn't backing away or letting Trey go. He was kind of... paused. Paused was okay.

"Yeah, pretty much." Trey gave him a sheepish smile. "The truth is, I've never lived with anyone other than Holly and Lacey. And I don't know how Lacey will react to having you here, even though she's a pretty mellow kid and takes stuff in stride. What do you think?"

"I think trial runs are a good thing." Deuce nodded. "I think we should see how it goes, sure. Like I said, I don't have a certain set of expectations. I'm sure as hell not going to pressure you into something, either. That's not really my style." His smile took out any sting.

Trey nodded as well. Deuce was right, but a small part of Trey felt as if he wanted to be pressured into something. Sometimes it was just easier to let someone else decide things. That was one reason he'd never be captain at work: too many choices, too many decisions. Way easier to do what he was told, and less drama, too.

"Okay," he agreed. "See how it goes."

Deuce leaned forward and kissed him again, just once. "How about dessert now, then? Something else to put in my mouth."

"That is not the way to un-pressure me." Trey grinned and accepted the kiss, returning one of his own. "But okay." He got up and took a moment to adjust, not looking back to see if Deuce had to do the same. Trey would never get off the couch if he saw that.

The chocolate-raspberry parfaits were in the fridge where he'd left them. Trey grabbed two spoons and took both glasses back to the living room. "Here you go," he announced, setting Deuce's chilled glass in front of him. "It's chocolate angel food cake, vanilla custard, and fresh raspberries. Totally easy."

Deuce's eyes went wide. "You fend off sex on the couch with sex in a glass dish. Interesting deflection technique." He picked up his glass and spoon and tasted, and this time the sound wasn't at all soft and quiet. "Oh, my God." Deuce groaned and rolled his eyes. "I'm moving in. You won't ever get rid of me, sorry."

Trey had to chuckle. "Seriously? This isn't even homemade. Store-bought everything. I don't do much baking, except for cookies for Lacey once in a while. We have this at work sometimes, so you'll definitely have to come down for dinner." He took a bite of his own dessert and discovered the raspberries were quite sweet.

"Doesn't matter. Twinkies are good to me." Deuce kept eating. "I have to bike miles and miles because of it -- it's not just the nachos. I work hard at being able to eat like this once in a while. During the week I'm mostly a steamed vegetable guy with a bit of lean meat, but the weekends are all about indulging."

There were so many ways to interpret Deuce's meaning of the word "indulge", so Trey decided to just take it at face value. "Cool. Plenty of healthy recipes and stuff I can show you when you move in. And not so healthy." The creamy fettuccine alfredo he made sometimes was one of them.

Dessert was finished amid more gentle teases and joking, and Deuce remained true to his word and didn't make any sort of move. Disappointing, but a relief at the same time. Trey was too weirded out by the way things were moving.

"I work tomorrow," he said, scooping up the last of his parfait. "Come by if you want to. Or text me or something."

"Really? I'd love that. I have some errands to do, but I'll see if you're around in the late afternoon, if that's cool." Deuce looked as pleased as he sounded.

"Afternoons are always better. Mornings are busy with chores and stuff. Give me a call before you come by, okay?"

"Sure." Deuce nodded and got up, taking both glasses with him. "I'm going to head home, I think. Mostly because I'm slightly drunk and the puppies need to be let out. If I get too cozy, I'll wind up kissing you some more and there will be an unholy mess to deal with when I get there."

Trey took the glasses from him. "I got these. You better get home to the mess. Before it becomes unholy, I mean. Thanks for coming over tonight. And for the wine and... everything."

"Thank
you.
" Deuce smiled at him and looked around before walking to the door. "Thanks for supper, for suggesting I move in, all of it. I'll call you tomorrow."

Trey followed, still holding the dessert glasses. "Sounds good." Before his better judgment could catch up, he leaned in and gave Deuce a fast kiss. "Night."

"Good night, Trey." Deuce gave him a huge smile and left, whistling softly to himself.

The door closed with a soft click, and Trey resisted the impulse to look out the front window. Instead, he went to the kitchen and left the glasses soaking with the rest of the dinner dishes. He'd wash them in the morning before work.

He turned lights off as he went down the hall and spent a moment peeking his head into Lacey's room. The house was always more welcoming when she was there to break the stillness. Trey supposed that Deuce would do the same thing when he moved in. It might be nice to come home to a place that actually had people in it instead of silent rooms.

Trey brushed his teeth in the bathroom and checked himself in the mirror for whisker growth. He rubbed his chin as he entered his own bedroom and debated shaving tonight, then discarded the idea in favor of an early bedtime. He'd shave for work in the morning. That was one thing he loved about having four days off in a row: no need to shave. Otherwise, he was expected to be clean-shaven for each shift or run the risk of his breathing apparatus mask not fitting correctly over his face.

Clothes got discarded in a heap, and he crawled in between crisp cotton sheets. Trey's housekeeper was totally worth what he paid her to come in and clean once a week. He'd have to remind himself to let Deuce know that Wednesdays were clean-house day.

Thoughts of Deuce made Trey focus on the evening they'd just shared. It had been easy and comfortable, and the kissing had just sort of happened, despite that little voice that had advised against it. But man, it had been nice.

So nice, in fact, that Trey's cock began firming up just from the reminder. Deuce had smelled good, and he had strong hands. Trey had a thing for hands. He couldn't help getting turned on by the rough skin and light dusting of hair that most guys had, but Deuce's hands had the extra bonus of long fingers.

God, he got even harder at the thought. Under the warm cover of his blankets, Trey touched himself lightly and closed his eyes. He was too wound up to sleep, anyway. Taking the edge off would help.

The lube was always in his bedside drawer. He retrieved it and used a few slick drops that became warm as soon as they came in contact with his skin. His left hand dropped instinctively to fondle his balls as his other hand stroked his shaft and coated it well with the slippery stuff. A tiny drop of his own liquid added to the smoothness.

Trey planted both feet flat on the bed and arched up into the tunnel of his hand. The memory of Deuce's mouth on his was like a ghost in the room, something Trey could almost feel if he concentrated hard enough. The reminder of what Deuce's tongue had done was enough to make Trey groan out loud.

The rhythmic strokes turned into hurried thrusts, despite Trey's best intentions to draw things out. Everything was tingling and tight, and his balls were aching for release, so Trey gave in to the fact that this was not going to be a long jerk-off session. Sometimes they just weren't.

He let himself think about sparkling hazel eyes and a crooked smile, and how Deuce's body had felt next to Trey's on the couch. His dick throbbed in his hand and Trey gave a soft grunt in surprise when his come splashed over his fingers and onto his stomach. The orgasm uncurled from his belly and made Trey shake and curl his toes into the sheets.

After, when he'd cleaned up and was once again looking at the ceiling, Trey wondered one more time if he'd made the right choice for himself, for Lacey, and for Deuce. Things had the potential to go really, really wrong. Trey had made plenty of wrong decisions in his life.