Page 14 of Merrick

“He was there for a couple of hours probably. I left before he did, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him.”

“That good?”

Wilder rolled his eyes. “Yes, but then he messaged me later in the night.”

“You exchanged numbers?”

“No. He’d posted an open invitation on one of the apps I use. I liked his post, and he must have been scrolling and realized it was me.”

Justin tilted his head to the side, giving Wilder a familiar look. “I hope you’re planning to get tested.”

“I get tested monthly anyway, you know that. And don’t be judgmental here. He was safe and so was I.”

“You’re right.” He held up his non-sandwiched hand in surrender. “That was not fair of me. So what happened after he texted you?”

“I invited him over.”

Justin nodded.

“I gagged him again at his request, he fucked me for well over an hour, then he fell asleep.”

“He stayed the night,” Justin said dryly.

Wilder managed a weak agreement.

“Four years I’ve known you,” Justin said.

“Yeah, yeah,” he interrupted.

“Never.”

“Iknow.”

“You’ve never let someone stay the night.”

“Believe me,” Wilder said. “I know.”

“Why him?”

“Because this morning when I got up to get ready for work, I told him to go make us coffee and he did. I knew he would before I’d even agreed to let him stay the night in the first place.”

Wilder hadn’t taken more than five bites of his salad, but he didn’t see any way he’d be able to finish his meal. He was still riding the adrenaline high from the night before—and the morning—and every time it waned, his anticipation for dinner with Merrick surged to fill the opening.

“Oh, you like him.”

“I don’t even know him.”

Justin laughed, a constricted sound in the back of his throat. “I didn’t know Keith at first, when Micah started to bring him around, but that didn’t change how I felt about him.”

“That’s different. You had Micah influencing you, and you’d do anything for him.”

“I opened our marriage for him, but I only opened our marriage because it was Keith,” Justin said with a slight shrug. “It was right. Is this…what’s his name?”

“Merrick.”

“Is Merrick right?” Justin asked.

It felt ludicrous to answer yes. He hadn’t even known the man for more than eighteen hours, and most of that time was spent asleep or apart, but there was no denying the gentle pull he’d felt the first time he walked into the playroom or the more violent tug when Merrick had stripped down so freely in his living room. Not to mention the sound of Merrick’s voice in the morning over coffee. It was a shame he didn’t seem to enjoy speaking freely, because Wilder could certainly get used to the sound of Merrick’s voice.