“Yeah?” Zack’s voice was wary. He wasn’t sure he trusted that smile.
“Get in the house. We’re going to watch porn. You can take notes.”
Chapter Fourteen
“You’re serious about this?” Zack hung back in the door to Pike’s room, heart thumping, as Pike stripped off his his dress shirt and pants, let them fall on his floor. Then, clad in his boxer briefs, he tossed his laptop on the bed.
“Hell yes. I’m serious. And lose the missionary wear. I can’t do this with you looking like you’d like to talk about the state of my soul.” Rummaging in his nightstand, Pike pulled out a condom and a bottle of lube. Holy cow. We’re really going to fuck.
Zack started in on his buttons. Being inside Pike’s room was still strange. When they messed around, somehow it was always Zack’s room. Unlike his stark walls and neat stacks, Pike’s room was an explosion of color and items. After they’d finished painting the space, Pike had carefully put up his video game posters with that gummy stuff that didn’t pull up paint, and at some point, he’d unpacked all his books onto bulging shelves. Pike had taken it upon himself to paint all the miles of trim in the house, and the gleaming white molding contrasted with all the color Pike had added to the room. A bright blue throw rug had appeared between his bed and dresser, and the plaid quilt at the bottom of the bed had more colors than Zack could count. His desk and gaming computer sat in the corner, surrounded by empty soda cans, cat asleep in the chair.
Overall, it was a homey space, but one that still felt a bit alien and strange. Or more like he didn’t exactly know what to do with how much he liked the changes Pike made to his space, to the house, to Zack’s life. And he really didn’t know what to do with this fluttery feeling in his gut. Trying to find his resolve, he mimicked Pike, stripping down to his briefs and sitting on the edge of the bed.
That lasted all of ten seconds before Pike was tugging him down, arranging them so that they were both lying on their stomachs, Pike’s leg wrapped around him, laptop in front of them. Pike opened his browser, clicking around.
“Trust me, this will help you feel less nervous. Still can’t believe that you’ve never seen porn. You should—”
“Hey.” Zack cut off his rambles. “I’m not nervous.” Strangely he wasn’t, the uncertainty he’d felt all week finally gone now that the moment was actually here.
“You’re not?”
“Nope. And not because we’re doing some sort of porn class. Because it’s you, and I don’t get nervous with you.”
Pike’s face softened and he blinked a bunch before pulling Zack in for quick, hard kiss. “Good.”
Zack leaned in for another kiss, one that went from a quick peck to leisurely exploration.
“So this is one of my favorite scenes.” Pike’s voice was unusually hoarse. “You can trust Peppy Boys to deliver quality, but this scene is special even for them. The guys have real chemistry.”
On the screen, two clean-cut guys around Zack’s age, shirtless and in jeans, were laughing on a couch. They did seem rather into each other, a definite I-want-to-kiss-you vibe between them. “That’s the thing I’ve never gotten about porn. You mean they never met before being paired up to fuck on camera, and just got lucky that they like the other guy?”
Pike laughed and gave him another kiss. “You really are a die-hard closet romantic, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know about that.” His face went all hot. “Just think you should know more than some fake name about the guy you’re going to do that with.”
“You’re adorable.” Pike squeezed his shoulder. “And I agree. It’s so much better when you know each other. When you’re friends.”
“Like us.” Zack’s heart sped up. That evening had brought him perilously close to wanting a different word to describe what they had between them. All the people at the party with partners, wives and girlfriends or boyfriends—it made friends seem so inadequate to describe what Pike was to him.
“Yeah.” Pike clicked the touch pad, moving the video ahead a few minutes. Now the guys were down to designer briefs, the shorter one sitting on the taller guy’s lap, making out. Fuck. That was sexy. It reminded him of the last time him and Pike had kissed on the couch. Hmm. Maybe they could get off that way sometime...
“See how they’re kissing and not getting right to it?” Pike was clearly still in teacher mode while Zack was over here with a stiffy.
“Uh-huh.”
“That’s important. Not that rough and fast can’t work—sometimes that’s just what you need—but it’s not my favorite. I like a slow build.”
“I can do that.” Zack’s pulse gave a happy thrum. He liked having a road map to follow for how to please Pike.