Play Me, I'm Yours [Library Edition] (26 page)

“Look at me.”

Lucas did as he was told, his mouth falling open when he saw the boy standing at the foot of the bed. They were now both in their underwear, but Zach’s briefs left nothing to the imagination. They proudly displayed the outline of his engorged cock.

Lucas’s own erection had started to wane while his mind wandered into dark places, and instinctively, he moved his hand to cover himself.

Zach slipped his underwear down and stepped out of them, staring at Lucas with an intensity that made Lucas’s skin tingle. It was the most erotic thing he’d even seen, real or imagined, and he quickly became fully aroused again.

“Take yours off.”

Lucas didn’t hesitate. He was so turned on, he didn’t think about what he was doing. He just did it.

Zach’s eyebrows lifted in surprise when he saw him fully naked. “You’re uncut,” he said, mouth hanging slightly open. “That’s so fucking hot!”

Zach crawled back onto the bed and reached over Lucas to grab something from his dresser. His nipple was directly over Lucas’s head as he strained to reach inside the drawer. It was too tempting. Lucas lifted his head and sucked it into his mouth.

“Mmm… that’s a sensitive spot. We’ll have to come back to that later,” Zach told him, moving back into position above Lucas. He was holding a bottle of lube.

Lucas squeezed his eyes shut and attempted to give himself a mental pep talk.

When he opened his eyes again, he found Zach rubbing the lube in his palms. Then he took hold of Lucas’s cock and stroked it, getting it nice and slick. That could only mean one thing. Zach wanted Lucas to fuck him. He whimpered.

Zach groaned. “Mmm, you make the sexiest noises.”

Lucas felt the heat in his cheeks. He hadn’t been paying attention to his noises. Between the mind-blowing pleasure Zach was lavishing on his cock, and his own mental freak-out, he’d probably been whimpering something fierce.

Zach grabbed the lube again but this time squirted it into Lucas’s hand.

Did Zach expect him to… use his fingers?

“Touch me.” Zach grabbed Lucas’s hand and guided it to his cock.

They both moaned as Lucas touched him for the first time. Lucas’s breath caught as he watched his hand slide up and down Zach’s shaft. Lucas wasn’t going to last much longer.

Zach aligned their bodies and wrapped a hand around their cocks. Zach’s dick looked massive next to Lucas’s, but Lucas pushed his worries aside. All rational thought seeped away, and in its place rose the overpowering desire to come.

Zach leaned forward and lay on top of him, his larger body enfolding Lucas as he thrust against him. “Come with me,” Zach whispered frantically in Lucas’s ear. “Oh fuck, Lucas.” Zach pumped his hips frantically while Lucas held on for the ride. He was no longer in control of his body. His muscles tightened: his abs, his thighs, his ass. Hell, even his toes curled tightly as he sped toward his climax. Zach shot first, releasing his load on Lucas’s belly with several deep grunts, and then he continued to pump until Lucas came a few moments afterward.

They shared a few breathless kisses, and then Zach flopped backward, panting. “So hot, Lucas.”

Lucas was so happy he wanted to cry.

Zach groped for his hand, then tugged him closer. “Come here,” he said. “Gimme proper man cuddles.”

“You’re bossy in bed,” Lucas observed.

“Is that a complaint?”

“No. No, I like it.”

“Good to know.”

“That was so much better than I thought it would be.”

“Hmm… should I be flattered or offended?”

“What? No, it’s just—I was nervous. When you got the lube, I thought you wanted to have sex.”

“We did have sex.”

“I mean… you know… I thought you wanted me to… fuck you.”

Zach lifted himself onto an elbow and looked down at Lucas in surprise. “Did you want to fuck me?”

Lucas hesitated. He didn’t want to say the wrong thing and displease Zach. But he shook his head slowly.

“Did you want me to fuck
you
?”

Lucas wet his lips. His voice cracked as he answered. “I don’t know.”

“It’s okay. Some gay guys don’t do that at all. It’s not a requirement or anything.”

Lucas released a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

Zach laughed at him. “You’re so freaking cute,” he said as he leaned down, then kissed Lucas’s nose. “How about we just take our time? Don’t freak out about it. We’re not gonna do something like that without talking about it first.”

Lucas nodded. What had he done to deserve someone as wonderful as Zach? If this was all a dream, he prayed he’d never wake up.

