The Assignment

His perspective comforted me, at least momentarily. “Well, letting go is certainly easier said than done.”

“I know.” He sighed. “I just wish I could make you feel better.” Troy leaned his forehead against mine. “And I’m sorry if I forced you to talk about it.”

“You didn’t force me, although this is the most I’ve said aloud about it in years. I do feel a little lighter, though, even if just for now.” I pinched his cheek. “Life is strange…”

He took my hand and kissed it. “You mean this…us…”

“Yeah.” I smiled. “I once hated you so much, and right now there’s no place in the world I’d rather be.”

“I feel the exact same way.” He nuzzled my neck. “Except I’ll take it a step further and say I’d rather be inside you again right now. That’s the one place in the world I want to be.”

I wrapped my hand around his rigid cock. Opening my legs, I placed his crown at my entrance.

He repositioned himself on top of me before pushing inside in one deep thrust.

“Are you sure this is okay? I can get something.” He immediately shut his eyes in ecstasy.

“Yes. This is good.”

He gasped and pushed himself deeper. As he began to move in and out, he said, “God, this feels so fucking incredible. I don’t think I can ever go back to condoms with you now that I know what it’s like.”

I bucked my hips. “As long as you’re with no one else, you don’t have to.”

“There’s no one else,” he whispered as he thrust deeper. “You’re all I fucking want.”

Today had certainly been the day of firsts. First time playing hooky. First time having sex with Troy without a condom. First time opening up to him. And I’d never felt closer to him than the moment he came inside of me. The fact that I’d let him proved that on some level—even if I hadn’t admitted it—I did trust him.

A while later, as we lay in bed, fully satisfied, a small cloud of guilt returned. Not sure why I’d thought of it in this moment. Maybe it was my inclination to always feel undeserving of peace in the rare moments I experienced it.

“I think I need to tell Jasmine about us sooner rather than later,” I said.

Troy nodded. “I agree, if that’s been weighing on you. I don’t think we owe her an explanation personally…but she’s still your friend. So I get it.”

I looked over at my phone. “I have about an hour left before I have to go pick up Kiki from my parents’ house.”

“Did you have lunch?”

“No. I left work before I had a chance to eat.”

“Let me whip you up something. You can have eggs, so how about an omelet with veggies—no cheese?”

My stomach growled. “That sounds amazing.”

After we put our clothes on, I followed him to the kitchen, and Troy prepared me a yummy late lunch. We sat at his counter and ate our omelets together while Patrick eagerly awaited any scraps by our feet.

When we were cleaning up, Troy randomly stopped what he was doing, wrapped his arms around me, and planted the longest kiss on my lips. To my surprise, he concluded by dipping me back in an exaggerated fashion, causing my head to hit the side of the center island.

“Ow!”

“Fuck. I’m sorry. That was supposed to be a dramatic dip.” He swore under his breath as he rubbed the top of my head.

“It was dramatic alright.”

“God, I’m a disaster.” He pulled me close and kissed over the area that had been injured. “Damn Nonno and his secrets. I’m two for two in the failure zone.”

“What are you talking about?”

He kissed the top of my head again. “Nothing.”

• • •

Four days later, Troy and I were in the middle of yet another weekend together. Lazy Sundays had apparently become our thing.

We were napping in my bed after playing around all morning when a knock on the door caused us both to bolt upright.

“Are you expecting someone?” he asked.

I rubbed my eyes. “No?”

Totally naked and warm in my bed, I was in no condition to answer the door.

Troy moved to the edge of my bed, displaying his beautiful, carved back and the crack of his muscular backside. “It’s not Kiki this early, is it?”

“No. She and my mother went to the harvest festival today.”

The harvest festival was one of the biggest things to happen in Meadowbrook every year. It brought people all the way from neighboring states like New York and Pennsylvania. I’d almost suggested Troy and I go, but I sort of preferred just hanging in with him today.

Then I remembered I’d ordered from my favorite organic market, and FedEx was scheduled to deliver it today.

“I think it’s a delivery I’m expecting.”

He turned around and kissed the tip of my nose. “Stay here. I’ll go grab it.”