Chasing the Rainbow (8 page)

              He lay for just a second, catching his breath, enjoying the buzzing of his body, letting Jody work his hips up and down, squeezing his cheeks together and moaning with a complete lack of restraint. The man would be the death of Bobby.

              Bobby flopped off Jody, rolled him over, and sucked his cock right down. Jody let out a yelp. Bobby added one of his fists to the mix, rolling Jody’s balls in his other hand. “Oh, Bobby. I’m cumming. Fuuuuck.” Jody put a hand on Bobby’s head, neither pushing him away, nor holding him down.

              And Bobby would be goddamned. He wanted that load, wanted to taste all of Jody and show how much he’d really loved doing this and should have done better last time.

              With a few more strokes, Jody’s balls pulled up in Bobby’s hand, and his cock jerked in Bobby’s mouth, shooting into Bobby’s throat. Jody was whimpering and jerking with each spasm. It was adorable and sexy as fuck at the same time. Jody reached down and pulled Bobby up to where he could reach his mouth, crashing their lips together, kissing with wild abandon.

              If Bobby’d thought their kiss earlier had been dirty, this was downright sinful. Jody licked into his mouth, tasting himself and moaning, rubbing against Bobby like a cat.

              When they finally separated, Bobby knew he was staring at Jody; who grinned bashfully.

              “That was fucking hot,” was all Bobby could say. Jody just laughed again. That free, happy laugh.

              Next, they did something very new for Bobby. They kept touching, and petting each other. It wasn’t necessarily cuddling; so much as they just couldn’t keep their hands to themselves. They marveled at one another’s bodies, drinking each other in with kisses and fingertips, until they’d both drifted off to peaceful, contented sleep.

BOBBY WOKE SLOWLY, wondering where he was for a moment. Then he remembered laughter and cumming on Jody’s ass and he realized he’d slept over at Jody’s. He couldn’t say it was the first time he’d slept over at a guy’s house, but it was definitely the first time he’d slept through the night and hadn’t run out before the other person in the bed woke up.

              Hell, thinking back on it, he’d even done that frequently while he was with Angie. How they’d stayed together, he’d never guess, because he’d been a bona fide asshole. But he didn’t want to think about Angie, right then. He wanted to think about a certain sexy— missing bed partner.

              The sheets on Jody’s side were still rumpled, but cool. After waiting a few more minutes to see if Jody would come back, the sun shining through the window in Bobby’s face and his bladder’s protestations helped him decide it was time to make a move.

              He found his clothes folded neatly on a chair in the corner of the room. He dressed quickly, so he’d be decent to walk out and to the bathroom, because now he could hear Jody outside the door talking quietly to a second voice.

              Bobby opened the door, but came up short at the topic of conversation.

              “…pretty good. He stayed the night, though.”

              “And you think he’s gonna stick around?” the other man asked.

              “I hope.”

              After a beat of silence the other guy said, “Well, I hope you’re right, too. After last time, I’m shocked you brought him back. It’s just like you though.”

              “What about kissing frogs?” Jody asked. Bobby winced. Ouch. But he guessed he hadn’t earned the trust yet, wasn’t even sure himself if he was ready to be the prince.

              And now Jody had him thinking in fairy tale terms. Excellent. Well, enough hiding behind doors, because he was a grown man and this was silly.

              He sauntered out of the bedroom, silencing Jody and his friend. He nodded sleepily in greeting at them before going into the bathroom to empty his poor bladder. He used one of the disposable cups Jody had for mouthwash—which would have to do until he could get to his tooth brush—and tried to get some of the grime from his mouth.

              He wandered back out and two pair of eyes landed on him. “Morning,” he said.

              “Morning,” Jody and his friend said. “This is my friend Alex. Sorry, I forgot he was coming over this morning. We usually do breakfast on Fridays. It’s my day off.”

              “Nice to meet you,” Bobby said to Alex. He was an attractive guy. A little shorter than Jody, stockier too. He had one of those permanently jovial faces, but his expression was wary as he shook Bobby’s hand.

              “You want coffee?” Jody asked. His gaze was assessing Bobby, and Bobby figured he deserved that, too. Bobby just smiled and kissed Jody quickly on the mouth, not really sure where it came from, but feeling the need to reassure Jody he’d meant everything he’d said the night before.