Chapter Twenty-One
Play Me a Memory

W
AS
there anything more nerve-racking than having your boyfriend meet your parents for the first time? Zach had only briefly met his dad the evening of their first date, but tonight they were all having a sit-down dinner together. It was the night of the talent show, and they had decided to celebrate by going to the restaurant of Lucas’s choice. Mason, of course, lobbied for Bay’s, but Lucas wouldn’t consider it. He wanted to go somewhere special. He ultimately decided on a small, Greek seafood restaurant in Fell’s Point.

He rode to the restaurant with Zach, who tried to calm his nerves. “Don’t worry,” said Zach. “I can schmooze with the best of them.”

When they arrived at The Black Olive, his family was waiting inside. His dad glanced down at their clasped hands, but Lucas couldn’t read his expression. Did it embarrass him that they were holding hands in public? Lucas pulled his hand free and ran his fingers through his hair.

The hostess seated them at a round table with Zach to his left and Mason to his right. It was a busy night, but despite the crowd, the noise level was low. Only quiet chattering and the occasional clinking of glassware could be heard over the soft background music. The waitress took their drink orders and left them to peruse the menus.

His mom smiled at him from across the table. “You two look so handsome together.”

Lucas beamed at his boyfriend. He was proud to be out with him, to have him by his side.

“He’s the good-looking one,” Zach teased. “I’m the troll.”

“They better have something besides fish,” Mason said as he picked up his menu.

“Don’t listen to him,” said Lucas. “The Mediterranean sea bass is amazing. They cook it whole and debone it for you tableside.”

Mason shot him look of warning. “Don’t say bone.”

Zach chuckled, and Lucas rolled his eyes. “I said, ‘debone.’ It’s what you do to fish.”

His dad cleared his throat. “This is going to be an entertaining meal.”

After placing their dinner order, his mom asked Zach the typical starter questions: what did his parents do, how long had he lived in Baltimore, how long had he been swimming? His dad asked him about his plans for next year, where he wanted to go to school and what he wanted to do afterward. Lucas had been wondering that himself but had been afraid to broach the subject.

“I was planning to apply to UMD, but now that they’ve cut their swim program, I guess I’m shopping around. I’d like to stay in state, though. Save money on tuition.”

“UMBC has a swim program,” Lucas said.

Zach smiled at him. “And a music program, I presume?”

Lucas lowered his eyes. Had he overstepped?

Zach nudged him. “Yeah, UMBC is definitely on the list of possibilities.”

“I bet they have a gay club there,” Mason blurted.

“I don’t think they call it that, bro,” said Zach. “But yeah, I’m sure they do.”

“You can meet other gay guys there. After you ditch Lucas. And I’m not your bro.”

Zach looked taken aback.

“Mason, what’s gotten into you?” his mom said. “Apologize to Zach.”

“Why should
I
apologize? He’s the one who abandoned the team. And made Lu have a total meltdown.”

Mason hadn’t called him Lu in years. Not since they were kids.

“He’s right,” Zach said. “I do owe you an apology. I let you and the team down. I’m really sorry. I promise not to do it again. And I promise I’m not going to do anything to hurt Lucas, either. I really care about him.”

All eyes were on Mason as everyone awaited his response. Mason reached for his drink and slurped on his straw. “Fine.”

Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. Rage-Mason was the last thing he wanted to deal with right now.

“But there’s a few things you should know. About Lucas,” Mason insisted.

“Mom,” Lucas said with pleading eyes. “Tell him to him stop.”

“Mason, we’re here to celebrate your brother’s accomplishments, not embarrass him. If you don’t have something nice to say, just keep quiet.”

“No, let me finish,” Mason said, plopping his drink back down on the table. “If you’re going to be Lu’s boyfriend, then you have to love his quirks too.”

“Mason, this is hardly the time—”

“I do,” said Zach. “Love his quirks, I mean.”

Lucas felt Zach squeeze his knee, sending tingles up and down his leg.

“He dances hula,” Mason said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Mason!” Lucas hid his face in his hands.

Zach chuckled. “Hula?”

“Yep. He’s a hula dancer. Took classes and everything.”

His mother nodded. “He’s actually very good.”

“That was a long time ago,” Lucas said, his voice muffled. “I was a kid.”

