Page 83 of Out of the Storm

“Excuse me, you were the one objecting to the wordmeatloaf.”

“Fair point.”

Gary and Jeff sat down to eat. Gary was pleasantly surprised that the mush loaf wasn’t half bad. Jeff seemed to enjoy it too. He practically inhaled his first plate and then had two more slices afterward. When they were finished, Gary went into the studio to read Jeff’s notes. Jeff volunteered to clean up in the kitchen, which was so incredibly sweet of him, especially since Gary had been the one to make it so messy. Seriously messy. Kind of likea bomb had exploded, leaving sweet potato skins and carrot ends scattered over the countertops. Jeff finished cleaning a few minutes before Gary had to be on the air.

As soon as Jeff came into the studio, Gary reached out and took his hand, pulling Jeff onto his lap.

“Is this how you’re planning on running your broadcast?” Jeff asked. “With me on your lap?”

“I wouldn’t mind.”

With a mischievous smile, Jeff shifted back and forth a couple of times, rubbing his ass over Gary’s crotch, and Gary’s hands reflexively took hold of Jeff’s hips to try to steady him.

“Are yousureyou wouldn’t mind?” Jeff asked, the playful hitch in his voice making Gary’s heart melt a little.

Jeff had seemed so serious back when they had first met. Heck, hestillseemed so serious sometimes, mostly when they were with other people. Gary couldn’t help but feel special whenever Jeff was particularly playful with him. It meant that they were comfortable together. Or maybe it meant that Gary brought out the playfulness in him. Either way, it was a precious thing.

“Jeffrey,” Gary chastised. “Don’t make me broadcast to my lovely listeners while having a hard-on.”

“I can take care of it when we have a commercial break.”

“No way. I refuse to let you suck me off while I announce the spring sale at Plant Palace.”

“Right. Maybe a breakfromcommercials, then.”

“Oh no. I’m not chancing it. What if I leave the mic on or something?”

Gary tried to coax Jeff off of his lap, but Jeff wouldn’t budge.

“Come on. I was kidding. YouknowI was kidding,” Jeff said. “Let me sit here for a while.”

“I need you to swear that you won’t try anything.”

“Gare, I promise. Cross my heart.”

Gary pretended to think this over, though he really liked the idea of Jeff sitting on his lap for a while.

“Alright, fine, you can stay,” he said after another moment.

For the entire first hour ofTell Me S’more, Jeff sat in Gary’s lap, and boy, was it ever wonderful.

While Jeff hadn’t everintentionallytried to turn Gary on throughout the broadcast, Gary still found himself feeling intermittentlyexcitedfor his show to end. Why on earth had he settled on eleven? He really needed to fix his hours.

For the rest of the program, Jeff read on the love seat nearby, though he seemed to be on the verge of sleep a couple of times. Radio broadcasting probably wasn’t that exciting to watch. Not after you’d witnessed the magic a couple of times.

As soon as the broadcast was over, Gary stood to retrieve Jeff from the couch, but Jeff was already pushing up to stand and then walking toward him, his hand outstretched.

“Finally,” Jeff said.

Taking Jeff’s hand, Gary’s stomach fluttered, and the butterflies only beat their wings more and more fervently as they neared the bedroom. Even though the two of them had been spending plenty of time together in bed, Gary still hadn’t been able to move past the nervousness he felt each time Jeff initiated something. It had really hurt his heart to see Jeff so panicked the other day. It hadn’t happened again, but maybe that was only because they hadn’t really ventured beyond mutual masturbation since.

Once they were in the bedroom, both of them stripped to their briefs and then climbed into bed together. Gary expected Jeff to settle next to him, but instead, Jeff hesitated, and then, rather than lie down, he climbed out of bed.

Gary’s brow creased with worry. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I have an idea.”

After a few seconds of rummaging through the closet, Jeff pulled out two ties.

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