Page 39 of All of Us

“I might be underdressed.” He grinned and gave a little chuckle, stepping back so I could walk in.

I wanted to lean into him and kiss him, but we weren’t those kinds of friends. We weren’t a couple. The best label was friends-with-benefits, and I was getting addicted to those benefits.

“You look great as always.” Honestly, Joe looked like a perfect snack.

“Thanks. I didn’t think. I wasn’t.” He stopped talking.

By dressing up, I had made him feel uncomfortable. “I wanted to look nice for you, Joe. It wasn’t expected that you would wear anything but your casual clothes.”

He looked at me wide-eyed. “Oh. You did?”

“Yeah. It’s been quite a few days since we saw each other, and I don’t know. You’re—” I let it trail off. Whatever I was feeling and doing wasn’t something I could put into words. It felt so foreign to me.

“Well, you look great. Sexy.” That put a huge smile on my face. “Let’s eat something, and we can catch up.”

He began setting out food on the table: scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and pancakes. “Help yourself, let me get some orange juice and coffee for us.”

I didn’t realize he could cook. We had spent so much time together, but I hadn’t absorbed a lot of little things about him. I craved those nuggets, and it freaked me out a little, but I liked it, too. When I looked up at him, he gave me a little smile, making my stomach feel like I was free-falling. Shit.

We sat near each other and enjoyed the feast he had made.

“So tell me more about what Montgomery wants when I go with you to the next tour stop.”

“He loves your candids. Pictures behind the scenes, on the bus, during dinners. Those pictures are priceless to him. Then he also wants some he can use for press releases and other media. Documenting the entire concert, and not only him. They want the crew, the fans, and of course, the other members of the band with their loved ones.”

“I can’t wait. There are a bunch of pictures already in my head that I want to take.” He was lit up with excitement, and my cock took notice. I was painfully drawn to him. I shook my head and tried to clear my thoughts. “Are you okay?”

I looked up. “What? Oh yeah. Sorry, got distracted by you.”

He chuckled. “Let’s go to the living room, where it’s more comfortable.”

I had cleared the entire afternoon to hang out with my friend. Yes, my friend. If I wanted more, we needed to discuss it. When I walked into the other room with him, I was geared up to explain to him about my confusing feelings and that, if he wanted to, maybe we should explore more than just a friends-with-benefits arrangement.

I sat on the couch, and Joe joined me. He sat sideways, propped his head on his fist, and looked at me. Reaching out, I pulled him to me, kissed him gently, my lips teased his, and my tongue danced with the tip of his. It felt so good, and I could feel everything inside of me relax, like he settled me. When we pulled back, I smiled, and he gave me one back.

“I liked that,” I said, unable to look at him directly.

“I did too.” He looked down, then turned his head toward the TV. Under his collar, I saw a mark.

“We need to—”

I cut him off. “Joe? Is that a hickey?”

He looked at me wide-eyed, then slapped his hand over the spot. “What?” He blushed hard, and it was adorable.

I scooted closer to him and gently pulled his hand away from his neck. There was a very obvious mark, and I watched as his skin turned red all the way up his neck to his ears.

“I nuzzled along his neck. That’s a hickey, Joe,” I whispered in his ear.

My cock hardened immediately. Another man had his hands on my Joe. For some reason, knowing that made me feel tingly all over. It made me hot. That doesn’t seem like the response a boyfriend would have, but those thoughts were slipping away while images of him with another man started crowding into my thoughts.

“You were with another man?”

“Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about that.” He said

That made me curious, but more than anything, I wanted to hear more about what he did with this other guy.

“You want to tell me who? I’d like to know.” I kissed him on his jaw, my fingers running over the dark bruise.