              “Great as that’d be, I have to get home and change so I can go check on a work site this afternoon. Thanks for last night, though.” Bobby grinned when the tips of Jody’s ears pinked up, but the pleased smile he got in return was well worth sticking around until morning for. An old dog could learn new tricks, it seemed.

              “I’ll call you. We should get together this weekend,” Bobby said.

              “That’d be great,” Jody said. “Want me to walk you out?”

              “No, no. You guys have a good breakfast.” He turned to Alex who didn’t look quite as suspicious as he had just moments before. “And again, it was nice to meet you, Alex.”

              “You too, Bobby.”

              And with that, Bobby left, inexplicably pleased with himself. He could do this, this more-than-friends thing.

              He hoped.

Chapter 9
 

JODY SAT BEHIND a register, thumbing through a magazine. It’d been a particularly uneventful shift. He’d even sent a couple of people home, because there really was no need for them all with the slow trickle of customers they’d had.

              He could hear Bobby before he saw him, and looked up as Bobby ordered his sugary iced coffee. Bobby turned Jody’s way and winked. Damn, it was sad how such a simple action could make Jody all fluttery inside.

              He and Jody had seen each other a couple of times over the last two weeks, but work had kept them from much more than a few beers and their regular lunches. Jody was gearing up for promotional events, and Gugino & Sons had picked up several new clients. Summer had arrived and with that, everyone wanted something to do in the city that didn’t require sitting at home. Many of the city’s wealthiest inhabitants had fled the city for summer homes and decided it was time to remodel that pesky last-season kitchen; making plenty of work for Bobby.

              When Bobby finally walked over, Jody couldn’t stop himself from returning the smile Bobby was gifting him with. “Heya, Bobby G. What’s up?”

              “Just stopping in to see this cute blond thing.”

              “Oh?”

              “Yeah.” Bobby pointed behind him. “That new barista is a peach.” Jody looked over Bobby’s shoulder and saw the new twinky barista was, in fact, blond. Jody scowled at Bobby, whose rumbling laughter sent chills down to Jody’s toes. “But you’re better.”

              “Uh huh,” Jody said.

              Bobby leaned on the counter, closer to Jody, but far enough away no one would catch he was flirting with the boss. Jody knew his own smile probably gave it all away. “Wanna take me to the office and… talk about books?”

              Jody shook his head. “You’re dumb. Sorry I can’t take my lunch now. Sent home my cash register girls. It was too slow in here.”

              “I was going to mention your lack of productivity, but then every time I see you, you’re reading in here. I’m beginning to not take your position as manager very seriously.”

              “So far, I see you take long lunches and going into work when you want. I’m thinking you don’t have much room to judge.”

              “That’s how it is when you’re your own boss.”

              “Is that so?” Jody snorted. He looked up and saw DeDe coming out of the back room, slinging her purse over her shoulder.

              “That’s my cue,” Bobby said, obviously having noticed DeDe himself.

              “Chicken,” Jody teased.

              “Guilty.” Bobby took a step back from the counter. “Oh, before I go. There’s that book festival thing in Bryant Park this weekend. Would, uh, you be interested in going? If you’re free.”

              Jody struggled to hide his laugh as he watched Bobby try to act like him asking Jody out was no big deal.

              “You’d be interested in a book festival?” Jody knew Bobby would. Sometimes they talked non-stop about books. He was just giving the guy shit, and reeling a little that Bobby had asked him to go out.

              “Well, if you don’t want to go….” Bobby sniffed more daintily than a guy his size should be able to.

              Jody laughed. “I’d love to come.”

              Bobby smirked, and Jody narrowed his eyes, knowing exactly where Bobby’s mind went. “I’ll bet you would.” Bobby looked back to see DeDe, who was almost finished discussing something with the café manager. “I’ll call you to figure out when and where to meet.”

              “Excellent,” Jody said. He’d kill to be able to kiss those full, smiling lips right then, but he was at work. No making out with the sexy Italian man at work. So he simply waved as Bobby made his way out the door.

              “Still seeing the closet case?” DeDe asked, startling Jody. He hadn’t even realized she’d walked up.

              “He’s not necessarily a closet case.” If one was splitting hairs. She didn’t look like she was buying what he was selling. “We’re not even serious.”

              “Oh, honey,” she said, patting one of his hands where it rested on the countertop. “You keep telling yourself that.”

