Playboy For Hire

8. Quinn

8

QUINN

I woke up in darkness. It was still night—my curtains were a deep blue, but not thick enough to block the sunrise. The clock on my nightstand said it was just midnight. I’d barely been asleep at all.

What woke me? I looked around the room, then jumped halfway out of my bed when the door opened. A shadowy form filled the doorway. My heart pounded.

Robbers. Murderers. CVS reminding me to pick up a prescription .

But then the figure stepped through, and the faceless shape resolved into Ryder.

“Hey, are you awake?” he whispered.

“I am now.” I fumbled glasses onto my face as he approached. I could see him a little better with them on, but the light still wasn’t great. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Ryder stopped at the edge of my bed. “I just couldn’t sleep, and I realized there’s something I need to tell you.”

My heart had only just started to calm down, but those words set it off all over again. No one wakes you up in the middle of the night to tell you something about kittens and rainbows.

Maybe he was just going to say he was leaving. Which was fine, absolutely fine. It was probably weird for me to offer for Ryder to stay over in the first place. Who was I, some kid who needed a life-sized G.I. Joe to protect him?

But that was still better than Ryder thinking I’d asked him over in a sexual way. That would be mortifying. It didn’t help that he was standing right in front of me in just his boxers and a T-shirt, which only emphasized how insanely attractive—

“I owe you an apology,” Ryder said, cutting off the runaway train of anxiety spiralling through my skull.

“What? Why?”

“About Monday night, last week. Your other date. When I showed up and pretended to be your ex. That was shitty, and I shouldn’t have done it. I’m sorry.”

“Oh.” Relief washed through me. I’d been so worried about Ryder thinking I was a sexual predator that I hadn’t been ready for him to say anything else. “Oh, that’s fine.”

“Yeah, except it isn’t. I appreciate you being nice about it, and I promise my motives were pure. But I still fucked up your date.”

“It’s really okay.” Could he hear the relief in my laugh? “The date kind of sucked already. You probably did me a favor.”

“Really?” He sat on the edge of my bed, and I pulled my legs close to make room for him. “Because I’ve been feeling guilty about it for a while. I didn’t even realize why I felt bad until my friend Tessa—she’s—well, she said I was acting weird tonight and helped me figure out what was going on.” He lifted one knee and folded it on top of the blankets. “I was really happy when you texted tonight. I like you, Quinn. I’d like to be friends.”

“Oh,” I said again. I couldn’t quite catch my breath. “Yeah. I’d like that too.”

If I were being honest, I’d like a lot more than that. But I couldn’t confuse one night of Ryder being my pretend-boyfriend with him really being interested in me.

If only he hadn’t kissed me.

“Okay, cool.” He flashed me a quick grin in the darkness, but didn’t say anything else. He didn’t stand up to leave either. He just looked at his hands where they lay on his lap.

How was it possible that he couldn’t hear the thump of my heart in my chest? I didn’t want to push things. If Ryder did want to be my friend, improbable though that seemed, I should just leave things there and be happy.

Instead, I blurted out, “What were your motives?”

“Hmm?” Ryder looked up from his lap like I’d pulled him out of intense thought.

I already felt stupid for asking, but now he was staring at me, and I had to say something.

“You said your motives were pure. When you interrupted my date last week.” God, my chest felt so tight. “I was just wondering what they were?”

“Ah.” He made a face. I wondered if he was about to tell me I was being creepy.

It was just one kiss. One incredible kiss I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about since it happened, but still. Just one kiss. I needed to let it go.

Ryder laced his fingers together, curling and flexing them on repeat. “Well, like I said. I was trying to talk you up. You seemed so convinced, at your grandparents’ party, that no one would ever be into you.”

Because no one ever is , whispered that traitorous voice at the back of my mind.

“And I just thought, maybe if I could help you with this one date, you might have some more self-confidence.”

Right. Of course. I’d been stupid to think it could have been anything else. I was twenty-seven years old. Why was I acting like I was fourteen with my first crush?

“Yeah. Cool,” I said, hoping the disappointment didn’t come through in my voice.

Silence stretched between us, delicate and soft. My whole body was thrumming with desire, and I wanted to pull Ryder close and push him away at the same time. Because if I couldn’t pull him close, I needed him to leave.

“But, um. There might have been another reason too.”

My head snapped up at Ryder’s words.

“What?”

“I, um…”

He looked at his hands again, and that alone was enough to make my breath go all staccato. He had never once seemed this nervous before. I didn’t dare speak. I felt like we were suspended in a bubble of night and possibility, and I didn’t want to burst it by saying the wrong thing.

