Open Road (21 page)

“Fuck.” Angus choked.

Apparently it freaked Angus the hell out as well. “Is that a bad fuck?”

“Of course not. It’s… just a lot to not have known. I’m really sorry.”

“You were with Brad.”

Angus rolled his eyes. “I think I’d rather not discuss him any longer. Like, ever.”

“I think I’m one hundred percent cool with that.”

They zoomed along the highway through towns and trees bursting into flowery late spring just like it seemed they were. Reece reached over and stroked Angus’s neck while he drove, cupped his hand around Angus’s thigh. They talked about nothing much, looked up facts about the towns and landmarks they passed, and sang along to random radio stations that came and went. Eventually they were pulling into the outskirts of DC in the dark. It had been a long day of driving, but a good day. Reece… well, he had hopes.

THEIR DAY
in DC was just as whirlwind as the one in Nashville had been. They stayed mostly in the area with the government buildings, although he imagined there was a lot more to the city than that—they just didn’t have time to see it all. He felt a little bad about how much they probably missed, hell, not only in DC but everywhere. They would’ve had to stay for a month in each place to really get to know it. He only wished he had that kind of money and time.

It had felt important, though, to see the museums and the monuments… all the America stuff, as he’d said the day before. Reece’s favorite was the Lincoln Memorial by far. He just felt so much awe staring up at the huge statue of a man who was long gone but at the same time still present in so many ways.

“What do you think it felt like to be him?” Angus had whispered. The place had been shockingly empty and quiet, just the two of them and the towering statue.

Reece felt chills going down his spine. “I can’t even imagine. Pressure. Fear. Probably like this overwhelming desire to do the right thing. I have no idea why anyone would choose to be the President.”

“I can barely even handle my own life,” Angus said. “Theirs must be….” He shook his head.

“I wish you’d quit saying stuff like that,” Reece whispered.

“What? That I can’t handle my life? Isn’t that pretty obvious by my recent monster fuckups?” Angus glanced up. “Sorry, Mister President.”

Reece wrapped his arms around Angus and pulled him in for a tight hug. “You’ve been having some problems lately, yeah, but you can handle your life. You were incredible at your job, you were a wonderful boyfriend. Being neat and orderly doesn’t make you a better person.”

“And paying my bills on time?”

“That’s what automatic withdrawal is for.” Reece kissed the top of Angus’s head. “Everyone is better at some things and not as good at others. Brad… he just made you feel like because you weren’t good at his things, you were a mess. And I’ve hated him for it for years.”

“I know.”

Reece sighed. “I don’t think you do. I think you sort of know, but I kept my opinion to myself most of the time. I
hated
him. You’re so much better off without him.”

And with me. You’re better off with me.

“I know, babe. C’mon. Let’s go see the Washington Monument.”

“Okay.”

THAT NIGHT
Reece lay in bed waiting for Angus to get out of the shower. They hadn’t even bothered to get a room with two queens, since there was little chance they’d use the second one. Reece thought that had to mean something, but he didn’t want to examine it too closely. He just… he was so damn in love. He had been for years, and every day of the trip he fell harder. Probably because he let himself do it, like he was finally allowed to have the feelings he’d kept as far down as possible for so many years.

Angus came out of the shower in only a tiny pair of black briefs. His skin was still damp and his hair spiked up on the top. He gave Reece a big open grin that looked so familiar and so new at the same time.

“Hey,” Reece said.

“Hi.” Angus crawled across the bed and leaned over Reece. He gave him a long, slow kiss that ended with him nibbling on Reece’s lower lip. Then he smiled again, that light, happy smile Reece felt like he hadn’t seen completely in years.

“What?” Reece asked.

“Nothing.” Angus lowered himself to his stomach and propped himself up with his elbows. “I’m just happy.”

“I’m happy too. You have no idea how happy.” Reece turned onto his side and ran his fingers down the center of Angus’s spine. He wanted to touch him more; how could he not?

“That feels really nice.” Angus wriggled on the bed.

“Can I…?” Reece didn’t know how to ask.

“Can you what?”

He leaned forward and dropped a small kiss on the juncture between Angus’s neck and spine. “This.”

