The Unforgiving Minute (9 page)

“If we have to play Finn and Daniel, I’ll tell you now that the best part of my doubles game is yelling ‘yours’ as the ball goes out,” Ryan said firmly.

Josh looked at him, eyes glinting. “Funny you should say that. That’s the strongest point of my doubles game too.”

They grinned at each other for a moment, before Josh sighed. “Guess I should get going. I’ve got an early start tomorrow.”

“Have a good match tomorrow.”

“You too. See you tomorrow evening?”

“Sure,” Ryan said. As if Josh had needed to ask.

Chapter 9

W
HEN
the knock at his door came that evening, Ryan levered himself off the couch and hobbled to answer it. He was in shorts, because that way he could see which part of his leg was most in need of the ice pack he’d been using.

“What the hell happened to you?” Josh asked, coming in without waiting to be invited.

“I had a falling out with the net post earlier today,” Ryan said, limping back to the couch. He sank back down on it with a slight groan before lifting his legs up to rest on it. So maybe he was being melodramatic, but he was injured, damn it.

Josh stood looking at the extremely impressive array of bruises adorning Ryan’s left leg. “I take it you lost,” he surmised.

“Hell no. You should see the net post.”

“What did the physio say?”

“It’s nothing more than bruises, but there’s a crapload of them. He wants me to ice it to try and stop any swelling.”

Josh batted at Ryan’s legs until he moved them so Josh could sit down on the couch, then he pulled Ryan’s legs onto his lap so he could have a proper look. “Where’s the ice?”

Ryan fumbled for the ice pack.

“It’s going to hurt like hell tomorrow once you start warming up,” Josh said, pressing the pack onto his leg without a word of warning.

“
Ow
. I wouldn’t say it’s all flowers and rainbows right now, with you and your damn ice pack.”

Josh kept holding the pack there and raised his eyebrows at Ryan. “Not the world’s best patient, are you?”

“Maybe I expect a bit of a bedside manner; a bit of easing into things before you go straight for the kill like that. Haven’t you heard of foreplay?”

“Fore with the what now?”

Ryan fought the impulse to stick his tongue out at Josh.

“If you didn’t gallop round the court like a giant puppy, you wouldn’t have these problems,” Josh said.

“Guess a puppy’s better than a baby giraffe,” Ryan said.

“Guess it is. Wait,
what
?”

Josh looked even more adorable when he was puzzled, with his brow all wrinkled like that. Ryan instantly forgave him for his less than gentle doctoring skills.

“You mean you don’t read my press? I’m devastated,” Ryan declared, hand to his injured heart.

“You sure you didn’t hit your head when you went down?”

“Guess I didn’t, because I still won.” There was more than a hint of smugness in Ryan’s tone and he knew it, but he didn’t care. His victory was some achievement under the circumstances, he reckoned.

Josh’s smile was fond as he looked at Ryan, and Ryan got the impression that Josh was indulging him, the same way he would a precocious puppy. “You did, didn’t you?”

“Yep,” Ryan declared proudly, arranging a cushion behind his back as he leaned more comfortably against the arm of the couch. “Oh, that’s feeling better already.”

“Good.” Josh’s eyes were still warm as he looked at Ryan, and Ryan was pretty sure it was Josh’s touch rather than the ice pack that was having the desired effect.

After a while, Josh put the pack to one side. “Think that’s probably long enough,” he said. “How’re you doing?”

“Better,” Ryan murmured happily. “Much, much better.”

He suddenly realized it was probably only polite to remove his legs from Josh’s lap. He lifted them and swung himself round, putting him much closer to Josh than he’d realized. Close enough to almost count those thick eyelashes that framed Josh’s eyes. Definitely close enough to think about touching Josh. And even while telling himself to look away, not to do something so incredibly dumb he’d regret it forever, he realized that Josh was staring at his mouth. Ryan licked his lips nervously, and saw the way Josh’s eyes tracked his tongue as he did so.

“Josh,” he said, and it came out as a croak. “Would you mind if I kissed you?”