He looked up. “The thing is, I think I also wanted to do this.”

Ryder’s left hand moved to my shoulder. I was so surprised, I couldn’t move. Not away from him, not toward him. But that was fine, because Ryder was moving, leaning in. His other hand went to the back of my neck, and his face was inches from mine and suddenly, he was kissing me.

His lips were soft. His hand kneaded my shoulder. His tongue traced along my lips temptingly, but I was still too shocked to do anything. He made a frustrated little noise in the back of his throat, then pulled away.

All I could do was stare at him.

“Okay, so that didn’t go the way I hoped it would.” He looked dismayed. “Guess I have two things to apologize for tonight. I’m sorry. I’ll go.”

He slid off the bed, and finally, finally , my body kicked into gear. My hand shot out to grab his wrist.

“No,” I croaked. “Don’t.”

His eyes were wide and luminous in the dark. I tugged him closer.

“Don’t,” I repeated, and this time I was the one leaning forward.

Ryder met me halfway. I rose to my knees, tilting towards him, and when our lips met, I didn’t hesitate to deepen the kiss. He was responsive, opening his mouth to my tongue, letting me inside.

He crawled onto the bed, and I pulled him closer, tugging his shirt. I leaned back and pulled him on top of me. I was wearing a thin T-shirt and pajama pants. Ryder’s weight pressed down on me, and I could feel his erection pressing against my leg.

He slid his legs apart so he was straddling me, his hands running up and down my arms. I slid a hand into his hair, urging him closer, while my free hand caressed his thigh. He nipped at my lower lip, then sucked it into his mouth. I moaned at the tiny pinprick of pain mixed with pleasure, and he pulled back.

“Was that okay?” he asked, breathing heavily.

“Yeah. Don’t worry. I liked it.”

“And all of this…” Ryder gestured between the two of us. “Is okay too?”

“Very okay. Trust me.”

“You just seemed sort of…not into it, when I kissed you at first.”

A nervous laugh escaped me. “I was just surprised. I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Me neither.” He laughed too, and it was giddy. “But I’m glad it is.”

“You sure?”

I didn’t actually want to have this conversation. What I wanted to do was pull him down into a kiss, taste every inch of his skin, find out if he was a top, or bottom, or vers, and tell him I could be whatever he needed. That I was happy to do it all.

But I forced myself to take a breath and focus. I was older than Ryder. I should be responsible, not just tumble headlong into a hookup he might regret in the morning.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about kissing you,” he whispered. “Ever since that night. I just keep replaying it in my mind and I—fuck, it’s making me crazy.” He grinned. “In a good way. And whenever I touch your skin, I just…” He trailed off. “I don’t really know what’s happening, but I’m glad it is, you know?”

“Have you ever been with a guy before?”

He shook his head. “No. But I’m pretty sure I want the first guy I hook up with to be you.”

That stung a little. ‘ The first guy .’ Meaning he naturally assumed there would be others. That I was nothing special to him. This was just exploration. Pent-up energy and physical release.

On the other hand, it was Ryder . The guy looked like he’d wandered off the set of a Calvin Klein underwear ad, and he couldn’t stop thinking about kissing me? And he was more than just hot. He was sweet, and kind—when he wasn’t being an idiot. He’d apologized for last week, and shown up tonight when I needed him, and who was I to complain that he wasn’t proposing marriage?

“Okay.” I smiled. “Just making sure.”

“Good. Because I like seeing you sure.”

He kissed me again, and I surrendered to it. His tongue was like silk, exploring my mouth, laying claim to it. I hummed in pleasure as his lips slid to my jaw, my neck, my shoulders. His stubble scratched my skin in a tantalizing way. When his hands tugged at the bottom of my shirt, I was only too happy to pull it off, and help him remove his own.

He stared at me for a second, and I had to fight the urge to cross my arms over my chest. I wasn’t embarrassed about how I looked, not really. But I’d also never hooked up with someone who looked like Ryder before. He might have been sculpted from marble.

But he put his hand on my chest, right over my heart, and pressed it against my skin. It was warm, but goosebumps broke out across my skin anyway. I smiled up at him, feeling shy, and he grinned back.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” he said, and slid down the bed so he could worry the skin below my collarbone with his teeth.

“Oh, God,” I gasped when he got to my nipple, teasing it with his tongue, sucking it in, nipping at it gently. “Oh, fuck.”

