Page 56 of Technical Advances

I snapped up and swiped my silly box off the bedside table. I flipped it open and threw the strip of condoms on the nightstand, exposing the little toy ensconced within. I sat up on the bed, and Anson propped himself up higher on the pillows.

“Oh, is that … When you prepped so quickly I thought, maybe it was because …”

“Because I’d been with other guys recently?”

He nodded, to his credit, keeping eye contact with me.

“I haven’t been a monk since I moved to Boston, Anson. But no, lately I’ve been so busy with my dissertation, and then I met this guy I really like, so …” I picked up the toy and tossed it between my hands. “This little guy right here’s been my only action in a pretty long time. I maybe even used it earlier today, you know, to relieve a little tension before I had to have dinner with my dad and the man I kissed the other day, who also happens to be my boss.”

I leaned forward to kiss him again. I could just do that, thanks to our makeshift spreadsheet, still hanging on my living room wall. “This little guy helps to keep me limber, among other things.”

We kissed lazily for a while, and eventually, I lay myself back on top of him, reaching over blindly to get rid of the purple dildo that I had clenched in my hand. Reluctantly, we eventually pulled apart.

“It’s your big day tomorrow. I should go.”

“Please don’t.”

There was that pause again before he nodded.

“I’ll find you a toothbrush. And Anson?”

“Yes, Benji?”

“You could come tomorrow, to graduation, if you want.”

“I would love that.”

CHAPTER 18

ANSON

Iknew where I was immediately. Warm and safe, with Benji’s weight on me as he lay draped over half of my body. We were both still naked and had made our way under the covers after getting ready for bed the night before.

But that was only after having been in Benji’s bed for some time. It all flooded back to me, in that way my brain had of retaining detailed information. From fumbling to undress, to finding our way to the mattress, to watching him lube first himself and then me up so that he could ride me. The overwhelming sensation of it, holding his slim hips, feeling him bounce up and down, his dick swinging, his inner walls clenching and releasing. Watching him watch me, knowing he was seeking my enjoyment as much as I was his.

Then, just lying there talking, at first about dildos, of all things, but then of our time in Gladewood and at MIT. I told him about taking classes as a young teenager at Hampstead University, and how it was the first time and place where I really felt like part of the group, and about meeting Beck when I moved from Gladewood to Hampstead Valley.

He shared some memories of his mom, and about how proud he was of the sacrifices his father had made to raise him as a single parent. I shared more stories of young Ben and Ashley.

We geeked out on nerd culture and music and argued over the best pizza in the city. We talked about our romantic and sexual pasts, which were shockingly similar, both of us putting off thoughts of a real relationship, deciding we were much too busy with our work and studies for anything real.

Benji had lifted his head from my chest to look into my eyes. “I think we were wrong about that, don’t you?”

Hesitantly, I broached the subject of monogamy. I’d been with more than one man who’d shared that they were in an open relationship. It wasn’t what I wanted, but I thought maybe I could compromise if that was something Benji felt he needed. I worried it was a generational thing, as younger people seemed much more open about relationships, from who they were with, to how many people were involved, and as to how they worked. I was a bit more traditional.

His chin rested on his hands, pressed over my heart, as I asked. Could he feel it beating faster?

He was equally hesitant as he said, “I think I may be a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to monogamy.” After hearing him use the exact same word I’d been thinking, I barely let him get the rest of his sentence out before I kissed him again.

We’d rolled around on his bed some more until he took us both in hand. Lining his velvet shaft against my more textured one, he began tugging and pulling until we were both grunting again, entangled in each other so much that I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began.

“Would you really come to my graduation?”

It appeared Benji may have asked a question. I was trying to keep up, but with my body engulfed in flames, and his long fingers stroking more precum than I had ever produced before, possibly cumulatively, it was hard to focus on the words coming out of his mouth.

“So hard,” I replied. “Yet so silky.”

“Yeah? You like this, baby?”