Josh’s eyes flicked to his then, and there was an intensity in them Ryan hadn’t seen before. “I think I’d mind if you didn’t,” Josh said, and leaned in. His hand rested lightly on Ryan’s jaw as his lips pressed against Ryan’s, warm and soft. Ryan’s eyes closed as he kissed Josh back, and his lips parted slightly under Josh’s encouragement. The touch of Josh’s tongue against his, tentative as it was, had him making a soft noise in the back of his throat. That seemed to encourage Josh, who deepened the kiss, and Ryan lost himself in the delight of Josh’s tongue exploring his mouth.

Ryan pulled Josh in closer, until Josh moved to straddle Ryan on the couch, his knees bracketing Ryan’s hips. That position gave Josh better access to kiss Ryan, which he did like there was no tomorrow. It was all Ryan could do not to just melt under the onslaught of Josh’s mouth. But the temptation of Josh, there, willing—so
very
willing—and within reach, overcame any impulse to surrender, and he tugged Josh’s shirt out from his pants so his hands could run up underneath it, exploring the body he’d spent so long thinking about. Josh shivered as Ryan’s fingers grazed past a nipple, so he did it again, and this time Josh made a little sound into his mouth. That was very interesting, but Ryan decided to follow up that reaction later because finally he was free to touch that perfect, gorgeous ass that he’d thought about so many, many times, about coming all over it, or pushing inside it, or just—oh yeah, just like that—stroking it, with his fingers running down the center seam of Josh’s pants until Josh was squirming.

“Ryan,
please
.”

Ryan finally managed to leave the temptation of Josh’s ass long enough to open the button on Josh’s pants and work the zipper down, and Josh seemed to lose all coordination, any attempt at kissing gone beyond recall. His breath came in uneven little pants against Ryan’s neck, and his thighs were splayed shamelessly as he let Ryan do whatever he wanted.

Ryan’s fingers worked into Josh’s underwear, and God, he was so hot and smooth. As Ryan’s fingers curled around him, Josh made another of those little sounds that were going to drive Ryan mad before long, and when his thumb stroked over the head of Josh’s cock, it was to find he was already wet. Ryan groaned at that, because he wanted this, wanted it so badly, and it was better than any dream he’d ever had, Josh rocking gently on top of him, pushing into his hand.

And then Josh was sitting up straight and looking down at him, his lips wet and his cheeks flushed, eyes dark and blown. “We need to move this to the bed,” he said. “I want you inside me, Ryan, want your cock opening me up and fucking me till I come.”

Dear
God.
Ryan’s brain stuttered to a halt. He’d never figured Josh for someone who’d
ever
say something like that. Thankfully Josh was more assertive in real life than he’d been in any single one of Ryan’s fantasies, and Ryan found himself being pulled to his feet and manhandled over to the bed, all the while being quizzed on where his condoms were.

“Get undressed, and I’ll get them,” Josh said. “You need to be careful of that leg.”

Ryan almost asked “What leg?” because he wasn’t feeling any pain right now. But instead he obeyed Josh’s instructions, and by the time Josh came back out of the bathroom, condoms and lube in hand, he was lying on top of the covers, naked, his hand slowly working his cock as he waited for Josh.

Once Josh saw that, he stripped off like it was an Olympic sport, and before Ryan could get more than an impression of naked and Josh and too damn gorgeous to be true, he was on top of Ryan, his tongue was in Ryan’s mouth and his hands were exploring Ryan’s body. And then he was moving down, his mouth following the path his hands had taken. He glanced up with a pleased smirk when Ryan shifted, mutely pleading as Josh’s lips and tongue teased their way down over Ryan’s stomach, promising, but not quite…. Oh. God.
That.
That was what he wanted, Josh’s mouth sliding down on him, not teasing, just hot, wet, and so, so good.

He didn’t know what was better, seeing how his cock was slick with wetness every time Josh pulled back and how eager Josh was to push back down on it, or the way Josh seemed to know how to do things with his mouth that Ryan hadn’t known were even possible. And if Josh kept on like this, things were going to come to a very abrupt end.

