Page 30 of Hold Me Down

"I think I should go lie down." Dave pushed his empty plate away. "In bed, since the couch will soon have a dent in the shape of my ass."

There was a part of Travis who wanted to escape into a joke, say something about how great that shape would be, but the rest of him…

The rest of him wanted to take care of Dave more.

"Whatever you want." He got up. "Are we going up with an assist or are we doing a fireman carry?"

Dave shook his head. "I can try to go up on my own. You can finish your dinner."

"I did finish, and besides, let's leave going up by yourself for another time, okay? Especially since I'm available."

"I'll have to start using that leg or my muscles will weaken too much," Dave muttered but still threw his arm around Travis's shoulders, so Travis counted that as a win.

"I'm not arguing that, simply start with something other than climbing stairs on your own while I'm here, okay?" Travis risked a small smile. "Anyway, if you're good now and let me assist you, I'll massage your thigh later, so the muscles will be taken care of, too."

If Travis wasn't looking at him, he would have missed the way Dave's eyebrows shot up before his face relaxed.

"You don't—" Dave started, but, knowing what was likely to follow, Travis tightened his grip on Dave's hip and cut him off.

"You know I'm not the type of man who offers to do things he doesn't want to do. But if you don't want a massage, then by all means, let's skip it."

"I didn't saythat."

And there it was—the twist at the corner of Dave's mouth, the softer tone, the gentle give-in. For all that Dave could be as impatient as Travis sometimes, he was incredibly patient in moments like this, forgiving Travis's every misstep.

Travis would like to think he tried to do the same, but the truth was, he was bad at it in the heat of things. He tended to say something stupid, or storm off in anger, or give as bad as he felt he'd gotten. In the long run, he forgave Dave for everything, too, but in the moment, he usually couldn't quite get there.

Whereas Dave offered him grace every goddamn time, usually within a few minutes.

They made their way up slowly, but Dave was already sweating a bit when they hit the upper level. And once they got to his bedroom, he stretched on the bed with a loud sigh.

"I can try on my own", my ass, Travis thought, turning away from the enticing sight to get a grip. He'd offered Dave a massage, not sex, and he needed to remember that.

"The massage oil is in there." Dave pointed at the nightstand, the handle of the drawer just out of reach for him. "It smells like peaches, fair warning."

Ignoring the bottle of lube that rolled forward, Travis grabbed the massage oil and closed the drawer quickly before scrunching his nose when he opened the bottle and the scent hit him.

"Why would you?" he complained, but as he helped push Dave's shorts down, he got distracted by the sight of him in those close-fitted briefs.

"It was half-price if I bought it with the one I usually use."

With that, Dave crossed his arms behind his head, and Travis knew Dave wasn't trying to seduce him on purpose,he knew, and yet he had to take another inhale of the fake peaches to stop himself from getting hard.

"I told you, you need to resist the special offers." Travis settled on his knees next to Dave's thigh. "Half the time it's not even worth it."

"That's not true. Nine times out of ten, I'm happy with what I've got. Okay, eight," he corrected at the incredulous look Travis shot him. "Eight out of ten."

"You've got to be kidding."

"I'm not." Dave let out a hum as Travis ran his hands up and down Dave's thigh, pressing circles along the sides of it, while also trying not to disturb the lower part of the leg in the cast. "You only remember the things I complained about and forget about all the good ones."

"We took that awful coffee to work so we wouldn't have to drink it or throw it out." Travis dug in his thumbs and kept them there for a long moment before relaxing the grip. "And most people didn't want to drink it, even for free."

"Melissa and Keri loved it," Dave argued between grunts. "Aamir likes it, too. We did them a favor."

"Domea favor and stop buying shit simply because it's cheaper. I'll even chip in if lavender oil somehow becomes too expensive for you."

"I'm not using our joint budget to buy myself massage oil."

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