Marie Sexton - Coda 05 - Paris A to Z (2 page)

I reached out and grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer to us and turning him toward Angelo. “You only touch him.”
Angelo pushed down on the kids shoulders, and he went to his knees willingly, whimpering in anticipation. I reached around his head to undo Angelos pants. I heard a zipper, and a moan from the kid at my feet. He had undone his pants and was stroking himself, his eyes wide as he watched me push Angelos boxers out of the way, revealing his erection. I leaned over the kid and kissed Angelo one more time, stroking him for just a moment before letting him go.
I took a step back, giving the kid room to work, and myself enough space to watch it all. The kid wrapped his free hand around Angelos cock, and Angelo grabbed a handful of his hair, pulling him toward his waiting cock. Angelos eyes locked on mine, and he smiled at me. Then his breath caught, and I knew just by watching his face that the punk had really begun. His lips parted sensuously, and his eyes drifted shut, and he tipped his head backward against the wall. I kept my ears tuned to the sound of Angelos breathing as I watched. I knew it so well by now—the way it became louder at first, and yet somehow slower, too, like he wanted to moan, but couldnt remember how. After that, it sped up as his climax drew near, until he was panting, almost whimpering, although he rarely made a sound. And finally, he would catch his breath and hold it as he came, sometimes forgetting to breathe for so long that I wondered how he managed to remain conscious.
He was lost in the pleasure now, drifting on that tide of sexual energy as the kid sucked him. I liked watching his face and the way his long, slender fingers tangled into the kids blonde hair. I liked the way the kids arm moved quicker and quicker as he beat himself off to the tempo of his head bobbing against Angelos groin. I was unbelievably turned on, almost painfully so, and trying to decide if I could wait until we got back to the car, or if I wanted to jack off right there while I watched. Angelos voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Zach,” he said hoarsely, and I looked up into his half closed eyes. “Come here.”
I moved closer. I leaned awkwardly over the kid at Angelos feet, and heard him groan as my weight pushed against his back. Angelo was already unzipping my jeans. He wrapped one arm around my neck and pulled me close, kissing me hard. His other hand slid into my pants and wrapped around my shaft. He stroked only once—
And the whole world ceased to exist as I came. I didnt even notice the moment when Angelo quit breathing. I had no idea if the kid at my feet climaxed, too, or not. The release was almost as strong as it had been in that bathroom stall in Vegas so long ago. And it was nothing more than Angelos hand.
The kid moved from between us, and I pulled Angelo close to me, both of us still shaking a bit and breathing hard. “Kind of kinky, arent you, Zach?” he teased.
“You can always say no.”
“I know I can,” he said. “Thats why I dont.”

H
E SLEPT
on the ride back to Coda. At home, he followed me into my room and into my bed. He wrapped his arms around me and whispered to me in the dark, “The other way now, Zach.” I loved the thrill of watching him, but when it was all said and done, it always came down to this for him—not a wild fuck, but wanting me to make love to him, slowly and passionately. That was the thing hed never had before me. It was what he craved the most, and I was ever happy to oblige him.

I kissed him, reveling in the feel of his skin against mine and his arms tight around me. I loved him so much, but even now, I often felt that I was walking on thin ice with him. I was so afraid of losing him. What I wanted more than anything was to marry him, but I had never mentioned it to him. Id thought about it many times, but each time I would flash back to that day in the motel room in Coda, two and a half years before, when the mere mention of living together caused him to have a panic attack. I didnt want that to happen again. So I waited, loving him, hoping that someday hed really, truly be mine.

For tonight at least, he was, and we proved to each other one more time that we really were absolutely perfect together.
Matt…

W
HEN
is a free trip to Paris not worth the trouble? I know what youre thinking: when its actually a scam to sell you a time share. That might have been bad….