Angus shivered and stretched out flat on the bed. Reece heard a muffled noise coming from the pillow.

“What was that?” he asked with a laugh.

“
Yes
,”
Angus said with a groan. “Yes.”

“I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” Reece murmured. He went back to kissing Angus’s back, shoulders, down his spine—kisses, tiny bites, licks just to taste his skin. Angus squirmed and shuddered. Reece just kept going. He was living his oldest fantasy, and he wasn’t about to give it up.

“Reece,” Angus finally groaned.

“Mmph?”

Angus turned onto his side and dragged Reece into his arms. “You’re driving me crazy is what.” He wrapped his leg around Reece’s hips and kissed him. Hard. “Everything feels so good with you,” he murmured into the kiss.

“Perfect,” Reece answered.

Angus slid one arm under Reece’s pillow and used his free hand to trace up and down Reece’s back. He kissed his lips, his jaw, up and down his neck. Reece didn’t even know how to react. His body was on overdrive, all hot sensation and melty heat. He pulled Angus closer and bit his lip on a groan when he felt Angus’s hard cock against his.

“Your fault,” Angus said breathlessly.

Reece only pulled him closer in response and ground in with his hips. It wasn’t enough friction, not close enough either. He slid his hand underneath Angus’s briefs.

“Okay?”

“Yes.
Yes.
Touch me.”

Angus’s skin was as smooth as Reece had imagined, his ass plump and resilient in Reece’s hand, even with how much thinner he was. Reece squeezed and hitched Angus as close as he could get them. And he kissed and kissed and kissed. He didn’t think he’d ever get sick of Angus’s kisses, no matter how long he was allowed to do it.

“I love touching you,” Reece said. Their lips were swollen and slick, he could barely catch his breath, and first time or not, it felt so right to have a guy hard and insistent against his hip. It felt right to have
Angus
in his arms. He rolled his hips hard, and Angus let out a breathy cry.

“You’re gonna make me come if you keep doing that,” he said.

“I want you to come.”

Angus flipped them over so he was straddling Reece with his elbows on either side of Reece’s head. His hair was drier, and it fell in his eyes a little bit. He was lithe and small, and he felt like heaven. Reece ground up into him, and Angus squeezed his eyes shut. They rolled and rutted against each other, faster and faster, until both of them were trembling.

“Fuck, Reece…. Fuck.” Angus breathed hard. “I want you so bad,” he whispered in Reece’s ear. And with that, he shuddered once more and froze. He ground down once, twice, and then Reece followed him with a shout.

They were quiet for a few minutes, breathing hard and slick-skinned. Finally Angus lifted his head.

“So, um,” he giggled. “I think I need another shower.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

Angus lifted an eyebrow. “Well?”

“Yeah. Yes. Let’s go.”

Reece felt like high-fiving himself all the way to the bathroom. He figured someday he would.

New York

NEW YORK.
Wow. Just… yeah. Wow. It was everything Angus ever expected. So much more, actually. It was noisy and crowded like the other places they’d been, far more so, but like each of the other cities, it had a personality of its own. Or twenty personalities. Just driving through when they first came in was like going into another world, one he’d seen a million times in movies and on television, so much that it seemed like it should be fictional. But it was real. And larger than life, and he knew they’d never have time to see enough of it.

New York. It was actually kind of surreal to be there.

They’d gotten a room at a Times Square hotel. They figured that was tourist central and a good place to start. Finding it was surprisingly easy, even with the rush-hour gridlock that greeted them. Angus had let Reece drive, since he figured he’d be pretty much useless in terrifying metropolis traffic. Plus, he wanted the chance to practically hang out the window and stare at the famous landmarks as they rolled by.

“What are we going to do first?” Angus asked when they’d dragged their bags into the room.

The hotel room door was barely closed, and already Angus was dying to go. Reece stretched, and Angus couldn’t help coming up behind him and wrapping his arms around Reece’s waist. He laid his head on the back of Reece’s shoulder and closed his eyes. It was like once they touched, he couldn’t stop touching; once they kissed… well, that became addictive too. And after last night? Angus wanted it all. He wanted Reece between his thighs, inside of him. He wanted to wake up sore and sated with Reece plastered to his back. And he wanted it for as long as he could possibly have it.

