Before Jase followed him out, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a hundred-
dollar bill. He handed it to the skinny young guy holding the pile of jeans and said, “Here, take this for the mess we just made with the jeans.” Then he left before the guy could object. Though Luis had a point about spending a lot of money in that particular shop, Jase didn’t like the idea of stealing anything. It didn’t rest well with him; he believed in karma. And it wasn’t as though Jase couldn’t afford to buy a couple of pairs of jock straps.
* * * *
They continued walking uptown until Luis said his feet were hurting. Jase hailed a taxi, insisting he was going to pay, and they rode home the rest of the way. By the time the taxi dropped them off in front of their building, they were laughing so hard about what had happened in the fitting room Luis missed the first step and almost fell flat on his face. Jase reached out fast and caught him in his arms. Then he placed one palm on Luis’s stomach and the other on Luis’s back and guided him up the steps.
On the top step, they both reached into their pockets at the same time and pulled out their keys. For a moment, they glared at each other in silence, and then started laughing again. Jase used his key to unlock the door. He held it open for Luis and placed his hand on the small of Luis’s back to escort him into the vestibule.
“Mr. Gordon should see us now,” he said. “He’d never believe we both had our keys at the same time.”
Jase had stopped laughing. He was standing over Luis, staring at him with a serious expression. When Luis saw his face, he stopped laughing and he looked into Jase’s eyes. For two or three seconds, they just stood there, motionless, without blinking.
Then Jase took a breath and lifted his arms. He tilted his head to the side and nodded yes just once. Luis exhaled and ran toward him. He put his arms around Jase’s shoulders, tilted his head back, and opened his mouth. When Luis closed his eyes, Jase kissed him on the mouth and hugged him so hard Luis went up and his feet dangled three inches from the black-and-white tiled floor.
Chapter Twelve
They spent the night in Jase’s apartment. Jase had tried to carry Luis up all five flights; however, he’d had to put Luis down at the bottom of the third flight and Luis walked the rest of the way. With Luis’s arms wrapped around Jase’s body and Jase’s hand resting on Luis’s ass, they took the next two flights slowly, stopping to kiss and grope each other in the stairwell. By the time they reached the top step on fifth floor of the building, Luis’s pants were open. Before they were even inside Jase’s apartment, Luis’s pants were down around his knees and his right hand was inside Jase’s pants. After that, they made love four times that night. The last time with Luis on his back, on top of the desk in Jase’s bedroom, with Luis’s legs spread as wide as they would go and dangling over Jase’s strong forearms.
In the morning, Jase opened his eyes and sat up in bed. He was in the middle of the mattress, with his legs spread wide, and he wasn’t covered with blankets. When he looked down at his dick, the long, hard shaft jumped. His erection was pointing up and the head was resting below his navel. He reached down and held the shaft in the palm of his right hand, then looked around the room to see if Luis was still there to take care of him. They’d spent the night together.
The last thing Jase remembered was drifting into a deep sleep to the sound of Luis’s gentle breathing, with Luis’s soft cheek resting on his chest.
Sun streamed through the sheer draperies and warmed the room. He heard horns honking and sirens blaring from the open window. Jase sat up higher and looked back and forth. The apartment was silent and he knew he was alone. The only sign that Luis had spent the night with him was in the corner of his bedroom, near the window that led to the fire escape. The window was open and the orange jock strap was hanging from the back of a chair. Jase smiled and jerked his erection a couple of times. He figured Luis must have crept out of bed quietly so he could go back to his own apartment and take care of his dog.
So Jase climbed out of bed and loped to the window in his bare feet. He put on the orange jock strap and packed his erection into the pouch so it wouldn’t bounce up and down. Then he pushed the curtains aside and passed through the open window. He wanted to sneak into Luis’s apartment and surprise him. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Luis’s face when he showed up outside his window in nothing but the orange jock strap.
But when he knocked on Luis’s window and called his name, no one answered. Jase was excited; he was still erect and the head of his penis was sticking through the waistband of the jock strap. Jase had never felt this elated in his life—he couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled for so long. Inside Luis’s apartment, the little dog was sitting on the loveseat staring at Jase. His tail was wagging, his right paw was up, and his head was bobbing around in circles as if he were bowing to an audience.
Jase opened the window and stepped into the living room, looking into the kitchen first.
When he saw Luis wasn’t there, he patted the dog on the head and said, “Hey, doggie.” After that, he crossed into Luis’s bedroom and found the empty bathroom. He figured Luis had gone out to get coffee, so he ambled back into the living room and opened the front door. He figured it was safe return to his apartment this way. Luis and Jase were the only two apartments on that floor and no one visited that early.
But as he opened the door, he saw Sherman’s back. Sherman was heading toward Jase’s apartment, wearing his tight black shorts and his skimpy black tank top. Jase jumped back into Luis’s apartment and closed the door without making a sound. He didn’t want Sherman to find him lurking around in Luis’s apartment wearing nothing but a bright orange jock strap. He wasn’t trying to hide anything. He just wanted to explain to Sherman that he was in love with someone wonderful now, and that he wasn’t going to continue his charade any longer.
He ran back to his apartment so fast he almost slipped on the fire escape. While Sherman knocked on his door, he put on his sweatpants and smoothed out his hair. Then he took a deep breath, went into his living room, and opened the door.
Sherman looked him up and down and smiled. The shorts Sherman was wearing were even tighter than the shorts he’d worn the day before. This pair bunched up in his crotch, causing the bulge between his legs to stick out to the point of being obnoxious. Sherman ran the tip of his tongue across his bottom lip and took a quick breath. Then he placed his palm on Jase’s naked chest and kissed Jase on the lips. “Good morning, sexy,” he said. “I brought you breakfast. From the looks of it, you could use a strong cup of coffee.” He was carrying a small white bag and a cardboard tray with two cups of coffee.