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Chapter Text

When they were younger, after he and Rhett had spent long stretches of time together, Link had developed a habit of taking a few minutes in the bathroom to purge himself of his unwelcome desires. His quick plunges into fantasy were spurred by things like the scent of his best friend’s sweat after a basketball game or the way his voice rumbled through Link’s chest when they sat crammed together in the backseat of a long car ride. The curves of Rhett’s lips and the tiny mole above them began to draw his eye like a powerful magnet and a perilous heat would kindle in his groin. Once alone, it was never long before he reached a shiver of pleasure that was all too brief and quickly submerged under the waves of guilt and self-loathing that immediately followed.

He’d flush the evidence, wash his hands, and get on with his life feeling in control of himself again despite the weakness in his knees. The rare acts of self-pollution were sufficient to sustain him and keep his mind clear of sinful thoughts until the next camping trip, the next sleepover. When he was old enough and confident enough to enjoy himself with girls, he was relieved to find he certainly enjoyed himself — and was careful to never allow his fantasies about Rhett to intrude on his experiences with them. They found his intense focus flattering.

As time went on, it was easier to push the thoughts away rather than indulge them. The itch remained, but the nerves underneath it seemed to grow numb the more he satisfied himself in more socially acceptable ways. It helped that Rhett was frequently absent from his life as he pursued this girlfriend or that. By the time Link met Christy, he was feeling almost normal. For a few years, he thought that falling in love with her, getting married, and starting a family had saved him for good.

He focused solely on the responsibilities of a husband and father and worked hard, if not particularly enthusiastically, as an engineer at IBM. He brought his new wife to witness Rhett’s wedding with no small amount of relief, as if the ceremony were the final nail in the coffin of his inappropriate desire. After that, he saw his friend less often and almost always in the presence of their families, or at least in public. They remained close friends but in a way that seemed more normal, less electric. Even though the taller man’s handsomeness increased with maturity, Link was able to admire it from a healthy distance. He chalked up his earlier lust to teenage hormones and looked forward to a less confusing future.

The two men got together every now and then to make a silly video and put it online. It was all a lark until a few videos really took off and they began to receive sponsorship offers and significant ad revenue. Eventually their wives encouraged them to quit their jobs and work together full time, which Link thought was the best idea in the world… and it was, until the fantasies he’d successfully repressed came roaring back into his life with a vengeance.

He tried to ignore the little tickle in the back of his brain when he began spending long stretches of time with Rhett for various video projects, sometimes working late into the night. His denial crumbled the more they composed songs together sitting knee-to-knee, when Rhett kept nudging him out of excitement for this melody or that clever lyric. Link wove his voice around and through the other man’s velvety baritone, and soon enough he was thinking how he’d rather be intertwining their limbs.

He figured he must be holding it together pretty well given that Rhett never seemed to notice. For once Link was grateful for his reputation for being quirky; any strange behavior such as staring or stuttering was chalked up to that personality trait without a second thought. He’d probably have to climb into Rhett’s lap and plant a kiss on his lips for the other man to have any idea what was going on, and even then it was just as likely to be laughed off as a joke. For a while he felt safe with his secret, if not particularly content.

–

It was during Chia Lincoln that he really began to feel the heat. Seeing Rhett every day, alone, and having personal conversations that frequently stretched into hours after they turned off the camera… resisting his urges began to feel like a full-time job in itself. Each day he felt an increase of pressure as if a screw were being turned in his brain. Each day the vice grip of his desire twisted tighter and tighter. It compressed him and made him feel small, pinned down, trapped.

This time, he did not allow himself the technique he’d employed in high school and college to blow off his excess steam. He was married, for gosh sake! It wasn’t right to fantasize about another person, let alone another man. Even the dreams that tormented him didn’t give him satisfaction; he always woke just as dream-Rhett was leaning in for a kiss or reaching for his hand. He took to sleeping less, staying up long after Christy and the kids had gone to bed and getting up at dawn.

It was a relief when the last sprouts on the Chia Pet finally died. Unfortunately, he had little respite before IFC’s offer for a television show landed in their laps, presenting them with the opportunity of a lifetime. There was no question of accepting it. Besides, Link reasoned, filming out in public with a crew would no doubt be a step back from the intimacy of their daily show. It would be an adventure and it would let him escape from the confines of their North Carolina studio.

However, the offer came with the requirement to relocate to Los Angeles, and not a lot of time or money available to make that happen. Rhett was the one who proposed that he and Link drive across the country together and meet their families on the other side in California, while recording a few videos and meeting up with fans along the way. The idea sounded like so much fun that Link had already agreed by the time he started thinking about what the trip would actually be like.

–

Six days alone in a van with Rhett and six nights sharing his hotel room (and on two occasions, when the hotel had only given them one, his bed) was enough to push Link to the breaking point. He was exhausted from constantly wiping his mind clean of the images that surged to fill his imagination whenever he closed his eyes. His muscles ached with the strain of holding himself rigidly apart from the other man when they met their fans at rest stops. Plus, there was the nightly paranoia of keeping himself awake until Rhett was asleep, praying his subconscious wouldn’t betray him in his dreams. Every time Rhett grinned at him across the expanse of the truck’s cab, a disconcerting warmth coiled within Link’s abdomen. By the end of the trip, he could barely breathe as they pulled off the highway into the valley they would soon be calling home. He was desperate to get away before he snapped.

He held it together during the joyous reunion with his family and seeing Rhett off, but by the time they’d put the kids to bed, Christy could tell he was seriously shaken. She perched beside him on the couch of the unfamiliar new house and begged him to tell her what was wrong. Link wrapped his arms around himself and tried to say it was nothing, but she persisted and he knew he could not put it off any longer. He was exhausted; he couldn’t bear the weight of his secret alone anymore. He forced the glass shards of his confession out through stuttering lips and heard them fall and shatter between them.

“My whole life — I mean, since puberty anyway — I’ve had these thoughts about doing stuff with… with Rhett. Physical… sexual stuff. Awful, dirty things.” His head was down, unable to look her in the eye, but he winced when he heard her soft noise of surprise. He rushed to assure her, “I’m not saying I’m gay. I’m really, really not. I mean, sure I notice guys now and then but it’s never like this. I don’t know what it is about Rhett, but…”

“Oh my goodness, Link—“

He waved his hands helplessly. “He has no idea, of course. It’d destroy our friendship if he knew. I don’t know where it’s coming from, it’s just always been there. I’d never do anything,” he insisted. “I don’t even know why — I just can’t stop thinkin’ about it, about… wanting him. Used to be I could get it out of my system for a while, if I let myself…” He hid his face in his shaking hands. “Just… take care of it. By myself. Before we got married, of course.”

“Then what happened?” she asked.

His words dripped with self-loathing. “I thought it had gone away for a few years… and then when it came back I thought I could get past it with enough prayer and distractin’ myself with work… but it’s gettin’ worse.” His hand balled into trembling fists. “It was wrong to come here. I should never’ve quit my job. I’m not strong enough to keep my thoughts from… straying when I’m around him all the time. I’m sorry, baby, I’m so sorry. I never wanted to disappoint you like this. I’ve sinned, even if it’s just in my mind, thinkin’ about it. I know I’ve sinned. I’ve tried so hard not to, but it’s like there’s a demon inside of me.”

The air filled with Christy’s silence and his chest heaved at the realization of how easily this conversation could end in divorce. His hands twisted in his lap as he gulped down a sob. “I know it cost a lot to get us out here, but we could find someone to sublet this place and stay with your folks until I find a new job back home. I’ll do anything to make this right… aversion therapy, shock treatment, whatever it takes… I’ll… I’ll never see him again…”

His wife’s hands reached out to his and stopped his stumbling words. He took a shaky breath and raised his head for the first time since he had begun talking, dreading what he would see. But instead of the disgust he expected, he saw only compassion in her wide green eyes. “I’d never allow that,” she said with a soft smile. “You’re so happy makin’ a living like this, working with him. You’re happier than you’ve ever been, darlin’. If you could see how your face lights up after you’ve spent a day in the studio with him… you can’t give that up. I won’t let you.”

His mouth fell slack in confusion. “But Christy, didn’t you hear what I just said? It’s not right, the way I feel. It’s sick and it’s gettin’ worse.”

She thought for a moment before speaking. “Link, do you love me?”

His answer was immediate. “Of course I do!”

“And are you still attracted to me?”

He stared at her as his mouth quirked reflexively into its lopsided grin, an unconscious attempt at charm despite the seriousness of the situation. “Without a doubt, baby.”

“Then we’ll get through this. It’s not sick for you to… to feel that way about Rhett. You fellas have always been close.” She shook her head to forestall his protest. “You can’t help what you want. Fightin’ it is just gonna hurt you and make you miserable.”

Her thumb rubbed along the back of his hand soothingly as she added, “I know that where we were raised, we were taught all sorts of things were wrong. But we’ve grown up since then, haven’t we? I know I have.” She waited for his nod before she continued. “All love is God’s love. If He gave you these feelings for Rhett, then they’re godly too. It’s not a sin; it’s just the way you are.”

Link licked his lips. He couldn’t believe the conversation had gotten this far; that his disgrace had been met with sympathy instead of scorn. He wasn’t sure he agreed with her that his desire for another man was sanctioned by God, but if her sentiment kept his marriage intact he wasn’t going to argue. He felt like the luckiest man alive just for not being kicked out to the curb then and there. Still, anxiety twisted his stomach at the thought of being in Rhett’s presence again. “So if you think I should keep working with him,” he asked her, “How do I stay focused on the job? We can’t screw up this TV deal if we ever wanna work here again.”

He thought he saw a hint of pink on her cheeks as her eyes fell to their clasped hands. “Maybe you should try… what worked before. Just, you know, get it out of your system.”

Link felt the heat of color rise in his own face. “You mean…?” She nodded. “You can’t be serious!” he sputtered. I mean… isn’t that, I dunno, cheating?”

She raised a delicate brow. “You’re telling me you’ve never had some fun by yourself in all our years of marriage?”

His face was burning. “Well, if you really wanna know… Sure, every now and then. But only when you were out of town, and I only ever thought about you!”

“Well then.”

“This is different,” he insisted. “It’s adultery, technically. A sin of the heart.”

Her lips pressed together as she considered. “Not if I say it’s okay.”

He threw up his hands. “How can you possibly say it’s okay?!”

She shushed him, her eyes darting toward where their children slept, and he winced in apology. His mind raced around her proposal. It was a tantalizing idea, to indulge himself again, but it was terrifying at the same time. What if I enjoy it too much? What if it makes things worse instead of better? More quietly, he muttered, “I don’t know, Christy…”

She met his eyes with a raised brow. “You have a better idea? Or any idea that doesn’t involve givin’ up on your dreams and movin’ our family across the country for the second time in a month?”

They argued about it for a while, but ultimately he had to admit that no, he didn’t have a better idea. So long as she promised she wouldn’t hate him for it, maybe it was worth a try. One moment of personal satisfaction was not going to ruin their marriage, she insisted. The awkwardness could be kept to a minimum by making sure she didn’t know any of the details.

It was the middle of the night by the time they both went to bed, exhausted but with a tentative sense of peace between them. Link slept with his arms around his wife, overwhelmed with gratitude for her compassion and in utter disbelief of the strange circumstances of his life.

Chapter Text

Morning came all too soon and Link found himself alone in his new house, staring awkwardly at the blank, beige walls. He’d eaten a late breakfast with Christy and the kids before they all went off to explore the nearby park. He’d done his best to make the meal last, lingering over his cereal and distracting Lando with jokes so it took him twice as long to finish his Mickey Mouse pancakes. He felt a vague sense of dread that grew as he watched his wife pack up a bag with sunscreen and snacks. She didn’t let him stall forever, though.

“We’ll be gone at least two hours, babe,” she had told him with a wink. “Think that’ll be enough time?”

He had rolled his eyes as he felt a blush creep up his cheeks. “More than enough,” he’d muttered, then whispered, “I’m still not sure about this,” as he kissed her cheek goodbye. His hands clasped her waist with unusual force.

“Have faith,” she’d soothed. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll try something else. It’s gonna be okay.” She’d pried off his hands and held them up, giving them a squeeze. “Try to enjoy yourself.”

“I’ll do my best.” He had forced a smile to forestall her worries, but he knew she could see through it. It seemed like she was leaving him behind to face a pack of hungry wolves, even if those wolves were only inside his head. He had kissed each of his children on the tops of their heads and told them to be good for their momma, doing his best not to cling to them and make them worry. He waved goodbye from the open door before closing it softly and turning to face their empty living room.

There was still so much to be done to get them moved into the new place; there were boxes stacked along the walls and bins of clean laundry to be folded and put away. He could easily pass the next few hours immersed in housework and just tell Christy he’d been too distracted and hadn’t noticed the time… or say he tried and it didn’t work… but no. He wasn’t going to disappoint her in this, too, after all the compassion she’d shown him. He let out a mirthless laugh at the perverse sense that he was doing this for her.

Maybe one time is all it’ll take to get it out of my system forever, he thought. Perhaps today’s episode was merely the last gasp of a pathological adolescent attachment that didn’t know well enough to stay dead.  He knew himself better than to think that was likely, but he couldn’t help but hope. His life would be so much simpler if he could love Rhett as a brother and nothing more. If he could just look at the graceful arch of the man’s brow or the broad muscles of his chest and feel nothing, this would all go away. He’d desired the man for twenty years or more, though. If he were honest with himself, today was probably not going to be enough to cure him.

He pressed his lips together and exhaled a long sigh through his nose, then scratched the stubble on his chin. He felt duty-bound to follow through with this despite his misgivings. But how to go about the deed itself?

Drop his pants and do it right here to get it over with as quickly as possible? No, not standing in the entryway like some out-of-control sex addict. He considered lying down on the couch and immediately ruled it out. His kids sat on that couch! The kitchen chairs, likewise. He couldn’t eat dinner every day with his family sitting on the reminder of his sin.

He moved to the master bedroom and looked at the double bed he shared with Christy, then shook his head. No way was he going to defile their marriage bed with this act. Finally he ended up in the bathroom he shared with her, which was through a doorway off their bedroom so the kids were unlikely to ever use it. His wife hadn’t had time to decorate it before his arrival, but she had unpacked the essentials — a liquid soap dispenser on the sink, a couple hand towels on the rack, the bathmat, and the little piece of carpet around the base of the toilet, all seafoam green.

Perfect, he thought. A place for relieving myself of waste. Of something that shouldn’t be inside of me. A place for bodily functions at their most basic. That’s all this is.

He locked the door and kept the light off; there was more than enough sunlight coming through the frosted glass window over the bathtub. He carefully removed his glasses and placed them on the countertop, avoiding his eyes in the mirror over the sink as he turned to stand in front of the shower. The curtain was pushed all the way to one side to reveal a pastel array of Christy’s shampoos and soaps on the corner shelf; he avoided looking at those too. He turned and sank down to sit on the bathmat with his back to the tub, stretching his legs out. The fiberglass was cold and hard against the thin cotton t-shirt over his shoulder blades. He could smell the faint tang of bleach from the toilet a few feet to his left. Even though the place was spotlessly clean, he felt dirty.

He palmed himself roughly through his plaid flannel pajama pants, impatient to get this over with. Of course he wasn’t hard at all; there was nothing sexy about this setup. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting his chin fall down to his chest. Maybe this won’t work, for real, and I can say I gave it my best shot.

He sat motionless for a few minutes, wallowing in formless self-loathing, until a memory came to his mind from only a few days ago: Rhett emerging in a billow of steam from the bathroom of their shared hotel room somewhere in Indiana, a towel slung loosely around his waist. His wet hair was plastered down and dripping over his forehead and his storm-grey eyes sparkled as he gave Link a grin. “All yours, brother.”

Rhett brought up a second towel and draped it over his head to dry his hair, and for a moment Link could view him unobserved. The muscles in the taller man’s torso flexed under his soft golden skin and the curved ridges over his hipbones drew Link’s eye down to his navel and below. The towel around Rhett’s waist was parted at the side and one of his pale thighs nudged open the gap as he spread his legs slightly for balance.

Link had stared for a few seconds, drinking in the sight like an intoxicating liquor, until he registered an ominous stirring in his groin. He had fled to the bathroom and closed the door, splashing cold water on his face with shaking hands and scolding himself with fierce mental reprimands. He’d taken a good long while on the toilet to ensure his friend was fully clothed by the time he emerged.

As he recalled the memory now, though, he thought about what it would have been like to walk over to Rhett as the man stood drying his hair and run his fingers over that exquisite stomach and chest. He could only imagine how warm and firm — how incredibly masculine — his friend’s figure would be. Instead of the tantalizing, fleeting contact provided by brotherly hugs, he could put his hands deliberately on Rhett’s body and touch what had always been forbidden.

Alone in a different bathroom in the present day, Link felt his cock stir under his hand. He squeezed it as he bit his lip, and his breath quickened as it hardened further. Fine, I admit it, there’s something here. Let’s get this over with then.

He hooked his thumbs over the waistbands of his pants and underwear and shimmied them down past his knees, allowing his legs to fall slightly apart. The bathmat was soft under his bare buttocks and he hoped it had been recently washed. He kept the image of Rhett fresh from the shower at the forefront of his mind, and water droplets gleamed atop the big man’s freckled shoulders as Link fondled himself to full hardness.

He imagined placing his hands on Rhett’s waist for balance as he leaned up to collect the warm liquid from his friend’s chest with his tongue. He imagined running his mouth over the damp curls of chest hair and thought of the soft noise of pleasure Rhett would make in his throat — it was the same noise, in his head, that the man made when he bit into a particularly good hamburger. Link’s desire faltered momentarily as the rational part of his brain insisted Rhett would have pushed him away by now, yelled at him, called him a freak. Shut up, he told it. This is my fantasy, no matter how unrealistic.

He began stroking himself with determination, knowing that if this dragged on too long the derisive inner voice would win out. Not only that, it would physically start to chafe, since he refused to allow himself the luxury of lube. He still clung to the belief that, in order to comfort his conscience, it shouldn’t be that good of an experience. It should be just good enough to get him off, to get this out of his system, and to hopefully never happen again.  

He gritted his teeth as his mental reel played on, entirely absorbed in his fantasy now. Rhett dropped the towel from his hair and put his hands on Link’s waist to guide the smaller man to the bed. His heavy weight came down on Link’s chest and hips and between his legs, pinning him down like the game they used to play as kids, only now Link didn’t have to squirm to hide his erection. Instead he would feel Rhett’s matching hardness rubbing against him as they kissed, and the remaining towel would fall away as Link’s hands grabbed the man’s glorious backside and pulled him close…

Link’s head fell back against the rim of the tub and he squeezed his eyes shut. His lips were parted now, but he did not allow any sound to escape them save for his harsh breathing. Vocalizing his pleasure was still a step too far. He clung to the insistence that this was a purely physical transaction even as his thighs tensed and his back began to arch. His heels pressed into the linoleum as he pushed himself up into his hand. Moisture pricked the corners of his eyes and a sheen of sweat had broken out on his brow.

