Page 72 of Resilience on Canvas

“Yeah,” Robert replied, his voice cracking. He winced. “Sorry. Yes.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m, uhm, I’m nervous too.” Henry unfastened the top two buttons of his shirt himself and said, “There. I, uhm, I started it for you.”

Robert swallowed hard. He sucked in a long breath. It shook on the exhale as he reached for the next button. Henry had to smile a little. All these years, he’d had a very particular picture of Robert in his head—one of a man who was bold and confident and headstrong—and while Robert stillwasthem things, he was so much more than them too. Henry liked seeing these other parts of him. Robert’s nervousness was only making him more beautiful.

Henry’s chest warmed, Robert’s obvious unease as he worked the buttons rekindling that small spark of protectiveness in him, the one Henry had first felt on the eve of that huge black blizzard, and with that spark came a fiery courage that had Henry feeling bold.

“I’ll help,” he said, pulling his shirt out of his pants.

He started to unfasten the bottom buttons, working his way up so that they’d meet in the middle. Once the last of the buttons was undone, he shrugged off his shirt and let it fall to the floor. Robert placed his hands on Henry’s chest and slowly ran his fingers through Henry’s chest hair, which was both lighter and sparser than Robert’s. Closing his eyes, Henry let out a sigh.

“Can I feel yers too?” he asked, his eyes fluttering open and finding Robert’s chest.

“Of course.” Robert removed his hands from Henry’s chest and shrugged off his shirt. “Just was caught up in... everything.”

Tentatively, Henry touched his fingertips to Robert’s skin, enjoying the way the smattering of coarse curls was making his fingertips tingle. When he flattened his right palm, he could feel Robert’s heart hammering beneath it. He wondered whose was beating faster.

Robert let out a contented hum, and then the two men finally locked eyes. Robert’s beautiful brown eyes were shimmering with so many things—things like fear and lust and excitement—and Henry knew for certain that they were a perfect mirror of his own.

Robert’s hands fell to the waistband of Henry’s pants. Without breaking eye contact, Robert unfastened both the buckle and the buttons. Henry began sucking on his bottom lip, trying not to let himself come undone from hearing those tantalizing sounds.

Gently, Robert reached up and touched Henry’s mouth with his thumb, coaxing his lip back out.

“God, Hen, look at these lips,” he said. “I need to kiss you.”

Robert leaned in. Henry closed his eyes, relishing the feel of Robert’s soft lips on his own. When they parted—each of them staggering back a step—they both removed their shoes and then kicked off their pants, neither of them saying a word.

Once their pants were off, they stood for what felt like a long while in their underwear—Robert in his boxer shorts and Henry in his briefs, the outlines of their half-hard cocks visible beneath the fabric.

Henry swallowed thickly and said, “Can I see you?”

“Yeah,” Robert replied. “I want to see you, too.”

Simultaneously, they each removed their underwear, and then the only thing they were left wearing was their socks. Henry’s eyes traveled from Robert’s long white cotton socks up his legs and stopped when he reached Robert’s beautiful cock. It was perfect. Long and thick. Becoming longer by the second, really, a vein running the entirety of its length. Above it, there were wonderful curls, brownish-black in color.

Drinking him in, Henry felt his own cock swelling. It became so erect that his foreskin retracted enough to reveal some of the pink head beneath it. Henry’s cock wasn’t as thick as Robert’s, but maybe it was a little longer, and the hair on his pubic mound was a couple of shades lighter. Gosh, he hoped Robert liked the look of him.

Running a hand through his hair, Henry took a shaky step forward.

“Good God, Robert.”

Robert laughed softly. His hands found Henry’s hips. Henry copied, stroking Robert’s skin with his thumbs. Robert closed the space between them. Both men shifted their hips forward and their cocks touched, but only barely. Henry shut his eyes, excitement rolling through him faster than a fierce wind, stealing the breathfrom his lungs. Overwhelmed by the sensation, Henry lay his forehead on Robert’s shoulder.

“Look how nice they look together,” Robert said.

Henry opened his eyes to see their hard cocks positioned right next to each other, close enough that they were practically touching. What a sight it was.

“Want to lie on my bed?” Robert asked.

And Henry could only nod.

Before climbing onto the mattress, Robert picked up the blanket and shook it a couple of times over the floor. Henry tried not to notice whether anything had fallen out of it.

“Just, you know, because of the centipedes,” Robert explained, as though Henry needed the explanation.

Henry stammered, “Yeah, I-I know. I live in Guymon too, remember?”

“Right.”

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