First Flight (11 page)

“Are you busy now?”

“Yeah, I am. I’m at
work
. Do you need something?”

“I just needed to hear your voice and tell you that I miss you. That I think we should get back together.”

“Okay, well, that’s not going to happen and I’ve got to get back to work.” Jesse hung up without further ceremony.

J
ESSE
checked the screen of his phone, despite the fact that it was playing the Mom and Dad ringtone. It was indeed his home number, so he answered it. “Hey, Chris.”

“Hi. Um. Kevin was standing outside the store when I went home. He asked me where you were. I said you were inside, but I didn’t say anything else.”

Jesse blinked and put what was left of his cookie back in the bag with its brethren. “Uh, that’s bizarre. Did he try to hit you again or anything?”

“No, he was just standing there. I looked to see if he was following me, but he wasn’t.”

“This is getting creepier,” Jesse said. “Thanks for telling me. If he comes over to the house, pretend you’re not home and
don’t
let him in, okay?”

“Okay. Does he have a key?” Chris put his hand in his pocket and closed it around the set of keys he carried.

“No, thank God. I never gave him one.” He sighed and checked his watch. “I gotta let you go, ’cause I’ve gotta get back out front. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay. Have a good afternoon.”

“I’ll try. You too.”

“I’
M
HOME
,”
Jesse called, kicking off his shoes.

“In here,” Chris said, from the living room. “Baseball is on.”

“Yeah? Who’s playing?” Jesse wandered in and plunked down beside Chris, then flopped over into his lap. “You’re comfy.”

“Birds,” Chris said, tilting his head and looking down at him. “Blue jays and orioles. I am?”

“I didn’t know birds liked baseball,” Jesse said, reaching up to touch Chris’s face. “Yeah. Uh, did Kevin come over or anything?”

“I like baseball,” Chris said, amused. He put his hand on Jesse’s face, mirroring his actions. “Comfy is a good thing, right? No, he didn’t. I didn’t see him, and no one knocked or rang the bell.”

“Well, yes, but you’re an odd bird,” he said, patting Chris. Then he moved his hands and wriggled into a more upright position. “Yeah, it’s good. And so’s no one at the door. C’mere.” Jesse pulled him close and kissed him, humming approval as Chris’s lips parted and he kissed back.

Chris put aside all thoughts of oddness, birds, baseball, and ex-boyfriends as Jesse’s hands got into his hair, as Jesse’s mouth moved against his own.

“I like kissing,” Chris said, when Jesse let him go to adjust his position again. “Can we— Mm.” He slipped his tongue past Jesse’s lips, opening his eyes as Jesse picked lifted a hand and set it on Chris’s leg. “Hm?”

“Wanna touch,” Jesse said, putting his hands on the top button of Chris’s shirt. “Can I?”

“Yes,” Chris said, nodding enthusiastically, “please!”

Jesse kissed the edge of his jaw as he worked the first button free. “You can touch me, if you want.”

“Okay,” Chris said and began patting his way up Jesse’s leg. He found Jesse’s shirt and buttons, his own fingers making short work of them. “Before, you touched me… here?” His hands settled over Jesse’s chest, all warm curves and soft fabric over skin he wanted to see, wanted to feel. There was something else, small rounded irregularities, and he smoothed his palms over them.

“Mm, yeah, that’s good,” Jesse said, tugging at the hem of Chris’s undershirt. “You liked that, didn’t you?”

“Uh-huh,” Chris said, as Jesse’s hands slid up under fabric and then fingertips closed on him, pinching. The sensation was far from painful. “Yes, that.”

“Sounds silly, but I like that you like it,” he said, bending forward so he could kiss Chris again. More than that, however, he loved hearing the sounds Chris made; couldn’t wait to discover what else Chris liked.

Chris was just pulling Jesse’s shirt free of his pants when the phone rang.

“Dammit,” Jesse sighed and gave Chris a quick kiss. “Might be Mom.”

“Right,” Chris said, and let him go, watching as Jesse picked up the handset from the coffee table.

“Swanson residence,” Jesse said.

“Hi, Jesse,” Kevin said.

“Hi. Is there something I can do for you?”

“Yeah, there is. Go out with me tonight?”

“No. That’s not— Look, you and I both know that it’s over and done, okay? It didn’t work out. I’m not going out with you, not tonight, not tomorrow, not again.”

“Come on, Jesse, let’s give it another try. Please? I’ll be better about things. I’ll be good. You’ll love me. I’ll let you hold my hand and everything.”