“What do you want to do? Any ideas?” Reece asked.

Angus had to pull himself out of his little fantasy.
Later
. For the moment, they were in New York, and he couldn’t wait to see all of it. “Can we go to Central Park? I feel like I’ve been picturing that in my head my whole life.”

“Yes. Central Park.” Reece covered Angus’s hands with his own, and then he spun around slowly in the circle of Angus’s arms, gave him a slow kiss, pecked his nose, and said, “Let’s go.”

IT TOOK
a while to find the uptown train, especially since they were both wandering around staring at the Times Square lights. It took even longer to ask around and figure out what stop they needed to get off at, but finally they were on the way. Angus found himself clutching Reece’s hand as he watched the stops go by. He didn’t know what he was so worried about. If they missed one, they could walk backward or just take the train going the other way. But still, when the numbers showed on the tiled walls of the 72nd Street Station, he felt a fluttery butterfly feeling and jumped up out of his seat.

“Excited?” Reece teased.

“You have no idea.”

They exited the train and hiked up the stairs to street level. It didn’t take long to get to the park, and while it was late afternoon, everything was still glowing and green and fresh with budding spring leaves.

“Central Park,” Angus breathed. “C’mon. Let’s walk around!”

They found a place to buy ice cream and then wandered through the park. Reece stared up at the trees a lot. Angus figured he’d missed communing with them because they’d been in the middle of the city so often.

“I don’t think we were here when I was a kid. I don’t remember it at least.”

It was tempting just to sit on the grass and watch the day fade slowly into dusk. But there was so much to see, and Angus wanted to catch at least a few of those things.

“I’m glad you’re here with me,” Angus said. “I’m glad I’m here with you too.”

Reece kissed the top of his head and pulled him closer. “Me too.”

It was a little hard to decide what to do after that, overwhelming, in a way. They wandered around the park a little more and found a coffee shop to get something small for dinner.

Angus couldn’t believe how touchy-feely Reece was being. He didn’t have any problems holding Angus’s hand, kissing him in public, sheltering him with his arms on a crowded train. Angus supposed the surprise came from years of assuming he was straight when he clearly wasn’t.

“Hey, you’re cool with last night, aren’t you?” Angus asked. He hadn’t said anything in the car; they’d been too busy listening to music and joking like they always did.

Reece raised his eyebrows over the rim of his coffee mug. “More than okay with it. Why?”

“Just, um, checking. Do you remember what I said, like, near the end?”

“Yeah. I remember.” Reece took a long breath. “Just to be clear, the feeling is mutual. Very much so.”

“Y-yeah?”

Reece reached across the table and threaded his fingers through Angus’s. “Yeah.”

“Like, soon?”

“Yes.”

Holy shit….
So they were in New York, the city Angus had wanted to see his whole life practically, but all of a sudden, there was one thing and one thing only that he could think about. Reece. He coughed. “So, um, what do you feel about exploring Times Square? We didn’t see much of it, and I bet it’s better at night, anyway.”

“Times Square?” Reece gave him a knowing smile. “Sure, we can check out Times Square.”

ANGUS SLIPPED
into the huge multilevel Times Square drugstore when Reece was busy buying them pretzels with cheese dip. He said he wanted to grab some blister patches since his little toe was getting a bit tired of the walking, but Angus had another mission. Reece. And Reece, at least the way he wanted Reece, meant he needed supplies. He rushed through the aisles, buying Band-Aids, just in case, and then lube and condoms and water bottles and a few boxes of random candy just to distract the sales clerk—someday he’d be mature enough to not get embarrassed buying condoms—and he paid as quickly as possible. And asked for a double bag, just in case.

Because he was twelve.

Reece was waiting for him with a container of cheese and a pretzel when he came out of the store.

“That looks like a lot more than Band-Aids.”

“There were snacks. You know me and snacks.” Angus knew he sounded nervous. Reece’s quizzical look told him he hadn’t managed to keep it all inside. So he decided to give Reece a big smile and stop talking.