              Okay, so maybe he was feeling like they were getting more serious than casual, but they didn’t exactly discuss their relationship status. They hadn’t technically been together long enough to discuss it. They had phenomenal sex, great conversation, and Bobby had finally stopped with the hot and cold bullshit. But Jody didn’t want to put the cart before the horse because they hadn’t discussed exclusivity and Bobby had asked him to be patient while he worked out his feelings about being in a relationship. Bobby had been doing a good job at making the attempt, though. A damn good job.

              They talked almost every day, spent time together. This was the closest Jody had been to a relationship in years.

              But he wasn’t dumb enough to try to label it yet. He figured that’d make Bobby weird again. And it was early days yet. They’d only reconnected three months ago, been kinda seeing each other for three weeks or so; so it was probably good to keep it slow and steady.

              “We’re just… trying,” he said.

              Again, DeDe didn’t look like she was buying it. “Well, stop over-thinking it then.” She pointed in the direction Bobby had left. “And congrats on that,” she said with a purr. He rolled his eyes.

              “Thanks. I think.”

              She let out a throaty laugh. “Well, I’m off to lunch. I probably won’t be back until Friday.”

              Oh, how sad he was to have two shifts without her. She wasn’t the worst boss, but she was nosy and a bit of a micromanager. He supposed that’s why she was so successful, but he still preferred working his shifts without her. As did most of the employees. He definitely had a different management style than she did.

              “Okay. See you,” he said to her back as she left. He looked around the store to see they didn’t have a single customer. It was going to be a long day—or long few days if all he had to do was sit around and be excited about the next time he’d see Bobby.

              Alex had expressed dubiousness about Bobby, so he’d probably keep Jody in check. Good idea. He pulled out his phone and shot Alex a text. When Alex agreed to dinner that night, Jody decided it was time to actually do some work so he went onto the floor to… alphabetize something.

Chapter 10

THERE WAS SOMETHING about New York City in summer that Bobby loved. Not that he didn’t love the city year round—though the cold winter months could test a saint—but summer could be magical. There were daily events in most any park in the city, street vendors were livelier, and people were so animated. There seemed to be laughter around every corner. Even the tourist spike couldn’t drag Bobby’s mood down.

              He looked at his companion, smiling to himself at how animatedly Jody was talking to one of the vendors at the book festival. Between the perfect weather, the good company, and all the books, Bobby was having a fabulous Saturday morning, and Jody seemed to very much so feel the same.

              They’d met earlier for a quick breakfast at a Pan-Latin diner in the West Village before hopping on the 1 train uptown. After a few Bellinis, they’d both been pretty buzzed and Bobby was almost sad to have to be in public because he really wanted to get his hands on Jody. There was such an infectious quality to the man’s joy.

              Bobby smiled contentedly as he watched Jody retrieve books he’d purchased and wander over to him with a matching smile on his face. He couldn’t stop himself from lea
r
ning forward and pecking Jody on the lips. Jody blinked, clearly surprised by the affection. That stung a little but Bobby had surprised himself with the move, so why wouldn’t Jody be?

              “I like you… like this,” Jody said, as he and Bobby fell in step and began walking through the random displays of books presented by authors and publishing houses.

              “Like what?”

              “You’re so relaxed. I guess… maybe I’d built up in my mind you being some sort of closet case.”

              Bobby shrugged. “Not so much. I mean, I haven’t told Ma or Anthony, but my friends know. And Carlo. Besides, we live in the largest city in the States. I don’t think there’s a high probability of Ma hauling herself from Bensonhurst for this book festival. Everyone I grew up with made fun of my reading. This is about as foreign to them as one of the Italian films we go see at the Angelika.”

              Jody bumped Bobby’s shoulder with his own as they walked. “You’ve just been surprising me a lot lately. I wasn’t complaining. It’s nice.”

              “I hope they’re good surprises.”

              “Very good. They all have been, since I saw you at Iz’s house three months ago.”

              “What were you dropping off?”

              “Oh.” Jody chuckled. “She called to see if I had one of her old duffles. There’s some stuff she needed when she took that contract gig. I guess when she got out of the reserves, that one bag got left in my storage unit.”

              “And you returned it?”

              Jody eyed Bobby questioningly. “Well. Yeah,” he drawled. “Why wouldn’t I?”

              “I know you said the divorce wasn’t contentious. Just… that’s not how she made it sound. She seemed pretty bitter.”

              “Why should she be?”

              “You left her for men.”

              “Oh. Please. She already knew I liked men. And after I came out to her, she started dating women exclusively, so it’s not like—” Jody snapped his mouth shut when he noticed what must have been Bobby’s face showing how baffled he was. “Oh, shit. She never came out.” Jody smacked his forehead. “I really don’t know why I thought she’d told you….”