Thanks to the magic of fantasy, he was now miraculously naked under his best friend as their bodies writhed together. Rhett’s beard teased the curve of Link’s neck as his blunt teeth nipped and bit, his narrow tongue seeking the sensitive divots of the brunet’s collarbones and the notch at the base of his neck. His weight drove the breath from Link’s body with a powerful, animalistic need. His hands ran over Link’s trembling body, caressing his arms and chest before making their way further down.

Link bit his lip to stifle a moan as he thought of Rhett touching him, stroking him like he was stroking himself. The large, rough hand encompassed him easily and knew exactly what to do. He imagined the man’s other arm wrapped around him, fingers splayed between his shoulder blades, supporting him in a firm but gentle embrace as he kissed Link’s breath away.

Back in the present, every motion of his hand set his nerves on fire with pleasure. His chest heaved in shock that it could feel this good alone on a bathroom floor, that he could be so enthralled by a dry endeavor that was supposed to be devoid of any passion or meaning. His hair fell over his eyes and he tossed it back, mouth open and gasping for air, the ropes of muscles in his neck straining with need.

His lips pursed to form a silent syllable — Rhett — as he reached the point of no return, but the first wave of pleasure was crushed under an avalanche of fear. This isn’t right! He snapped back into the reality of what he was doing and his eyes flew open to stare blindly at the ceiling. His hand froze on his manhood and gripped it tightly, trying to stop the dominos that were already falling.

“No, no, no,” he whispered. It’s too good, it’s too much. His panic yanked him back from his bliss like a noose around his neck. His stomach churned with terrifying certainty that this was a mistake even as his hips rocked and his cock spasmed. He watched in horror as come spilled over his fist in a stuttering trickle, his ecstasy only a fraction of what it should have been, his orgasm ruined.  

When the pitiful flow had ceased, he wiped his hand on his pants and turned to his side, bringing his knees up to lean in a half-fetal position against the wall of the tub. He laid his cheek against its cool surface as he fought to catch his breath. A tear rolled down his face and he shivered.  Pathetic. All these sick little fantasies and you can’t even follow through.

His eyes blankly followed the curves of the white porcelain toilet in front of him for an unknown length of time, his mind empty of everything but despair. Eventually his back began to hurt from the twisted position and he uncurled himself with a whimper. He kicked his pants the rest of the way off and clambered to his feet. He turned on the shower and stripped off his shirt as he waited for the water to warm up, leaning against the sink on weak knees. He kept his back to the mirror.

It was only after he’d washed himself clean and stood with his head bowed under the pounding water that he began to notice the difference: the spring that was coiled within him had loosened. He no longer felt wound impossibly tight, ready to snap at the slightest provocation. In fact, he didn’t feel pinched or compressed at all, even when he deliberately pictured his best friend’s muscular shoulders or the way the hotel towel had hugged his backside. Instead, he felt relaxed. He became aware of a warm satisfaction settling gently around his hips.

A smile ghosted across his face, then flitted back and settled into a genuine grin. He took a long, cleansing breath of the steam. Maybe it had worked after all, despite the… anticlimax of it. There seemed to be an emotional satisfaction in crossing this line again for the first time in years. The guilt still hovered at the edges of his mind, but he shoved it away with the thought that maybe this had been all he needed. Maybe now he was free of his sinful desires for good.

Chapter Text

For a long time, it was enough. A few minutes on the floor of the bathroom letting his mind wander over his best friend’s body proved sufficient to set him free of his lust while they worked together on Commercial Kings. Despite long hours and close quarters, they were both so busy that they barely had enough time to eat, sleep, and plan their next episode. Any free time they had was taken up with helping their families get settled into their new lives in Los Angeles. His fantasies left him alone for months and he was grateful.

After years of having complete creative control over the content they created, starring in a television show came with a unique set of frustrations. They both chafed at the restrictions and demands placed on them by the network. When they found out that the show would not be renewed for a second season, Link could tell Rhett shared his mixed feelings about the news. It had been lucrative, to be sure, and it had certainly given them some experiences they wouldn’t have had otherwise, but it hadn’t been satisfying in the way YouTube was.

Rather than move back to North Carolina right away, they decided to stay in California and try making another daily YouTube show along the lines of Chia Lincoln. They called it Good Mythical Morning. While the intimacy of the old days was mitigated somewhat by the presence of the cameraman they hired, spending every day in Rhett’s garage reminiscing about their teenage years brought them instantly closer regardless. The card table they sat behind required them to sit close and they frequently brushed forearms and knees over the course of the show.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Rhett had the idea to add an element of improvisation to the end of each episode by means of a wheel they’d spin to determine a brief activity they’d act out together. And it was this wheel that ultimately spurred Link’s lust back to the forefront of his mind, because sometimes the endings caused them to get closer, even to touch each other on occasion. Scenes such as pretending to die dramatically in each other’s arms, re-enacting the Dead Move (a maneuver Rhett employed as a child to end arguments by physically overpowering Link and lying on top of him), or snuggling together to be Siamese twins all left Link feeling electrified by the brief physical contact.

He loved and cursed the wheel because of the gifts it gave him. He knew it was pushing him back into sinful thoughts, but he was powerless to fight the siren song of them. He craved each fleeting touch, each whiff of the larger man’s heady scent. As the season wore on and his desire grew, he once again confided to Christy that his thoughts about Rhett were becoming overwhelming, and she urged him to try the same method of release. She pointed out that the last time had brought him quite a lot of peace. He tried to protest, but he felt as though he was merely going through the motions for the sake of appearances. It was true that his last attempt had saved him for over a year. If it was a choice between months of awful, explicit urges or a single moment of sinful indulgence… which was better, in the eyes of God? He willingly let himself be convinced it was the latter.

He held out until the end of the first season of GMM, when the sweltering heat defeated the garage’s meager air conditioning and got them both sweating. The subtle smell of Rhett’s warm skin wafted over the space between them and made Link feel lightheaded. His mind was still reeling from their conversation about Rhett wearing a speedo at the pool by the time they recorded their final episode a few days later. After they set the wheel spinning and turned off the camera, they bid goodbye to Jason and the young man headed out.

Rhett came to his side as the shorter man packed his laptop into his backpack. “I think we really got something here,” He said with a grin.

“Mm?” Link was startled for a moment before he realized the man was talking about the show. “Oh, yeah! Yeah, our stats are already twice Chia Lincoln’s.”

“Gettin’ better every day!” Rhett clapped him on the back with a chuckle before heading to the door.

Link followed him out into the bright sunshine, resisting the urge to wrap an arm around the man’s waist as they walked. It was alarming how natural the idea felt; the heat made him giddy and reckless. He was close on Rhett’s heels and almost collided with his chest when the man stopped and turned around. “Hey, wanna get some food?” the blond asked.

The golden light gilded the sweep of the man’s hair and glimmered at the tips of his eyelashes. The azure California sky reflected in his eyes, giving them a bluer cast than usual as they squinted down at his friend. Link paused for a moment, mesmerized by the sight, before he realized just how unusually close the two of them were standing. His eyes flicked down to the man’s mouth — practically unavoidable any day of the week, given it was essentially at eye level — and he involuntarily licked his own lips before he fell back a step.  

“Um, no, I…” Link’s body thrummed with the impulse to close the gap between the two of them and taste that pink, sun-kissed flesh. He took another step back so Rhett wasn’t even within arm’s reach. “I can’t. I need to… Christy and I, we’ve got plans. Sorry.”

The tall man shrugged and turned away, and Link mourned the loss of his radiant gaze. “No problem,” Rhett said cheerfully. “Maybe sometime next week then.”

“Yeah! Definitely. I’ll call you.” Link heaved a sigh of relief as he headed down the driveway to his car. He opened the door and looked over to see Rhett on the front porch of his house, watching him. Link waved, feeling a bit goofy.

Rhett waved back. “See ya soon, brother!”  he called.

“See ya!” He felt Rhett’s eyes on him as he pulled out of the driveway, but didn’t look back.

--

Christy knew the men were wrapping up the season that day and that Link needed the time alone afterward, so she’d scored an invitation to the neighbor’s house for dinner that night. When Link got home and hung his keys on their hook by the fridge, he saw the note on the kitchen counter in her cheerful, rounded script: Took the kids to the Mendozas for dinner and Tangled. Promise we won’t be home before 9:00. In lieu of signing her name, she had drawn a heart.

Link shook his head with a rueful grin. Hey honey, here’s your chance to jerk off about your best friend. Have fun! What a weird life he had. And yet, he couldn’t deny his eagerness this time. It still felt wrong; it still felt unnatural and sinful and like he was cheating on his beloved wife. But after the past few weeks of close quarters with Rhett, it seemed entirely necessary too. He felt a twitch of heat in his groin and dropped a hand to rub absently against the rough denim of his jeans as he once again considered how he wanted to go about the deed.

His wife had turned off the air conditioning when she left, not knowing when he’d be home, and the house was already uncomfortably warm. He fluffed his sweat-dampened purple t-shirt a few times before deciding it needed to go entirely. He pulled it over his head and tossed into the hamper in the bedroom, then took off his tortoiseshell glasses and put them on the bedside table.

It occurred to him that it would be cooler in the basement, which they mostly used for storage and laundry. Perfect. He made his way down the stairs and wove through the stacks of cardboard boxes and plastic bins to the washer and dryer against the outside wall. It was a good ten degrees cooler down here, and the evaporation of his sweat combined with his growing excitement caused goosebumps to prickle the skin of his arms. He rubbed them with his palms a few times before passing his hands over his torso, one across his stomach and the other his chest, his breath quickening as his fingers passed over the hard nubs of his nipples.

He put his back to the washing machine and unbuckled his belt, pushing his jeans and underwear off of his hips. He hopped up to sit on the cold white surface of the machine as the garments fell down to his shins and the belt buckle clattered loudly against the metal door. He kept his shoes on and they, in turn, kept his pants from coming entirely off. Instead, his jeans held his ankles loosely together but allowed his knees to relax apart. He slumped backwards against the machine’s console and put his head against the grey concrete wall. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but it would do. He didn’t plan to be there long.

Something about how his feet were dangling off the floor and the way his ankles bunched together in his jeans made him feel small and vulnerable. It was not a feeling he experienced often in normal life, being a taller than average guy, but it was a frequent sensation around Rhett — especially when the man was in a mood to show off. Link thought back to the arm wrestling they’d done to close the show a few months ago and how the man’s broad hand had engulfed his own. Rhett had gone easy on him, making it look like they were evenly matched for a while, before forcing Link’s hand down to the table effortlessly. He’d stood and roared his victory, red-faced and triumphant, pinning Link’s arm to the table as the smaller man squirmed and looked away.

He could do anything he wanted to me. Link let out a soft noise as he began stroking himself slowly, letting his mind wander further down that path. The episode where the arm wrestling had taken place had also contained Rhett’s description of his hot yoga experience, which in turn spurred Link’s memories of the Commercial Kings segment they’d done on the same subject. When they took an introductory hot yoga class in preparation for making the commercial, Link had lain on his back on the thin foam pad and Rhett had loomed over him with the camera. Moisture had collected on the larger man’s face, trickling through his beard before dripping down onto the brunet below. It should have been disgusting, but instead it was all Link could do not to collect the droplets of sweat with his tongue. He’d insisted they switch positions before anything became too obvious inside his shorts.

As he replayed it in his mind, the two of them were alone in that yoga studio instead. The cameras were gone, but it was still just as hot in the room. Rhett was leaning over him and telling him what to do with his body — instructing him to spread his knees and arch his back, to stretch his arms over his head and lay himself out for the taller man’s appreciative gaze. Link felt a flush come over him as he imagined Rhett’s eyes traveling his body, taking in the smaller man’s arousal with a cold, detached lust.

Rhett stared down from his impossible height and his lips parted in a lascivious snarl Link had never seen on his face in real life. “Touch yourself,” he ordered. “Show me how much you want me.”

Link’s heels pressed into the cold metal machine as his thighs flexed. This isn’t going to be like last time, he admonished himself. You’re going to see this through to the end, no matter how sick it gets. His right hand moved on his manhood as the other traveled over his chest, blunt fingernails scraping lightly through the whorls of hair. He closed his eyes and breathed shakily through his open mouth as the Rhett in his head stood between his friend’s spread knees. The blond leaned forward onto palms on either side of the smaller man’s shoulders, looming over him. Link swore he could feel the heat radiating off of his friend’s body.

“Oh… oh please…” Link whispered, his hardness slick and throbbing now. He paused in his stroking to run his fingers over the head and gasped at its sensitivity. He imagined Rhett’s broad hands on his shoulders, pinning him down to the yoga mat as the larger man’s mouth ran teasingly down his chest and stomach. Link squirmed, begging, until the sensation of his fingertips transformed into the touch of Rhett’s mouth on his cock. He couldn’t stifle the moan that escaped at the thought of his friend’s soft lips and ticklish facial hair moving slowly down his shaft.

It was wrong, but he wanted it so badly. He wanted to be taken like this and forced to enjoy it, allowed to wallow in the carnality of it all without any of the guilt. His mind flashed to a very early episode of Good Mythical Morning when the wheel had caused Rhett to slap him in the face, and his face burned with the memory. He hadn’t been prepared for the sting across his cheek or the way it had rocked his head to the side, but the most shocking thing had been his immediate erection. Now he imagined trying to push Rhett away and receiving another such slap in response. His stomach tightened and he moaned again. I’m powerless. He’s going to do what he wants to me. It’s not my fault.

He heard Rhett’s growl in his ear, low and feral. “That’s right, Linkster. Fightin’s only gonna make it worse for you. Lay back like a good boy…”

He let out a soft whine and moved his hand faster as he imagined his friend’s mouth returning to his cock, his head bobbing relentlessly, lips and tongue tightening around him. Link curled his other hand around his balls, fondling them and pressing his fingertips into the space underneath, thinking of Rhett’s hand there too. His legs twitched with nothing supporting them and the back of his head scraped hard against the concrete. His body arched over the machine and he spread his knees wide, opening himself up entirely to the man in his imagination. Sweat dripped from his temples and trickled down his neck.

“Oh gosh, oh gosh —“ he gasped as his ecstasy grew to a crescendo. He imagined Rhett leaning down with a rough grunt, forcing Link’s cock into the back of his throat until he had taken it all, his beard scraping the top of the smaller man’s balls as he held his pelvis in place, demanding and merciless. Link’s strained voice filled the small basement space as his hips began to jerk. “Yes, yes, ohhhh Rhett—!“ He kept stroking as his come spurted across his chest and stomach, even hotter than his flushed skin. He groaned low in his throat as fantasy-Rhett swallowed it all, squeezing out every drop as if it were his due.

His body fell slack against the washing machine once more as his orgasm subsided, his breathing rapid and shallow. For a few minutes he kept his eyes closed and simply floated with his hands limp by his sides, overwhelmed by pleasure. Eventually he came back to himself and looked down to survey the impressive ropes of white liquid glistening on the dark hair of his torso, then let out a low chuckle. It looked like he’d been saving it up for months. Much better than last time.

He kicked off his shoes and the rest of his clothes, then used his underwear to wipe himself off as he continued to catch his breath. He felt a bone-deep relief underneath the pleasant tingling of his afterglow. The weight had lifted from him once again; the tension of unrelenting desire was gone. He did his best to ignore the voice in his head that quickly re-emerged to fret about what a terrible idea this was, how sick he was for wanting it, how sinful he was to give in.

But now that he’d had his satisfaction, the things he’d imagined Rhett doing to him once again seemed disgusting. Even though he knew, intellectually, that he would probably start wanting them again eventually — because that’s what always happened — he found them repulsive now. He clung to that feeling as he tossed his clothes in the washing machine and started it up, then climbed the stairs in the nude to get directly into the shower. He would cleanse himself of all of this, the whole experience. He’d keep his thoughts pure for as long as he possibly could and hope against hope that this time would be enough to last forever.

Chapter Text

He was wonderfully relaxed through the break and enjoyed the time he spent with his wife and kids without Rhett’s allure occupying his mind. When the two internetainers reunited to kick off season two of Good Mythical Morning, the big man raised a questioning brow at Link’s cheerful demeanor, but accepted the explanation that his friend had had a good vacation. They chatted easily about their respective experiences exploring the family-friendly parts of Southern California culture before settling in behind the GMM desk to film the first episode.

Despite Rhett’s newly sun-burnished skin and habit of wearing t-shirts that stretched tight across his chest, Link was relieved to find himself feeling only platonic affection for him. He knew better than to expect that to continue forever, though, and his doubts were justified when the wheel brought them together again. A few weeks into the season they had to play Mercy, a game most often enjoyed by teenage boys with something to prove. The idea was to clasp hands and squeeze until one man succumbed and begged for relief. As they locked eyes and began the contest, Rhett’s confident smirk made Link’s knees weak.  The smaller man ended up bent forward, his face inches from his friend’s chest, overwhelmed by the strength of Rhett’s hands and unable — or unwilling — to remember the magic word he needed to say to make it stop. A dangerously long time had passed by the time he managed to gasp out his plea for release.

A few weeks after that, the wheel called for Link to be an animal and Rhett a nature documentarian, which led to the larger man leaning close to Link’s face and caressing his shoulder and arm (to demonstrate how the “animal” enjoyed it). The electrifying touch sent Link’s mind spiraling into fantasies about other ways he could be Rhett’s pet. He made up an excuse to leave the studio early that day, worried he’d say something damning if he remained in the other man’s presence.

It continued in this vein throughout the season, with the wheel bringing them together every few weeks as if on schedule. Jason was the one who picked the wheel endings from fan suggestions and he seemed oblivious to the effect they were having on Link’s sanity. Of course both men had the right to veto anything that was going to go on the wheel, but Link didn’t want to draw suspicion by protesting the ones that might require physical contact. Besides, as always, he wasn’t sure he wanted to get rid of those opportunities. Despite the risks, he still craved the fleeting moments of Rhett’s touch.

There were times he wondered if Rhett deliberately interpreted the wheel results in ways that led to physical contact — the nature documentary, for example, hadn’t specifically required it — but he quickly shook off the thought. What possible reason could the man have for doing that, other than wanting to mess with Link in some subtle way? And if that were the case, Link he want to think about it.

Weeks turned into months and the temperature grew slightly cooler, though nothing like autumn back home. Before Link knew it, it was the end of November and they were wrapping up the season. This time, the break before season three would be quite long — a month and a half. It would give them both the chance to fly east for the holidays and spend significant time with their families before they met up in early January to brainstorm ideas for 2013.

As Link packed up his things to leave the studio after their last episode, Rhett approached him and held out his arms. “Best season yet, brother!”