“Josh, stop,” he begged “Please, I can’t—”

Josh obediently lifted his mouth off, but then he looked up at Ryan as he curved his hand round his cock, giving one last lingering lick across its head, like he didn’t ever want to stop. “Knew you’d be big,” he said. “Knew you’d be gorgeous.”

Fuck.
Ryan’s hips pushed up in helpless need, and he all but begged Josh who finally,
finally,
took his attention off Ryan’s cock. Instead he reached for the lube he’d put down on the bed, and while Ryan watched breathlessly, he slicked up his fingers and started to work himself open.

“Josh,” he said, because he wanted to do that, wanted to have Josh coming apart on his fingers as he got him ready. But Josh was already passing him the condom.

“Slippery fingers,” he said by way of explanation, leaving Ryan to tear the pack open with his teeth and then unroll the condom over his cock under Josh’s hungry gaze. He thrust up, hissing, when Josh’s wet fingers curled round him again, making sure he was slick enough, before he settled astride Ryan, positioning them both so he could push himself down with agonizing slowness onto Ryan’s cock.

Finally he was all the way in, and Ryan stayed as still as he could, ignoring the
need
to roll his hips, to push up, because Josh was panting slightly, eyes closed as he adjusted. Because when all was said and done, Ryan was proportional.

And then Josh opened his eyes and looked at Ryan, and he kept looking at Ryan as he moved and Ryan clutched at his flexing thighs, thanking God for endurance training and fitness as he thrust up into Josh every time Josh pushed down. It all ended up messy and fast and so damn amazing as Josh’s come strung across his skin. With a few final thrusts, Ryan shuddered and came deep inside him, and the garbled nonsense that came out of his mouth as he did so would have embarrassed him if he’d been in any state to care. It was slightly comforting to see that Josh was panting almost as badly as he was as he lifted off Ryan before toppling forward next to him with a groan.

They lay there for some time, until Ryan finally reckoned his legs would hold him if he stood up and made his way to the bathroom to dispose of the condom and wipe himself off with a washcloth. He came back to find Josh propped on his side, watching him as he came back to the bed.

“How’s the leg?”

“Never been better.” And it was true. Ryan was feeling no pain, unless it was from the way his face was threatening to crack open under the strain of the grin he was wearing. Sex with Josh Andrews should definitely have been part of the physio’s prescription.

Josh shook his head. “You’re hopeless.”

And yes, Ryan was. He was hopelessly gone for the man who was lying shamelessly naked on the bed, every last inch of him as muscled and gorgeous as Ryan had imagined for all those years.

“Bed,” he said, and pulled back the covers on the side closest to him.

Josh looked uncertain. “I’ve got an early start tomorrow.”

“I’ve got an alarm,” Ryan pointed out, and Josh gave in. Ryan got the feeling his protest had just been for show anyway, given the speed with which he agreed.

They lay facing one another under the covers, not touching.

“I used to jerk off thinking about you,” Ryan told him.

The strangled sound Josh made sounded remarkably like a querulous chicken, unexpectedly poked with a pin. “That’s actually really disturbing.”

“No,” Ryan hastened to reassure him, “I mean, I did, but it wasn’t really
you
, because I didn’t know you. I just thought you were hot.”

“So now that you know me, you don’t think I’m hot?”

“No, I didn’t mean— Oh, shut up,” Ryan said, realizing he was being teased. “What I was trying to do was to confess my all-consuming crush before Elena does and you think I only slept with you because you’re Josh Andrews.”

“Uh-huh,” Josh said. His voice sounded strange all of a sudden, and Ryan began to wonder if he’d said something wrong.

“I guess we should go to sleep,” he said, uncertain, and Josh reached out and turned off the light.

It wasn’t quite like Ryan’s fantasy, because they weren’t touching, let alone curled up together, but Ryan thought he should feel better about being in bed with Josh Andrews than he did. Josh might be only inches away, but suddenly it felt like a lot further than that.

Chapter 10