I hadn’t meant to say it out loud.
“That’s funny, I was thinking the same about you. I’ve enjoyed today.”
“Me too,” I said.
It was the first time I’d been happy in a long time, and I didn’t want the night to end.
9
Jeremy
When dinner was over I helped Brian clean up, even though he tried a few times to stop me.
“You’re my guest,” he’d said, but I wasn’t going to let him wait on me hand and foot while I watched.
Besides, I was trying to prolong our time together, and working side by side with him was fun. Our day together was perfect and I wasn’t ready to say goodnight.
“Have you seen the new Rock Henderson movie?” Brian asked suddenly, looking up from the sink full of soapy water, sleeves rolled up above his elbows. “I haven’t watched it yet and I thought you’d enjoy a nice movie and a little wine.”
“Yes,” I answered a little too quickly.
He smiled. “Wonderful. There’s a bottle chilling in the fridge and the glasses are in that cabinet to your right. If you want to uncork it and set it out on the end table, I’ll be there in a moment.”
“Where is your television?” I asked, opening the wine, then grabbing a pair of wine glasses.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he chuckled. “I guess you don’t know where everything is. You just seem so at home.”
His response took me aback, but when I looked in his eyes, I saw no malice. I smiled. “I did what needed to be done and left. I’m not the kind of man that snoops around while the man of the house is sleeping off a rough night.”
“And I appreciated that,” he said, then his expression darkened. “I wasn’t expecting that from a practical stranger, especially when I was at my lowest.”
“You can tell me to butt out and I know it’s none of my business, but what happened between you two? Getting sloppy drunk and setting things on fire in your driveway don’t seem like something you normally do.”
“I suppose I should take that as a compliment.” His smile was almost sad. “It’s hard to explain a relationship that was built on a lie, but the bottom line is he used me. He tricked me into thinking that he liked me for who I was and not my money or my fame. It was so easy to believe him. He took his time, but I started noticing little things like he wouldn’t let me come over to his place, and every month he had a different crisis that meant me handing over large sums of cash to fix it. I offered to take over his bills to make it easier, but he acted like I was belittling him by even offering. It took me a while to realize that he was manipulating me.”
“Sounds like a champion gaslighter.”
“Gaslighter? I think that term is fitting. Anyway, the final straw for him was when I offered to set up a joint account to give him some control over money and he blew up.”
“Was this before or after he asked you for money?”
Brian shook his head. “Neither. It was after he asked when I was going to make him an authorized user on my account. I told him I preferred to keep my finances separate, but he would never want for anything and any money he made would be his to spend. I would cover all the expenses, give him an expense account so he didn’t have to ask me for money, and I would have no access to his personal accounts.”
“He wanted unrestricted access to your millions.”
“I realize that now,” Brian said, nodding. “But by the time I did, the damage was already done. He spent so much time making me feel guilty for not loving him enough,” he stopped, clearing his throat. “Well, I think you know what happened after that.”
“You don’t have to explain. I know the type.”
“Thank you for understanding.” He forced a smile. “Enough about him, let’s enjoy the rest of the night.”
He raised his hand and pointed down the hallway. “The TV room is the third door on the right. I’ll be there in a minute.”
I made my way down the hall, went into the room he’d indicated and stood there in awe, two empty glasses in one hand, the open bottle of wine in the other. There was no television. It was a movie theater style screen that took up quite a bit of one wall. And placed at the perfect distance from that wall was a sectional loveseat complete with low armrests and an end table on each side.
When I sank down into the plush fabric of the dark chocolate-colored couch I sighed. After a long day it was the perfect way to wind down.
“There’s a button beside the cup holder,” Brian said from the doorway. “It’s for the footrest.”
Sliding my hand around the curved edge of the armrest, I found the button and pressed it. The chair unfolded into a recliner.
“Nice, isn’t it?” Brian remarked. “It’s one of my favorite indulgences.”
“This room is amazing.”
“Wait until you hear the sound system.”
The lights dimmed the instant the system cued up, then Brian settled into his own chair with only a narrow, shared armrest between us. He was so close I could hear him breathing. Then the movie started and it was like being immersed in a private theater.
Shifting in my seat, I put my elbow on the armrest and brushed against him. “Sorry,” I muttered. But when I moved my arm, Brian reached out and took my hand.
“I don’t mind,” he said, his voice throaty and quiet in the darkened room. Instead of setting my arm back where it’d been, he wrapped his wrist around mine and took my hand. My heart raced and when I glanced at him in the dark, he was watching me. “You’re adorable when you’re nervous,” he all but purred.
My eyes wandered down, and even the dim light from the movie that danced over his body was enough for me to see that I wasn’t the only one aroused. Emboldened by the darkness and the way he’d grabbed my hand when the movie started, I disentangled my fingers from his and stroked his leg through the fabric of his slacks. Our eyes met and Brian smiled.
He was still holding my gaze when I felt him tug on my zipper. I held my breath and countered his move, unzipping his pants and unbuttoning his boxers to reveal his hardened cock. Like a chess player vying for a checkmate, he did the same, eyebrow arched in challenge when he wrapped his large hand around my rigid shaft and began to stroke. But when I tried the slip his pants off, he stopped me. “There’s no rush,” he said, admonishing me with a stern look. “I prefer to savor every step.”
“You don’t think we’ve been playing cat and mouse long enough?” I asked, a little put off by his tone.
“I’ve only just begun.”
He was pleased with himself, but it was next to impossible to focus on his arrogance when his fingers were working their magic on me. I stroked him in kind, matching his movements and working his cock until he was moaning with pleasure. The movie played on but I’d already lost track of what it was about. The only thing that mattered was his thickness in my hand, and the way his fingers swirled around the head of my cock and drew my pleasure to the forefront.
He finished first, his grip impossibly tight around me as he writhed and grunted, moaning my name over and over until he collapsed against the back of the recliner.