The big man wasn’t usually affectionate, but their growing success plus the prospect of a long vacation seemed to have spurred this rare act. Link stepped into his embrace with his cheek turned against the man’s chest in a position that was both awkward and familiar. He slapped Rhett’s back in an emphatically platonic gesture as he said, “Good work, man.”

The words, “You too,” rumbled against Link’s face. The tall man squeezed him around the shoulders in a goofy bear hug before releasing him, and Link took a quick step back. He grinned up at Rhett in a manner he hoped seemed nonchalant despite the quickening of his heart. He felt a sudden pang at the thought that he wouldn’t see the guy for six weeks. “Maybe we could get together and do gifts for the kids before we fly home,” he suggested.

“Definitely. The gals can coordinate that.”

Link bit back a sigh of relief and forced out a nonchalant, “Cool. See you then, then.”

Rhett flashed him another dazzling grin as Link turned toward the door. “See ya!”

Link drove home with the scent of Rhett’s skin in his nostrils and the whole front of his body thrumming where the hug had brought them into contact. He was eager to claim what he now considered to be his “season finale reward” of some alone time with his imagination. Though his mixed feelings remained, he couldn’t deny that this rare self-indulgence seemed to be helping him function like a normal human the rest of the time. Christy still insisted he should do it if he needed to, and he surely felt the need.  As soon as he was alone in the car he allowed the floodgates of his fantasies to open; by the time he got home his mind was filled with nothing but Rhett, Rhett, Rhett.

The house was empty. Christy had volunteered to chaperone an overnight session of the church youth group that night to celebrate the beginning of Advent, bringing all the kids with her and ensuring Link would have the house to himself for quite a while. He still felt incredibly grateful to her; he was blessed for having such an understanding and compassionate wife. His lips quirked at the irony of using the word “blessed” to describe a situation where he deliberately wallowed in sin.

Once inside, he threw the deadbolt on the front door and put his back to it. He ran his hands through his hair, raking it back from his forehead before trailing his fingertips down his throat, chest, and stomach. His hips rose up into his own touch and he let out a soft noise as he imagined larger hands running over his body. He pressed his palm over the hardness in his jeans and his eyes rolled back in his head. Christ, why does it feel this good to think about him like this? How is it possible to want a man this much?

He had to deal with this immediately before he actually burst into flames with lust. He stumbled on weak knees down the hallway and into the bedroom, unbuckling his belt on the way. Once there, he kicked off his sandals and pushed his jeans and underwear to the floor. He stepped out of them and drew his green t-shirt off over his head, letting it fall. His glasses hit the bedside table with a clatter and he strode naked into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

He wanted to feel water caress his skin; he wanted to cleanse himself on the outside as he purged the filth within. As he waited for the water to heat up, he leaned against the wall and gave himself slow, deliberate strokes. He thought about Rhett’s arms around him earlier that day and wondered what the embrace would have felt like without the interference of clothing. The taller man’s long, lean thighs would be pressed against his as Link nuzzled into the dark blond curls of his chest. He’d be able to take in lungfuls of his intoxicating scent and flick his tongue out to taste his golden-tanned skin.

Link drew his lower lip between his teeth and screwed his eyes shut as a groan rasped through his throat. His back arched on the bathroom wall as he sank into the sensations of his hand on himself, wishing for the weight of his best friend to press against him and hold him upright. He didn’t know how much time had passed before he blinked his eyes open and saw that the room was filled with steam.

He skimmed the curtain aside and stepped into the tub, then drew the fabric closed behind him. He shivered as the jet of water hit his chest and rivulets of heat ran down his chest and thighs like disembodied fingers. The reddened head of his cock stood out straight and demanding under the stream, damning him with the undeniable evidence of his desire.

His mind once more leapt back to the hotel rooms they’d shared over the years, the setting of so much of his temptation and torment. Early on in their travels together they’d worked out a method for alternating use of the bathroom, where Link showered in the evening and Rhett in the morning. It generally worked out fine, but sometimes one of them needed to use the bathroom while the other was getting clean. When that happened, whoever was in the shower was always careful to keep the curtain tightly closed. Not that either of them would be inclined to peek, of course… the very idea was absurd.

Each time Link had heard the door open and Rhett’s cheery greeting echoed through the small steamy space, it had taken all his self control to give a pithy response and focus on continuing to wash himself normally. The thought of Rhett only a few feet away from his naked body had been paralyzing; he could only pray the man never picked up on the tension in his voice as they chatted away.

Back in the bathroom of his own home, he hung his head underneath the stream of water and imagined the faint scrape of the curtain opening behind him. Finally, you’re here. He raised his face into the heat and felt the water caress his closed eyelids. A large presence loomed behind him as his hand traveled back down to his groin. A phantom body pressed into his backside and he moaned softly at the thought of beard-ringed teeth nibbling his earlobe and grazing lightly down the side of his neck.

“Yes, oh gosh…” he murmured as he stroked himself, spurred by the faint sensation of Rhett’s sculpted arms around him. He brought his free hand up to his own throat and pressed his thumb and forefinger into the soft skin under his jaw, feeling his sharp adam’s apple press into his palm as he tilted his head back. He imagined a larger hand holding him in place like this, pulling his head gently but firmly to the side to access the most sensitive spot just under his ear.

His back arched as he sank into the imaginary embrace with a sigh of longing. He paused to dispense soap onto a loofah and drag it across his shoulders and chest, leaving his skin slick with white bubbles. His hand was slippery when it returned to his cock and he imagined it was someone else grasping and caressing him with practiced ease. The clean scent of soap rose from the suds across his collarbones, contrasting with the dirty thoughts filling his mind. He wanted so badly to press himself against another large body, to rub himself along Rhett’s taut skin with shameless need. He would beg the man for his touch, for his mouth, for any and every delicious part of him.

He was already close to the edge, but he couldn’t end it yet. This was his only chance to get this out of his system before the stress of the holidays, not to mention seeing Rhett in a few days’ time, and he had a feeling he needed something more if this was going to satisfy him for six months or longer. He bit his lip and considered his options as he grasped the base of his cock and rolled his balls gently through his fingertips. The idea that sprang to mind seemed like it would be crossing a dangerous line, but the Rhett in his head pressed himself insistently against Link’s back and growled in his ear. He couldn’t say no to this man.

He took a wide stance with his feet braced against the sides of the tub. He began pumping his manhood slowly with his right hand while he dispensed more soap into his left, then reached back and wiped the slippery gel liberally into the crack of his ass. He tentatively spread himself open and rubbed a single fingertip over his asshole. He barely had time to think, This is wrong, don’t — before he had pressed it inside up to the first knuckle.

He let out a shuddering breath of surprise at the foreign sensation. There was so much more to feel there than he’d ever realized. It was also incredibly tight. He kept his fingertip there and moved it slowly around in tentative exploration of the sensitive ring of muscle, breathing shallowly and making soft noises in his throat. He focused on that for a while, taking his time as moved his other hand instinctively up and down on his cock. The heat of the water encouraged his muscles to relax and soon he felt his body’s acceptance of the intrusion.

The new stimulation added a dimension to his ecstasy he hadn’t known was possible. Rather than all the heat focused in his groin, his pleasure bloomed throughout his torso and reached down his thighs. He was desperate for more. He felt wild, devoid of self-control and uncaring of the consequences. He had crossed a line here, he knew, but it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was how good it felt. He shoved his finger in further, up to the second knuckle, and groaned loudly at the pain-pleasure shock of it.

It was difficult to do much at this awkward angle, but he found that wiggling his finger slightly in and out in time with his other hand’s stroking sent him to dizzying heights of bliss. Once he got into a coordinated rhythm he was able to bring his fantasy back to the forefront of his mind, and it was good, so good, to imagine Rhett inside him like this. He tilted his head back and gasped for air as the hot water drummed on his chest. He pictured his best friend’s hands grasping his hips and pinning him down, entering him, possessing him in the most intimate way possible.

“Rhett… Rhett,” he moaned with each breath as his knees trembled and the muscles in his abdomen flexed and strained. “Rhett, please, oh gosh, oh please….” Take me, I’m yours, I’m yours. He felt his muscles loosening more with his arousal and took the cue to add another finger. He pushed them both further in, as far as they could go, and he cried out as he felt a unique agony deep inside his body. The soap added a stinging burn to the fullness in his ass and tears sprang to his eyes before the water washed them away. He faltered for a moment before his hips began rocking of their own accord, thrusting into his hand and back onto his fingers. The two different kinds of stimulation combined to drown him in ecstasy.

In his mind, Rhett pounded into him without mercy or regard for the smaller man’s needs. The larger man growled as he drew close to the edge, demanding his pleasure, animalistic in his lust and power.  Imaginary teeth raked down the back of Link’s neck and pierced the round muscle of his shoulder. As his hand skimmed faster and faster on his manhood, he imagined Rhett’s hands pinning him down with a painfully strong grip. Link had no choice but to submit as the big man held him in place and fucked him with relentless speed. It seemed to go on for an eternity until Rhett finally came inside of him with a deep, throaty snarl.

Link had no sanity left for words, but the keening noise that came from his throat was loud enough to bounce off the tiles. He pushed his fingers as deep as he could get them as he jerked himself over the edge with the thought of Rhett’s seed filling him to the brim. Yes, yes, yes. He braced his shoulder against the wall but it wasn’t enough to keep him upright as his orgasm slammed into him; his knees buckled and stars exploded behind his eyelids. He withdrew his fingers and caught the edge of the tub as he collapsed in slow motion, shuddering and gasping. Thick ribbons of white mingled with the water that swirled down the drain.

He continued to lower himself until he was sitting on his heels with his chest nearly touching his knees. His muscles twitched and come trickled onto his thighs until he was finally spent, and then he hung his head down low over forearms crossed on the slick white floor. Water coursed over him and plastered his hair to his temples and cheeks. He was overwhelmed by emotions that seemed impossible to process — as if the intensity of the experience had short-circuited some vital part of his brain. He was frightened, on a visceral level, by what had just happened, what he’d allowed himself to do and how much he had enjoyed it.  And just as before, now that his lust was gone, his shame came pouring back in to fill the void.

Is that what you want? He demanded. You want him inside of you? He winced at the hot ache that lingered deep within his body and wondered if he’d done permanent damage to his bowels. It’d serve you right. You’re fucked up, you’re disgusting. If he knew you wanted him up your ass he’d puke in your face. He’d never let you in ten feet of him again. And you’d deserve it.

His shoulders hunched and he flattened himself as low as he could go, as if the earth could swallow him up and save him from his disgrace. His chest heaved with gulps of panicked breaths and the water suddenly gushed into his nose and mouth, choking him. He coughed and rolled to his side, and the hard floor of the tub dug into his hip and shoulder. You’re pathetic. Christy doesn’t realize how sick you really are, or she wouldn’t put up with this either. She thinks you’re just blowing off steam but this is much, much worse than that. You’re lying to everyone and sooner or later they’re gonna find out.

He lay there until the water ran cold and his panic exhausted itself into weary resignation. He clambered painfully to his feet and turned off the tap, then grabbed a towel and dried off. On the way out of the bathroom he caught himself in the mirror and stared at his hollow, haunted expression. He’d purged himself of his desire once again, all right, but at what cost? He’d managed to demonstrate that his evil ran even deeper than he’d thought. He scratched at the stubble on his chin and turned away from his own judgmental stare.

He stumbled over to the bed and crawled onto it, kicking the blankets off before sprawling face down and naked. His wet hair clung to his cheeks and dripped down the back of his neck, but he didn’t care. He barely had enough strength left in his arms to reach out and flick off the bedside lamp to plunge the room into darkness. He dove headlong into sleep’s velvety embrace, eager to put the entire experience out of his mind as soon as he could.

Chapter Text

Even though he didn’t want to admit it, as the years went on and their careers accelerated, the moments Link took for himself at the end of every season became the most important ritual in his life. As each half-year of filming GMM drew to a close, he found his mind consumed by thoughts of what he would do once he was alone. Having it to look forward to meant he was able to stay chaste, in deed if not in thought, until the moment he allowed himself to give in… and then he would plunge head first into the fiery crucible of his fantasies until he reached a height of ecstasy that left him spent and sore for days.

Each time he did this, he felt the need to push the envelope — to seek more extreme sensations to satisfy the increasingly demanding images in his brain. After his first tentative foray into penetration, he wrestled with his shame and fear regarding how much he had enjoyed it and ultimately managed to convince himself it would be safer and more effective if he acquired a toy. He found a website that loudly proclaimed its “discreet packaging” and picked out a cheerful bubblegum-pink number not much larger than a finger. When the third season finale came, he was very glad he had it.

His life became a dizzying cycle of joy, frustration, lust, and despair. When he was fresh from “taking care of himself,” he felt like he could handle anything. His desire seemed entirely manageable and there was no danger of it interfering with their success, their friendship, or his marriage. However, sometimes it only took a handful of weeks into the new season for something — like the damned Plexiglas kiss of Season Four — to send his imagination into overdrive and his self-control crumbling. Then the remainder of the season felt like tiptoeing through a minefield, where the slightest touch of Rhett’s hand on his arm might set his skin aflame. And now that they were also recording Good Mythical More, he couldn’t even escape immediately after the wheel ending; he had to sit and pretend everything was fine for another ten minutes or more.

Despite his best efforts, sometimes the tension spilled over into his home life too. He’d find himself being short with Christy or impatient with the kids. He always apologized immediately after, because he knew it wasn’t their fault he had this sickness inside of him; they didn’t deserve to be stuck with a husband and father who wallowed in such filth. Guilt over his treatment of them doubled the weight of self-loathing that crushed his chest and bowed his shoulders on his worst days.

Every Sunday at church he prayed to be released of it. The Sunday after every wheel ending that had Rhett’s hands in his hair or the man’s scent in his lungs, he prayed extra hard. He begged God to give him back the peace he had felt at the beginning of his marriage, when the only feeling Rhett McLaughlin stirred within him was brotherly love. But God granted him no mercy. Instead, the pressure of his desire grew ever greater as the screw turned and the spring coiled. He felt as if he were swinging on a pendulum between ecstasy and damnation, and knew it was only a matter of time before something severed the string and sent him plummeting straight into Hell.

It was halfway through Season Seven, after the one-two punch of pretending to face the end of the world in Rhett’s arms and then seeing the man strut around in amazing high heels the next day, when he began to realize how close he was to the edge of… something. He and Christy were sitting up in bed after the kids were asleep and he broke down and told her he didn’t think he could do it anymore. He was so grateful for her patience and understanding up until this point, but he had to admit—to himself and to her — that it was getting worse. He didn’t see how he could keep working with Rhett while feeling this way about him. Maybe it was time to cut their losses and call it quits.

She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Have you ever considered talking to him about it?”

He turned to her with his mouth agape. “Are you kidding? If I told ‘im… he’d be sick.” His stomach roiled. “He’d… he’d punch me in the face.”

“Oh honey, you know he wouldn’t do that.” She patted his cheek.

He shrugged off her touch. “Maybe not, but he’d sure as heck never wanna see me again.”

She raised a brow. “Are you so sure about that?”

“One hundred percent.”

“He’d be madder if you suddenly stopped workin’ with him and ran away across the country, doncha think?”

“Prolly about even,” he muttered. I’d rather have him mad at me than disgusted by my very existence.

They talked for a while longer and Christy convinced him to hang on until the end of the season, when they’d once again take a few weeks’ break and each fly east to visit their families. Link would get away from Rhett, as usual, and see how he felt afterward. In addition to Christy’s general aversion to uprooting their children again, Link had just sunk a ton of money into building out the new location of Mythical Entertainment; if he quit now, they’d lose everything they’d invested.

The appeal to his frugal side was effective. Link agreed to put aside the urge to flee for now, and try one more time to see if he could dispel these urges for another half year. He felt a continuous cold fire of dread smoldering in his gut, though. He couldn’t shake the conviction that this would all end messily and it would be his fault. He thought about this even as he placed an order the next day from the same adult website, this time for something larger and more… anatomically correct. Might as well go all the way. The thought of using it made him nauseated, and yet he knew that when the time came and he was deep inside the grip of his lust, he’d be desperate for it. When it arrived, he packed it away in a locked briefcase in his closet without taking it out its unmarked box.

--

After Season Four (and his desperate need to deal with his feelings after the newsical kiss) he’d started going to a hotel room after each season finale for his “night of sin,” as he thought of it. It solved the awkwardness of Christy having to take the kids somewhere, with the additional benefit that he didn’t have to worry about memories of his debauchery ambushing him later as he moved around his own house. The hotel rooms were anonymous, clean, and separate from anything else in his life, and he preferred it that way.

He’d chosen a nondescript two-star place an hour and a half’s drive north just outside of Bakersfield. He figured the distance would reduce the chance of him being recognized, though he still checked in under a pseudonym and paid with cash. The concierge probably thought he was meeting a woman there for an affair, he thought, which was only slightly preferable to Link than if the man had guessed the truth.

They had just wrapped up Season Seven amid the sweltering heat of a California July. Now that they had such a large crew, Link couldn’t just run home but instead had to participate in the wrap party and planning session. He was thoroughly distracted, though, and impatient for it all to be over. He barely contributed to the conversation despite Rhett’s gentle prompting. The smell of his friend’s deodorant atop the musk of his skin was taking up all of his concentration. Finally, everyone else went home and it was just the two men in the studio packing up their things. It was almost like old times.

“Everything all right, Link?” The taller man was standing on the other side of the studio kitchen winding up his laptop’s power cord.

Link busied himself with arranging the pens in the pocket of his messenger bag. “Uh… sure, yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“You haven’t seemed like yourself lately. I know you get burned out at the ends of seasons and I totally get that, but you barely said anything today.”

“Sorry. I just… you know, need a break.”

Rhett’s burgundy hoodie was draped over the arm of the couch, abandoned there a few day ago. Link took a quick glance up to see that his friend wasn’t looking before snatching up the garment and stuffing it into his bag. Might want that later.

“Well, lemme know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

You can help by fucking me senseless. Link bit his lip hard, almost enough to make him yelp. “I just wanna go home,” he mumbled.

Rhett regarded him with furrowed brows for a moment before turning to the door. “All right, let’s go then.”

On the drive to Rhett’s house, the big man asked Link if he wanted to get together the next day to plan their next offroading expedition. Link brushed off the offer and said he needed to get stuff done around the house. “Maybe next week,” he suggested.

Rhett looked down at his hands in his lap. “Okay. You just let me know when you’re ready.”

They finished the drive in awkward silence as Link wallowed in guilt over how he must be making Rhett feel. It wasn’t that he was sick of the guy or didn’t want to be around him — it was the exact opposite. But there was no way he could explain it. Better he let his friend think he wanted distance than have him realize the truth.

