Skye Blue, page 26
part #6 of Firsts and Forever Series
“We’ll probably never know. I will say that I didn’t hear any yelling, crying, or punching coming from the room they were in, so whatever Vincent did was fairly subtle. And obviously incredibly effective.”
“Apparently.”
“When do you think you’ll have your surgery, now that you’re able to pay for it?”
“I called my doctor this afternoon and he has an opening in a month. I told Gary when I got to work today that I’ll need to take a leave of absence afterwards and he was cool with it. I also told him I’d send some of the students from the dance studio his way since he’s still trying to fill positions. Hopefully I won’t leave him too short-handed.”
There was something in his eyes that made me ask, “Are you nervous about the operation?”
“Yeah. I’m really looking forward to not living in pain every single day of my life, but I’m also concerned about everything going well. Plus, my doctor said to plan on weeks of physical therapy afterwards, which suggests a pretty difficult adjustment period. But we’ll see how it goes.”
I caressed his cheek and said, “You know I’ll be with you every step of the way, Dare. You won’t be going through any of that alone.” He turned his head and kissed my hand before taking it in his.
When our shift began, we took the stage together. I figured we’d just do something random since we hadn’t worked out a routine ahead of time, but Dare gave the DJ a signal and winked at me. When ‘Time of My Life’ started playing, he launched into our favorite routine from Dirty Dancing. I laughed delightedly, then matched him step for step, taking Baby’s role. It was pretty kitschy but the crowd loved it. Soon a lot of people were clustered around the stage, dancing and singing along.
We built toward the big finish. Dare leapt from the stage and danced with the crowd before turning and nodding to me, his eyes alight. “There’s no freaking way!” I yelled over the music. He just smiled and nodded again. I figured pulling this off was next to impossible, but what’s life without the occasional Hail Mary? I jumped off the stage and ran at Dare, putting my faith in him to make this work.
I’d seen the movie often enough, so I had an idea when to jump. Dare did the rest. His big hands grabbed my waist, and the next thing I knew, I was up in the air over his head. I threw my head back and laughed, my heart pounding. He brought me down by tipping me and sliding me down his body. When we were face to face, he kissed me passionately and the crowd went absolutely wild.
As the song ended and we returned to the stage hand-in-hand, Dare said in my ear over the noise, “Thank you for taking a chance and just going with it.”
“For you? Any time.”
He smiled and spun across the stage with me. I was more than happy to follow his lead.
*****
When our shift was over, Dare and I went back to his place. To reach it, we went down five steps below street level, then walked through a dark passageway. I didn’t have very high hopes for the apartment by that point, but it turned out to be charming. It was a decent-sized studio and even though the bottom half of it was below ground, the top half was lined with big windows that faced the yard behind the building.
I’d been surprised by these secret gardens when I first moved to San Francisco. From the street, especially here in the Western Addition where Dare lived, all was concrete, building touching neighboring building. There was no way of knowing that each block had this living green core of gardens, not unless you lived here and got to look beyond the facade.
The dog jumped up to greet us. An Asian woman in probably her late fifties turned off the little TV with a remote and got up from the futon couch when we came in. She was cute and full-figured with red-framed glasses, her greying hair cut into a chic bob. Dare said, “Hi Ms. Yueng. This is Skye. Skye, I’d like you to meet my landlady, Louise Yueng.”
Her face lit up as she shook my hand. “Dare’s told me so much about you!”
I smiled at that. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“How’s my boy?” Dare asked, dropping down on one knee as he scratched the dog behind his ears.
“Benny’s a sweetheart. I said I wasn’t going to get another pet after my Thelma passed, but this fellow here is reminding me how much I miss having a dog around.” She smiled at him affectionately, and I could have sworn the dog returned the smile as he looked up at her, panting and wagging happily.
“Did you stay down here all evening?” Dare asked.
“No, Benny spent some time in my apartment. We just came back down here a few minutes ago because I knew you’d be home soon.”
As she headed for the door, Dare said, “Thanks, Ms. Yueng. I really appreciate you looking after him.”
“It was no problem at all.” She paused at the door to flash us both a big smile. “You boys have fun now!”
After she left, Dare settled onto the couch and Benny flopped down at his side as I said, “How cute is it that she and her dog were Thelma and Louise?”
“I’ve always loved that. Ms. Yueng’s been lonely since Thelma died, so I think she likes having Benny to fuss over. She’s been a widow almost ten years and was downsized from her job last year too, so he’s probably a good diversion.”
“You know what we should do? We should introduce her to Gary. They’ve both been widowed a long time. How great would it be if those two hit it off?”
“I never thought about that. I wonder if they’d have much in common.”
I shrugged and said, “Only one way to find out.”
“She confessed to me a few weeks ago that she loves to read male-male romance novels, which I think was her way of telling me she was fine with my sexual orientation. I bet she’d enjoy the fact that Mr. Sandberg runs a gay nightclub.”
“Let’s invite them both to Nana’s party and see what happens.” I leaned down and kissed him, then changed the subject by saying, “I’ll bring you an ice pack, get comfortable.”