              Bobby shook his head slowly.

              “Fuck. I’m an ass. I didn’t realize.” Jody looked miserably guilty.

              “Hey, hey,” Bobby said, rubbing his palms up and down Jody’s arms. “It’s cool. I’m not going to say anything.” He huffed a laugh. “What’re the chances?”

              “Well, pretty high. We met in a group for… Well, more sexually diverse students. College was… college.”

              “Noted. Though, my experience was vastly different, I must say.”

              “I went to Wesleyan. Far away from home. I didn’t want my parents to see me being non-traditional, because their refusal to accept me would have pissed me off.”

              “You may be the only gay man I’ve ever met who got married and played it straight just to rebel against his parents.”

              Jody punched Bobby’s shoulder. “That’s over simplifying, asshole.”

              Bobby gave his best fake pout, while rubbing his shoulder where Jody’d punched it.

              “So much whining.” Jody rolled his eyes, but smiled fondly. God, they seemed to do a lot of that—smiling. Bobby hadn’t felt so deeply content in years, if ever. Bobby snuck another pecked kiss to Jody’s lips, but Jody grabbed him, wrapping a hand behind Bobby’s head, and holding him there for a longer, closed mouth kiss.

              It was heaven, standing there in the sunshine, with the sounds of the city and feeling so very good and cherished. He couldn’t pin down his emotions, a weird amalgam of fear, insecurity, and complete and utter happiness. Jody was quickly becoming Bobby’s drug of choice, dragging Bobby into that place in the clouds where Jody seemed to exist with his romance novels and optimism.

              But that also meant Bobby couldn’t feel the ground. The disconcerting feeling of not having a flat place to balance on, or knowing how to proceed, made for an antsy Bobby when he got to thinking about everything too much.

              Jody must’ve felt Bobby retreating because he pulled out of the kiss. He didn’t look disappointed; instead like a man who was growing accustomed to the nuances of spending time with a Gugino. They were a fickle bunch, all of them. It wasn’t so much that Bobby was running hot and cold as he needed to wrap his head around things when he felt they were getting away from him. And Jody seemed to have started picking up on that, because he gave Bobby’s hand a squeeze before taking a step back, a reassuring look of understanding crossing his handsome features.

              “So, what to next?” Bobby asked, clearing his throat.

              Jody looked up and around. “I think I’m going to hit that food cart on the corner and grab a water. You need anything?”

              “No, I’m good. Thanks, though,” Bobby said. He watched as Jody wandered off, before taking a seat on a park bench and checking his phone.

              “That’s an awesome book.” A guy’s voice spoke next to Bobby. He looked up into a startling pair of bright green eyes. The guy pointed at the books Bobby’d placed beside him. “The one by Renfield.”

              “Oh, yeah. I’m excited. I didn’t know he’d be here, so I was happy getting a signed copy.” Bobby was a bit weirded out by the fact this strange guy had started up a conversation. While it wasn’t completely unheard of, it was a rarity in New York City. Most people existed in their own self-contained bubble, so unless they just had to ask directions somewhere—a need greatly reduced by smart phones and google maps—people didn’t usually go out of their way to…

              Oh…

              He’d recognize that look of interest skittering in the guy’s eyes anywhere. Bobby’s playful smirk was instantaneous. “Why do I get the feeling you don’t wanna talk about books?”

              They guy’s eyes went half lidded as he leaned into Bobby’s space. “Well. It’s a book fair. There’s all kinds of books. And apparently I read yours right.” The guy was especially good looking in the I-moved-to-NYC-to-be-a-model-slash-actor sense. Bobby’d had his share of that type of pretty boy over the last few years and some could live up to their good looks. The promise in blondie’s eyes was intriguing.

              But… Bobby realized how empty it felt, that old dance. Yeah, he’d not mind those ridiculously full lips wrapped around him, but he didn’t feel that thing with this guy. He didn’t know what to call that thing but it’d always kind of been there between him and Jody, lately becoming almost palpable.

              The guy must have noticed Bobby’d gotten lost in his own head because he pulled out a card and said something about, “Hitting him up, bro.” Yeah. Bobby wished guys would choke on the word bro.

