One Toe Out (A Complicated Love Story) by Desiree Day Page B

his scent, even on a hot May day, wafted over to him. “I’m sorry man, don’t get too close, I’m pretty ripe right now.”
    Christian eyes roamed down the top of J.T.’s head to his feet, he licked his lips. “You smell good to me.”
    J.T. ignored the blatant come on. “This isn’t the best place to do an interview. Let’s go somewhere very casual, where we can relax. So this is your town, where’s a good place to eat?” he asked.
    “ If you’re down for some burgers and fries, there’s a cool sports joint downtown. It’s pretty chill.”
    “ Cool, I’ll follow you.”
    Twenty minutes later they were sitting across from each other. After ordering their food and drinks, Christian turned on a recorder and set it on the corner of the table. Between eating his food and drinking a couple of beers, J.T. answered his questions as candidly as possible. They were Marcella’s pre-approved questions, so he already had his canned responses memorized.
    As soon as J.T. answered the last question, Christian clicked off the recorder. They sat back and watched a basketball game that was playing on one of the oversize TV screens that were placed throughout the bar.
    “ You think the Laker’s are going to take it all this year?”
    J.T. shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Dallas is looking good, and it’s a team that has a lot of heart. They could take it all.”
    “ Maybe,” Christian replied. They sat in silence for another couple of minutes. Even though the bar was relatively crowded, only a few fans stopped and asked for autographs and J.T. was grateful, although he loved his fans and appreciated them, sometimes he wanted to eat with as little interruptions as possible.
    Christian leaned closer, and said softly, “You can punch the shit out of me if I’m out of line, but I want you to fuck me.”
    For a split second, desire flashed across J.T.’s face, then he trained it into a neutral mask. He nodded discreetly because one never knew who was filming his lunch with their phone.
    “ You down?”
    “ Yeah.” J.T. thought for a moment, then said, “I got a suite at the MGM Grand. It might be better if you follow me.” He would feel much safer going to a hotel instead of going into a stranger’s house, which might be equipped with recording devices. After all, he is a journalist and a photographer. Since he wasn’t at all familiar with the Detroit area and getting from point A to B would prove challenging with his limited knowledge of the city, J.T. typed in the hotel’s address into his rented SUV GPS as soon as he got into the vehicle.
    He pulled out of the parking lot, glanced in his rearview mirror, saw that Christian was behind him and drove at a comfortable pace to the hotel.
    J.T.’s dick throbbed with desire as he drove to his hotel. He had been sneaking peeks at Christian all day. And the most agonizing part of the whole afternoon was that he didn’t know if Christian was gay. And he nearly raced around the table to hug him when Christian announced that he was.
    He reached between his legs and stroked his penis, it was as hard as a rock. “Damn this is a long ride.”
    As soon as he got to the hotel, he dropped his SUV with the valet then eagerly strolled into the lobby to wait for Christian. Three minutes later he strolled in and J.T.’s heart pounded. He nonchalantly shook his hand as though it was a casual meeting.
    “ Come on, let’s get something to drink.” He and Christian wandered over to the bar, where J.T. ordered a large bottle of sparkling water and Christian did the same.
    “ So this is what we’re gonna do,” J.T. said in, hushed tones and sensing the need for secrecy, Christian tilted his head closer to J.T. “I’m going to finish about half this drink, shake your hand goodbye, then go up to my room.” He immediately gave Christian his room number. “You wait about twenty minutes then come on up. Deal?”
    Christian nodded. “Cool.”
    Per their arrangement, when J.T. was