Page 23 of They Were Roommates
“Yes. I want to be your… your darling. I looked it up, and it’s supposed to be really romantic.”
Diego crashed their mouths together again. Frankie melted into the kiss, threading his arms behind Diego, stroking up the sides of his back the same way Diego had been tracing Frankie’s back with his eyes. Frankie shoved his hips forward, imitating the position he’d been in with Emilio hours before, but this time…
“Frankie, no, I… I’m not wearing–”
“If you don’t care, I don’t care,” he panted and shifted his hips so his rock-hard erection was pressed against Diego’s thigh. “We don’t have to do anything. You don’t… you don’t have to do anything, or get anything, or put anything on, I just…” He surged forward, capturing Diego’s mouth in a frantic kiss that was more pain than pleasure. It was longing and fear and possession and nothing like how Diego thought their first few kisses would be.
Somehow, Emilio, aromantic, fuck around and find out Emilio, had guessed it right. Frankie was clearly jealous, and he was staking his claim. But, for how long?
“Franklin… stop. I… just, hold on,” Diego grunted, and took a step back, still in Frankie’s arms but with a little more breathing room between them.
Frankie’s pupils were blown so wide they almost eclipsed his honey brown irises. He was panting and as Diego tried to gather his thoughts and feelings, Frankie began to let out a soft whine.
“Please… please D… I just… I need you. I want you, and I need you, and I… please don’t pull away.”
Diego threaded his fingers through the soft, downy hair at the base of Frankie’s neck. He’d always wanted to touch Frankie’s hair, even if it wasn’t as thick and lush as his own. He’d always loved the volume in his hair, and going on T had just thickened it, making it even easier to style. He also loved the way Emilio used to grab it in bed, and how Frankie would sometimes run his hands through it when he thought Diego was asleep next to him on the couch.
Frankie’s hair was fine and seemed to slip through Diego’s fingers like water – sort of how Frankie himself always seemed to be just outside of his reach. Diego tightened his fist and the movement jerked Frankie’s head back.
For one sickening moment, Diego thought he saw a hickey on Frankie’s neck, but it was just a shadow, a shadow Diego first ran his tongue, then his lips, and finally his teeth over.
“D… fuck… yes, please… mark me. Make me yours,” Frankie groaned, but Diego pulled his head back.
“Diego! No! Please,” Frankie whimpered and his eyes were glassy with want and unshed tears.
“Franklin… we need to talk first. Just… wait a moment—”
“Why?” Frankie snapped, the change in his tone practically giving Diego whiplash. “Emilio didn’t have to wait a moment. He walked in and got to kiss and grope you like… like you werehis. Why do I have to wait?”
Diego felt a flash of fury rip through his chest. Somehow, it didn’t extinguish the fire burning inside him for Frankie. Instead, it seemed to pour accelerant on the flame.
Diego pressed up against Frankie until his back collided with the door. He let out a pained grunt that immediately turned to pleasure as Diego ran his hands down his sides to grip his hips, pressing into the vulnerable crease below his hip bones.
“Diego.”
“Why now, Franklin? Is it just because you’re jealous? Because you want to… to mark me, and for me to mark you?” Diego growled even though the idea made him so hard he wondered if Frankie would be able to feel it.
“It’s not because of him. It’s… seeing you with him… seeing you… just being you. Being yourself but with someone else… I want that, D. I’ve wanted that – wanted you for so fucking long, but I know you’re demi and you had one surgery, and then another, and even though sometimes you seem totallycomfortable in your body I’ve seen what a bad gender day looks like for you and I… I just didn’t ever want to put you in a position where you had to be anything but yourself to be with me. And… I thought the reason you never dated and never had a relationship was because you didn’t want one, and you never showed even the tiniest interest in me.”
Diego let out a loud snort, which was probably rude, but he couldn’t help it. “I never showed interest in you? Are you fucking kidding me? When exactly was I supposed to show this interest, huh? Between your parade of hookups, or when you didn’t seem interested in living with me, or now, when we’re only a few short months away from launching a business together, or when you’re sneaking off to a bootie call.”
“Okay first the fuck of all, that’s a lot of slut shaming in one sentence, D, so you might want to check yourself a bit. I was at Seth and Obie’s place while you were dry humping in our cafe,” Frankie snarled. He pushed into Diego’s touch, forcing him to take a step back, but Frankie followed him, pressing their bodies together again.
Diego felt a flash of anger at the accusation followed by the sickening creep of jealousy at the thought of Frankie with Obie and Seth. But it quickly dissipated when he realized Frankie must have meant he’d been staying in his old room. As the anger cooled and the jealousy drained away, he felt a new emotion settle in. Guilt. Hehadin essence been slut shaming Frankie. He tried to backtrack as best he could.
“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to slut shame you. I don’t care how many people you’ve been with, or how often you hook up, it's just that… it’s never been me. You’ve never shown any interest in me, even when I was right there, foryears, you were still running off to be with other people. And now… now that I’mrighthere, literally just a wall away from you, you still sought out other people,five timesin less than a month, Frankie.”
Frankie’s brows scrunched together. “Ijustfucking told you I’ve been at Seth and Obie’s place.”
Diego blinked at him, releasing his brutal hold on Frankie’s hips so he could take a step back, and this time Frankie didn’t follow. “You… all six nights? You went back to your old place?”
Frankie grimaced and rubbed his temples. “It’s beensohard being here with you, and not reallybeingwith you. I thought it would be easy, just like an extended hang out session, but you’re so different at home, and you… you’ve been showing me different sides of yourself, and it’s been this beautiful, amazing thing. I thought maybe that would be enough. Maybe I could just appreciate the deepening of our friendship and the beginning of our business partnership but… it's still not… what I want. Or at least not everything I want.”
Frankie leaned his head back on the door and stared up at the ceiling for a moment.
“And… what is it that you want, Franklin?”
Frankie heaved a loud sigh and looked back at Diego. A tiny bit of his usual joviality and sass peaked through in the slight curve of his lip. “To be your quesadilla burrito boyfriend, D. I thought we just talked about this.”
