Page 79 of Backward Motion

As if Mike was privy to the whir of Sam’s thoughts, he looked over to where Sam and Brandon were talking and got up from the booth to join them. “Speak of the devil,” Brandon said when Mike appeared beside him.

“Nice to see you again, Sam,” Mike greeted him with a nod.

“I hear you’re leaving.”

“Not for good. I’ve been offered a transfer for work. I’m overseeing the setup of a new regional branch—but they’ll send me back once everything’s chugging along.”

“Whereabouts?”

“Raleigh. North Carolina.”

Sam glanced over at Brandon, whose regular breezy smile looked somewhat forced. “So, are you guys...?”

“We’re going to give the long-distance thing a go,” Brandon piped up. “Phone sex is one of my many natural talents.”

“Donnie,” Mike protested half-heartedly.

When they’d first met, Brandon had asked Sam—entirely unprompted—to tell him about the best year of his life. Sam had drawn a blank, unsure what to say, and to cover his silence, Brandon launched into a graphic anecdote about learning to jerk off when hewas twelve and how that was—hands down—the best year to date. The admission was so hilarious Sam had immediately felt at ease.

“What about you?” Brandon asked, unfazed. “Where are you based these days? I haven’t seen you around town.”

“Back home, actually—Oakdale, Nebraska.”

Connor picked that moment to reappear with their drinks, and Sam shyly introduced them. Almost immediately, Mike and Connor launched into an earnest conversation about wind-power generation, their heads drawing together to hear each other over the noise of the club.

“Look at these two,” Brandon cooed, turning back to Sam. “Nebraska, huh? So, you liking it out there?”

“Yeah, it’s been great.”

“I’ll bet it has. All those cornfed boys.” Brandon studied Connor through lowered lashes then gave Sam a wink. “I like this one. Why do I get the feeling he’d do a decent job fixing my car?”

“Or rewiring your house.”

Brandon groaned. “I love that shit! Sadly missing in this day and age. Mike can, like, bring down a Swiss bank or something, but he would be absolutely useless going camping.” A Madonna-Britney classic blasted from the speakers, and he threw up his arms with a whoop. “Mike, get over here! We’re dancing!” And with a smirk and a wave, Brandon pulled his boyfriend onto the dance floor.

“They’re fun,” Connor remarked. “Friends of yours?”

“Kind of. I think I inherited them from Felix.”

“Well, at least he left you with something good.”

Sam laughed and downed his drink. “Want to dance?”

Connor’s eyes crinkled. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Connor woke to discover a sliver of light coming from the crack beneath the bathroom door and Sam gone from bed. They’d arrived back at the hotel after the club, unable to keep their hands off each other. Something about Sam grinding against him in a room full of sweaty, gorgeous bodies left Connor more than a little turned on. Sam inhabited an unexpected swagger while out in his old stomping ground, and Connor had loved the suggestive way he’d swung his hips to the music, the bottom of his shirt rolled up to expose the smooth skin of his stomach.

Yet Connor was also secretly relieved to find, when they collapsed together in bed, that Sam wanted their usual sweetness. While there was a lot to like about the in-your-face sexuality on display at the club, Connor still felt most comfortable when it was just the two of them. After helping each other out of their clothes, they lay naked on top of the covers, kissing deeply.

“Touch me,” Sam murmured, arching his hips until Connor took both their erections in hand and guided his fist up and down. “Oh fuck, Connor...”

Connor increased the pace, and Sam tensed beneath him as the heads of their cocks rubbed together, already beading. He bent to trail his tongue behind Sam’s ear and sucked on the lobe, relishing the moans his attention elicited. Sam grazed Connor’s chest with his fingers, lingering over his nipples, raised and taut. Connor tightened his grip around their shafts and curved his wrist at the end of each stroke, causing Sam to let out a gasp of pleasure and drop his hand to wrap it around Connor’s, guiding him faster.

“I’m close,” Sam panted, biting down on his bottom lip.

Connor was too. “Feels so good,” he managed, his focus slipping.

Neither of them lasted much longer after that. They came seconds apart with their foreheads pressed together, streaking Sam’s stomach with their shared release. Connor looked down into Sam’s eyes, and his heart swelled with an almost painful tenderness. Samreached up to cup Connor’s face and kissed him, long and slow. After cleaning up, Connor had promptly crashed, the long drive and the eventful evening sending him immediately to sleep. But it appeared that hadn’t been the case for Sam.