“No. Find someone else.”

Chris shifted on the couch, distracted from the replay of an unassisted double play. Why was Kevin calling Jesse?

“I don’t want someone else, I want you.”

“I don’t care. Stop calling me.” Jesse hung up and put the phone on the cushion beside him, then looked at Chris.

“That was Kevin?”

“Yeah, that’s the third time today,” Jesse grumbled, trying to remember that more pleasant things were to be had. “He wants to get back together again.”

“Oh.” That was a bad thing, wasn’t it? Chris didn’t like the idea, but he wasn’t sure how to say it. He also wasn’t sure if boyfriends was a one-at-a-time thing, like mates, or if it was different entirely.

“Chris….” Jesse slipped off the couch and knelt before him, his hands on Chris’s knees. “Christopher, this is really important, okay? I don’t tell people. When I say I love you, it’s not something—” He huffed, then started over. “I never told Kevin that I loved him. I never really felt, I don’t know, I never felt like I do when it comes to me and you, which sounds kind of dumb, but anyway. That’s part of why I broke up with him, too, because I didn’t think—I mean, after a little over a year, you’d think I
would
love him, and I didn’t.”

Well, that was interesting. Chris looked up from Jesse’s hands. “So you will not get back together with him?”

“No, and especially not after he hit you. I can forgive him for the fight
I
started, but not that.” Jesse patted Chris, then stretched up to kiss him again. He slid his hands over the tops of Chris’s thighs, then straight up under his shirt to his nipples, which he pinched once more.

After a minute or so, Chris turned his head a little. “Jesse? Can I touch you again?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry,” Jesse said, getting to his feet. He knelt astride Chris’s lap, catching Chris’s chin and kissing him a little more insistently.

There was something about the way Jesse felt, sitting on him as he was, that reminded him of Saturday night. Chris couldn’t really figure out what it was, and he was too busy getting Jesse’s shirt up so he could finally see what he was touching besides. Not that he
could
see, not with Jesse kissing him, sucking on his lower lip and gently biting.

“Jesse….”

“What, too hard?” He leaned back and touched Chris’s bottom lip.

“No, it was just strange.” Chris went to lick his lips and ran into Jesse’s finger; Jesse moved it up a little. Without even really thinking about it, Chris tipped his head and sucked it into his mouth.

“Oh my God,” Jesse breathed, closing his eyes. “Uh, Chris?”

“Hm?” Jesse’s finger was dry at first, salty and with a faint hint of soap. It wasn’t terribly appetizing, but the way Jesse was reacting was intriguing. He’d gone very still, his mouth open and breath short.

“We gotta move. Upstairs would be good.” He hoped he could make it upstairs. Probably, as long as Chris followed him. “Okay?”

He moved his head, letting Jesse’s finger slip out of his mouth, not really interested in going anywhere. “What’s upstairs?”

“Bed,” Jesse said, getting up. He held his hands out to Chris. “More comfortable and roomier than the couch.”

“Okay,” he said, letting Jesse help pull him upright. Sometimes they napped, but that was normally on Saturday afternoons. “Are you tired?”

“Not in the least,” Jesse said, holding Chris’s right hand and pulling him toward the stairs. “No, uh, I want to get naked with you and it’s not a good idea to do it in the living room. If you want to, I mean.”

“Oh.” Jesse wanted to get
naked
. With
him
. He had no idea what that really meant, but the little voice inside him approved wholeheartedly. “Then we must go upstairs. Now.”

Jesse laughed, and the two of them scrambled up the steps, crashing into one another in the doorway. Jesse caught Chris before he could fall and kissed him, Chris pushed Jesse against the doorjamb with his hips, and then they were standing in the middle of their room.

“Naked,” Chris said, but he frowned a little.

“Yeah, naked together,” Jesse said, “but what?” Maybe Chris had changed his mind?

“Should I take off my clothes? Or will you?”

“Oh,” Jesse shrugged and grinned at him, “I don’t care. Do you want me to undress you? I will.”

“Okay,” he said, nodding at the other young man. Maybe it didn’t matter.

“Great,” Jesse said, and started getting Chris out of his clothes. “Heh, been a while since I did this.” Helping Chris with his clothes when they’d first met hadn’t been the same, since he’d been diligently ignoring Chris’s body.

“I’ve never done this,” Chris said, slightly muffled as his undershirt covered his face. “I like it so far.”

“Right.” Jesse dropped the shirt on the floor, then unbuttoned Chris’s pants. “And you’ll tell me if you don’t like something, right?”

