Page 28 of Men in Shorts

“Aye! Do it. Please.”

Wasting not a moment, Duncan took him in his mouth again. Brodie clung to the edge of the mattress, rocking his hips, shuddering as Duncan’s fingertip stroked the outside of his hole. Then every muscle clenched, for what seemed an eternity. Just as he thought he would snap like a rubber band, his orgasm swept over him in a wave that nearly knocked him senseless.

When he could finally move again, Brodie rolled onto his back, limp and trembling.

Duncan gave a satisfied sigh as he sat up. “Fit like?”

Brodie laughed with what little breath he had, at hearing his own Doric phrase spoken back to him in a Glaswegian accent. “I’m good, ta. Fair good.”

“Cool. Now I need to go and change, thanks to your hot self.” He leaned over and kissed Brodie’s knee.

“Are you coming back?”

“Are you kidding?” Duncan tossed Brodie’s trousers at him. “Wild horses couldn’t keep me from your bed.”

* * *

In a euphoric haze,Brodie pulled his pajama trousers back on, relegating his briefs to the laundry hamper—and not bothering with a new pair—before collapsing into bed again. He stared at the ceiling, unable to form thoughts beyondOchandWow.

Duncan returned momentarily, using his phone screen to light his way through the room. The faint bluish glow illuminated his face, which held a contented smile.

He slipped beneath the covers, pressed a warm shoulder against Brodie’s, then took his hand. “I probably should’ve mentioned a rarely discussed symptom of glandular fever. For a brief window in the middle of the second phase, which would be about…now, one becomes irrepressibly wicked.”

“How does one treat this symptom?”

“That’s the thing, see. If one indulges this wickedness, it becomes a permanent state. There’s no known cure. Sorry.”

Brodie tried to smile, but he felt suddenly swept with guilt, remembering the lie he’d been telling all week. If he’d confessed to Duncan days ago, they might not be here now.

“You didn’t give me that virus,” Brodie said. “My symptoms started a week after we kissed, but the incubation period is more than a month.” When Duncan said nothing, Brodie continued, speaking faster and faster. “I looked it up on Tuesday. I should’ve said something then, but I-I thought you were caring for me out of guilt, and that you’d leave if you knew the truth. It wasn’t that I wanted free meals, though I did appreciate them. I just really fancied having you here. I loved it, in fact.” He squeezed Duncan’s hand, fearing it was the last time he’d hold it. “I’m sorry for being a manipulative prick. You were never the culprit. You didn’t infect me.”

Duncan stayed silent for a few more heart-pounding, breath-stealing moments. Then he turned his head to Brodie. “I know.”

Brodie was confused. “Know what?”

“I know about the incubation period. I looked it up too, on Monday.”

Brodie’s mouth opened wider and wider as this revelation sunk in. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because my alleged guilt gave me an excuse to be with you.”

A wave of relief swept over Brodie, almost sweeter than the orgasm. “You didn’t need an excuse.”

“Didn’t I? You had just told me to fuck off—politely, of course—so me caring for you round the clock just to be nice would’ve been awkward.” Duncan rolled onto his side, propping his head on his hand. “You would’ve known I fancied you, and if you didn’t feel the same way, it might’ve been creepy. Like I was a stalker nurse or something.”

“So we were both lying.”

“More like sharing a convenient story. It suited our ulterior motive, didn’t it?”

“Which was?”

“This.” Duncan kissed him softly. “We couldn’t admit we wanted to be together, so we used your dreaded virus as an excuse.”

“And here we are.” Brodie slid a hand down the front of Duncan’s T-shirt.

“At last.” He pulled Brodie’s thigh over his own, giving it a possessive pinch. Brodie was glad he’d decided not to put on a new pair of briefs, the better to feel Duncan’s fingers through these thin cotton trousers.

“You’re incredible, ken?” he told Duncan. “No one’s ever made me come like that, like the world was ending. You’re utterly out of my league.”

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