“Thanks, Skye. There are several in the freezer.” He got up long enough to tug the edge of the futon and fold it flat, then sat back down and removed his shoes and knee brace as he exhaled slowly.
The kitchen was just a few feet away. I pulled a big plastic bag of ice cubes from the freezer and bounced it on the counter to loosen it up before bringing it to him. He grabbed a towel from a nearby chair and spread it under his leg before carefully putting the ice pack in place. “I’m really not going to miss this after my surgery,” he said, wincing just a little as he adjusted his position and settled back against the pillows.
I curled up beside him with my arm draped over his stomach and asked, “Did you hurt yourself by lifting me?”
“Not at all. I bench press twice your body weight, so you weren’t even sort of hard to lift, especially with the momentum you built with your run-up.”
“That’s good. I was worried.” I grinned and added, “I’ve always wanted to do that, though.”
“I’ve always wanted to do that too, with a guy,” he said. “I’ve lifted plenty of female dancers, of course. But it was much more fun with you.”
“Oh man, how hot would it be if the dance company you’re going to form staged an all-male ballet? I’d love to see that and I bet a lot of other people would, too.”
He smiled at me. “You talk about this fantasy company like it’s a done deal.”
“It doesn’t have to be a fantasy. You have all the money you need for your surgery now, so maybe you can use the money you were saving to rent a rehearsal space and make this happen.”
“You have such incredible optimism, Skye, and when I’m with you, I actually start to feel it, too. That’s so different from the dark place I was in when you found me.” I laced my fingers with his and curled up on his chest.
“Do I? I never really thought about it.”
“That optimism is kind of related to the way you see treasure where others see junk. I love how you can look at something useless and broken and see beauty in it. That’s an incredibly rare gift.” He added softly, “It’s just what you did with me.”
“You’re not useless and broken, Dare. Not even close.”
“I thought I was. I was pretty well convinced. But then you swept into my life and showed me there were glorious blue skies ahead. I really hope you change your name at some point, by the way, because the name you want is so incredibly apt. You really are my blue sky, and it’s wondrous after so many cloudy days.”
I kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly. “You say the most amazing things to me,” I whispered, “and you say them so casually, like you don’t even realize how profoundly touching they are.”
“I just tell you what’s on my mind.”
We kissed for a while before he sat up and let the ice pack slide off his knee. “I want to show you something,” he said, and took my hand as we both got up.
Dare led me to the backyard and plugged his phone into a little round speaker that sat on the arm of a faded red Adirondack chair. Soft music began to play. He flipped a couple light switches, and suddenly the simple concrete patio was transformed into a wonderland as hundreds of little white lights came on all around us. They formed an open canopy overhead and lit everything in a soft glow. He took me in his arms and began to slow dance with me as Benny loped out into the yard and started sniffing everything in sight.
“This is beautiful,” I said softly, totally in awe. “When did you do this?”
“This morning. Ms. Yueng had a ton of old Christmas lights up in the attic and she let me use them. I know my apartment isn’t that great and I figured you might be coming over a lot after my surgery, so, I don’t know. I guess I wanted to make it nice for you.”
“I like your apartment,” I said sincerely, “and this is magical. Thank you.” He smiled as he danced me around the patio, then dipped me and pulled me back up into his arms.
He looked a little concerned as he asked, “Is it bad that I always lead when we dance? I just do it out of habit, but you can take over if you want to.”
“Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s perfect.” Dare gave me that shy smile of his and pulled me a little closer, his right hand on my lower back, his left interlaced with mine. “It’s not hurting your knee though, is it?”
“I don’t care,” he murmured. “I refuse to let it get in the way of enjoying a beautiful moment with my boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” I echoed with a smile.
He pulled back to look at me. “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that out loud. I know we’ve just started going out, and jeez, there’s yet another mixed message. We’re supposed to be taking it slowly, and here I am, saying stuff like that, and—”
I kissed him gently before telling him, “That made me so happy. Who cares if it’s soon?” Dare relaxed a little and smiled too before putting his head on my shoulder.
Chapter Fourteen
Absolutely nothing was going to go wrong on our date. I’d planned every last detail to make sure of it. I was cooking Dare a perfect meal, then taking him to see a local experimental dance company that I thought he’d enjoy. I’d already failed at this twice. Failing again was not an option.
I’d planned my menu and bought groceries the day before, and left school early to make sure I wasn’t cutting it close. I’d made my bed (I’d finally made it to the Laundromat over the weekend so I had bedding again) and tidied up my apartment, and even laid out an outfit. Nothing was left to chance. Dare was finally going to get a real date.
He knocked on my door at precisely six p.m. and I opened it with a flourish. “Hi. You look nice,” he said, his smile melting me instantly as I stepped back to let him and his dog in.
“So do you.” We’d both dressed in khakis and button-down shirts, his white, mine dark blue. I kissed him hello and accepted the flowers he held out to me, then reached down to pet his very excited companion. “Hi there, Benny. You look nice too.” That earned me a big, slobbery lick to the palm. Dare unfastened the harness and leash and the dog went off to explore my apartment.
“Is Draco home?” Dare asked.
