But the trick was it all was yet to come. Zack tugged softly on Aaron’s hair and the bow of his body rocked forward—over his own hard, miserable cock—as he took Zack in further. Under no control of his own, back and forth he went, trapped, as he fucked his own cock into the mattress while Zack stood there, letting his dick fuck Aaron’s mouth in turn.
Chapter 16
THE MORNING AFTER THE Thing with the Ropes
Zack’s Apartment
IN THE END, ZACK HAD cut Aaron out of the ropes. Not because he needed to—Aaron’s circulation was fine, and the position, as he had said, posed no obstacles. But they were both so terribly overwhelmed—Zack had come over Aaron’s face and then Aaron had found his own release against the mattress—and Zack’s fingers were shaking too much to fiddle with knots. He just wanted Aaron, held and safe and bundled up in his arms.
Which he was, now that Zack had dealt with all the clean up their little adventure had demanded. Against his side, with his head on his shoulder, Aaron was now quiet and no longer full of the little whimpers he had made as he was coming back to himself.
“That,” he said eventually into the long silence, “was exactly what I needed.”
“Are you nervous about camp tomorrow?” Zack asked.
“Yes and no,” he said. “It’s both a very big deal and not. I’m still having trouble with the program.”
Zack frowned. He couldn’t figure that one out. “It’s looked great every time I’ve seen it.”
“That’s exactly it,” Aaron said, rolling onto his back. “It’s apparently great if you or Katie are watching it. Anyone else, and it’s as if I don’t want them to see it.”
“Do you know why?”
“It feels too revelatory. I’m not used to trusting that people want to see who I really am.”
“I wish I could fix that for you,” Zack said and meant every word of it. But this was, he knew, beyond his power. Aaron would simply have to make a choice; that was the nature of fear, unfair as it was.
“I know. I appreciate it. I wish I could fix it for me too,” he said with a little laugh. “Hey, can I see the pictures?”
Zack leaned over the side of the bed to grab his camera so that Aaron could page through the photos on the little screen on its back. He watched as Aaron touched the screen.
“The ropes are pretty,” he said, looking up at Zack. “That’s cool. Can you send me these?”
“Sure,” Zack said. “They’re your photos to control entirely.”
AARON HAD JUST LEFT Zack’s apartment when his phone rang. Zack glanced at the screen and swore. Sammy. Whatever this was going to be—which was probably that Sammy had read his incomplete draft and wanted to kill him—he didn’t want to deal with it while not fully dressed and not remotely awake.
Hastily he pulled on pajama pants and a t-shirt and hit the answer button before the call rolled to voicemail.
“Sammy. Hi.”
“Zack! Good morning.”
“What is it?” Zack scrubbed a hand through his hair and wished he could be getting in the shower right now. Or, better yet, going back to bed.
“We’re starting to edit your piece. Which is full of holes.”
“I know, I told you it was.”
“Well, the holes haven’t filled themselves. There’s barely anything in here about the other kid. Sauer. It’s not balanced.”
“He won’t answer my calls! Nor will his coach or anyone else at that place. I don’t know if that’s me or them or—”
“Try again.”
“Well I can’t right now, because he’s currently on the way to some high-performance camp with the other major contender for the U.S. Olympic Team who I am currently sleeping with!”
“Oh, fuck.” Sammy sounded despairing. “Zack, you’re the worst.”
“I am well aware!”
“What were you thinking?”
“That I sent you my draft and that he’s extremely cute and anything else I am thinking about this situation is absolutely something you don’t want to know.” Zack knew he sounded panicked but he didn’t know what to do or say or how to fix any of this.
“I hate you,” Sammy said in the voice of the long-suffering.
“I know that too!” Zack tried to take deep breaths. There were going to be consequences to this mess and he didn’t want to face any of them.
“Since you’re already violating all journalistic ethics in every way possible anyway, maybe get your boyfriend to get Sauer to talk to you since they’re going to be in the same room.”
“That’s a wretched idea.” Zack was appalled at the notion. Aaron was already wound up beyond belief about camp, and it was more than obvious Sauer was not his favorite person.
“So is sleeping with your subject. Or former subject, or however you’re justifying it to yourself. And you’ll notice that while I’m mad about it, the only thing I want here is to get this piece finished and in my magazine so everyone involved can get paid and famous as appropriate, so maybe a little thanks would be appropriate here.”
Zack deflated. The truth was, he had no better or even any other ideas for how to get the material he needed for the article. If he had, he never would have considered this.
“Fine,” he told Sammy. “I’ll ask him.”
“Good.”
ZACK SAT DOWN WITH his laptop on his bed. The sheets were still rumpled and, if he closed his eyes, he could imagine he still felt Aaron’s warmth in them. Aaron probably wasn’t even at the airport yet, much less at camp, but Zack wanted to get this done with.
Hey, he started the email to Aaron. Hope your flight goes well. Or went well. I know this is crossing several boundaries and that’s why I’m not including any emotions or compliments in this email. You can absolutely say no and it changes nothing between us, but if you’re willing, I have a