When they pulled into the McLaughlin’s driveway, Rhett made one last attempt. “Listen, man… if there’s something bothering you, lay it on me. Lemme help.”

Link forced a smile that didn’t feel believable. “Nothing’s wrong, honest. Everything’s cool. Seven million subscribers, dude! What could I possibly have to be unhappy about?”

Rhett’s oyster-shell eyes searched his. “Is it the stress? You sleepin’ all right?”

The smaller man rolled his eyes and looked away. “I’m sleepin’ just fine. Or I would be, if someone would get out of my car and let me go home.”

Rhett’s hand reached out and patted him on the knee a couple times before withdrawing. “Okay, man. Sorry. I’ll stop buggin’ ya.” He opened the door and started the laborious process of levering himself to his feet.

“I’ll text you soon about next week,” Link offered.

“Sure thing, brother.” Rhett shut the door firmly and left Link alone in the silent vacuum of the car. Link watched him walk into his house without a backward glance, and something about the set of the man’s shoulders made him anxious. He knows I’m hiding something. He’s probably known for years. It’s only a matter of time…

Link shook his head and backed carefully out of the driveway.      

--

The following evening, Link checked into the hotel carrying his locked briefcase and a backpack with a change of clothes and his laptop. Once inside the room, he threw the deadbolt and drew the curtains closed, then stripped down to his underwear and put his glasses on the desk. He tossed his things onto the bed and climbed on after them, sitting cross-legged in his camo briefs as he entered the combination to unlock the briefcase and begin his ritual.

He pulled out a pocket-sized portable projector and pair of small speakers and hooked them up to his laptop on the bed beside him. He took out the box he’d received from the adult website and opened it to reveal the new toy, marveling at how large and real it seemed. He wasn’t ready for it yet, though, so he put it, a small strip of blue-foiled condoms, and a small bottle of lube on the bedside table, then closed the case and put it on the floor. From his backpack, he pulled out the burgundy hoodie and held it to his face, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply.

He was immediately embraced by Rhett’s unique scent of deodorant, sweat, hair gel, beard oil, and Cubano Gold cologne. It seemed as though the man never washed the garment, which Link considered to be a blessing. It was all so wonderfully masculine and made his skin feel flushed and his chest tight. He let out a sigh as he dropped his hand to his crotch and rubbed his swiftly burgeoning erection.

It already felt so good, he worried this would be a brief endeavor. Fortunately for him, since getting the hotel rooms he’d rationalized the idea of not just one climax, but as many as he could manage in the span of time he was there. The past few season finale celebrations might have ended up with him a bit more chafed than previously, but he thought it helped the calming effects last longer. Or at least, he reasoned, it didn’t make it any worse, and the exhaustion that consumed him by the end of these sessions contributed to his penance.

But first to set the mood. He folded the hoodie and placed it on the pillow next to his head, still within smelling distance. He switched on the projector and pointed it at the ceiling of the darkened room, then navigated to the slideshow he’d made on his laptop of his favorite pictures of Rhett. Most were selfies taken by the man himself over the past few years, but there were some gorgeous full body shots as well. From cargo shorts to skinny jeans, track suits to tank tops, Link loved how Rhett looked in all of it.

He lay back on the bed, facing up at the images of his best friend projected on the ceiling. Goosebumps sprang up on his arms and legs as his eyes wandered over the man’s chiseled brow, strong shoulders, and pink lips. What is it about him? he asked himself ruefully. Why has it always been him? He reached into his underwear and freed his swollen manhood, stroking it slowly as he stared into his friend’s enchanting eyes.

He picked up the new toy and contemplated it more closely. It was a beige, slightly curved cock with realistic details of ridged veins and a base that flared into an impressive set of balls. Its size was intimidating, but he thought it was roughly accurate based on the glimpses he’d gotten of Rhett over the years — never erect, of course, so he’d had to guess. He grasped the base in one hand and brought the tip of it to his mouth. He pursed his lips and kissed it. He ran his tongue lightly over its fake head and tasted the slight medicinal tang of the silicone, while keeping his eyes on the man above him. What I wouldn’t give to suck your cock, he thought. He shivered with the power of his need. It made him feel low, like an animal. Or like dirt.

He pushed the toy past his lips and felt its hardness fill the cavity of his mouth. It slid against his palate and pressed down his tongue, its coolness quickly warming to his body temperature. The fake veins scraped along his lower teeth and the guilty part of his mind was completely disgusted by it even as his own cock twitched in his hand. Anger flared hot in his chest, directed solely at himself. Look at you. Look how gross you are. You should be ashamed.

The slideshow switched to a memorable Rhett selfie that showed him shirtless with mussed hair as he regarded the camera with a sleepy smile. Link took his hand briefly off of his cock to turn on the speakers, then clicked play on the iTunes playlist he had set up last year. It had taken some effort, but he’d managed to collect all of the voice memos the man had recorded for him over the years, as well as significant voicemails Rhett had left him on his phone. Most of them were about his ideas for songs or skits, but every now and then it was just him rambling about his day or telling a funny story.

Rhett’s rich voice poured out of the speakers and filled the room as Link returned to stroking himself and wrapped his lips tightly around the toy. The first audio track was one of Link’s favorite messages, when Rhett had called him slightly tipsy from a Superbowl party a few years ago. The man was going on and on about how Link should have been there, teasing him in a voice that was slick around the edges.  Link imagined showing up at the party and Rhett guiding him into an unused room, closing the door behind them, and pushing Link onto the bed. The larger man climbed on after him, on top of him, pinning him down with his superior weight.

He thought of Rhett kneeling over him, straddling his chest, kissing him with beer on his breath before guiding his cock into Link’s mouth. Link moaned around the dildo and pushed it deeper, compressing the softness at the back of his throat. It curved downward and stretched him open. He arched his back and thrust his hips up into his hand, opening his mouth wide at the same time and trying to take more of the toy. He squeezed his eyes shut and pushed the back of his head against the pillow, moving the fake cock in and out of his throat and whining softly as the Rhett in his head held him down and fucked his face. His other hand moved mindlessly on his manhood.

After some time at this, the toy brushed the wrong spot in the back of his throat and he gagged. He pulled out the dildo and coughed a few times, grateful he hadn’t had anything to eat recently. Fantasy-Rhett seemed sympathetic, since he climbed off of Link and knelt between his legs instead. He hooked his thumbs over Link’s underwear and pulled them off as Link in the real world did the same, then he positioned his cock between the smaller man’s legs and looked up with a challenging smirk.

The brunet whimpered and writhed on the hotel bed, occasionally catching a whiff of Rhett’s scent from the hoodie next to his head. He knew he should prepare himself somehow, especially since it was the first time he’d be using something so large, but it felt wrong to do so. The more preparation he did, the more it seemed like something he wanted rather than something he was helplessly being subjected to. Besides, he couldn’t lose track of the fact that the whole point of this effort was to purge himself of these desires. Maybe a little pain would help convince his body this wasn’t something it wanted after all.

For that same reason, after he’d unrolled a condom onto the toy, he only allowed himself a little lube on the head of it before reaching it under his left thigh with one hand and bringing it into position between his spread legs. He grasped the base of it and probed his asshole with the tip, gritting his teeth at the immediate resistance he felt. Not allowing himself to hesitate, he shifted his hips to find the best angle and pushed hard. There was only a moment of resistance before the head of the fake cock suddenly popped past the tight ring of muscle and he cried out in shock.

There was a sharp burning pain as the rest of the toy slid into him, filling him up with its impossible girth. By the time its fake balls were flush against his ass, he realized he was holding his breath and clenching his jaw, and he exhaled with a loud, high-pitched whine. The pain was much more than he had expected it to be, and yet he embraced it as he sucked air through his teeth. It should hurt. It should tear you up. It’s unnatural and therefore it should make you suffer. The agony felt like atonement. A sick part of him hoped that he was bleeding.

He’d partially lost his erection in the process of getting the toy into himself, but now he refocused his attention on his cock and stroked it swiftly with the knowledge that the stimulation would take his attention away from the discomfort. Soon it was harder than ever and his hips rocked with his strokes and caused the toy to stimulate the areas deep inside his body. In his head, Rhett was bent over him, holding his knees up and apart in order to thrust into him again and again. The big man leaned down with a growl and ran his mouth over Link’s collarbones, nipping at the sharp protrusions. He raked his teeth along the curve of Link’s neck and bit down on his pulse point as he fucked him relentlessly.

Link held on to the base of the toy and moved it in and out, groaning as it continuously stretched his protesting muscles. Use me, he begged his best friend. Hurt me, break me, take whatever you want from me. The noise of his moans made it hard to make out the words playing on the speakers, but it was something teasing and light. Rhett’s confident chuckle seemed to come from all around him, adding further realism to his fantasy.

He shifted position and arched his back to shove the toy deeper, and cried out at the sudden blaze of ecstasy it caused. “Oh! Ohhhh, gosh—“ His body twitched and shivered and his hair fell down into his eyes. He did his best to rub the head of the toy against the place deep within himself and was rewarded with shockingly strong sensations. His cock was rock hard and streaming precome like he’d never seen before. He decided he would let go of it entirely and focus on the toy in his ass and the images in his mind.

He began moving the dildo in and out again, careful to maintain the angle that hit that wonderful spot, while he roamed his now-free hand over his chest. He rubbed it roughly over his nipples and raked his fingernails down the side of his neck. He thought of Rhett’s hands all over him, grasping and tugging, reaching up into his hair and hauling his head back, and he arched his neck and yielded to it. “Rhett,” he gasped, over and over, “Yes, yes, ohh yes…”

He practically shrieked as he pinched his nipple ruthlessly, imagining Rhett taking it between his teeth, and the stimulation sent a continuous current of pleasure between his chest and his ass. He kept rolling the small nub between his fingers as his hips jerked and a hot tightness began to grow in his groin. His unattended cock stood up straight and glistening as it swayed with each movement of his body. He forced his eyes open to stare at the image of Rhett looking down at him with a knowing smirk — Yes, you’re the one doing this to me, it’s you, it’s you.

He imagined Rhett’s breath quickening into urgent grunts as he spread Link’s knees wide, pinning him down to the bed and slamming into him as he crested his climax. Link barely had time to realize he was going to come without even touching himself before it hit him, a pleasure deeper and broader than he’d ever experienced, seeming to fill up his entire body with uncontainable bliss. His breath caught in his throat as his cock flexed and sprayed wildly across his chest. The second gout spattered across his cheek and into his hair. His eyes were squeezed closed and he was moaning helplessly, still thrusting the toy into himself as hard as he could, and each thrust made his cock spasm and release more of the hot, white liquid onto his stomach.

In his mind, Rhett’s arms were wrapped tightly around him, holding him fast as they both rode out their orgasms. It seemed to go on for an eternity as Link’s muscles rhythmically clenched and released, until the waves finally subsided and his body fell slack and trembling. “Oh gosh, oh gosh…” he whispered, overwhelmed by the intensity of the sensations combined with the deep emotional rush the fantasy had brought. He felt tears gather at the corners of his eyes and didn’t do anything to stop them from trickling down his temples and into his hair.

When he could move again, he carefully extracted the toy and whimpered at the sudden emptiness and fiery pain it left behind. He pulled the condom off and wrapped it in a tissue, then set it and the toy on the bedside table. His eyes stung with sweat and he blinked repeatedly to clear them as he looked around the room in a daze. The projector cast enough light that he could see, somewhat to his surprise, that there wasn’t any blood on the sheets.

That was stupid, he admonished himself. You could’ve seriously hurt yourself. And then, I don’t care, it was worth it. That was fucking amazing.

He was too exhausted to get up and clean off; he wiped himself dry with a section of the bedsheet before kicking the whole thing onto the floor. He rolled to his side and retrieved Rhett’s hoodie. He curled his naked body around it and nuzzled against the inside collar where the man’s scent was the strongest, and it buoyed his afterglow and made him feel safe and sleepy. He threw one exhausted smile at the picture of Rhett on the ceiling — it was one from college, where he grinned shirtless and sweaty under a golden sun after a game of pickup basketball — before turning off the projector.

He reached out an enervated hand to his laptop and switched iTunes to a different playlist. Soft guitar strumming filled the room followed soon after by Rhett’s low crooning. Link had collected a few demos the man had sent him over the years of slower, quieter songs, most of which they’d never deemed catchy enough to develop further. They were perfect, though, for what Link had named his “lullaby” mix. He put the playlist on repeat and closed his eyes, letting himself float on the soothing dips and swells of Rhett’s baritone.

For once, he was so satisfied and so drained that the guilt couldn’t even reach him. Sleep dragged him down into a haze of his best friend’s voice, his scent, his arms. Now that his lust was sated, the feeling that warmed him and extended through his body from the top of his head to the tips of his toes was even more fundamental than sex — it was love.

Chapter Text

He slept deeply in the cradle of his dreams, surfacing just far enough in the middle of the night to realize that something in those dreams had made him hard again. His hands wandered down and he began jerking himself off without ever fully waking up. In his half-asleep mind, Rhett cuddled him tenderly, stroking him with his big hand, pushing him easily over the edge into soft moans and gasps. He rubbed his body languidly against the come-slicked sheets, feeling the warmth of his best friend all around him, and grinned as he nuzzled the hoodie on his pillow and drifted back to sleep.

He awoke midmorning dehydrated and sore. He knuckled the salt from his eyes and groaned, then picked up the receiver of the room’s phone from the bedside table. When room service answered, he ordered a double helping of cereal — they had Frosted Mini Wheats, one of the reasons he kept coming back to this hotel — and a large coffee brought to his room. He pulled on the complimentary white bathrobe before he opened the door, accepted the tray, and gave the young man a generous tip.

He sat cross-legged on the bed and ate the cereal on his lap. As he did so, he pulled up yet another playlist on his laptop, this time of videos that Rhett had made on his own for one reason or other. Most of them were vlogs he had recorded for the channel when Link was not available, but there were a few private videos he’d made for Link over the years too, usually trying out some dumb idea or another. There were also outtakes from times when Link had filmed him for things like Commercial Kings, little clips that he’d saved to his personal collection that the other man no doubt assumed had been deleted forever. Link switched on the projector and pointed it at the blank wall opposite the bed. He’d never opened the curtains so it was still fairly dark in the room, making it his private movie theater.

He put the empty dishes to the side and focused on what he was watching. In most of the videos, Rhett was younger. They didn’t have much occasion to shoot solo videos these days, which Link regretted. He wanted more of Rhett to himself. Still, the man’s sharp features and chinstrap beard of years ago were undeniably sexy. As he admired them, his hand wandered under his robe and began fondling his manhood lightly. I’ve got this room for another five hours, he thought. Why not make this last as long as possible?

He sprawled on the bed with his back against the headboard and his robe open around him and stroked himself slowly as he watched Rhett preen and talk seductively to the camera. Whenever Link teased the man about his “bedroom eyes” on their videos, Rhett always claimed he wasn’t doing it on purpose. That’s you, Rhett. Unintentionally driving people crazy every time you raise that stupid brow. He drank in each swell of muscle and each glimpse of golden skin. He tried his best to get his fill, knowing that once he returned to the real world he’d have to resume averting his eyes from the beauty that eternally sat a foot to his right.

Whenever he thought he was getting too close to coming, he let go of his cock for a while and focused on the videos until his arousal had calmed back down. After an hour of this, there was a low throbbing pressure in his groin that politely asked to be released. After two hours, he was sweating and twitching with every stroke, no matter how much time he gave himself between them. He was at the edge and his body demanded satisfaction.

He added his other hand to the base of his cock, cupping his balls while the other worked the shaft, knowing this would do the trick to finally bring himself over. He had his eyes closed tightly and was moaning Rhett’s name when he was startled by a loud chirping from his phone on the bedside table. He thought about coming now and dealing with the text message later, but it had jarred him out of his rhythm and now his curiosity was enough of a distraction that his cock wasn’t ready anymore. He huffed impatiently at the interruption and leaned over to glance at the screen.

It was from Rhett and it said: Hey, can we talk?

Link rolled his eyes at the universe’s timing. It’s not talking that I want to do with you right now, dude. He went back to stroking himself, but the intrusion of real-life Rhett clashed with the fantasies he was building up in his mind. It was one thing to look at old videos and use them to construct images of the man touching him, but another to be reminded of the present-day man. What would he think of you if he saw you like this? If he knew what you were doing? Link snarled in frustration as his erection faltered.

He was determined not to let his season finale celebration end like this. He deserved one last bit of pleasure before he went back home. He concentrated on the dirtiest images he could think of in order to get himself back on track: Rhett fucking him up against the orange tree in his backyard. Rhett bending him over the GMM desk. Rhett putting him in a blindfold and handcuffs and shoving his cock down his throat.

Link whimpered as his thighs twitched and the heat built up in his groin once again. His breath hitched as he approached the edge for what seemed like the hundredth time… and his phone chirped again. “Dangit!” he cursed, slapping the mattress with his palm. “Should’ve turned it off,” he muttered as he reached for the device again. When he saw the screen, his blood ran cold.

Rhett: I’m in the lobby.

Link’s brain locked up as it scrambled desperately to make sense of the message. Before he could form a coherent thought, the screen scrolled:

What room are you in?

“Fuck, no no no…” Link cast a panicked gaze around his dimly lit surroundings, taking in the soiled sheets, the toy on the bedside table, the tissue-paper-wrapped condom. This can’t be happening! What is he doing here?!

He thought of ignoring the texts entirely in the hope the guy would go away, but realized Rhett had probably seen his car in the parking lot. If Link didn’t talk to him now, Rhett would wait at his car until Link had to leave, and then be annoyed about the delay on top of whatever other reasons had brought him here. The brunet ran a shaky hand through his hair and winced as it snagged on a matted glob of dried come. Before he could agonize about it any longer, he hit dial on his phone and a second later Rhett picked up.

“Hey buddy, how’s it going?” The man’s deep voice sounded carefully lighthearted.

“What’re you doing here, Rhett?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

“Fair enough. But I mean, how’d you find me?”

“I went over your house this morning looking for you. I wanted to talk about how weird things’ve been lately. I’m worried. You weren’t there, and Christy…  I’m afraid I badgered her pretty hard until she told me where you were.”

“And you just decided to drive an hour and a half for a little chat we could’ve had over the phone?”

“It’s bigger than that, man. I tried to have a chat, lotsa times, and you shut me out. Something’s going on with you and I’m not leaving until we’ve talked face to face and you’ve told me what it is.”

The determination in the rich baritone made Link feel hot with nerves. Once the big man got an idea in his head, he latched onto it like a dog with a ribeye. Link sat on the bed in his bathrobe, mouth open and dry as he tried to think about what to say to reassure his friend and get him to leave.

“Rhett, it’s nothing. We can talk about it later, I swear.”

“It’s not nothing! You gotta stop, man. Whatever it is, it’s gettin’ between us and I’m not gonna let it anymore. I care about our friendship too much.”

