A hollow cavity opened in Marcus’s chest. Yeah, he knew where to find Jamie. The same place he’d been finding him all week. Every night when the sun went down or everyone had gone to bed, he showed up at Jamie’s front door like a beggar. It wasn’t enough. He could see it wasn’t enough for his boyfriend and now it wasn’t enough for Marcus, either. “Come to my place,” he said, digging his key ring out of his pocket and searching for the spares to his building and apartment. When he found them, he cursed the clumsiness of his huge sausage fingers while struggling through the process of removing the keys off their little, silver ring. “Here.” Satisfaction filled in the hole in his chest when he folded the apartment keys into Jamie’s hand. “Come over after your teacher dinner. Wait for me there.”
Jamie’s expression was mostly unreadable, except for a spark of surprise he couldn’t subdue and Marcus lived for that spark. Wanted to drown himself in it. “Marcus…are you sure? I don’t mind meeting at my place.”
“You should mind. And I can see that you do.”
His boyfriend was silent for a moment while he stowed the keys in his pocket. “I’m sorry. Why can’t I just be cool about this? It’s only been a goddamn week.”
“Because it has been so much longer than a week for us, Jamie.” Wow. He’d surprised Jamie again. Surprised himself, too, and he swore if he leapt right now, he could land on the roof of the tallest building. Was it a risk meeting Jamie at his place? Jesus Christ, yeah, it was. His brother and father had keys. Came and went as they pleased. But the risk was worth making Jamie happy. The risk was worth bringing the warmth back to Jamie’s eyes. “Will you come over and wait for me?”
After a beat, Jamie nodded. “Yes.” A smile breezed across his lips. “Now let’s juice.”
Marcus slapped a hand over his chest. “I thought you’d never ask.” He joined Jamie behind the counter, barely checking the urge to tuck Jamie’s ass into his lap. To kiss his neck until their zippers inevitably came down. There would be time for that later, though. In his bed. Jamie was going to be in his bed. “So, okay,” he rasped, taking a folded piece of paper out of his back pocket, laying it on the counter and smoothing the wrinkles with his flattened palm. “Been working on these recipes all week and I think this is the final menu.”
Jamie leaned down and scanned the page, reading off the names Marcus had come up with. “Hangover Cure, Fight the Flu, Berry Boost, Post Workout Replenishment…Sex Machine?”
“That one has pineapple in it.” Jamie gave him a blank look and Marcus’s jaw dropped. “It makes your spunk taste better. You didn’t know this? Do you have any idea how much pineapple I’ve been drinking for you, babe? Nice of you to notice my efforts.”
“Where did you come across this science?”
“The internet told me.”
“Of course it did.” Jamie shook his head. “Doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t have tastebuds in the back of my throat, Diesel.”
Marcus’s grin was so huge, it hurt his face. “Aww. You calling my cock huge? All’s forgiven.” He reached down to adjust his ever-present erection, giving it a little extra squeeze for being such a champ. “Hey, Jamie. Do they make dick cages? Is that a thing?”
Jamie slowly looked up from the menu. “A couple weeks ago, you were watching straight porn. What rabbit hole have you fallen down?”
“So it is a thing?”
“Everything is a thing.”
Marcus turned toward Jamie, leaning a hip against the counter. “Because I was thinking, someday when we start going out in public together, I’m going to need to get my wood problem under control.” He reached down and fisted his cock through his pants. “Any time we’re in the same room, it turns into the fucking Washington Monument. How am I supposed to take you anywhere respectable?”
Jamie’s gaze tracked upward from his hand, over his stomach, ending on Marcus’s face. “So your solution is a cock cage?”
“Well I could beat off before we go out…” He waggled his eyebrows. “But we both know I’ll just be hard again in fifteen minutes.”
“More like five.”
“You’ve now complimented my size and stamina. Is it my birthday?”
“Oh my God. You’re actually insane.”
Marcus reached over and traced his thumb along Jamie’s lower lip. “I’ve never been able to talk to anyone about sex. Not like this. Not without making stuff up or feeling awkward or even lying to myself. You do this for me.” He leaned in and kissed Jamie softly. “And Jamie?”
“Yeah?”
“You’ve got a nice big dick, too.”
A laugh puffed out of Jamie’s mouth. “Happy birthday to me. Apparently I need to start drinking pineapple juice, though.”