Page 30 of Fall of Us
He laughed, like he was remembering the time he put us all through that as well, before flipping open a lid. Joe had ventured over and visibly relaxed at the sight of Chinese food. There was chow mein, broccoli beef, general tso chicken, sweet and sour pork, fried rice, egg rolls, pot stickers, and a big bowl of egg drop soup. It was a lot of food and While Brandon did better than most of us financially, I still felt bad if he had paid for all of this.
“Can I give you any money toward this?” I whispered, leaning in close.
Brandon shook his head, continuing to set out the food and pull out plates and utensils so everyone could eat.
“Wouldn’t dream of it. This is my treat tonight.”
Things had felt a little more strained since he visited me at the pharmacy two days ago, but I tried not to dwell on it. Maybe he figured out that Rebecca knew about us, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Someone was bound to find out, especially with him acting cagey all the time.
Once everyone had gathered around the island and started dishing up their food, Brandon disappeared. I followed him and found him sitting on the edge of his bed. When I closed the door behind me, he looked up and chewed his lip nervously.
“Are you doing okay?”
His laugh was awkward. He couldn’t lie to me and tell me he was fine because I knew he was anything but. “I’m just anxious. It’s fine. Can you—can you stay tonight? After everyone leaves?”
We hadn’t stayed together since the night we got our test results. Maybe that was why he seemed stressed out. We never spent that much time apart. It hit me then just how tired he looked. There were dark circles under his eyes, which were hard to see, thanks to his glasses.
I walked over to him and grabbed his hand, pulling him up from the bed. His arms wrapped around my waist and his head rested against my chest. I kissed the top of his head. “You don’t even have to ask me that.”
There was a soft knock on the door before it creaked open. For the first time in a while, Brandon didn’t jump back from me, which made me feel better about the entire situation.
“What’s going on? Everything okay?” Chase just stood there, still holding the doorknob. Brandon nodded against my chest before letting go and heading back out to the front of his apartment. It took me a couple of minutes to gather myself.
When I went back out to the living room, I got my own plate of food, even though I wasn’t all that hungry anymore. I was more worried about Brandon and what had made him want to take a break from things. He was one of the most outgoing people I’d ever met.
I sat on one end of the couch, placing my plate on the coffee table in front of me, and then suddenly I had a lap full of Brandon. He threw an arm around my shoulder as he continued to talk to Chase about whatever they’d been talking about before I sat down. It threw me off balance because, for the last few weeks, he’d been shying away from any contact like this. Not that I was about to complain. Having him there felt right. Made me feel complete.
“So then this guy is going on and on about how his girlfriend is reading porn and he’s upset that we sold it to her. I really hope that she finds someone better because she should be allowed to read whatever she wants and not have to worry about an insecure dickweed like that.” Brandon swung his free arm around while he continued his story. Chase seemed like he was interested, leaning in close and nodding at all the appropriate times.
“I never understood that. Why would you limit what your partner was into unless it was causing actual harm?” Chase sat back, resting against Nathan, who wrapped an arm around him. Nathan was lost in his own conversation with Joe while Aiden found himself wedged between Daniel and Shawn on the floor, keeping the two of them from killing each other.
“What do you think?”
Brandon’s question snapped me back to the present.
“I have no problem with it. I think it’s cute that you like those stories.”
Brandon blushed before sliding off my lap and going back to get more food. I still hadn’t eaten yet, so I grabbed my plate while my lap was empty. It didn’t last long before Brandon came back. It was tricky trying to navigate around him while he kept up his conversation with Nathan and Chase, including me in the conversation every so often.
I was distracted. The man I’d been craving was squirming around on my lap and I’d been dying of anticipation for almost an entire week. We still had a couple of more days until we had the all clear, but if he kept this up, I was about to propose something to give us both some relief. There were things we could do that didn’t require penetration or the use of our mouths. Brandon seemed intent on going to the next step, but it needed to wait and we were both too on edge.
When Brandon shifted again, I nearly dropped my plate. He was making it difficult for me to behave in front of our friends. My dick twitched and thickened every time he squirmed. He suddenly froze when he realized what was happening.
“Andrew?” His question was so quiet that I almost didn’thear it.
“Yeah?”
“Can you help me with something for a minute?”
“Sure.”
We both stood, and Brandon pulled me toward the bathroom. It was something we’d done before and not that unusual, but it never stopped the catcalls and wolf whistles that always followed us. Brandon tossed a middle finger over his shoulder as he closed the door and locked it behind us.
He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. Neither of us said anything as we stood and stared at each other. The air crackled and fizzled; the tension seeping out between us.
“Are you—”
Before I could finish my question, Brandon launched himself at me and sealed his mouth over mine. I stumbled backward, catching myself on the sink and knocking something to the floor. Our friends were definitely going to think we were up to something now, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care as long as Brandon kept up with his little mewls and whimpers as he ground against me.