The man’s voice cracked on the last word and Link’s heart clenched as tears of fear and guilt sprang to his own eyes. “I’m sorry, I promise everything will go back to normal. You really don’t—“

“Tell me your room number,” Rhett interrupted, his voice rough. “I’m coming up.”

“Wait!” Link sprang to his feet. He turned in a circle as he clenched his hand in his hair, face twisted in a panicked grimace. He couldn’t come up with anything that would dissuade his friend, and the tense silence dragged on. Eventually he heaved a defeated sigh. “Okay, um…. I need to shower. Gimme ten minutes?”

“Fine. Then where am I goin’?”

“Ah… Five thirteen.”

“See you soon.” Rhett hung up before Link could reply.

Link flew into a whirlwind. He yanked the sheets smooth and put the clean white coverlet over everything, piling the pillows that he’d thrown to the floor the night before against the headboard. He put the toy and lube into the briefcase, closed it, and shoved it and Rhett’s hoodie under the bed. He threw out the condom and threw the curtains wide, letting in the bright summer sun. The room looked a hundred percent less like a den of sin than it had a minute ago.

He started the shower and jumped in before it had begun to heat up. He scrubbed the rough hotel soap in a quick circuit through his body and hair, feeling the dried come all over himself turn slippery again before it rinsed off down the drain. He scratched at his days-old stubble and decided there was nothing to be done about it.

He was exiting the bathroom while towel-drying his hair when he heard a brusque knock on the door. “One second!” he called. He yanked on a pair of plaid pajama pants and a black t-shirt and raked his hair into a vague semblance of its normal style. He didn’t bother retrieving his glasses from the bathroom countertop before he walked to the door, took a deep breath, and opened it.

Rhett stood on the other side wearing a grey v-necked t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and sandals. His hair was gelled up as usual, but with the more casual, messy shape of his weekend style. His head was tilted down and he looked up at Link from under a raised brow, taking in the man’s disheveled appearance and flushed skin. His gaze ran along Link’s body like an electric current and the smaller man fell back a step under the weight of it as he stammered,  “Uhm… c’mon in.”

Rhett strode past him into the room, wafting the clean scent of skin and deodorant past Link’s nose on the way by. He stopped at the foot of the bed and surveyed the space, taking in the hastily made bed and the projector still sitting on the bedside table. Link followed him and stood a few feet away as he forced a laugh through a diaphragm that was tense with nerves. “So, um… fancy meeting you here.”

“Yeah.” There was no other furniture, so the big man sat down on the edge of the bed with a soft grunt. He skipped any preamble and started right in with, “What’re you doing here, man?”

“Just… nothing, really. Just some work. Research.” He gestured toward the projector, trying in vain to keep his hand steady. The presence of the real man in the room he’d inhabited with the fantasy version was entirely disorienting.

“Why not do it at the studio? Or at home?”

Link paced the room, not meeting Rhett’s eyes because he knew the man could read him like a book. “I guess I… I wanted a new perspective.”

Rhett snorted. “Bullcrap. You could’ve gotten that without going a hundred miles away. What’s going on? You havin’ problems with Christy?” The man’s gaze darted around the room, seeking clues. “You steppin’ out on her, man?”

“No!” Link spun to meet his friend’s eyes, shocked that Rhett would even suggest such a thing. “No, nothin’ like that. Would I have told her where I was going if that’s what I was doing? How can you even…”

Grey eyes narrowed, piercing him like a wriggling insect on display. “Well, for one thing, this whole room reeks of sex. Maybe it’s none of my business, but if somethin’s going on, you’re not doing a great job of hidin’ it. You’ve been actin’ real weird, brother. And so far you haven’t provided any explanation that makes a lick of sense.”

Link’s face burned with shame. He hadn’t even thought of the smell; he’d gotten used to it himself. He chewed his lip hard enough to make it sting. “It’s not… it’s fine. I’m fine. I just needed some time to myself.” He felt like a teenager being interrogated on the floor of his father’s study.

“For research.” Rhett’s mouth quirked doubtfully.

“Yep.”

“Show me.”

“Huh?”

The blond man leaned over to the laptop, clearly intending to call Link’s bluff. “Show me what you were researching. We might as well talk about it while I’m here, then.” Before Link could stop him, the man had found the button to unpause the playlist. A faint image of Rhett appeared on the far wall and his voice emerged from the speakers, slightly softer and with more of an accent than it had now.

“What the…” Rhett stood and strode to the curtains, closing them and plunging the room into twilight. The image on the wall opposite the bed resolved into Rhett sitting alone at their old Lillington studio, speaking cheerfully into the camera.

Link’s knees went weak and he sat down on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. His chest rose in short, quick breaths. What’m I gonna do? How can I get out of this? Three decades of friendship flashed before his eyes and his stomach clenched painfully at the thought of what he might lose today, all because of his carelessness, his depravity, his lack of self-control. He struggled to breathe as he peeked through his fingers to see Rhett standing and staring at the video in confusion.

“Why were you researching old vlogs?” the man asked calmly.

“I’m…” Staring at you for hours. Dreaming of your mouth on mine. Imagining a hundred things you would hate me for wanting. Link grasped for some lie that would explain himself, but for once nothing came to him. His voice caught in his throat and he coughed, suddenly unable to breathe. “I — I can’t —“ His lips tingled with numbness and he couldn’t seem to force any sound through them. His vision started to darken around the edges in an alarming manner and he heard a faint rasping noise coming from his own throat.

“Hey.” The mattress sunk as Rhett sat down beside him. One of the man’s long arms gently encircled his shoulders and the tension in Link’s chest abated somewhat as his body responded to the touch. He took a shuddering breath and the darkness receded. “It’s okay, man,” his friend soothed. “Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad. Just talk to me.”

“It is bad,” Link whispered. “It’s real bad.”

Rhett squeezed him lightly. “Then we’ll deal with it. We always do.”

“There’s no way to deal with it,” Link muttered miserably.

“Tell me.”

It’s over. There’s no way out. Link’s eyes burned. “I just wanted to… to watch some videos,” he mumbled. “Of you.”

The large man chuckled in confusion. “You don’t get enough of this ugly mug the rest of the time?”

Link swallowed hard. “Not when I can really appreciate it.”

He could sense Rhett’s bewilderment in the man’s long pause before he said, “I don’t get it, man. Why’re you being so cagey?”

Link shifted away slightly so he could turn and meet his friend’s gaze. He still had no idea what he was going to say, and when he saw Rhett’s calm expression, open and waiting and devoid of judgment, it crushed him. What can I possibly say? If I run away now, maybe — just maybe — our friendship won’t be destroyed today.

As they stared at each other in silence, the quality of the audio from the speakers changed as the video switched, drawing both men’s attention back to the projection they’d been ignoring. Rhett’s recorded voice came to them in the conversational tone he used when he wasn’t putting on extra enthusiasm for the camera. “Now, you’re gonna keep that a tight shot above the waist, right?”

Link’s voice on the video was louder, close to the mic as if he were holding the camera. “Don’t worry, man. This part’ll get cut out anyway.”

Both men on the bed saw Rhett in a bathrobe grinning into the camera. He turned away and dropped the robe to the ground, and the camera panned down to take in the entirety of the man’s backside. The view lingered on the creamy white skin of his buttocks, in vivid contrast to his golden-tanned back, following it as he climbed awkwardly into the sensory deprivation tank. After he closed the door over his head, Link’s voice in the video said softly, “I’ll edit this one myself, Alex.”

In the present, Link finally escaped his paralyzed horror and lunged across Rhett’s lap to slap the key to stop the video. He knew the next clip was going to be Rhett getting out of the tank, and that had been a shaky full-frontal shot of the man who hadn’t even known he was being filmed. At the time, Link had considered this bit of footage to be one of the prizes of his collection. Now it was his damnation.

He scrabbled away from Rhett and sat on the edge of the bed with his arms wrapped around himself and head tucked between his shoulders. He cringed, shaking and barely breathing, waiting for his best friend to yell at him, or strike him, or storm out of the room without a word. His eyes welled with tears.

He flinched when Rhett’s voice came, even though it was soft enough to almost be a whisper. “Link.”

“I’m sorry,” the words rasped from Link’s strained throat. “I’m sorry, Rhett, please don’t…” Don’t what? Don’t hate me. Don’t leave me.

“So… you got a hotel room to watch videos of me naked.” Rhett’s voice was hard to interpret, but he didn’t sound angry, and that was enough for Link to keep breathing.

“Y… yeah. I mean, no… most of them you’re not naked in. Nearly all of them. That one was the exception.” He was babbling, unable to look at the man sitting next to him.  

“And then what?”

Link pressed the heels of his hands into his wet eyelids and dug his fingernails into his hairline. He wanted to be anywhere else but here. Surely Rhett had already figured out something improper was happening. He wanted to sink into the earth. He wanted to die.

“Tell me, brother. It’s okay.”

“And then…” he mumbled. Oh, hell. It’s all over. It’s the end of the line. “Then I jerk off.”

There was silence for a long while save for the muffled rumble of the room’s air conditioning and the rush of Link’s heartbeat in his ears. Eventually the smaller man’s curiosity got the best of him and he lowered his hands to risk a look at his friend.

Rhett was still sitting on the bed with his upper body turned to face him. The man’s eyes were wide and his mouth was open in an “o” of surprise, but no noise emerged. For once in his life Rhett seemed stunned into silence.  

“You’re still here,” Link observed.

Rhett let out a short laugh as he dipped his head in a nod. “Yep.”

“You’re not even throwin’ up or nothing.”

The big man chuckled again. “You’re very observant, Link.”

“But aren’t you grossed out? Do you understand what I said?”

“I’m not grossed out at all. In fact…” Rhett shook his head and his shoulders shuddered in silent amusement before he seemed to collect himself together. He faced Link with a more serious expression. “Ah… does Christy know?”

“In general, yeah. That I… think about you that way, and then I… take care of it. She suggested it, actually.”

The man let out a guffaw. “She what?!”

“Since I was so distracted by wanting it. Wanting you.” Rhett’s continued lack of disgust made Link feel bolder. “She suggested I take some time every now and then to get it out of my system.”

“So you’ve been doing this for a while?”

Link licked his lips. “If I’m bein’ honest… since high school.” It felt good to be honest.

“High school?” Rhett echoed. There seemed to be a hint of wistfulness in the man’s voice, which didn’t make any sense. “Man, how did I have no idea?”

“I’m a pretty discreet guy until you barge into my hotel room.”

“Dang.” Rhett chuckled. “I’m not grossed out, man, I’m amazed! Not to mention rather jealous.”

Link stared at him. “Huh?”

“The whole thing with the projector, it’s genius. Not to mention getting a hotel room so you don’t have to worry about noise or kids being around or anything. That sounds a lot better. I’ve always just done the quick jerk-off-in-the-shower thing.”

Link’s head spun as he tried to read the man’s quirked brow and the hint of a smile underneath his mustache. He can’t be… “You mean, like… when you’re horny in general?”

“Nah, man.” Rhett’s lips broke into a full grin. “When you’ve been driving me crazy.”

The smaller man’s mouth fell open. “Wait, you…” Rhett raised both eyebrows as the apples of his cheeks stood out atop his amused smirk, waiting for his friend to work it out. Link continued, “You think about me when you…” His eyes darted involuntarily down to Rhett’s crotch and back up to see the man nodding.

“Whenever I get the chance.”

This doesn’t make any sense. Was it some elaborate joke? Or a misguided attempt to make Link feel better about his own depravity? “But what about Jessie, does she…?”

“She knows. Sometimes she lets me do a little roleplay.” Rhett seemed highly amused by Link’s scandalized expression. “She’s a modern woman, man. She knows I’m committed to her but I got these other desires that got nothin’ to do with her. She’s fine with me doin’ what I need to do. In fact…” the man shifted closer, holding Link’s gaze. A warm hand descended between Link’s shoulder blades and a large thumb drew a slow line up the back of his neck. Link’s lips parted as the hair at his hairline stood on end as Rhett continued, “She told me if I ever had a chance to have some fun with you, I should go for it.”

Link’s heart thrashed wildly in his chest. “Re… really?” Christy had said something similar in one of their long conversations about the issue, and Link had laughed it off as an absurd impossibility. As if Rhett would ever be interested…

“Really.”

Link swallowed hard as the room spun around him. “Christy did too.”

Rhett’s fingertips traced the curve of the smaller man’s neck and Link’s eyes fluttered closed. “My goodness, Link,” the big man purred. “How lucky are we?” Link felt his friend shift closer again until the sides of their legs were touching from hip to knee. “I never thought this day would come,” Rhett said quietly. “I had no idea… I never dared hope.”

Desire warred with a childhood of indoctrination and decades of repression. Link’s protests were weak. “But Rhett… we’re not supposed to feel this way. It’s wrong for men to… for us to want…”

“You don’t still believe that bull, do you?” Rhett’s lips tickled under his ear and Link let out a soft, involuntary moan. “Does it feel wrong?” the big man rumbled.

“No,” Link breathed, letting his head fall to the side. “It feels wonderful.”

Rhett’s hand was above his knee and his fingers traced small circles on the inside of Link’s thigh. “The only thing wrong about this,” he said firmly, “is how long it took us to figure it out. All that time fantasizing about each other when we could’ve been making it real.” He planted slow and deliberate kisses down the side of Link’s throat.

The smaller man shivered, drunk with desire and disoriented by a conversation he’d never thought possible in a million years. “Oh, Rhett…” he whispered. “I was so scared. I thought you’d hate me if you knew… what I wanted.”

Rhett’s hand rose to cup the side of Link’s cheek, turning the man to face him. The brunet blinked up into heavy-lidded, turbulent grey eyes. “I could never hate you, Link. I love you. I have since high school, if not earlier. I figured we’d never be more than friends and I was okay with that — heck, our friendship is freaking amazing! But now that I know you want more… nothing could make me happier than giving you everything you want.”

With that, Rhett leaned in and pressed their lips together and suddenly it was all real. Rhett knew his secret and the world hadn’t ended, and even more important than that, Rhett wanted him too. Link let out a soft sob of relief and joy as he flung his arms around his friend’s shoulders and returned the kiss with all the passion in his body. The sensation of the man’s soft mustache against his skin was delicate and warm and so, so real. Rhett’s fingers twined into his hair and he guided Link’s head to the side as their lips parted in unison. Both men moaned as their tongues met in delicate exploration. The musky, masculine taste of Rhett’s mouth surged through him like wine.

They kissed until it no longer felt like a first kiss. It became a kiss of affirmation, a clarion declaration of yes I want you and yes this is good and yes, yes, yes. Rhett shifted further onto the bed and lay back, pulling Link with him as he swung his legs up to lie down. Link crawled over him and straddled his hips, not breaking the kiss. When he lowered himself to press their bodies together, his own hardness met Rhett’s and both men groaned.

“Link,” Rhett said thickly. “I can’t believe it. I never knew you wanted me like this.”

The smaller man let out a breathless laugh.”How could you not tell? I’m always staring and getting tongue-tied around you.”

“I figured you were just being weird.” Rhett had one hand in Link’s damp hair and the other ran up the inside of his shirt to grasp the brunet’s shoulder, enveloping him in his embrace. Link leaned on his elbows to either side of the other man’s head, fingertips playing with his hair and running down the sides of his neck as they kissed. The taller man lifted his chin and Link took the cue, kissing his way down to the soft skin of Rhett’s throat just beyond the crisp edge of his beard line.

Rhett made appreciative noises as Link’s teeth scraped over the swell of his adam’s apple and nipped at the thick muscle along the side of his neck. Link rocked his hips, dragging his clothed crotch along Rhett’s, and grinned as he heard a quiet groan. Both of Rhett’s large hands were under Link’s shirt now, palming his ribs as the smaller man’s chest rapidly rose and fell. The heat of Rhett’s body combined with his own arousal was enough to make him break into a sweat.

His mouth returned to Rhett’s as the other man’s hands moved slowly downward, grasping his waist for a moment before his fingers slid under the waistband of Link’s pajama pants and underwear. Rhett’s long arms made it easy for him to continue further until he was cupping the brunet’s bare ass in both hands underneath the clothes. Link let out a desperate whine as Rhett squeezed the tense muscles, his fingertips tantalizingly close to very sensitive areas. Rhett used the leverage to grind their bodies together, rubbing Link’s crotch against his own, guiding the smaller man’s hips into a regular rhythm that caused Link’s arousal to flare. He felt a spot of slippery dampness spreading in his underwear.

“Rhett—“ he broke off the kiss to gasp. “I can’t — oh gosh, it feels too good!”

Rhett’s face was flushed as he grinned up at his friend, looking proud of himself. “I didn’t think you’d be quite so easy to get off with a little dry humping,” he chuckled.

“You don’t get it,” Link panted, hips rocking involuntarily. “I was at it for two hours this morning. I was ready to come when I got your text.”

“Wow, that’s hot.” The blond man grinned as he leaned up to kiss Link’s mouth, then continued to do so in between every few words. “I love the idea of you… lying on this bed… watching videos of me… touching yourself…” He began to push Link’s pants down his thighs. “I wanna see how excited you are.”

Link lifted his knees one by one to allow the man to remove his lower garments and toss them to the floor. He tried to maintain the kiss, feeling suddenly self-conscious despite the dim lighting in the room, but Rhett’s hands gently grasped his hips and directed him to sit up. Rhett gazed down at his friend’s manhood and his awestruck expression sent a thrill across Link’s flushed skin. “Nice,” he murmured.

“Thanks,” Link muttered, sarcasm failing to hide how good the compliment made him feel. He shifted back and reached down to Rhett’s waistband. “Fair’s fair.”

He unfastened the man’s jeans and began to tug them down his hips. He rose up on his knees for clearance and Rhett helped him work the tight denim down and off along with his underwear. When Link sat back down on Rhett’s thighs, they were both naked from the waist down and the sensation of Rhett’s warm skin underneath him was delicious. Link stared down in wonder at the man’s erect cock inches from his own, arising in a graceful curve out of neatly trimmed light brown hair. He had, in fact, underestimated it. “Wow,” he breathed.

Rhett sat up slightly and pulled off his shirt, then helped Link off with his. After they were fully nude, he pulled Link’s upper body back down to his. Rhett’s chest hair rubbed against Link’s hard nipples and the smaller man let out a soft whimper. Rhett’s hands returned to his ass, this time guiding him into a position that pressed their cocks alongside each other between their stomachs. Link let out a shocked groan at how amazing it felt for his manhood to slide against the hot, velvety skin of Rhett’s. “Oh gosh, Rhett,” he murmured. “This feels so good.”

“Mmm, yes it does.” Rhett’s skin was electrifying; every point on Link’s body that touched it was aflame with lust and need. The reality of being with his best friend made even the most intense of Link’s fantasies seem pale and thin by comparison. Link wanted to melt into him, to touch him with as much of his own body as possible, to drown himself in the incredible feelings that seemed to reach inside and caress his very soul.