But this was worse.
It was early Sunday morning when the phone rang. Jared of course was still sound asleep. I wondered who could possibly be calling before seven a.m. Angelo was the only other person I knew who made a habit of waking up as early as I did, but he would have called my cell, not our landline. It seemed like it could only be bad news, and I debated not answering it at all.
I should really learn to trust my instincts.
“Hello?”
“Well
hello
, lovey. How are you this morning?”
The voice was light. Feminine. Mocking. And just hearing it caused my hackles to rise.
Of course it was Cole.
“Im fine,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Im so glad to hear that, sweetie.”
“My name is Matt.”
“I
know
. Is Jared available?”
I fought back my irritation at him. It was a knee-jerk reaction I had to everything he did. And everything he said. And everything in the world that reminded me of him. It was completely unjustified, I knew. It wasnt his fault he had met Jared years before me. It wasnt his fault he had shared Jareds bed more times than I cared to think about.
Or was it?
“Hes sleeping,” I said. The stupid thing was, I knew Jared would want to talk to him. He would want me to wake him up. But I hated to do anything for Cole.
“Thats too bad. If you could just give him a message, sweetie—”
“Its
Matt
!”
“It actually concerns you and Zach and Angelo as well, so it would be terribly helpful if you could just pass the info on to all of them. Jon and I have decided to get married.”
“Really?”
“Well, its not
legally
a marriage since the state wont recognize it, but just a little commitment ceremony. Symbolic really—”
I interrupted him to say, “Im really happy for you,” because I knew that I
should
be happy for him. Even though I wasnt. Not really. “Ill let Jared know—”
“Honey, you havent let me tell you the good part!” Oh shit. Anything Cole thought was good was bound to piss me off. “Ive decided to fly all four of you out here for the wedding—”
“What?”
“Because we dont have any family at all you know, except George, and it seemed silly to have a ceremony where he was the only guest. So we talked about it, and we decided that the four of you just
have
to come. Its the first weekend in February, and Ive already reserved the rooms—”
“I cant just drop everything and fly to Phoenix at the drop of a hat!”
“Oh, honey, its not in Phoenix! Were doing it in Paris of course—”
“
What
?”
“And you might think the City of Love would be more open-minded about gay marriage. Honey, theyre
not
, but weve decided to do it there anyway. I was going to book the flights for you—”
“Wait a minute!”
“But then I realized I dont even know your last name, or Angelos for that matter, so—”
“Stop!”
“If you could just ask Jared to e-mail that information to me, I would really appreciate it, sweetie. And then well get the tickets reserved, and everything will be all set. Now I know Zach might think its odd, coming to see Jonathan get married, but just tell him—”
“Im not telling him anything!”
“That its all water under the bridge and wed really love for him to come. Listen honey—”
“No,
you
listen—”
“Im on the plane, and the stewardess is just glaring daggers at me. I have to turn my phone off now.”
“
Wait
!”
“Ill be waiting for Jareds e-mail. Bye!”
“Cole?
Cole
?” But the line was already dead. I resisted the urge to throw my phone across the room. I settled for calling Jareds ex-fuckbuddy every bad name I could think of—and thanks to Angelo, that list had grown significantly over the past couple of years.
Technology had failed me. We could put a man on the moon and make computers that fit in my back pocket, but I still couldnt strangle anybody via telephone. Life really was a bitch.

“W
E CAN
T
not
go,” Jared said to me later that morning as he poured

himself a cup of coffee. Once he had gotten over being pissed at me for not waking him up. “Coles my oldest friend in the world—” “I know!”
“And its a free trip to Paris! How can we turn that down?”
“I dont want anything from him!”
“Matt,” he said, smiling indulgently at me, and the tone of his voice was the same tone Lizzy used with little James when he was throwing a fit on the floor. The tone that said, “Lets all be reasonable now.” Shit. How was it that Cole could cause me this much trouble when he wasnt even in the same goddamn country? “This isnt about Cole and
me
. This is about Cole and
Jon
.”

“I dont like Jon any more than I like Cole! I hope the two of them spend the rest of their lives making each other miserable!”
“Matt, dont be an ass—”
“Why should I have to go?”
He put his coffee down and looked down at the floor. Whether he was angry or annoyed or disappointed, I wasnt sure, but when he looked up, there was no smile on his face. That in itself was significant. Jared smiled at everything. He sighed and came to stand in front of me. He looked up at me, and his blue eyes met mine.
I knew right then I was going to lose.
“You know I love you,” he said quietly.
“Yes.” I never doubted that.
“You know I never loved him. Not like this.”
I knew that, too, when I thought about it rationally rather than letting my emotions take over. “That has nothing to do with it,” I said defensively.
“Doesnt it?”
Shit. He knew me so well. He didnt even bother to wait for me to answer.
“Cole was happy for us, Matt. Is it too much to ask for you to do the same for him?”
He was right. Of course he was right. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on being reasonable. Making him choose between Cole and me was childish—he had already made the choice, years before. I needed to stop making this about Cole and start making it about Jared. This was what he wanted, and who could blame him? A free trip to Paris to help celebrate the marriage of a friend he had known for nearly fifteen years— it was something only a fool would turn down. It would be selfish of me to keep him from it.
I also had Zach and Angelo to consider. I knew they would never be able to afford a vacation like this on their own. I also knew that Ang would be absolutely ecstatic. Zach probably less so, understandably, but hed do anything to make Angelo happy.