“I haven’t seen him today. Does Benny have a problem with cats?”
“Not usually.”
“Thank you for these,” I said as I carried the bouquet into the kitchen and selected a vase from an assortment I’d bought at the dollar store.
“You’re welcome.”
“What kind are they? They’re really pretty.”
Dare had followed me, and leaned against the counter. “Larkspur. I didn’t know either, the woman at the flower stand told me the name.” He was fidgeting a little, and I grinned at him.
“Why are we both nervous? We’ve done this before.”
He smiled and said, “I’m always a little nervous around you because I’m afraid of screwing something up. I have no idea why you’d be nervous.”
“I guess because I really want this to go well for a change.” I got a pitcher from the refrigerator and poured the cocktails I’d made into my new stemware (another dollar store find).
“For a change? All our dates have been sensational.”
I shot him a look as I handed him a glass. “They couldn’t have gone more wrong. Well, not unless I’d actually set the apartment building on fire while trying to cook. Except for that, I messed them up for you in every way humanly possible. But this time I’m absolutely determined that you get to experience a really good date.”
“That’s how you see them. But you know what? I had an absolutely wonderful time on each of those dates.”
I grinned and admitted, “Okay, parts of them were epic, no thanks to me. I’d still just like to pull off a meal and one whole date without a hitch.”
“I would keep arguing that there’s no need and those dates were perfect in my book, but you’ve obviously gone to a lot of trouble here. Tell me, what are we drinking? It’s quite possibly the pinkest cocktail I’ve ever seen.”
“I tried to copy a drink they sell at a cafe in the Castro. It’s what I was drinking the first time you saw me. I didn’t even come close, but I still like whatever it is I concocted. I hope you do, too.”
He took a sip and said, “It’s wonderful, thank you. What’s the name of the drink you were trying to emulate?”
I grinned embarrassedly. “It’s called a Big Fucking Cock.”
That earned me a huge smile. “Nice.”
“It’s so good. You don’t even know. I want to learn to make it at home because the original is really expensive and comes with way too much fanfare. I need to keep experimenting though, because while this is tasty, it’s no Big Fucking Cock.”
“I have heard that once you acquire a taste for Big Fucking Cock, nothing else will do,” he deadpanned.
“True.” I picked up the vase and said, “Come into the living room and bring your Big Fucking Cock with you. And also your drink.” He chuckled at that and followed me.
I’d bought a card table and two folding chairs, and I’d dressed all three up with some big panels of blue batik fabric that used to be curtains. I put the vase between a pair of lit candles on the edge of the table and set my drink down, then went back to the kitchen for the tray of appetizers I’d prepared.
When I presented it to Dare and sat down across from him he said, “Wow. You really did go all out. Look at this. It’s like a painting.” Four different varieties of appetizers were arranged in curving arcs across the platter.
“Let’s just hope they taste good.”
I tried not to be obvious about watching as he took a bite of the little canapé I’d made using one of River’s recipes, and was relieved when he said, “This is sensational.” He sampled everything I made and complimented all of it, and after a while he pointed out, “You’re not eating.”
“Oh. Right.” I pulled a little stack of basil, fresh mozzarella and tomato off its toothpick with my teeth, but barely tasted it.
Dare suppressed a sigh at that and said, “Do you have this all timed out precisely, or can we take a short break?”
“We’re not in a hurry. I’m taking you to a show tonight, but that’s still two hours away.”
He stood up and held his hand out to me, and when I took it he led me to the adjacent couch and pulled me down beside him. “I appreciate that you did all this, Skye. I really do. But I want you to enjoy this evening too, and you won’t be able to do that unless I get you to relax a little.”
“I’m sorry. Now I’m ruining it by trying too hard.”
“You’re not ruining anything.” He ran his fingers into my hair and kissed me for a long time as I melted into his arms.
“This is very relaxing,” I said as my hand slid to his butt and I grinned at him.
“Just wait. This is just the prelude to total relaxation.”
He unbuttoned my shirt and unfastened my belt as his tongue flickered over mine, and then Dare slid between my legs, dropping onto one knee. He kissed his way down my chest as he popped the button on my khakis and slid the zipper down, then freed my cock from my briefs.
He sucked me like a man on a mission, taking me down his throat as I moaned and bucked. His warm, wet mouth worked my shaft for a while before he dropped lower, licking and sucking my balls as he took my cock in his hand and began to stroke me. He was bringing me close to orgasm, but I staggered to my feet, grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bedroom with me. I was too far gone to actually form words at that point, but Dare got the idea.
The dog jumped off the bed and left the room as we rushed in, and I fumbled for the little bottle on my nightstand. Dare got his pants unzipped as I quickly worked some lube into myself, and then I slicked his hard cock before getting on my knees at the edge of the mattress.
He stood beside the bed, grasped my hips and pushed into me slowly but steadily as I pushed back. His big cock stretched me open as he slid in deeper and deeper, until finally his hips rested against my ass. Dare gave me a minute to adjust before he started moving in me, slowly at first but then more urgently. I stroked my cock, increasing speed as his thrusts grew harder and faster.