“Yeah, but you still do it when you think no one’s looking,” Mason said. “I’ve seen you.”

Lucas opened his fingers a crack to peek out at Mason. “I hate you.”

Zach cupped a hand around Lucas’s ear and whispered, “That’s totally hot. I want a demonstration.”

Lucas was glad his face was still hidden.

“And he writes poetry. About everyone.”

Lucas uncovered his face and rolled his eyes. “He already knows that.”

“That’s true too,” his mom said. “No one is safe from our little bard.”

“I like his poetry,” Zach said.

“Oh yeah? Wait until he writes a poem about you being a beaver.”

Lucas laughed in spite of himself. “Hey, I liked that poem.”

They all chuckled, and Lucas was relieved that the tension had been broken.

“Oh—and you have to wear socks around him, because he plays toes.”

Lucas covered his face again. Mason was really digging deep now….

“You like to play with toes?” Zach said. “That’s cute.”

“No,” Mason said. “Not
with
toes. He likes to
play
toes.”

His dad cleared his throat loudly, then looked down at his napkin. His mom covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hide her smile. Zach looked confused.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Lucas said. “I was six!”

He may have only been six, but he’d developed an unexpected obsession with Billy Joel’s song “Piano Man.” He listened to it over and over again.

“I wanna be a piano man, Mommy,” he’d told his mom with utmost certainty. She helped him draw piano keys on sheets of paper so he could pretend to perform. He’d spread the papers out and tape them to the edge of the coffee table in order to play his makeshift piano for his adoring fans. Teddy Beddy, who always sat front and center on the couch, was his biggest supporter. Lucas belted out the words as best he could, despite not understanding some of the lyrics. Day after day he performed along with Billy. It was his favorite game.

His mom sometimes sat and watched, singing the “la la la diddy da” parts of the song, but his dad was much harder to convince. Lucas would pitter patter into the family room after dinner, boom box in one hand, pages of paper piano keys in the other. “Daddy, are you in the mood for a melody?” he’d ask, borrowing his favorite line from the song.

“Not now, Lucas. Maybe later” was always the response, and Lucas would retreat to his room, dejected.

The paper piano eventually fell by the wayside when Lucas decided he no longer needed actual keys. He’d pretend to play anything: the kitchen table, the edge of the bathtub, his mom’s leg. When he was in the mood for a melody, anything was fair game. Even Daddy’s toes.

His dad had fallen asleep in his recliner one evening, bare feet sticking out from under the blanket draped over his lap. He awoke to find Lucas playing his toes as if they were piano keys.

“What in God’s name are you doing, Lucas?” his father asked, looking completely baffled.

“I’m playing you a memory, Daddy, like it says in the song.”

His parents signed him up for piano lessons the very next day.

Lucas hoped Mason wouldn’t recount the story.

Zach grinned at both of the Tate boys. He seemed amused by all the razzing. “Anything else I should know?”

“One last thing,” Mason told him. “If he asks you if you’re in the mood for a melody—no matter what you’re doing—say yes.”

Lucas couldn’t control the upwelling of emotion. It brought tears to his eyes. He blinked quickly, hoping no one had noticed.

Zach clasped Lucas’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Always,” he promised, and then leaned down and gave Lucas a kiss on the cheek, in front of everyone.

A
FTER
dinner, Lucas followed Zach to his car. His family headed to the school to find their seats for the show, but Zach lingered. “How you feeling?”

Lucas snorted. “Like I want to kill my brother. But otherwise, I’m fine. Sorry he was being such a dick.”

“He loves you.”

“He has a funny way of showing it.”

“I thought your dad was the one I was going to have to win over. Little did I know.”

Lucas chuckled. “He needs to come with a warning: Beware of Fangs.”

“He did provide me with some very sexy hip-swaying dirt on you, though.”

“Oh God! I’ve never been so embarrassed in my entire life.”

“Can you come over after the show? All I can think about is getting you naked and making you dance for me.”

Lucas laughed. “No way.”

“Please? Pretty, pretty please? What if I promise to shower you with kisses?”

“I’m not dancing. I’ll look ridiculous.”

“You’ll look beautiful. You
are
beautiful.”

Lucas rolled his eyes. “I know, I know,” he said sarcastically. “I’m beautiful and sensitive and loving and yadda, yadda, yadda….”