Double Header (Hardball 2)

Domenic groaned. “I wish I could answer that without swearing. But it’s beautiful here. Damn hot, too many bugs, but it’s absolutely lush for shooting.”

Guiltily, Zach laughed and looked away from the screen. He couldn’t exactly remember where Domenic was. He’d thought it was Myanmar. Maybe Guam? Somewhere in South America? The hardest part of having a long-distance relationship was that it was easy to forget the little details. Sometimes, Domenic didn’t even exist in Zach’s mind when they weren’t together. Worse, Zach knew Domenic must be feeling the same way.

“So, how did it go with the ex?” Domenic raised an eyebrow.

“Not great. We’re not going to be best friends or anything.” But it hadn’t been that bad, had it? Reluctantly, Zach had to agree with himself. “It wasn’t terrible. We’ll be able to get along.”

“And if you can’t—” Domenic’s words cut off when the screen froze. Moments later, the call ended of its own volition, and before Zach could call back, his cell rang.

Through the crackling static on Domenic’s satellite phone, Zack could make out the words, “Bad connection” and “no internet,” before the line went dead again. He waited for a few minutes. When the phone didn’t ring, he tossed his cell aside and gave up.

He flipped through the channels on the television for a few minutes, but his heart wasn’t in it. He hit the lights, stripped off, and got into bed.

The hardest part of a long-distance relationship wasn’t communication if he were to be entirely honest with himself. As shallow as it sounded, the hardest part was not being able to touch. Their relationship wasn’t just about the sex, but ever since they’d gotten together, he and Domenic had been unable to keep their hands off each other. They’d broken their “no sleepovers” rule in the first week of dating, but they hadn’t been doing much sleeping. And even though Domenic had been burned by commitment before, hence his need for an open relationship, Zach had never found it necessary to “go outside” to get play. He didn’t know if Domenic did or not; what happened on location, stayed on location. As long as it was safe, both at home and away, Zach didn’t care.

Still, it was hard to think of Domenic out there in a tropical paradise with a bunch of good-looking, Hollywood hard bodies, when the last time Zach had gotten any was three weeks ago before Domenic left for LA.

He cupped himself through the sheet. Was this the way the entire season would be? Come home from a game, jack off, go to sleep, just to start all over in the morning? Was this the kind of life he wanted?

Trying to picture himself back home, in L.A., he reached beneath the covers and gripped his cock. Half-awake already, it quickly hardened under the sudden attention. He rolled the foreskin over the head and back and blew out a long exhale as he relaxed. Imagining it was Domenic’s hand helped. He tried to feel Domenic’s warm, hard body beside his, tried to mimic the quick, sure strokes of his lover’s hand.

Somehow, without consciously trying, that hand became someone else’s. Someone with warm, brown eyes and a crooked smile. Someone who’d turned sex into a competition, an endurance race. Zach had never had sex like that before, and he doubted he would, again.

Damn Javier.

Zach let his arm fall back to the bed in frustration. There was absolutely no way he was going to jerk off thinking about the guy. It was too pathetic. Way too “not over you” for Zach’s tastes. Besides, he was with Domenic now. It wasn’t fair to him, open relationship or not, to be fantasizing about an ex.

His cock twitched against the sheets, and he swore.

Just once, he promised as he gripped himself again. Maybe that was all it would take, one time, to get it out of his system. Imagining Javier beside him was, absurdly, much easier than trying to conjure up a ghost of Domenic. Zach could practically feel Javier, his strong hand slowly stroking and teasing. He thought of that night in New York when they should have been getting shut-eye for the last game in the series, and instead, they’d fucked until three AM and had to pretend they were hungover from a night on the town. The smackdown they’d gotten from their manager had been worth it.

Tugging faster, he thought of the way his cock had looked disappearing into Javier’s ass, remembered the way his tawny skin had tasted and felt under his teeth, salty and tight. Zach’s fist moved faster, up and down, squeezing, trying to replicate the feeling of Javier’s body gripping him.

He kicked the sheets back just in time to avoid spraying all over them. Panting, he held his softening cock and blinked up at the ceiling he couldn’t see in the darkness. If he’d meant to get Javier out of his mind, this hadn’t been the way to do it. Now, all he could think of was the smell of sex and sweat and the feeling of Javier next to him, where he should be thinking of Domenic.