I Survived Seattle (10 page)

Justice swallowed every drop of Nic’s cum and then licked his softening cock clean until it was too sensitive to touch. Nic gave a gentle tug on Justice’s hair, his entire body shaking from the force of his release.

Justice reluctantly released the delicious cock, and climbed back up Nic’s body until he was draped on top of him from head to foot. He liked that they were matched in height and muscle. While Nic’s build was a bit bulkier and Justice’s was on the rangy side, they were both strong. He liked being with a man who was strong enough to push him around, and man enough to let Justice push him around a little too.

Nic pulled Justice in for a lazy, post-orgasmic kiss, licking around Justice’s lips and teasing his tongue. Justice was still incredibly hard, but there wasn’t much urgency there. He was enjoying prolonging his pleasure and spending this time with Nic. He languidly thrust against Nic, his hard cock sliding alongside Nic’s softer one, although Nic apparently was still sporting a semi.

Breaking the kiss, Nic clasped Justice’s face and pulled back to look at him. Justice could only imagine what a horrible case of blowjob lips he had, but from the look on Nic’s face, he certainly didn’t mind.

“That was so fucking hot. I may never let you off this boat.”

“Well, I may not even complain about that.”

Nic chuckled, and it rolled over Justice like the warmth from the sun. “Now, my little airplane boy…what am I going to do with you?”

“Whatever you want, hot stuff,” he said, goosing Nic’s ass and drawing out another delicious laugh. Justice was a little surprised how much he meant it though. The way he felt in that moment, he might just do anything Nic asked of him.

Flipping them so that he was on top, Nic insinuated a thick, heavy thigh in between Justice’s legs. They kissed, slow and sloppy, as he rolled his hips, giving Justice just enough friction to be frustrating. Justice could feel the pulse in his neck skittering, and the fluttering in his stomach was joined by a delicious tingling.

Nic moved down to nuzzle his hair, nibble his earlobe, and scrape his teeth along his neck. Justice shivered and bucked underneath Nic’s hefty weight. Nic slid his hands underneath Justice, wrapping his arms around his waist. He squeezed him tight, and began stroking Justice’s cock with his thigh. Justice matched him thrust for thrust, eyes rolling back in his head as he shamelessly fucked himself against that hard body.

Nic reached down to massage Justice’s balls, while at the same time sucking hard on his collarbone. Justice threw his head back and clenched his hands in Nic’s hair.

“Fuck me,” he whispered, almost inaudibly.

He surprised himself because while he enjoyed ass play as much as the next gay, he’d never let anyone top him before. Not because he thought he wouldn’t enjoy it…he just felt like he couldn’t let his guard down that way with someone he didn’t trust implicitly. He’d only had a couple of relationships —both being unmitigated disasters, and he certainly wasn’t going to let some random trick have his ass. Yet here he was with Nic, having known the guy for all of three days, and secretly hoping Nic had good recovery time.

When Nic didn’t respond, Justice assumed he hadn’t heard, which was probably for the best. Instead, Nic shifted so that he was draped full body on top of Justice, nestling their cocks together. He worked his hips with unrelenting vigor, giving Justice the perfect amount of friction.

His orgasm came out of nowhere. His balls pulled up tight, and he barely felt the white-hot tingling in his belly before he shot. Nic kept thrusting, his way eased by Justice’s cum spreading between him. He kept massaging Justice’s dick with his own until the last of the spasms had died down.

Nic relaxed, letting Justice take his weight, which was sexy in and of itself, and Justice wrapped his arms around Nic’s waist. He wasn’t one for sleeping with another person. It was too much stress on his OCD, not having control of what the other person did. But that didn’t stop him from drifting off to sleep, cocooned in the warmth of Nic’s arms.

* * * *

Nic lay awake long after Justice’s breathing had evened off into sleep. He’d heard the whispered request, and had been sorely tempted. When he had been awakened by Justice trying to suck his brain out through his cock, Nic’s thoughts had gone haywire.

For a moment, he forgot that they barely knew each other. He forgot that he wasn’t a casual fuck kind of guy. And, most alarmingly, he forgot that he did
not
fuck around with closet cases. Though, the way he continued to pursue Justice threatened to make a liar out of him.

Nic couldn’t help himself. Justice just had a way about him that pulled you in. He was what the hipsters would call ‘adorkable.’ And damn him to hell, Samara was right…he
was
smitten. So it was probably a good thing that he’d restrained himself from drilling Justice into the mattress. He really did want to get to know the guy first. Unfortunately, he had quite a large hurdle in front of him, in the shape of the proverbial closet…and only two weeks to figure out what to do about it.

Chapter Twelve

Justice had left Nic on the
San Valentino
with a rather lascivious kiss and a promise to get together the next day. He couldn’t help humming to himself as he hopped out of the cab and headed up the walk to the rental house.

Unlocking the door, he let himself inside and froze when he noticed Rich lounging in the la-z-boy. He was dolled up in another perfectly tailored suit, and his expression was slightly more sinister than usual. His sharp gaze traveled the length of Justice’s body and back again, and he raised a brow.

“Well, well, Mr. Crawford, are you enjoying your walk of shame?”

Jesus, who did this guy think he was, Mr. Moriarty? “Okay…I was walking, but there wasn’t a whole lot of shame involved. I just went out. Now I’m back.”

“And yet, those love bites on your neck say otherwise.”

Justice reflexively covered his neck with a hand, and swallowed hard. He could already feel the churning in his gut that was often a portent to bad things happening. Then he narrowed his eyes at Rich. “How did you even get in here?”

Rich shrugged delicately. “Lara let me in. She had to go out, said I could hang around and wait for you.”

“What do you want, Rich? Just spit it out.”