“I don’t like having my pants on,” Chris said, then laughed at himself.

“Well, there, now they can come off,” Jesse said, smiling as the zipper tab reached the bottom of Chris’s fly.

“Good. I don’t like
you
having your pants on either. I want to see, please.” He put his hands on Jesse’s waistband, his lower lip protruding as he concentrated on getting the button open.

“And now I can get mine off,” Jesse said, wiggling a little.

“I want to— Is it okay, if I look?” He’d seen Jesse without clothes before, when they were getting ready for bed or dressing in the morning, but that was
different
. This was naked together, and naked together with kissing.

“Yeah! Yeah, that’s fine.” Jesse took a step back and held his arms out to either side. “Look all you want. Touch all you want, whatever.”

Chris tipped his head and gestured at Jesse. “But I can’t
see
. Pants!”

Jesse laughed and shook his head, hooking his thumbs in the waistbands of his pants and underwear alike. “It’s only fair, since I can’t see you either.”

“Oh.” Chris skinned out of the rest of his clothes and put his hands on his hips. “Now you can.”

“Okay, okay,” Jesse said, as he got undressed. “There.”

“Tell me again why yours is different, please?” Chris looked down, then back and forth between their bodies.

“My—oh, right,” Jesse nodded and glanced down at his erection, “because I’m circumcised and you’re not.”

“Right.” He stepped over his clothes, closing the distance between them. Chris looked up as his curious fingers touched Jesse’s belly, his attention drawn by the odd sound that the other young man had made. “Okay?”

“You’re fine,” Jesse said, then bit his lip as Chris’s hand dropped onto his cock. “Mm.” He spent a lot of the following few minutes with his lip between his teeth and his hands curled up, while Chris touched him all over.

“You…. Hm. Like this….” Chris murmured to himself as he knelt on the carpet, one hand still wrapped around Jesse. “And then like this.”

“Oh,”
Jesse said, folding his hands together on top of his head, “God.”

“God?” Chris sat back and looked up.

The look on Chris’s face—right, he’d never done this before. Jesse brushed Chris’s hair back and said, “You’re perfect, I swear. If you want to keep go—oh-
kay
.” He yanked his hand back to keep from spoiling the moment.

Meanwhile, his little voice was busy wondering why Chris was trying to eat Jesse when he was
not
food. Chris ignored it because Jesse had done it to
him
, he’d liked it, and he was trying to see if he could fit all of Jesse into his mouth.

“Chris,” Jesse said, gently putting his hands on dark hair, “Chris, you need to stop. Please.” God, Chris’s
nose
was right up against his skin and he could feel Chris’s
tongue
, there at the base of his dick; if he didn’t stop—

Chris sat back once more, disappointed and worried. “What’s the matter?”

“C’mere.” Jesse leaned over and helped him to his feet, then kissed him. “I just, uh, I just didn’t want to hurt you. It felt amazing, but I didn’t want to, y’know, forget that you’re kind of new at this.”

“Okay,” Chris said, more puzzled than mollified. “Did I hurt you, last time?”

“No! No, it’s just that I didn’t want to pull your hair or anything.”

“Oh! I see.” He nodded, then stood on his toes to kiss Jesse again.

Jesse pulled Chris up against himself, sliding his hands over pale skin as he deepened the kiss.

“Jesse? Did you still want to get in bed?”

“Yeah,” Jesse said, then cleared his throat. “Yes. That would be great.”

Chris bounced on his toes, then scrambled into Jesse’s bed. He closed his eyes as the smell that was Jesse filled his senses, wrapping around him and making the little voice say things like
more!
and
so good
and
right
and
mine
.

He leaned over and gently pushed at Chris’s shoulder, then crawled up onto bed and boyfriend alike, a pleased sound escaping him as their cocks touched.

“Good,” Chris said, then hummed and pushed himself up against Jesse. It felt… it was beyond words, the way it felt to have so much of Jesse’s skin touching him, to be rubbing against him. It was like Saturday but so much
more
, so much
better
, that he couldn’t think of anything else. “More. More?”

“Ah,” Jesse held himself still, eyes closed for a few moments. “More how? Like this?” He let Chris bear a little more of his weight, tilting his hips so that their cocks slid together. His fingers curled into the sheet as Chris moaned and thrust up against him in response. God, he wanted so much more than just this, wanted to taste Chris again, wanted wanted
wanted
. Jesse also did
not
want. He didn’t want to push Chris into anything, didn’t want to push too far too fast. Not like he had with the kiss under the tree.