He closed his eyes and arched his back, gasping as Rhett’s mouth explored his throat with a messy hunger. He propped himself on his palms to either side of Rhett’s shoulders and focused on the rhythm of his rocking hips, letting the other man’s powerful hands push and pull their bodies together. He was swept along helplessly in the flood of his desire, riding the crescendo of sensations to their inevitable conclusion. He was dimly aware of Rhett’s own breath quickening, soft noises of pleasure escaping his lips every time Link’s cock slid down to the base of his own and thrust back up beside it. The space between them grew slippery as their sweat and precome mingled together.

Rhett increased the pace, practically grinding Link into him and grunting with the effort. The pressure was almost painful, but Link was so close to the edge that any sensation just added to his pleasure. His thighs started to tremble and he buried his face in the crook of Rhett’s neck, muffling his moans against the man’s flushed skin. “Oh gosh, ohhhh gosh, Rhett, please please I’m gonna—“

Rhett’s teeth scraped the sensitive shell of his ear. “Yes, mmm, yes, come for me, brother…” The big man lifted his own body, pushing up against Link’s manhood, forcing them together in a frenzy. Link teetered on the edge for a long time before his orgasm finally seized him in an iron grip of ecstasy. His hips jerked as he let out a high-pitched, wavering cry. He felt his come spill out between them and coat their stomachs in luxurious heat. He shuddered and moaned as his muscles spasmed in the endless rolling waves of pleasure.

Lost in the encompassing universe of his bliss, he was only dimly aware of Rhett’s hands still on his hips, still guiding him in a merciless rhythm. Rhett’s hands tightened further, bruising the bones as the larger man thrust wildly against him. The new slipperiness of Link’s come made everything feel hot and slick and perfect. Finally, Rhett let out a low, rough groan as he released his own contribution to the mess between them. The man’s deep noises of pleasure made Link shiver and twitch in his aftershocks.

Link planted a trail of shaky kisses along his friend’s shoulder and neck and cheek until his face was back directly over Rhett’s, and then he pressed their foreheads together with his eyes closed and lips parted in exhaustion and astonishment. Rhett’s hands caressed his back lightly, the fierce power of the man’s lust having melted into tenderness. He murmured soft sounds, mostly unintelligible, but every now and then Link made out his name. The mingled evidence of their pleasure spread across Rhett’s stomach and began dripping down to the sheets, unheeded.

Eventually Link gave his friend a deep kiss and clambered off of him, wincing at the soreness in his knees. He collapsed onto his back and Rhett snaked an arm under his shoulders and held him loosely. Both men lay on their backs and stared up at the darkness of the ceiling as their breathing slowly calmed.

“Wow,” Link murmured. “Did that really just happen?”

Rhett dragged the fingertips of his free hand through the cooling stickiness on his abdomen and chuckled. “I’m pretty sure it did.”

Link knew he should be worrying —this wasn’t going to be as simple as sex — but the endorphins coursing through his body made his thoughts hazy. It was as if he were suddenly living in a different world than the one he woke up in that morning, and he didn’t want to make any sudden movements lest he break the spell. But after a few minutes of comfortable silence, he ventured, “So… what happens now?”

Rhett stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling. “I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty hungry.”

Link delivered a playful smack to the man’s shoulder. “That’s not what I mean and you know it, doofus.”

Rhett caught his hand and held it as he turned to face him. His eyes were deep dilated pools and his expression was warm and open as he pressed the back of Link’s hand to his cheek. “What happens now is… we go on with our lives the same as before, only now we get to have fun together instead of just wishing we could. At least, I hope that’s what happens.”

Link ran his tongue between his lips. “I… I hope so too. I would really, really like that. But our friendship? Do you think…”

Rhett kissed the back of his hand. “I love you, Link. That’s not new. That’s not because of… this. We’ve loved each other since we were kids, right?” He waited for Link’s nod before continuing. “So now we have this too. We have everything we had before and now we have this too. And even what we had before is better now because we’re not keeping secrets.”

Link turned his hand and cupped Rhett’s cheek, curling his fingers into the man’s warm beard. “You’re right. You’re always right.” He leaned in and the other man met him halfway in a tender kiss. Rhett always had more confidence in their future, and right now Link was willing to embrace that confidence wholeheartedly. When they broke away, the smaller man took a deep breath and centered himself. “What do you say we get cleaned up and find some food?”

Rhett’s hand ran down Link’s ribs and clasped his waist. “Sounds good. But since we’re being honest now… I have to say I’m looking forward to the getting clean part even more than the food part.”

Link slid to the edge of the bed and got to his feet. He turned and smiled when he saw Rhett gazing at his backside in open admiration. He sauntered toward the bathroom slowly, being sure to give his friend a good view. “C’mon, then.”

Chapter Text

Their shower took twice as long as it should have, because they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other despite neither of them being quite ready for another go. Instead, their caresses were gentle wonderment accompanied by good-natured ribbing and animated conversation. Teasing each other about their mutual (and until now, assumed unrequited) crushes was the superficial sheen atop an undercurrent of reassurances that this whole thing was really happening and their friendship was still okay. By the time they were dried off and dressed, Link’s worries were washed away and he was bubbling over with happiness.

He was reluctant to leave the safe cocoon of their hotel room, though. “What do you think of staying here tonight?” he suggested.

Rhett was sitting on the bed putting on his sandals and he looked up at Link with a lopsided smile. “Mm, that sounds nice. I gotta call Jessie, but it should be fine.”

“Oh shoot… I should check in with Christy too.” Link felt a flash of all-too-familiar guilt at the realization that he hadn’t thought of his wife since Rhett had entered the room. “She’s probably worried sick after sending you here.”

The big man nodded. “We should tell them what’s going on.”

Link chewed his lip as anxiety twisted his stomach. His first instinct was to say No, can’t we just enjoy this for a little while without dealing with all of that? But he had to show Rhett he was an honest man. Even more important, he owed it to Christy for the trust she had placed in him. “Yeah… you’re probably right. I know they theoretically gave us permission, but…” He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. “I hope they didn’t just say that because they thought it could never happen!”

Rhett chuckled. “Jessie’s sure gonna be surprised, but I think it’ll be okay.”

Link thought back to the strain his secret had put on their marriage, and Christy’s frequent exhortations to talk to Rhett and work through his feelings. He was nervous about telling her the details, but tried to be optimistic that she would take it well. Rhett offered to go outside and get some air while they made their respective phone calls in order for them both to have privacy. He gave Link a quick kiss on the cheek before turning toward the door. “See you soon,” he said.

Link caught his hand and pulled the man into a tight hug. “You’re not gonna disappear after you walk out that door, right?” he whispered into the soft grey v-neck.

Rhett stroked his hair. “I promise I won’t, Link.”

“And we’re gonna make it work.” He tried to sound more confident than he felt.

Rhett nuzzled the top of his head. “We are. Just have faith.”

Link took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he watched his best friend head out the door, then pressed the button for Christy’s cellphone. His wife answered halfway through the first ring. “Link? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah! Everything’s fine. Good, even.”

“Oh, thank goodness! I was so worried after Rhett left. Is he there? Did you guys talk?”

Link gave a nervous chuckle as he paced the room at the foot of the bed. “He’s here, yeah, but he’s out of the room right now. We did talk, and, um… turns out he… “ Link laughed again. The conversation felt like walking on an alien landscape. How do people even talk about this kind of thing? ”Well, he’s not quite as straight as I thought.” He felt a goofy grin stretch his face. “He’s not straight, and he’s attracted to me.”

The silence on the other end stretched long enough to make Link’s heart stumble, and he realized with horror that he might have made a terrible mistake in doing anything with Rhett before talking to his wife. What if she didn’t mean it when she said it’d be okay? “Ch… Christy? You there?”

“Oh!” She seemed to be recovering from speechlessness. “Oh wow, baby.” Her voice was now carefully controlled under its melodious drawl. “That’s… quite a shock!”

He swallowed. “Are you… is it… okay?”

There was another long pause, then her response came slow and thoughtful. “I think so. I’d always wondered if maybe, you know, that was the case with Rhett… but you were so adamant that he’d never be interested that I just never thought… It’s a lot to get my head around, is all.”

“Same here, honestly. Umm…” he cleared his throat. “So we figured out that part, that there was mutual attraction… and then we… uh, we fooled around a little.” He winced. “But only because you and Jessie said it was okay!”

She let out a high-pitched laugh of surprise. “Oh! Jessie’s okay with it too, is she? Wow, darlin’, you fellas move quick!”

His cheeks were warm. “Well, I mean… once we realized we’ve both kinda been workin’ up to it for twenty-five years or so…”

He could hear the smile in her voice and it soothed the tension in his shoulders. “When you put it that way,” she said, “I guess I can’t blame you. So… how was it?”

His mouth dropped open and he stuttered a bit. “Are you… do you really…? Um, g-g-good. Real good. Entirely different than with you, I mean, obviously… but nice. Super nice.” He giggled, feeling like a schoolgirl sharing details of hooking up with her crush.

She laughed. “That’s wonderful, honey. I’m mostly teasin’ you though.”

“You’re not… weirded out? Grossed out?”

“I don’t really wanna hear the details, but… so long as you’re safe and you fellas treat each other well, I’m happy that you’re happy.” She paused. “And so long as you don’t decide that you don’t need me anymore.”

There was still a smile in her voice, but Link could sense the tension underneath and hastened to reassure her. “Never! That’s never gonna happen, baby. What you and I have, and I guess what Rhett and I have now… they’re totally separate but I want them both.” His voice roughened. “I need them both.”

“Oh, Link. I hope this means you can be at peace with that part of yourself now.”

He sank down to sit at the foot of the bed, clutching the phone to his ear as gratitude washed over him. “I hope so too. I don’t know how it’s all gonna shake down, but I think… if we can explore this thing every now and then… not do anything that interferes with our marriages of course, nothing that would weird out the kids… we’ll figure it out as we go along. I think it could be really, really good. But only if you’re okay with it.”

He could tell she was still digesting the news, but her response was confident. “Just promise me one thing,” she said.

“Anything!”

“Keep me in the loop. Talk to me if you think there’s gonna be a problem or if something happens with him you can’t handle. I don’t want there to be any secrets.”

He nodded vigorously. “Of course. I’d never keep anything from you.”

“Okay, then.”

Link sat smiling for a moment, waiting to see if she had any other stipulations, but the conversation seemed to have drawn to a close for now. He still felt like he had a million things to tell her, but thought it best to wait until they were talking in person. Instead he asked her, “Would you mind if I stayed here another night? I wanna make sure Rhett and I are okay. We could use some more time together… this is all so new.”

“Um…” he could picture her with the vacant expression she had while scrolling through her mental day planner. “Yeah, that should be okay. We were gonna work on some science projects tonight. Just be home by tomorrow afternoon, huh? Maybe we could have the McLaughlins over for dinner.”

“That’s an awesome idea! If you think it’ll be okay.”

“I think it’ll be lovely,” she said. “I’ll make your favorite casserole.” And just like that, things felt normal between them. They were still a team, no matter what their extracurricular activities might be.

“All right, then,” he grinned. “I should go, we’re gonna go get a late lunch. I’ll call if anything comes up. Tell the kids I’m sorry I won’t be home to tuck them in and promise them a bedtime story from me tomorrow, huh?”

“Will do, hon. See you tomorrow.”

“See you then. And Christy?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for being so wonderful.”

She laughed. “You’re welcome.” There was a pause, and then she laughed again. “Oh, look who’s calling on the other line — it’s Jessie!”

Link laughed too. “I guess you should take that. You gals don’t make fun of us too much, okay?”

“I can’t promise anything.”

He blushed. “I guess we have it coming.”

They said goodbye and Link grabbed the room key and went downstairs. He stopped by the front desk and had them extend his reservation for that night, then went outside to find Rhett leaned against his car in the parking lot. His heart fluttered at the sight of the man’s legs splayed casually apart in his skinny jeans and the muscles of his shoulders straining the confines of his shirt.

Rhett had been looking at his phone, but he put it away when he saw his friend approach. Link wanted to take the man’s hand and lead him back up to the room then and there, but he settled for stepping up between Rhett’s feet and putting his hands on the blond’s warm waist. “Hi,” he said shyly.

Rhett grinned down at him. “How’d it go?”

“Wonderfully. I mean, she was pretty shocked at first, which is to be expected I guess. But I told her everything — in broad terms at least — and she’s okay with it. She’s happy for us and seems pretty confident we’ll be able to make it all work. How’s Jessie?”

“Thrilled we finally figured it out. She offered to call Christy and work out some sort of time-sharing system. Sounds like we’re gonna get some more childcare duties in exchange for alone time.”

Link laughed. “We picked the right women, man.” He leaned up on his toes to give Rhett a brief kiss, forcing himself to stop before they could get carried away. “We’re all set to stay here for another night, if you can.” At Rhett’s nod, he beamed. “Where do you want to go for food?”

The other man’s large hands rested on his bare forearms, gently rubbing the muscles with his thumbs. “I saw a Japanese place a few miles down the road. Looked decent.”

“I’m game.”

They got into Rhett’s car and drove to the restaurant, holding hands in the space between them the whole way.

--

They made small talk while they ate, trying to avoid getting into too much detail about their new relationship just let. Rhett even managed to get Link to try a few new things, which the smaller man did only because he knew it made his friend happy. That, and he discovered he enjoyed it when Rhett carefully fed him small pieces of things with his chopsticks. It was so much fun he even savored the chewy piece of octopus flesh that Rhett laughingly pressed between his lips. They shared a small bottle of sake that was cloudy and smooth and made Link’s knees feel cheerfully weak, especially given he was responsible for drinking two-thirds of it because the other man would be driving them back to the hotel.

It was still early in the afternoon when they returned to the room. Housekeeping had visited in their absence and the sheets on the bed were crisp when Link sprawled across them, giddy and loose. Rhett grinned as he sat down near the foot of the bed and pulled the brunet’s feet into his lap. Link watched with heavy-lidded eyes as Rhett wiggled the smaller man’s Mythical Shoes off of his feet and peeled off his socks. He purred softly as the man’s large hands caressed his bare feet, stroking the sparse hair on their backs and kneading the small muscles.

“That’s nice,” he murmured. Rhett’s warm touch soothed him despite the slight tickling of it. He found himself drifting off to sleep under the man’s skillful hands. He was dimly aware of the same hands removing his glasses, then returning to unfasten his jeans and tug them down his hips. A blanket was pulled up over him in his t-shirt and underwear. He made a soft noise of happiness when he felt a similarly-dressed body curl up beside him. He heard the television switch onto the quiet sound of some TV drama and felt Rhett’s arm around him and soft lips pressed into his forehead before he succumbed entirely to sleep.

He woke after what felt like a short nap with his face curled into Rhett’s side and his knees tucked up against the man’s thigh, feeling less tipsy but still quite relaxed. Rhett felt him stir and leaned down to him, nuzzling into his hair. “Feel better?” he rumbled.

“Mmm.” Link flung an arm over the other man’s waist and squeezed. “You shouldn’t’ve let me sleep,” he slurred. “I don’t wanna sleep away the all time I have with you.”

He felt Rhett’s chest rumble as the man chuckled. “I think you needed it. Plus, I haven’t gotten to hold you while you slept since we were kids. I missed it.”

“Me too.” Link stretched his legs down, feeling his shins move against the soft hair on Rhett’s thighs. The other man switched off the television and set the remote aside, then turned onto his side to face his friend. He put his arm around Link and shifted closer until their chests were in contact, swinging his leg over Link’s to intertwine their lower limbs. He pulled the smaller man against him and their mouths met in a gentle, leisurely kiss.

“This is even better, though,” Rhett said when they parted.

“Mm, agreed.” He ran his hand down the larger man’s back, feeling the vast, flat expanses of muscle just underneath the warm t-shirt. Rhett made a low purr and closed his eyes, and Link leaned forward to sneak another kiss. He meant it to be quick, but Rhett followed him as he pulled away, deepening the kiss as his hand snaked up into the brunet’s thick hair. Link let out a soft moan as he yielded to the gentle pressure and tilted his head back. Rhett’s teeth raked lightly along his jawline and down the side of his throat, making the skin tingle. He felt safe and protected inside the large man’s embrace, and at the same time there was a shiver of danger at the thought of how easily Rhett could overpower him if he wanted to. The coiled strength in the man’s limbs made his heart race.

Rhett’s mouth returned to his and they resumed kissing, their movements languid and unhurried, still facing each other on their sides. Link couldn’t remember when they last had so much time alone together to simply enjoy each other’s company — and of course the kissing part was entirely new. He wanted to savor every moment and sensed the other man felt the same, so they took their time learning the best ways to fit their lips together amid the foreign landscapes of beard and stubble. Rhett’s tongue was long and pointy and caressed Link’s wider one with confident skill. It did not surprise Link to learn his best friend was an excellent kisser.

He did his best to keep up, employing his own tricks with his strong, mobile lips and feeling proud of himself every time Rhett made an appreciative noise. At times he slid his mouth down the man’s neck and set his teeth gently at the notch of his throat, nipping at the soft skin, and smiled when Rhett gasped and tightened his arms around the smaller man.

Eventually they both began to get uncomfortably warm, even though they’d already kicked the sheet off onto the floor. Rhett grasped the bottom of Link’s t-shirt and lifted it up over his head, sending it to join the sheet. He did the same with his own and then they were wearing only their underwear — Link in his favorite camouflage undies and Rhett in turquoise boxer briefs. Rhett had rolled onto his back to remove his shirt, and when he made to face Link again, the smaller man gently pushed his shoulder back down to the bed. He climbed atop Rhett and straddled him, grinning down as his hair fell in a dark shroud around his face.

“Hi, Rhett,” Link said.

“Hi, Link.”

Link chewed his lower lip. “I still can’t believe this is real. I mean, like… are you sure I’m not dreaming?”

Rhett rolled his hips and Link felt the man’s arousal press into his undercarriage. “Does that feel like a dream?”

“Better than any dream I’ve had, that’s for sure.” He leaned down and kissed the other man as he shifted his lower body, bringing their crotches together and rubbing himself on Rhett with a teasing lightness. The sensation of the man’s growing erection made him lightheaded with desire.

Rhett’s hands caressed his bare back before travelling lower, cupping his backside firmly. “Have I ever told you you’ve got a great ass?”

The brunet giggled. “Not that I can remember, no.”

The other man gave him a squeeze. “Well you do. Since you started wearing those skinny jeans, every time you get up from the GMM desk I have to remind myself not to look, usually after I’ve already looked.”