              He was feeling disconcerted again. He realized in that moment he hadn’t been with anyone but Jody in months. Since when had that happened? So much for not being serious, huh? But he couldn’t really bring himself to freak out about it. Something else to think on, sure, but it didn’t really bother him to realize he might just be getting for real serious about someone for the first time in his life.

              Okay, judging by the mild way his heartbeat picked up at the thought, he wasn’t quite ready to jump into that headfirst. But it was filed away with things to think about.

              Bobby looked up to see Jody had come back from the food cart and an unhappy frown creased his face. “What’s up?” Bobby asked, trying to ascertain why that pretty face was pensive.

              Jody’s eyes flitted away, but he put on a smile, even if it was a little too forced for Bobby’s comfort. “Nothing. You want to go to one of the readings?” Jody pulled a booklet with information on the book fair out of one of his shopping bags. “Jesse Buck is reading in a few minutes. I think Melissa Harbinger is here, too.” He looked up to Bobby, not completely back to normal, but he clearly didn’t want to talk about whatever was bothering him.

              Bobby nodded, earning another genuinely sweet smile from Jody. “Lead the way,” Bobby said.

              They went to a back corner of the park where a small stage had been set up with a single stool and a microphone. It wasn’t fancy, but the crowd around it was thick. As they stood, listening to a couple authors, Bobby occasionally caught himself watching Jody. He loved looking at the man. He was gorgeous, yeah, but his face was expressive, so watching his pleasure or the way he laughed at a joke made Bobby want to pull him right into a kiss.

              After they finished with the readings, they wandered to a few more vendors, discussing one of the new authors they’d discovered. Jody’s mood had lifted, but he still seemed distant—distant in a way that unsettled Bobby, because it was so unlike Jody.

“Hey, Jo?” Bobby asked, his concern growing when Jody looked at him warily. “I’m having a great time.” He didn’t know why he felt the need to state that. But he did.

Before Jody could respond to that, Bobby’s phone rang. He shot Jody an apologetic look, but it was the second missed call from his mother that day. Jody, still frowning, waved off Bobby’s attempted apology.

              “Hey, Ma. What’s up?”

              “’Hey Ma’ is all you got? You’re twenty minutes late for my sister’s last dinner in town and all you can say is, ‘Hey Ma’?”

              “Shit.”

              “Bobby Gugino.” Bobby winced at her annoyed tone. He was making messes with everyone, today.

              “Sorry, Ma. I forgot.”

              “You forgot? I’ve only reminded you—”

              “Every day. I know. I had a thing today. I guess I lost track of time.” Damn. He really had. And now he’d never hear the end of it. He’d even warned Jody that he’d have to cut out by mid-afternoon. He’d begged off too many family functions lately, and it was only a couple hours at most.

              “Just go,” Jody said. Bobby snapped his gaze to Jody’s. Jody still seemed miffed about something, but he had plastered on that smile again. The smile that made Bobby uneasy. Then Bobby followed Jody’s gaze to where it rested on the man who’d given Bobby his number earlier. It clicked in Bobby’s head, then; that maybe Jody’d seen the guy flirting with him. And he felt stupid for not putting that together sooner. But he hadn’t flirted back, had he? Well, not much. But…

              “Jo,” Bobby whispered.

              “No, really, you have to go.” Jody’s sudden cheer was forced if Bobby had ever seen it.

              “Jo, it’s not a problem. I can hang out.”
Stop being mad.
Bobby couldn’t think with Jody looking like that and his mother talking in his ear. It seemed their lovely morning had officially and abruptly been ended.

              Jody looked down at his own phone. “I told DeDe I’d check in at the store, anyway.”

              “I’ll check in later, okay?” Jody didn’t respond, just waved as he left.

“Okay, Ma. I’m heading for the subway now. Give me an hour.”

              “An hour?”

              “Yes, Ma. I’m in Manhattan. See you soon.” He hung up just in time to see Jody’s head duck as he hopped in the backseat of a yellow cab. “Shit.”

BOBBY WALKED INTO his mother’s house closer to an hour and a half later. As he made his way through the house, passing out hugs and bussing kisses on cheeks, Bobby did his best to avoid his scowling mother. She made a beeline when she saw him come through the door, having no qualms about smacking her grown children upside the head in front of company.

              Before his mother could get to him, Bobby leaned down to hug his Aunt Floria, who held court in the sitting room. “How’s my most beautiful aunt?” he asked.

              She hugged him tight. Then smacked him on the back of the head. “Hey!” he said, laughing at the sparkle in her eye.