More Than A Manny: Gay Romance Read online

  "How did you know this was here?" Brent asked as Nate pulled him close and started kissing his throat.

  "I didn't, but it looked promising," Nate said as he threw his arms around his neck. In the darkness, Brent could still see him so clearly. He drew him in for a kiss. Their mouths opened. Lips and tongues slid and wrestled as they moaned. Almost clawing his hands down Nate's back, Brent gripped his ass and brought him closer. They ground into each other roughly, not getting enough contact through their jeans. They fumbled with each other's zippers then their own. They freed their cocks, already hard, and groped for each other. Their deep moans mixed, maybe too loudly. Nate said, "Shhh." But he couldn't stay quiet for long either with Brent stroking him. They were caught in the same trap, at the mercy of their feelings for each other, and they didn't want to escape. They wanted to stay locked in each other's arms, each a willing prisoner of the other.

  Brent wanted to rip that t-shirt off Nate and then the pants, but they might need to put on their clothes fast so he couldn't. He was desperate to get his hands on Nate's flesh again, to feel it respond to his touch.

  "I could lick you from head to toe then do it all over again and again till there was nothing left of you but your belt buckle," he whispered to Nate.

  "You do know that a come-on shouldn't sound like a death threat," Nate told him as he kneeled. Brent wanted to protest. He wanted to suck him off first. It was no use. Nate pushed him so he was leaning on the wall. Brent anchored himself against it. Under the influence of his need, he felt like he could push back hard enough to bring the whole place crashing down. And then Nate's mouth was on him, and he choked back a loud moan that threatened to tear through the night. He clawed at the wall like he wanted to escape, but he only wanted more.

  "Oh, God, Nate, please," he gasped and begged. He wanted release, but he never wanted this to end. If only Nate could suck him and his tongue could lap at him forever. His orgasm was a shock that slammed him back. A guttural noise escaped him. He felt along Nate's throat so he could feel him swallow.

  "Oh, Nate. Oh, Nate," he said lovingly.

  He meant to kneel, but he just collapsed on top of Nate. Brent had to kiss him to try and find some relief from the intensity of his feelings. He wanted to drown in Nate, to possess him and be possessed by him. Nate's tongue probed as Brent sucked on it, the taste salty, new and familiar.

  Not able to wait any more, Brent made him stand up. Nate's cock was so hard, Brent had to have it. His mouth tightened around it. Brent sucked him hard, not hungry, starving. As his head pistoned, he felt Nate's hands on him, gentle but urging him on. He murmured encouragements and curses. He rocked his hips in rhythm with Brent. Nate said, "Now" and came, flooding his mouth. Brent was greedy and took it all, coming with his hand on his own dick as he swallowed. Triumphant and spent, he looked up at Nate like he was declaring his love.

  When they got back home, they found Quin and John asleep on the sofa in the loft. John was resting his head on Quin's broad chest. It was a beautiful sight even with one side of John's face smushed against Quin.

  Seeing Nate looking enviously at John and Quin as they slept, Brent said, "We can do that too."

  "What? Take a nap together?" Nate joked, but looking into his eyes Brent could see that he had something more serious on his mind as well.

  Brent had wanted to tell him, "We can be together too, really together." He just couldn't get the words out. Still, he could swear that Nate understood him, maybe even agreed. But Brent knew for something to really happen, he had to come out and say it.

  Chapter 14

  When Nate got home from his second job, the kids weren't there yet. Ricky had soccer practice, and Quin took Georgie over there to watch and cheer. It turned out that Brent wasn't home either. Nate got some extra work done in the quiet house until the kids got home. When he heard the car, he went to the front door to meet them.

  "Hey!" Nate said in surprise. He saw that Ricky looked disheveled and a little bit scratched up as he got out of the car.

  Since Ricky walked to the library without a word, Nate turned to Quin.

  "There might be a phone call to go with that," Quin told him as he came in carrying Georgie.

  "Ricky was fighting!" Georgie said excitedly. Quin was probably holding her because she wouldn't leave Ricky alone otherwise.

