“I think we need to wait,” Gabe said honestly. “Not because I’m ashamed, but I think we should give this a little time to see where it’s going. I think we need to spend some time together—just us—and get to know each other a little better. Then if things are still good with us, yes, we need to tell Manuela.”
“Okay, that sounds good,” Theo agreed. “And speaking of alone time, Carlos said he’d make himself scarce if we wanted to spend some time together in my cabin.”
“Oh? Oh!” Gabe felt himself blushing. “That would be nice. I mean, if it’s something you wanna do.”
“I’d love to spend some private time with you, Gabriel.” Theo’s smile widened.
* * *
A few days passed,and while their schedules kept them busy, Gabe and Theo found a few minutes here and there to chat. And sneak kisses whenever they could.
One morning, Gabe walked into the crew mess for breakfast and once again saw Carlos and Anton talking. After getting his food, Gabe went to sit with them, and they were suddenly quiet.
“Good morning, guys,” he said to them.
“Hi, Gabe,” Carlos replied, checking his watch. “Oh, I gotta go. I’ll see you both later.”
“Well, that wasn’t suspicious at all,” Gabe deadpanned. “What’s going on, Anton?”
“He’s just afraid you’ll be upset when you find out.” Anton looked like the cat who had swallowed the canary.
“Oh? And what’s that?” Now Gabe was really curious.
“Well, Carlos and I thought you and Theo needed an evening to yourself, so after breakfast, go back to your cabin and change the sheets on your bed.”
“Huh, why would I do that?”
“Because Carlos is gonna sleep in your bed tonight. And you and Theo are staying in their cabin together. All night. So you can have, um, you know, some private time.” Color bloomed on Anton’s dark cheeks.
“What? Wait, you did that for us?” Gabe was surprised and very touched that his friends would come up with a plan like that.
“Of course, Gabe. We care about you guys and want you to be happy. Oh, and don’t worry about Miguel. I already told him he was gonna have a different roomie tonight.”
“You’re the best.” Gabe clapped his arm.
“Tell me something I don’t already know.” Anton chuckled.
* * *
The bar was busy,so they didn’t have any time to really talk to each other, but as soon as everything was cleaned up and put away in Neptune’s Reef, Theo and Gabe bid everyone a good night and hurried to Theo’s cabin.
“I just want you to know that we don’t have to do anything tonight,” Theo said as he shut the door behind them. “I mean, I want to do whatever you want to do, but I know we didn’t exactly plan this evening; it was kind of planned for us. So no pressure.”
“That’s very sweet of you to say, Theo, but frankly, if we don’t do something soon, I might just explode!” Gabe said, pulling Theo to him. “Now kiss me.”
They sat on Theo’s bed and kissed. It started slow and gentle, but before long, the kisses grew deep and smoldering. Gabe pressed himself to Theo, and they both fell over, touching from knees to lips. It was as if neither one of them could get enough of the other.
Finally they came up for air, and Gabe panted, “Wow. That was intense.”
“Yeah, wow is right,” Theo agreed.
“But too many clothes,” Gabe whined.
They rose, pulling off ties and vests and unbuttoning each other’s shirts. Gabe fumbled with Theo’s belt and unbuttoned his uniform slacks. Slowly lowering the zipper, he sighed as Theo mirrored his actions. They stood looking at each other, clad in just their underwear, their excitement evident.
Gabe ran his hand over the patch of blond between Theo’s pecs, and Theo’s fingers danced through the thick dark hair that covered Gabe’s chest. They kissed once again, and Gabe reached behind Theo. Grabbing his ass with both hands, he pulled Theo against him, feeling Theo’s length along his own hardness.
They fell onto the bed, holding each other as close as they could. It was a twin, and they didn’t have much room, but they made it work.