Link rocked his hips, flexing the muscles underneath the man’s hands. “I’m glad you like it,” he breathed, pushing himself further against Rhett’s crotch. Both men made soft noises at the pleasant stimulation. The brunet began kissing his way around the vast expanse of the other man’s chest, marveling at the softness of the dark blond curls and the faint, clean scent of his skin.

He moved back further, straddling Rhett’s knees in order to nuzzle his way down to his friend’s navel. He knew the man was ticklish, but he still wasn’t prepared for the high-pitched giggle that burst out of him when Link’s stubble scraped the skin of his belly. Rhett tried to push him away but Link laughed and fought back, clutching the man’s hands in his own as he continued to tickle him with his face.

“No, no, no —!” Rhett laughed breathlessly, legs bucking under Link’s weight. His struggles suddenly ceased when Link ducked further down and ran his lips tentatively over the bulge in the man’s underwear. The big man made a soft noise of surprise as his cock twitched and his hands relaxed in Link’s grasp. “Oh, mmm….”

“Like that better?” The smaller man murmured, letting his breath warm the turquoise fabric.

“Mmhmm.”

Link gently drew his teeth along the growing hardness, feeling the faint outline of Rhett’s manhood become more distinct. He kissed where he deduced the head to be, pursing his lips against the intriguing texture, and heard the other man let out another soft noise. He looked up through the curtain of his hair to see Rhett regarding him with hooded eyes and parted lips.

Link released Rhett’s hands and hooked his fingers over the waistband of the man’s briefs, raising an eyebrow at the blond. Rhett bit his lip and lifted himself up slightly, giving the go-ahead. The smaller man scooted back and got to his feet at the foot of the bed, then slowly drew Rhett’s underwear down and off and dropped it to the floor. He nudged the man’s legs apart and crawled back onto the bed to kneel between them.

He looked down at his best friend, now completely naked and spread out in front of him, and his heart raced with runaway desire. “You have such an amazing body,” he murmured. “So strong, so… big.” As Rhett grinned bashfully at the compliment, Link ran his hands from the man’s chest down to his hips, then carefully wrapped his fingers around the base of Rhett’s cock. The blond man’s breath immediately quickened, but he kept his own hands at his sides, waiting to see what Link was going to do.

Link grasped the shaft lightly and stroked upward, handling Rhett’s manhood much more delicately than he did his own. He moved his hand slowly up and down, mesmerized by the heavy warmth within it. He looked up to see Rhett leaning back on the pillow with his eyes closed. He watched the man’s chest hitch every time Link’s hand moved, and it gave him a wonderful sense of power. He was doing this. He was giving pleasure to the man he loved.

Link bent down, folding himself over his knees. He splayed his left hand across Rhett’s hipbone to steady himself before bringing his lips to the head of the man’s cock. He heard a long, shuddering inhalation as he curled his plump lips over the hot, velvety flesh. He ran his tongue around it, tasting skin and faint saltiness, exploring his own reaction to the reality of what he had only previously dreamed. The dense, living fullness against his mouth was so much better than the toy he’d tried yesterday — Was that only yesterday? — and so incredibly arousing. He let out a muffled moan as he took more into his mouth and felt his own erection straining against his underwear.

Rhett’s hand found and held the one of Link’s that was holding his hip. “Gosh, Link…” he murmured, “Your mouth is wonderful. Even better than I imagined. I — mmm, oh, oh yes —“ the man’s words dissolved into incoherency as Link dropped his head further, careful to keep his lips covering his sharp teeth. He slowly pushed Rhett’s cock into the back of his throat. The man’s praise made him feel bold and he wanted to see just how far he could take this. At this point, his only goal was to see his friend overwhelmed and undone by pleasure and know he was the cause of it.

He started to bob his head in a slow rhythm, keeping one hand on the base of Rhett’s cock to hold it steady and add to the stimulation. He felt the man’s thighs flexing and heard his shuddering breath and sensed that Rhett was using all of his willpower to resist the urge to thrust into Link’s mouth. Rhett’s free hand reached down and caressed Link’s cheek, neck, and shoulder with light fingertips, not trying to direct him, merely craving the feeling of his presence.

Link kept his eyes closed and focused on the sensation of Rhett’s manhood pushing his mouth wide and the sounds of the man’s soft grunts of pleasure. The rest of the room disappeared from his consciousness until he was only aware of his hands, his mouth, and Rhett. On his knees, he felt a strange combination of worship and supplication in the act he was performing. He wanted — he needed to bring Rhett over the edge.  As his movements grew faster, his saliva began to flow down the shaft where his mouth couldn’t reach, and he eagerly stroked his hand over the slick surface it created.

Rhett’s noises rose in volume, rough moans interspersed with quick gasps for air. Link felt his friend’s manhood grow even harder and sensed he was close. He bent down low, forcing Rhett’s cock past the resistance in his throat, and heard a sharp noise of ecstasy. Pleased by the response, he did it again and again, timing his breathing in between each plunge, listening with pride to Rhett’s sounds grow higher and higher.

Rhett’s hips began to buck and his moans grew strained. His fingers clutched Link’s shoulder with a fierce, involuntary strength. “Oh! Here it comes—“ he gasped, then let out a thin, strangled groan as his manhood flexed. Thick liquid suddenly filled Link’s mouth with a shockingly strong and bitter taste. He fought the urge to gag and stayed where he was, determined to milk as much pleasure out of his lover as possible. He kept stroking with his hand as more come pulsed over his tongue, some escaping his lips and dribbling down over his fingers.

Rhett groaned and shuddered, eventually subsiding to shivering twitches as his orgasm faded into oversensitivity. Link carefully released him and sat up, breathing hard through his nose, mouth still full of come. He gritted his teeth and worked his jaw until he finally succeeded in forcing himself to swallow it, suppressing a retch at the foreign flavor. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and blinked the sweat out of his eyes, trying to get his bearings. The dim room seemed harshly bright after his eyes had been shut for so long.

Rhett writhed slowly below him, hands grasping mindlessly at Link’s knees, clearly still savoring his satisfaction. Eventually the larger man caught his breath and gazed up at Link in awe, red-faced and sweating. He opened his arms in a wordless request.

Link clambered up alongside his friend and lay down at his side, and Rhett immediately enfolded him in his arms. The big man leaned down and kissed him firmly, seemingly unconcerned about the taste on the other man’s swollen lips despite Link’s acute awareness of it.

“Golly,” Rhett breathed. “You — that was — incredible. You sure you’ve never done that before?”

Link preened under the praise, relieved by how well his efforts had paid off. “Only to a toy,” he admitted.

Rhett chuckled. “Well, dang, you must be a natural then.” He stroked Link’s damp hair weakly off his forehead and planted a kiss there. “My goodness, you’re amazing.”

Link grinned up at him. “Glad you liked it.”

Rhett’s brow furrowed. “Was it okay that I —?“ he gestured vaguely toward Link’s face. “I tried to warn you, but…”

Link licked his lips, collecting remnants of the pungent saltiness. “Yeah. I could’ve pulled away in time, but I… I didn’t want to. I wanted to know what it tasted like.”

“Mm. Hope it wasn’t too bad.”

The brunet giggled. “I think I could develop a taste for it.”

Rhett laughed. “Well, I do like to see you try new things.”

The big man’s fingertips ran down Link’s back, then walked around to his stomach. He reached further down and gently cupped Link’s manhood through his briefs, stroking it with his thumb. Link moaned as his forgotten arousal sprang immediately back to life, hips rocking forward as his body demanded satisfaction.

“My turn,” Rhett murmured, directing Link onto his back. As he let his camo briefs be pulled down and off, the smaller man sighed with pleasure at being released from their confines. At first Rhett lay back down next to him and kissed him as he stroked him to full hardness, but as soon as Link was moaning under his hand, Rhett moved to mirror their previous positions and knelt between Link’s legs. He didn’t hesitate before bending down and bringing his mouth to Link’s cock, running his pointed tongue in circles around the head.

It was immediately overwhelming, physically and psychologically. Link dug his fingers into the sheets to either side of his hips in a vain attempt to hold onto reality. He could tell Rhett was exploring just as he had, figuring out things as he went along, but it seemed to not matter to Link what the man did. Every motion of his tongue brought ecstatic, agonizing stimulation. Rhett’s hands caressed his tense and trembling thighs, soothing him and helping him relax enough to comfortably ride the waves of pleasure.

“Oh gosh, Rhett,” he gasped. “Oh, oh, it feels so good. Ohhh, gosh—“

“Mmm,” the big man rumbled. Link felt the vibrations on his manhood and moaned in response. “I’ve always wanted to get my mouth on this,” Rhett murmured, before returning to the task at hand.

After teasing him lightly for a while, Rhett began to slide his lips slowly down the shaft. He curled his hand around it just under his lips and moved them both in tandem, allowing his saliva to add slickness under his palm. The result was an all-encompassing grip on his manhood that made Link’s mind feel like it was short circuiting. His chest hitched and each breath left him in a high, helpless moan.

Rhett kept the pace slow and steady, but that did not prevent Link’s arousal from escalating rapidly. Link closed his eyes and breathed through his open mouth, chin tilted toward the ceiling, sweaty hands still grasping the sheets for dear life. Rhett’s free hand roamed over his belly and chest, adding to the wonderful feelings throughout his body. Eventually the wandering hand found one of the brunet’s erect nipples and rolled it lightly between thumb and forefinger, and Link let out a surprised cry as his back arched. He swam in a haze of pleasure as the man gently pinched and rubbed the sensitive nub. Rhett switched to the other nipple and elicited a similar reaction, all the while continuing to move his mouth and hand up and down Link’s cock with a maddening slowness.

Link rolled his hips, begging his lover to pick up the pace, but Rhett pulled away enough to continue at the same speed. Link whined in his throat and the blond chuckled, reaching up to give the smaller man’s cheek a comforting caress. Link turned closed eyes into Rhett’s palm and gulped deep, shuddering breaths. The speed of Rhett’s efforts didn’t change, but the pressure did, increasing along with the firmness of his strokes. Link felt utterly helpless as his arousal rose higher and higher, muscles trembling with his desperate need for release. Beads of sweat rolled down his hairline and trickled onto the pillow as he tossed his head in a sensual delirium.

He was entirely unprepared when his orgasm rolled over him, approaching from a great distance until he seemed to tip over the edge in slow motion. Suddenly he felt himself coming, emptying himself into Rhett’s mouth in a series of convulsions that wracked his body and made him cry out without words. The other man kept up his steady movements and purred with satisfaction as Link gasped and writhed, twisting the sheets in his fists, squeezing his eyes shut and teetering on the brink of unconsciousness.

Rhett finally released him and sat up, stroking Link’s exhausted thighs with his warm, comforting hands. He savored the sight of Link completely undone by bliss before he wiped his mouth off with the corner of the sheet and climbed back up to lie at the brunet’s side. Link turned blindly toward him with a soft moan and felt Rhett’s arms envelop him completely. The smaller man’s muscles still twitched in the aftershocks and he felt incredibly weak, but he also felt safe. Rhett held him and stroked his hair, and the warmth of the big man’s chest and the loud beating of his heart helped Link to feel grounded once again.

“Oh m’goodness,” Link slurred through lips that felt numb and heavy. “I love you.”

Rhett chuckled. “I love you too, buddy.”

“Yer ‘mazing.”

“It helps when I’m so inspired.” Rhett leaned down to kiss him, and as their tongues met, Link tasted himself in the other man’s mouth. Some part of his mind noted absently that their tastes were not quite the same. The intimacy of their flavors mingling in the kiss made him shiver.

“I don’t think I can move,” he mumbled. He was so incredibly comfortable and relaxed, he couldn’t imagine anything better than the inside of his best friend’s embrace.

Rhett stroked his arm. “That’s okay. Do you need anything?”

“Mm. Water?”

“Coming right up.” The blond carefully extracted his limbs despite Link’s soft whine of protest and stumbled to the bathroom. Moments later, he returned with a small tumbler of water. “Here ya go.”

Link sat up a little and took it, drank half, and handed it back. “Thanks.”

Rhett finished it off and set the empty glass on the bedside table, then turned back with a roguish grin. “Now what?”

Link gazed dreamily up at his friend, reveling in the new feeling of being completely unabashed by his nakedness. He loved the lingering glances Rhett kept giving to his body, as if the man had an endless appetite for it, and he was inclined to let his friend feast as long as he desired. He reached up and ran his fingers playfully through Rhett’s beard, giving it a soft tug at the man’s chin. “I vote for cuddles and Netflix. Maybe rooms service later if we don’t wanna go out again.”

“I second the motion.” Rhett climbed back into bed and Link snuggled once again into his arms, suffused with contentment.

He turned his face into Rhett’s sweaty skin and took a deep breath of the man’s rich, post-sex musk. “Mmm,” he purred. “I might just fall asleep on you again.”

“So long as I get to hold you, that’s fine with me.”

Link let out a sleepy giggle as his hands wandered up and down Rhett’s backside. “’Sides… we gotta rest up for round three.”

The big man chuckled. “Oh? There’s a round three?”

“Mmhmm.” Link’s hand came around to Rhett’s front and his fingers walked up through the man’s scattered chest hair.  “And four… and five…”

“Wow, brother!” Rhett clasped Link’s hand against his chest. “You’re insatiable.”

Link leaned forward and nuzzled his friend’s nose. “I have, like, a million things I wanna do with you,” he purred. “And then we’ll pick the ones we liked best and do them again. I want an infinite number of rounds. I hope you knew what you were getting into here.”

Rhett laughed and kissed him. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Chapter Text

Link was running down the hallway of Buies Creek Elementary, his heavy backpack bouncing painfully on his back. Many footsteps clattered behind him in pursuit, sneakers squeaking on linoleum, but every time he looked back there was no one there. He was going to make it. He was going to make it this time.

As he burst through the double doors into the bright sunlight of the school’s front lawn, he suddenly felt like he was running through molasses. His legs slowed to almost nothing, no matter how desperately he screamed at them to move. He was exhausted and his chest burned as it heaved.

Half a dozen boys came pouring out of the school onto the grass behind him, hooting and hollering, and he spun to face them. They were all bigger than he was, a year or two older and further along in puberty. They’d been trying to corner him alone for weeks now and had finally succeeded. Where was everyone? Where were the teachers? Where was…?

The tallest boy, John Carson, stopped a few feet from him and sneered down. “Aw, Link, where’s your boyfriend? Shouldn’t you be suckin’ his dick right about now?” The others laughed.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Link quavered, cursing the weakness in his voice. He dropped his backpack to the ground and held up hands balled into tight fists.

“Could’a fooled me. You faggots’ve been jerkin’ each other off in the back of the bus for years.”

“No we haven’t! And don’t — don’t call him that!” It didn’t matter what they called Link, but if they said that about Rhett… if everyone thought Rhett was queer just because Link was always at his side… his best friend would have nothing to do with him ever again.

“What’re you gonna do about it, faggot?” Another boy hollered from the back, “Yeah, what’re you gonna do?”

John towered over him and Link could smell the boy’s sour breath. He took a swing at John’s face, but there was no strength in his arm. His fist connected with the boy’s chin and didn’t move it even though his bicep was on fire with the effort. The air filled with howls of laughter as he swung again and again, making no impact at all, getting more and more tired. He had to find a way to stop them saying these things. He had to, or he would lose the thing most dear to him in the world…

“Link?”

He threw another impotent punch as a strangled cry of desperation escaped his throat.

“Link? C’mon, buddy, wake up.”

Link’s eyes flew open to see the white wall of the hotel room, painted gold with the early morning sunlight coming through the window. He was lying on his side and there were long arms wrapped around him and a nude body against his back. Rhett’s voice rumbled soothingly in his ear. “You’re havin’ a nightmare. It’s okay.”

“Oh gosh, Rhett…” The smaller man turned to his friend and buried his tear-streaked face in the man’s bare chest. He clung to him as the panic of the dream subsided, breathing quickly calming inside the comforting embrace. “Thanks for wakin’ me.”

Rhett stroked his back. “What was goin’ on?”

Link sighed and sniffled. “Sixth grade. John Carson.”

“That jerk? Was I punching him?”

“No, you… you weren’t there.”

“I shoulda’ been. Man, I’m slacking off on my dream duties.”

“It was him and a buncha’ other kids, and they were gonna beat me up.” He tightened his arm around Rhett’s torso. “’Cause they thought I was gay.”

“Oh.”

Both men lay silently under the sheets for a few minutes, each in his own thoughts, then Rhett spoke again. “Are you worried about that now? What people will think of us, I mean?”

Link considered the question. “A little, I guess. At least, it seems like my subconscious is. But I keep telling myself we’re a long way from Buies Creek.”

Rhett chuckled. “That’s for sure.”

The smaller man shifted away a little so he could look into Rhett’s eyes. “But it’s not like we need to be public about it, right?” he asked. He saw the look of confusion on his friend’s face and hastened to clarify. “It’s not that I’m ashamed of it, or that I think it’s wrong, but… it’s not as simple as just us and how we feel about each other. Most folks around here are fine with gay people now. But a lotta people aren’t gonna understand the arrangement with Christy and Jessie. The respectable gay folks are the monogamous ones raising kids in the suburbs. Now we’re suddenly… bisexual, I guess? And we have multiple partners. We gotta handle that carefully if we don’t wanna lose all our friends.”

The blond man sighed. “Yeah. I guess I didn’t wanna think about how complicated it was gonna be.”

Link cupped the man’s face and stroked a thumb down his beard, smiling as Rhett closed his eyes. “Look, everyone knows that we love each other already,” the brunet said. “I guess I’m saying it’s not really any of their business what goes on behind closed doors. The only people whose opinions I care about for that are yours and Christy’s and Jessie’s. And the crew’s, I guess. I don’t want them to feel awkward if they see something.”

The larger man’s eyes opened again to reveal a gaze that looked like jade in the room’s dim light. “You’re right. It’s not like we need to make some sort of public announcement. We can let the crew know and otherwise keep it to ourselves for now. We’ll see how it goes before we do anything else."

Link grinned and leaned forward to nuzzle the man’s nose. “Oh? You think this might be a one-night stand?”

“Mm-mm.” Rhett leaned forward and gave him a kiss. “Now that I know how good you are with that mouth, I’m gonna need a weekly fix, at least.”

Link giggled and sought another kiss, this time deepening it to dance his tongue over the other man’s. When they broke apart, he asked, “What time is it? I can’t see the clock.”

Rhett rolled over and pressed a button on his phone. “Seven fifteen.”

The smaller man yawned and lay back, stretching his arms above his head. “Oh, good. We’ve got a lot of time. Checkout’s at two.”

Long arms wrapped around him again as Rhett’s beard tickled his neck. “Time for what?” he murmured.