  "A phone call from the school or from the kid's parents?" Nate asked.

  "Who knows. But the boys only wrestled a little. It was no big deal. Nothing to be tripping over." As Quin talked, Georgie talked over him.

  "Quin picked them up like this," she demonstrated holding out both her hands. "And he yelled with his big voice. They were scared." Georgie laughed.

  "What started it?" Nate asked Quin while trying to shush Georgie. He had never seen Ricky really lose his temper.

  "Boys fight," Quin said with a shrug.

  "Even Ricky?" Nate was surprised that anyone could set him off if Georgie couldn't.

  "Ricky might not fight as much as some." The sly smile on Quin's face and the gleam in his eyes told Nate that he knew a lot about boys fighting.

  "You mean you?"

  "I was a little scrapper. After I built myself up, I got to like it, to tell you the truth. All that physical contact."

  "Now you're making this dirty," Nate said and covered Georgie's ears.

  Quin did not look apologetic. He did take Georgie into the kitchen to distract her with snacks and keep her out of the way.

  Nate went to the library and sat across from Ricky on the floor. He checked him over to make sure he wasn't really hurt. Ricky looked down, like he did whenever he thought he was in trouble.

  "Does anything hurt?" Nate asked him.

  Ricky barely shook his head. Nate decided to count that as an answer.

  "Now you're going to tell me why you were fighting. Start with the other boy's name," Nate said in a voice that didn't allow for any argument.

  "Nelson."

  "His full name."

  "Nelson Hackford." Ricky said the name with an angry look.

  "Now tell me what started the fight."

  "Nelson said Brent was a cocksucker."

  "OK. Don't say that word. Not until you're eighteen. Or twenty-five. Or an old man," Nate told him.

  Ricky looked confused. He probably didn't know what it meant or hopefully didn't know what it meant. Nate continued his interrogation.

  "And did you try to hurt him because of what he said?"

  "I hit him. But I couldn't hit him again because we were rolling around on the grass. I don't let anybody say mean things about Brent because he's Georgie's dad," Ricky said fiercely. His angry voice and look as much as proved that Georgie wasn't his only reason.

  "And your dad too," Nate reminded him.

  Ricky didn't deny it. He stayed silent on the subject but looked grim and determined when it came to defending Brent's good name. He was a funny little guy.

  Nate lectured him about an appropriate response to a verbal insult.

  "When someone throws words at you, you don't throw punches. You throw words back at them. Don't hit anyone who isn't trying to hit you."

  Ricky frowned so Nate gave him some more concrete advice.

  "If someone says mean things about Brent, you can say mean things about their dad or their mom."

  Ricky looked like he understood now. But he looked worried again when Nate told him he would have to tell Brent what happened.

  When Brent came home, Ricky made his confession to him. Brent had only one thing to say, "Thank you," and he kissed the top of his head. Nate wasn't sure that was the right way to handle it, but Brent was the dad.

  "I assume you already lectured him about it," Brent said seeing Nate's serious look as he lingered after Ricky left. "I'm just letting you be the disciplinarian."

  "Thanks for that. That's a big favor you are doing me," Nate grumbled.

  "You are the tough and sensible one," Brent added.

  "Throw in sexy at least."
r />   "That too, more than anything," Brent said earnestly.

  "Now you're saying what I want to hear," Nate said but then got back to the subject of Ricky. "You didn't seem surprised by what Ricky did."

  "It's not the first time." Brent sighed and told him more. "Georgie's little friend, Cynthia, isn't allowed to come over here any more. She and her brother had a play date with Georgie and Ricky. Cynthia's brother said I was a fag. Ricky asked what that was. The boy said it was a 'bad, dirty man'."

  "So neither one of them knew what it meant," Nate concluded from the boy's ignorant answer.

  Brent smiled.

  "Ricky didn't like his answer either so he pushed him down and jumped on him. The boy got bruised a little. Pam didn't let it get any further than that. But Ricky was ready to tear that kid apart."

