Page 97 of Everything's Better With You
He woke sometime in the evening pain-free and found Joe snuggled up to him, breathing deeply and evenly. Leslie got up to use the bathroom and rinsed off in the shower without waking him and when he returned, he tried not to disturb Joe, but Joe flung an arm and a leg over Leslie.
“How are you feeling?” he asked in a hoarse voice.
“Better. Everything’s better with you.”
Joe smiled and pressed a kiss into Leslie’s jaw, and Leslie couldn’t resist kissing him back. What started out as light, breezy kisses grew needy and desperate. There was a lot that needed saying, but Leslie didn’t want to think about all the reasons he should stop, should tell Joe to go. He didn’t want clothes to stop him, didn’t want anything between them, especially not more angry words. He wanted Joe and if this was the end, at least he’d have this memory to cling to.
“Leslie?” Joe asked as Leslie untied Joe’s joggers and slid his hands underneath, cupping Joe’s ass over the fabric of his trunks. “Baby?”
“Will you let me have you?” Leslie asked.
Joe gazed up at him, questioning him, probably wondering how Leslie could have said one thing yesterday and now…Leslie didn’t have the words, but he had the feelings, and he needed to show Joe how important he was, why he’d been holding on so tightly.
Joe answered his question by removing his shirt and sliding out of his trunks. He held out his arms to Leslie and Leslie covered his body, sliding in between Joe’s open thighs.
“Do you have—”
Leslie reached over to his bedside table and pulled a bottle of lube and a condom out of the drawer. He moved on autopilot because if he thought too much about what they were about to do, it would be over before it started. A crease formed on Joe’s forehead as if he were unsure.
“Tell me when you’re ready. I don’t want to hurt you,” Leslie said, his voice cracking. Joe nodded and reached for Leslie’s hand, guiding it to his opening. Leslie tried to be careful; he was as gentle as he could possibly be as Joe fought to relax and let Leslie’s fingers in. Joe’s breath caught and he moaned, his whole body shaking. He let his legs fall impossibly wide open and Leslie moved down to place kisses on Joe’s pelvis, on his sac, on his shaft. Leslie draped Joe’s legs over his shoulders and bent down further to use his tongue to help relax Joe. He loved being this close to him, this intimate. He loved how open Joe was with him, how he writhed against Leslie’s face, how he cried out Leslie’s name over and over, how he held onto Leslie’s left hand with a death grip.
“I’m sorry I’m not… I haven’t even waxed.” Joe groaned and Leslie laughed.
“I love your hair. Don’t ever wax on my account. I love it.”
Joe placed his hand on Leslie’s cheek, forcing him to look into Joe’s eyes.
“I loveyou, Leslie Payton. So much. Please know that.”
Leslie moved up and smiled at Joe. “I know. I know you do.” He wouldn’t allow himself to dwell on thoughts of “but is it enough?”
Leslie slid on the condom and held his cock against Joe. Joe nodded. “Yeah, come on. Be in me.”
Leslie’s bad knee ached and his body was tired, but he shut it all out as he pushed himself past Joe’s tight opening. They both cried out at their joining. They had yet to do this. All of their previous nights together they’d either been too tired to do more than just hold each other and kiss, or they’d spent hours discovering all the ways the other liked to be touched, kissed, licked, and bit and then they rode that edge as long as they possibly could.
But tonight was something else, at least for Leslie. If it was the last time he could be this close to Joe, he wanted it all. In the morning he would go to the doctor, find out what reality he was facing, and then he would tell Joe the truth, being fully prepared that if Joe had any inclination to say goodbye, the news that Leslie may have a degenerative brain disease that would rob him of his faculties would most likely push him over the edge, and the truth was, he was a selfish bastard for keeping that information from him, especially now. So much for being the nice guy. Leslie turned off the part of his conscience that was ringing alarm bells and he let himself get lost in Joe’s body.
Leslie rocked his hips against Joe’s, memorizing every curve of his body, every sound he made. He focused on Joe, keeping his movements small, tight, and gentle. He wrapped one hand around Joe’s straining cock and stroked it in time with his movements, using Joe’s precum to make his hand glide over Joe’s velvety soft flesh.
“Leslie, baby, I love you. I love you so much. I’m yours, baby. I’m yours.” And Joe came, his body curling up off the bed as his cum landed on his chest. His head fell back and he swore, his body loose and sated. He reached up to cup Leslie’s cheek as Leslie’s body wound tighter and tighter, his balls heavy, his spine tingling.
“Joe…God…Joe.” He moaned as his body shuddered, his hips losing their rhythm as they slapped against Joe. Joe dug his fingers into Leslie’s ass, pulling him even closer, holding him tight as Leslie let go. He jerked, cursed, gasped, and growled. Tears filled the corners of his eyes and he blinked them away. He dropped his head onto Joe’s chest and Joe wrapped his arms around Leslie, turning them on their sides.
Joe caressed his back and whispered to him, smoothing his hair, and Leslie wanted to believe all he had said.
I love you. I’m yours. I’m yours.
Leslie kissed Joe once and then faded into a deep sleep, much deeper now that his head was no longer killing him, and he prayed that when he woke, he could make Joe understand, could make him want to stay.
Joe left at some point in the middle of the night, which Leslie discovered when Sandy woke him and rushed him out the door. He’d overslept and they were barely going to have enough time to get to Kansas City. Agnes and Randy joined them, making the outing a Payton Family Adventure. They asked about the cheer competition and Leslie filled them in.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Leslie said. He turned to Sandy, who’d been driving while silent. “Wasn’t it great?”
“Yeah,” Sandy said. His knuckles were white where he gripped the steering wheel at ten and two. He didn’t say another word the entire drive.
Dr. Jonathan Taylor had been a long-time friend of the Payton’s. As a young neurologist, he’d been hired by the 49ers to treat Rick’s bizarre and terrible symptoms, and after Rick passed, Dr. Taylor had worked with specialists around the world to discover whatever they could about CTE and how to avoid it.
He started off with a long list of questions, which Leslie answered with ease, but doubted himself the entire time, wondering if he was right. Then he went over Leslie’s imaging and blood test results. Besides his cholesterol being a tad high—and of course the knees—he was perfectly fine. As fine as he could possibly be.