“More fun.” Link turned away in his friend’s embrace, regaining the position they’d been in when he’d woken up. He grasped Rhett’s arms and brought them tightly around himself, snuggling his backside up to the other man’s front. He purred as soft mustache-clad lips caressed his shoulder blade and traveled along the curve of his neck, then let out a soft moan when he felt teeth on the nape of his neck. He rounded his back and ducked his chin into his chest, exposing more of the sensitive skin to the other man’s mouth.

Rhett nuzzled up into his hairline as he hooked one of his legs around Link’s and twined them together. He reached up and cupped the brunet’s jaw, holding the smaller man’s head in place as he began to slowly run his tongue along the shell of Link’s ear. Link let out a helpless groan as he felt his cock awaken in response. His ears were an incredible weakness; it had always been such a tease when Rhett touched them on video. The fact that the man was now lavishing deliberate attention on them was driving him wild.

“Mm, you like that, huh?” Rhett rumbled.

“Oh yes, very much.” Link began to roll his hips, rubbing his backside against the other man’s groin. He became aware of a growing hardness pressing against his tailbone and it made him feel hot with desire. “Gosh, Rhett, it feels so good to be with you like this.”

Rhett’s hand caressed his chest, fingertips drawing languid circles through the thick dark hair. His touch wandered down to Link’s belly and cupped its slight swell, pulling the smaller man against himself. “You’re so firm and tight,” he murmured. “Every part of you is, like, either muscle or bone. Or hair,” he laughed.

Link giggled and squirmed. “What do you think about that?”

Rhett’s lip curled against his ear. “I love it. I love how manly it is.” His hand dipped lower. “I want to explore every inch of it until I’ve got it all memorized.” He gently squeezed Link’s cock and ran his thumb over the head as the smaller man gasped. Rhett’s own erection slid along the crack of Link’s ass.

“Mmm, Rhett… “ Link reached back and grasped his friend’s hip and thigh, urging him closer, amazed by the intensity of his need. “I want you,” he murmured.

The big man stroked him slowly, his hand easily accelerating Link’ arousal. “Well, like you said, we do have a lot of time. I think we should make the most of it. But how do you want me?” he asked. “Like this? Or with my mouth again...?”

Link swallowed. He was nervous, but he didn’t know when they’d next have the opportunity to be together like this. He wanted to experience as much as possible with Rhett while he had the chance, and their current position had put very specific images into his head. So long as it wasn’t too much to ask… “I want you inside of me,” he whispered.

Rhett’s hand stopped moving. “Wow… are you —you sure you’re up for that?”

Link twisted so his upper body was lying flat in order to see Rhett’s face, and Rhett rested his hand on Link’ stomach. The larger man regarded him with a raised brow. “I think so,” Link replied. “I at least wanna give it a try. Only if you want to, though, obviously.” He felt himself blushing.

Rhett leaned over and gave him a deep kiss. When they parted, the larger man looked cautious. “I ain’t gonna lie, it’s definitely something I’ve fantasized about… but I figured you’d never want to. Like, ever. And I’m totally fine with that.”

Link’s gut tightened. “Why’d you think that? Because it’s, like, gross or something?”

“No! No, nothing like that. I mean, I thought maybe one day I’d wanna try takin’ it myself, but…  I figured with your butthole bein’ so tight an’ all, and I’m not exactly small…”

“Oh!” Link burst out laughing. “Oh, Rhett… you do think highly of yourself, don’t you,” he teased, “entirely justifiably, of course. But, well…” he blushed harder. “It turns out if I’m turned on enough, the tightness isn’t so much of an issue.”

The blond man chuckled. “Speaking from experience?”

“Yeah, actually.” Link grinned. “I’ve got a few toys.”

“Wow, really? That’s hardcore, man.” Rhett looked impressed and more than a little turned on. “And hot. Do you have ‘em here?”

“Um, yeah. Hold on.” Link rolled back over and sprawled on his stomach to root around under the bed until he pulled out the briefcase. He entered the combination and opened it, then set the lube on the bedside table and rolled back to Rhett with the two toys in his hand.

“The pink one’s easy,” he explained. “It’s like a warmup. The other one… “ he bit his lip. “I’ve only used it once. It was kinda s’posed to be you.”

“Wow.” Rhett took the larger toy from him and hefted it, jiggling the balls at the base and making the shaft bounce. “This thing’s huge, man. You put this…?”

Link snorted. “You think that’s huge, you’re even bigger!”

The other man’s eyes widened. “Really?” When Link nodded, he said, “I guess it’s a perspective thing.”

“Must be.”

“And you… you liked it?” Rhett stared at the toy in his hands in awe and fascination.

“I’m not gonna lie, it hurt like a sonofabitch…. But that’s ‘cause I was stupid. Not enough lube, not enough warmup. But once I got goin’, man… I came just from that, no touching myself at all.”

“Wow, Link!” Rhett licked his lips, eyes going from the toy to Link and back again. It was obvious he found the idea quite intriguing.

Link took both toys and put them on the table, then rolled back to kiss the blond man’s lips. He reached down between them and cupped his friend’s manhood, smiling as he felt it grow firmer in his hand. He was relieved to find that, even at their age, their bodies seemed to respond like teenagers when it came to each other. I’m gonna take that as a sign that God wants us to make up for lost time. He broke off the kiss as Rhett’s breath began to quicken, and said, “What do you think about putting this huge thing to good use and see if we can make that happen again?”

“Mmm, ahhh…” Rhett’s eyes closed under the spell of Link’s touch. He leaned down and kissed the dark stubble along the smaller man’s jawline, then moved down to his collarbone. He ran his tongue along its prominent ridge as he murmured, “You’re makin’ a good case. I’m willin’ to give it a try, so long as we’re careful. I don’t wanna hurt you. If it hurts, we stop.”

“Deal.”

Link went and retrieved a few hand towels from the bathroom and put them on the bedside table. “Just in case it gets messy,” he explained as he climbed back into bed, giddy with anticipation.

They kissed and stroked each other for a while, limbs tangled in the white sheets, until they’d both broken into a sweat and were breathing quickly. “Ah, Link,” Rhett panted. “I’m gettin’ awfully close. If you wanna do anything else, we’d better stop.”

Link was tempted to just keep touching the man until he came right there in his arms, shuddering and making those wonderful noises, but the idea of sharing something even more intimate was enough to bolster his willpower. “Okay,” he whispered as he released him.

He picked up the lube and the smaller, pink toy and handed them both to the other man. He realized his hands were shaking with nerves and took a deep breath, trying to focus on his arousal. “Start with this one,” he instructed.

Rhett squirted some lube onto his fingers and put the container and the toy aside. “C’mere,” he murmured, and Link moved into his embrace so they were both facing each other on their sides again. As they kissed, Rhett reached a long arm behind Link and pressed his slippery fingers between the brunet’s buttcheeks. Link moaned at the sudden intimate touch as Rhett massaged the tight, tense muscles. He pushed himself against Rhett’s hardness, sliding their cocks together as Rhett moved his fingertips carefully.

“Is that good? You like that?” Rhett’s other arm was around his shoulders, holding him tightly. Link nodded with his eyes closed against the other man’s chest, clutching him around the waist.

There was a pause in stimulation as Rhett withdrew his hand, then Link felt the tip of the small toy pushing gently against his ass. There was only a little resistance before the lubed shaft slid into him and he let out a low groan of satisfaction. It wasn’t Rhett himself inside of him, but Rhett was responsible for these sensations, and they felt amazing. “Mmm, yes, that’s good,” he murmured, leaning up to meet Rhett’s lips again.

It took the big man some maneuvering to get the angle and rhythm right, but soon he was holding the base of the toy and thrusting it slowly in and out as they kissed and rutted against each other. “This is so freaking hot,” Rhett growled. “I love seeing you like this.”

“That’s… good,” Link panted. “I’m a big… fan myself.” He reached between them and grasped both of their cocks in his hand, barely able to encircle them in his fingers. He pressed them together and stroked up and down as best he could, at a similar pace to Rhett’s movement of the toy. His grip quickly grew slick with their mingled precome and both men were moaning with every breath.

The toy felt good, but Link craved more. He ached with the need to feel his best friend’s cock inside of him. “Okay, okay,” he gasped. “I think I’m ready.”

Rhett kissed him roughly. “You’re ready for me?”

“Mmm, yes.”

Rhett extracted the toy and set it on the table. “How do you think we should…?”

Link considered the question, his thoughts moving slowly through the haze of his desire. “I think I want you behind me. I wanna feel your weight on me.”

Rhett’s tongue darted out to wet his lips. His eyes were dilated into deep, jade pools.  “I like the sound of that.”

They kicked the remaining sheets off of the bed and Link arranged himself upright on his knees in the center of it. Rhett knelt closely behind him and wrapped his arms around the smaller man’s torso, holding him close. Link felt his friend’s hardness pressing along his backside, but for a while they ignored its demands. Instead, Rhett kissed his shoulders and back while his hands ran over Link’s chest. When Link twisted to bring their mouths together, he could tell the bigger man was at least as nervous as he was.

“Are you sure about this?” Rhett murmured.

“Yes,” Link breathed. “I want it. I want you so badly.”

“Are you ready?”

“Mmhm.”

To show he was, Link left Rhett’s embrace and bent down until his chest was on the mattress, his back arching sharply up to where his backside pointed into the air. He laid his arms on the sheets above his head and turned his face to the side, looking up at Rhett out of the corner of his eye as he gave his hips a mischievous wiggle of invitation.  He heard an appreciative grunt as two large hands cupped his ass. “You look amazing,” Rhett growled. “I could never picture you like this, all ready and waiting for me.”

Link let out a breathless laugh. “Well, what’re you gonna do about this golden opportunity, big guy?”

“Give you exactly what you’re asking for.” The hands left Link’s body briefly and there was the snap of the lube container, then cool liquid drizzled along Link’s crack. He squirmed, then moaned as a strong finger massaged the gel into place. Both hands returned to grasp his ass and spread him open, and Rhett’s cock slid along the newly exposed and slippery flesh.

“Ohhhh…” Link pushed himself against Rhett’s manhood as his own cock twitched hard and heavy between his legs. “Oh yes, yes, I’m ready…” He desperately hoped he was correct.

Rhett’s hands tightened on his hips as the larger man carefully maneuvered himself into position. Link felt the other man shift his knees, finding the right height and angle, then suddenly there was pressure in just the right place. Both men groaned as the head of Rhett’s cock slid inside, and Link felt a brief flare of pain in the places he’d injured with the toy. It faded quickly under the intensely vulnerable sensation of being stretched and filled up more than he’d ever imagined.

“Is it okay?” Rhett whispered, holding himself still as his fingers dug into Link’s hips.

Link nodded. “More,” he gasped with his cheek pressed into the pillow, eyes closed. He moaned loudly as Rhett slid further into him, slowly and carefully.

“Oh Link, it feels so good.” Rhett’s voice was rough with wonder. The big man kept going until his thighs were flush with Link’s backside, then stayed there. He bent his upper body down until his chest was against Link’s back, resting one hand flat on the mattress to support himself so Link wouldn’t have to take all of his weight. The other arm he passed under Link’s chest and embraced him tenderly as he began to slowly rock his hips.

The man’s huge presence pressing down on him and his cock filling him up, the caress of his lips on Link’s neck and his hot breath on Link’s cheek — it all combined to fill the smaller man’s world with almost unbearable pleasure. He kept his eyes closed and wrapped his arms around Rhett’s arm, focusing on the sensations of the moment. He felt like he was being taken in the most gentle and intimate way possible and he loved it. “Yes, ohhh yes Rhett,” he breathed. “You feel so good, ohh…”

“You feel incredible,” Rhett whispered near his ear. “I can’t believe we’re doing this, Link. I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Link mouthed, barely able to speak. As Rhett continued to thrust into him at a deliberate pace, Link’s knees gradually spread further apart until his crotch was pressed against the mattress. Rhett’s arm stayed around him and his body curled over Link’s, holding him and surrounding him. They stayed like this for some time while Rhett adorned his back and shoulders with kisses, sometimes leaning up to plant his mouth on the side of Link’s and brush his tongue against the smaller man’s.

While part of Link wanted to stay like this forever, murmuring Rhett’s name and hearing his own repeated breathlessly behind him, eventually he needed more. He nudged Rhett with his shoulder and the other man took the cue, lifting himself up until he was kneeling upright behind the brunet once more, taking his weight entirely off Link’s back. Link pushed himself up off of the bed and reached up to grasp the headboard, using it to support his upper body. Rhett stayed buried within him as his hands guided Link’s backside to a good height with his knees almost together. There was a pause as Rhett dispensed more lube into the place where they were joined, then the man thrust deeply back into him with a rough groan.

“Yes!” Link’s voice cracked as he gasped. He realized to his satisfaction that his hands on the headboard gave him leverage to push back against the other man, and he used it to direct their rhythm. Rhett quickly picked up on his friend’s needs. He curled his large hands around Link’s waist as he gradually sped up his thrusts, and soon he was grunting and panting with the effort.

Link arched his back and turned his face upward, feeling his hair brush his shoulders as he panted through his open mouth. Rhett shifted his knees for a slightly different angle and there was an explosion of ecstasy in the center of Link’s body. He cried out in shock and pleasure, rocking his hips to urge the other man to continue. “Yes! Yes, just like that, ohhh Rhett—“

Rhett responded eagerly to the encouragement, maintaining the angle as he drove into him harder. Link could tell the other man’s self-control was starting to break down and he reveled in the deep, animalistic noises emanating from behind him. Link’s knuckles were white around the headboard and the muscles in his arms stood out starkly as he pushed back against every thrust, demanding everything Rhett could give him. Rhett was deep inside him, hitting that wonderful spot, making Link’s thighs tremble and his cock drip clear liquid onto the sheets. “More,” Link begged. “More, more...”

With a snarl, Rhett released his hips and leaned over him to sink both hands into Link’s hair. The smaller man cried out as Rhett pulled his head back, arching his back further, making his body open up fully to Rhett’s demands. Rhett used his grip to drive hard and fast into his lover, holding him tightly, and Link could do nothing but submit to being fucked with all of the larger man’s strength. He never knew it could be this powerful, this primal. He never knew he could be taken in such a way or that he would love it so much.

He felt his orgasm drawing close and was powerless to hold it back. He let out a high, quavering moan as his muscles clenched around Rhett’s manhood. He heard the man hiss behind him, a deep “yes” of demand and satisfaction, and that was all it took to push Link over the edge. Waves of pleasure washed over him and his cock flexed between his legs with each of Rhett’s thrusts, entirely out of his control as it painted the sheets below him with come.

“Ohhhh, oh gosh, oh gosh,” he panted as Rhett released his hair and straightened back up to clasp Link’s hips once more. The smaller man let his head fall limply between his arms, still holding onto the headboard, and moaned softly with every breath. He looked down to see his cock still dripping as it swayed freely between his legs.

His thighs refused to support him any longer but Rhett’s grip held him in place easily as the large man pursued his own satisfaction. Link felt like a ragdoll, boneless and weak, unable to do anything but gasp for air and cling to the remnants of his consciousness. The man’s deep thrusts began to burn as Link’s orgasm subsided, but it wasn’t long before Rhett went over the edge too. He let out a rough groan and his cock spasmed as it began to empty deep inside the smaller man. He growled and clawed at his friend’s hips, still thrusting as he came, until he slammed himself as deep as he could go and stayed there as he gasped Link’s name.

Finally the big man was spent; he released Link and gently extracted himself before helping the brunet collapse fully onto the bed. He wiped himself off with one of the towels and offered the other to his friend. Link was barely aware of accepting it and cleaning himself off, feeling a dim sense of relief when he saw there wasn’t much of a mess. He let the towel fall to the floor and lay back with his eyes closed, utterly exhausted in more ways than one. Rhett clambered to Link’s side and took the smaller man in his arms.

Link curled into his friend’s embrace with a soft noise of need. Rhett brushed the sweat-soaked hair from his forehead and caressed his back while planting gentle kisses on his cheek. For a few minutes they lay in silence save for their slowing breaths and occasional soft noises of lingering pleasure, then Rhett spoke softly. “I love you, Link.” He sounded drained and overwhelmed, and Link realized the man wasn’t clinging to him merely to provide comfort; he needed it too.

“I love you too,” Link rasped, his voice broken from his cries. “That was wonderful, Rhett. It was even better than I hoped it would be.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” Rhett kissed him softly. “I tried to hold back but it just felt so amazing. I was out of my mind a bit at the end there.”

“I liked it,” Link admitted. “It was hot.”

“It’s gonna be hard to control myself if that’s how things are gonna be with us,” Rhett chuckled.

“That’s okay, I don’t want you to hold back.” Link nipped playfully at the dense hair of the man’s beard. “I’d like to try it the other way ‘round sometime, though.”

“I wouldn’t mind giving that a try. It sure looked like fun.”

“Mmhmm.” Link nodded enthusiastically.

The larger man rolled onto his back and Link sprawled across his chest with his ear pressed to the man’s thudding heartbeat. Rhett’s fingers trailed down his spine and back up, soothing and tickling at the same time. “Now I really don’t want to go back to the real world,” the blond man said wistfully.

Link glanced at the clock; they still had a couple of hours to get cleaned up and eat breakfast before they had to leave. He knew they’d spend that time in constant contact, washing up together or holding hands across the breakfast table or cuddled up on the bed, and the thought made him smile as he traced his name into the dark blond chest hair next to his face. “It’s all different now, though. The real world, I mean.”

“How so?”

“Now that we have this, now that it’s out in the open between us… we might not have a chance to act on it very often, but just knowing that you want to makes me so happy. It gives me something to look forward to when we’re so busy we can’t even breathe. If I get stressed out I’ll just think about what we’re gonna do the next time we’re alone together and it’ll make me happy.”

Rhett chuckled. “Now whenever I see that twinkle in your eye I’ll think that’s what you’re thinkin’ about.”

“You’ll probably be right!”

“They’re gonna catch me blushing on camera a lot more if that’s the case.”

“Good. It’s cute.”

Rhett wrapped his arms around his best friend and squeezed him as they both laughed. “We’re crazy, you know,” Rhett pointed out. “It’s pretty ambitious, what we’re tryin’ to make work here. Two families, a minor celebrity lifestyle, running a business… and now we’ll want time together too.”

Link nuzzled his nose, grinning up into the kaleidoscopic, ever-changing eyes he’d loved his whole life.  There was no doubt in his mind that he was exactly where he wanted to be. “Knowing us, I have every confidence we’ll succeed.”

He clambered on top of Rhett and kissed him again, and kept kissing him as Rhett’s hands ran over his shoulders and back. He filled his lungs with Rhett’s scent and his eyes with the sight of Rhett smiling up at him with an easy openness and the purest joy. This man was real, and in Link’s arms, and Link knew he’d never stop being grateful for all the gifts life had given him.

Rhett’s fingers danced lower, around the small of Link’s back and the divots of his pelvis, then cupped his backside and pulled him close.

Perhaps it wasn’t quite time for breakfast.