  "So Ricky fights for your honor," Nate said.

  "That kid is something," Brent said simply. Nate could tell by the look in his eyes that it meant a lot to him.

  "It's just what any son would do for his dad," Nate said and made Brent grin with pride.

  When Nate went back to the library, Brent joined him. Georgie was there too now. Brent went to sit with Ricky on the sofa.

  "Hey, Georgette," Brent said as she came up to him.

  She was ready to climb into his lap until he got her name wrong.

  "No. It's not Georgette!" she said with a shake of her head.

  "That's not your name?" Brent asked.

  "It's Georgie," she insisted.

  "Your whole name?"

  "Georgina. Georgina Georgie." Her eyes were wide as she tried to convince him.

  "You look like a Georgette."

  "No. Ricky, tell him!" she said and pulled at Ricky, trying to enlist his help.

  "He's just teasing you," Ricky told her. He refused to look up from his book.

  "He's not backing you up, Georgette," Brent told her.

  "No. It's not Georgette. Tell him, Ricky!" Georgie was now getting very rough with her brother.

  "She's not Georgette," Ricky said listlessly.

  "See. Ricky knows," Georgie said.

  "He doesn't sound too sure," Brent said after he looked at Ricky skeptically.

  "He's sure. Ricky is sure. Tell him!" Georgie demanded and jumped in place.

  "I already told him," Ricky said.

  "He doesn't look sure. Look at him, Georgette," Brent said as he put an arm around Ricky.

  "Georgie! Georgie Georgina!" she yelled.

  Brent let Ricky go and leaned forward.

  "OK. Georgie Georgina, come sit with us."

  She went to him but gave him a half smiling, half angry face. He sat her in his lap, and they both looked over at what Ricky was reading. He tried to ignore them, but Brent leaned over until he and Georgie almost smothered him. Georgie giggled. Ricky tried to glower, but he mostly just looked funny trying to suppress a grin.

  Nate was enjoying the sight of Brent with his arms around both kids. Brent noticed Nate at his desk and smiled at him.

  "She was named after my father, George," Brent said to him. "Greta and I were continuing a tradition. Ricky was named after Greta's father, Ricardo."

  Ricky looked interested though it must have been a familiar story to him.

  "Ricardo. Cool name," Nate told him.

  "Tell Nate your full name," Brent urged Ricky.

  "Ricardo Perea Morley Leighton." Ricky said it like it was all one word.

  "That's impressive," Nate said. He had already seen the name on forms sent by the school. Each of his parents had given him their name. It was kind of nice even if it was cumbersome.

  "Georgina Georgie Perea Leighton," Georgie said, not wanting to be left out then she twirled with her arms raised.

  When the kids left them alone to go and play, Brent told Nate, "I actually wanted to name her Georgette, but Greta liked Georgina better. I thought that was nice too. I think she turned out to be a Georgina anyway. I thought she would be more like Greta and Ricky."

  "But she's all you," Nate finished his thought.

  "I hope not," Brent said and came over to sit on Nate's desk.

  "Why? You're not so bad," Nate told him and ran his hand over his leg, enjoying the feel of muscles, tight under the fabric of his jeans.

  "Maybe. But Greta really had her shit together," Brent said. Nate had noticed Brent's admiration for her before. Nate had mixed feelings about her, but maybe he was just jealous.

  "Georgie is going to knock it out of the park. You'll see," Nate predicted. She had enough guts to conquer the world.

  "And what about Ricky?" Brent asked like Nate was a fortuneteller.

  "With you in his corner, he'll do amazing things," Nate told him.

  Leaning over, Brent kissed him. But then he straightened with a funny look on his face.

  "Do you think that when he grows up, Ricky is going to make us start calling him Rick?" Brent looked seriously worried about this.

  "He has a choice, Ricky or Ricardo, Rick is not an option," Nate decided. He didn't like the name Rick either.

  "Good to know. But I want him to stay my little Ricky forever."

