Page 12 of Delicious

He kisses me, and I let him jack me off until I come hard, lying back and panting.

When I come down, I turn to him and grin. We kiss and smile, watching the light change on the ceiling and listening to the sounds of Paris below—a moped, the clink of glasses and laughter in a café, and then the scent of petrichor as it starts to rain.

CHAPTER8

Ben

It’s past sunset, and a little rain comes through the open balcony door, yet Mason and I are still lying in his bed, fingers lazily tracing over arms, chests, cheeks.

“You’ve always been the one who got away,” I admit. “The guy I looked back in time at and wondered what would’ve happened if I’d been able to stay.”

“Yeah,” he says huskily. “Me, too. I mean, I’ve thought about you, too.”

I pull him to me and hug him.

The connection I’d felt with him so long ago had been heady and strong, and over the years, I’d talked myself into believing that it was something I’d made up. A youthful experience that would live only in dreams, embellished by rose-colored memories and innocence.

But maybe there’s something here.

“Can I tell you something weird?” he asks.

“Of course.”

“I’m not sure I can explain it. So: I lose shit all the time. But if you think about it, nothing is ever reallylost. It still exists. I just can’t find it.”

“Isn’t that what lost means?”

“Yeah. I’m not explaining it right.” He runs a finger across my chest. “Every material object that has ever been created on earth is kinda still here, unless it got destroyed somehow, like it was burned up or rotted like food. But things that are made never go away. Even if you throw away a letter, a pair of shoes, a baseball, they’re in an attic or a drawer or a file cabinet or a landfill somewhere.”

“You’re saying if you lose something that matters to you, it’s not truly lost. It’s located somewhere you don’t have access to.”

He kisses me. “Yeah.”

I laugh. “So we’ve both been hanging out in a landfill?”

“No! Just… somewhere I didn’t have access. Until now.”

“You definitely have access.”

Mason rolls and tugs me so I’m sprawled over him. “And I’m planning to take full advantage of that fact.” He pauses. “Once we make sure you’re all better.”

I snuggle into him. “Sounds good to me.”

“I’m scared to say this, but I’m going to do it anyway. Do you think there’s a way we can keep this going?”

“I dunno.” I sit up, straddling his hips. His eyes get wide, since we’re still naked and my body is starting to wonder if there could be a round two in us. I trace a finger along his jaw. “What are your plans after the course is over?”

“I want to be a pastry chef who gets to travel.”

I look at him in surprise. “You want to travel, too?” I have visions of us traveling together, him being a special guest chef while I do write-ups for my blog.

“Yes,” Mason murmurs. “I was thinking maybe we could travel together. If you want.”

“I do,” I whisper, my heart beating faster and my stomach doing somersaults—though this time it’s not from being sick. “Even though we don’t really know each other.”

“Maybe that can happen while we’re learning lamination technique.”

“Yeah, sounds good.” I grin and reach over for the lube. “Or we could always play spin the bottle again. Just a different kind of bottle.”

He laughs and pulls me in for a kiss.