The guy’s sharp eyes practically sparkled with wickedness. “I saw you, last night. At Neighbors. I know who you left with.”

Justice’s breath caught in his throat and his blood ran cold. This couldn’t be happening. “What the hell were you doing at Neighbors?” Of all the things he could have asked, that was the least productive, but curiosity got the best of him.

Rich’s face turned beet red as he stuttered. “It’s not…like…an
exclusively
gay club. I was there with…friends. That’s not the point!”

No, it wasn’t, was it? “What
is
your point then?”

“My point. My point is that I know you’re a fucking cocksucker and that you’re screwing that guy from the boat. Does Rory know?”

Justice said nothing, because he refused to fuel that fire, but he supposed that was an answer in itself. This was his worst nightmare, happening all over again. He had no family to lose this time, but he would lose his best friend.

Rich laughed. To Justice, it sounded more like a cackle.

“Of course he doesn’t know. Because you’re a fucking little bitch, and you know that Rory would toss you out for the disgusting fag that you are if he knew. And to think, all those nights you roomed together…” Rich gave a mock shudder.

Justice’s head whipped back like he’d been punched. He knew Rich had a bug up his ass where he was concerned, but Justice never expected this kind of venom from an almost complete stranger. Justice clenched his fists behind his back to keep from punching the bastard.

“What are you after? What do you get out of threatening my friendship with Rory?”

“You guys never see each other. You were roommates in college, but you don’t even talk much.
I’m
his roommate.
I’ve
been there for him day to day, and throughout his relationship with Maia. And then he up and picks
you
for his best man?”

Rich looked at Justice with such anger, that Justice took an instinctive step back. “I’ll tell you what I’m after. Bow out gracefully. Tell Rory you can’t be his best man. I’ll step in and do it like I should have been all along. You do that, and I won’t tell everyone your dirty, perverted little secret.”

Shaking with rage, Justice briefly considered just throttling Rich right then and there. But that would involve a messy cleanup and possibly prison time. This man who didn’t even know him was trying to burn his life down around him. Justice was embarrassed to feel tears prick at the corner of his eyes.

“And just what am I supposed to say to Rory about why I can’t do it?”

“Not my problem.” Rich sneered at Justice, knowing he had him backed into a corner. “You’ll just have to get creative. Better make it convincing.”

Rich rose from the chair and straightened his lapels. “If you’ll excuse me, I have better things to do today than breathe the same air as the likes of you. Tell him by tonight or I’ll ruin you.”

He let himself out, leaving Justice alone in an empty room. Justice sank down onto the couch and put his head in his hands. He let the quiet envelop him as he shed the tears he’d been holding in. Rory and Lara were the only real friends he had left, and he would probably hurt both of them irrevocably by doing what he had to do to keep them in his life. As he lost it, curling up on the couch and sobbing, absurdly, the person at the forefront of his mind was Nic.

* * * *

Justice must have dozed off, because he was still on the couch when Lara burst through the front door. He jerked awake at the sound, and nearly fell on the floor. Lara was completely oblivious.

“Oh. Em. Gee. I just had lunch with Maia and she was telling me all about the theme of the wedding. Dude, get this…Steampunk Masquerade. I can’t even…”

Clutching his head in his hands, Justice tried to stave off the nausea and pounding headache while Lara steamrollered on.

“We totally have to start looking for our costumes. We can hit the Goodwill this afternoon for odds and ends, and then go to a costume store.” She squinted at him, finally actually paying attention. “Well you look like hell. Late night, huh? I didn’t even hear you come in.”

“I didn’t,” he said, hesitating before flicking his gaze up to her face.

Her eyes widened briefly and her mouth formed a little ‘o.’ “Wow, hooked up, did ya? Care to tell me about the lucky lady?” she asked, plopping down beside him on the couch.

“No. Really…not.”

“Whatevs, keep her to yourself then. At least one of us got laid last night.”

When he didn’t respond, she finally really
looked
at him. Her face was an instant mask of concern. “Seriously, you okay?”

“Um, yeah,” he answered distractedly, replaying his conversation with Rich in his head. “Do you know if Rory’s at home. I really need to talk to him.”

“He should be. Maia said he was going home to take a shower. But why —”

“Thanks, bye!” he cut her off, bolting out the door. He had to get things square with Rory and the best man situation before Rich decided to show his hand.

* * * *

Justice found Rory at home, fresh from the shower, dressed in flannel pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt. He lounged stretched out on the couch, perfectly comfortable in his own skin, and secure in his identity. Justice allowed himself a moment of self-pity and wondered what that was like, before easing down on the couch beside Rory like a rheumy old man.

“What’s up, kid?” he asked with a smile.

He’d asked innocently enough, but Justice felt an intense wave of nausea as he thought of Nic calling him “kid”, which subsequently reminded him of why he’d come.

“Not much, man,” he said, and gave Rory a weak smile.

Rory had always been able to read him like a book —well, on most topics —so he sat forward abruptly, eyes full of concern. “Seriously, what’s wrong?”

Justice took a brief moment to imagine just telling Rory the truth. Just rolling the dice and baring his soul, and hoping he still had a friend afterwards. But he couldn’t bring himself to believe that his peace of mind was worth the risk.

“Look, I don’t know how to say this…but, I can’t be your best man.”

Rory’s eyes widened, and his expression registered shock and more distress than Justice would have imagined.

“What?
Why?
”

Justice had gone over the conversation in his head a million times during the walk over there, and he still hadn’t figured out exactly what his cover story would be. He’d just have to improvise.

“You haven’t been around me for a long time…My anxiety issues have gotten so much worse. I just know I won’t make it through the wedding without freaking out. I’ll probably ruin the whole thing. I can’t risk doing that to Maia on her day. I’ll still be there cheering you on…I just can’t have an important role. It’s too much pressure.”