  "That's not an option either," Nate said. He wasn't just going to tell him what he wanted to hear, but he did kiss him.

  Chapter 15

  Through the open window, Nate could hear the gardeners outside talking to each other. That meant he was sleeping late, not surprising considering what he and Brent had been up to half the night after Nate came home from his class. Nate could still feel Brent's muscles against him, his kisses hot on every part of him, his hard body begging to be fucked but still being denied. They satisfied each other over and over again. Then they went to sleep in each other's arms, sweat drenched and overheated. Really, Nate didn't mind. Discomfort faded from his awareness as he felt that body he loved relaxing against him.

  Nate hadn't meant for it to happen, but he had fallen asleep with Brent in his arms. It was a habit for the two of them to hang out either in Brent's room or in Nate's and sometimes fall asleep side by side. Nate was always surprised to wake up next to Brent and realize that it happened again. Not wanting to rush into anything, Nate tried to keep a cool head, sleep alone at least sometimes. But in such a sexually charged atmosphere, with a man who turned him on like no other, it was inevitable. Two overheated bodies so close couldn't resist one another. Their mouths would find their way to each other. It was like a force pulled them together, locked their bodies in mutual desire. Sometimes Nate would start kissing Brent in mid sentence like the kiss was just a continuation of what he was saying. It was all so natural and so good. It hurt Nate to think that it could end. That's why he tried to slow down, but it might have been too late already. He couldn't imagine giving up Brent. He was too perfect. Just lying next to him was now something he couldn't live without.

  And the next morning, Nate was a happy and irresponsible fool. Since neither the kids nor Brent were in their beds, Nate went to the kitchen. To his relief, he found Brent was right there with the kids giving them breakfast. What a good dad.

  After the kids were gone, Nate thanked Brent for taking care of the kids instead of waking him.

  "It was the least I could do. I took advantage of you on a school night and kept you up late," Brent said, taking responsibility while leering at Nate.

  "And you still owe me a date," Nate said as he buried his face against Brent's shoulder and inhaled the intoxicating scent of his skin. Brent rubbed the back of his head and his ass. They were both starting to breathe hard. Nate pulled back to give Brent a long look.

  "I should be trying to get you out of my head not memorizing you." Nate needed to have a clear head so he could concentrate at work and at school. Any thoughts of Brent made that impossible. Now Nate found it excruciating to have to leave him, but it had to be done.

  Just as he came home from Miss Pullman's, Nate saw John going into the garage and looking around like he didn't want to be seen.

  "Are you sneaking out," Nate asked h
im.

  John jumped just as he was about to unlock a vintage Thunderbird convertible, his favorite car.

  "Keep it down," he told Nate though he hadn't exactly shouted. "I'm making myself scarce before Quin asks me to go visit his family."

  "You don't like them?"

  John shook his head.

  "His mom is great, but his grandmother has religious issues with gay people. It's better if I don't go and fan the flames. That way Quin can have a nice time," John said with a sad smile of regret. It was obvious to Nate that he wished he could go with Quin. "Quin is lucky to have a family. I don't want him fighting with them over me."

  "That doesn't explain why you're sneaking," Nate told him.

  "When Quin asks, I can't say no," John said. "You know, I never liked it when guys called me baby until I heard Quin say it. I hate how much I love him." Seeing skeptical Nate's look, he added, "You just wait till you are this much in love then you'll see how mad it makes you."

  "If you say so," Nate said with a smirk, not believing him for a second.

  "You are going to suffer," John predicted vindictively before he drove away.

  Nate laughed. He wasn't surprised that Brent's smiling face flashed vividly through his mind just then. The truth was, he couldn't imagine Brent making him hate being in love. At the moment, Brent was out with friends. "I'm bragging that I bagged my hot manny," Brent had texted him. "Rub their noses in it," Nate texted back.

  As he went inside, Nate enjoyed the feeling of missing Brent. He probably wouldn't if he had any doubts that he would be seeing him soon. That's why missing him was a sweet pain.