Ryder slid his hand down my chest and stomach. My cock was pressing up in my pajama pants, and when his hand reached it, I moaned at how good it felt for someone else to touch me.

Not just someone. Ryder .

“Is that good?” he asked. “‘Cause I’m just going on gut instinct here, since I’ve never actually—”

“I promise, I’ll tell you if you do something I don’t like,” I panted. He was still stroking my cock through the flannel. “But I highly doubt that’ll happen.”

There was a wet patch on my pajama pants where my cock had leaked precum. Ryder’s fingers slid to my waistband and slipped underneath.

“Still okay?”

I laughed in spite of myself. How was this twenty-two-year-old the most attentive guy I’d ever hooked up with? No one had ever checked in with me this much before. I couldn’t decide if it was frustrating or sweet.

“You need to stop asking me that,” I said, nipping at his lower lip as he shoved my pajama pants down to my thighs.

Ryder’s eyes went wide. “Wait, are you sure you don’t have a fifteen-inch cock?”

A warm rush of pleasure filled me. “Last time I checked, it was closer to seven.”

“Nine at minimum. Maybe eight.” He shook his head. “Ewan doesn’t know what he’s missing.”

“Is that alright?” I was desperate for him to touch me again, but I wondered if he was joking now to stall for time. Maybe now that he was actually faced with another guy’s dick, he was having second thoughts.

“Um, yeah?” He looked at me incredulously. “I feel like I hit the jackpot. My first gay experience is with a guy with a giant cock. What are the chances?”

I pushed away the thought that Ryder was planning on having other gay experiences. I wasn’t going to think about that right now. Instead, I was going to think about the feel of his finger on the tip of my cock, collecting precum, then sliding down the shaft. His hand closed around it, stroking up and down in slick, hot movements, and soon I lost the ability to think entirely.

I was close to coming in an embarrassingly short time, but when he began to slide down in bed, kissing my stomach, then my thighs, I put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.

He looked up, confusion in his eyes.

“Not good?”

“Too good.” I shook my head. “But I think we should take things slower.”

“Why?”

“Trust me on this, okay?” I tugged him up and kissed him again. “I just don’t think we should jump too far off the deep end. Not if it’s your first time.”

“But I already told you I want to. I want you.”

“And I told you I’d tell you if you did something I didn’t like.” I ghosted a kiss across his lips. “And while I would like that very much physically, I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Then what do you want me to—”

“Let me show you.” I pushed him back so he was lying against the pillows. “It doesn’t mean we can’t still have fun.”

Inwardly, I cursed myself for sounding like the host of a children’s television show. And now, boys and girls, we’ll learn a wholesome activity you can share with your friends ! But Ryder didn’t seem to mind as he kissed me back, his tongue tangling with my own.

I slid a hand inside his boxers and got my own moment of stunned silence. Ryder wasn’t as long as I was, but he was thick . I wasn’t sure I’d ever taken something—or someone—quite as girthy, and I suddenly hoped very much that Ryder was a top, because I knew I needed to feel him inside me.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” I breathed, running a finger appreciatively around the head of his cock.

Fuck, I wanted to suck him off. I was sure he’d taste amazing, and I wanted nothing more than to give him the best blowjob of his life. But I’d just told him we were going to take things slow. So instead, I brought my cock next to his, then slid a hand down to hold us both, wet from spit and sweat and precum.

Ryder moaned into my mouth, then onto my shoulder as he took my skin into his teeth. From what I could tell, he was close to coming too. I teased the head of his cock, gathering the leaking precum and using it to glide across our skin. My hand was doing half the work, but the feel of his cock against mine lit up every inch of my body.

His teeth bit into my shoulder, and I almost came right then. I was going to have a hickey tomorrow. The thought thrilled me. No one else would know, underneath my button-up shirt, but I would know.

“Fuck, fuck,” Ryder gasped. His fingertips dug into the muscles of my shoulder and back. “I’m gonna come. Oh God, I’m gonna—fuck.”

The last word came out high-pitched and breathy as he spilled cum all over my hand, onto his cock and mine, and up onto my stomach. He released a lot, which I liked, and the slick of his cum only made my cock more sensitive. His little whimpers of pleasure and stimulation pushed me over the edge, and I came, adding to the mess between us. I stroked us both until I couldn’t take it anymore, and finally let my hand fall still.

I wanted nothing more than to lick my hand clean. That, or make Ryder do it, watch him taste the evidence of our time together. Hell, the thought of Ryder with cum smeared across his lips was enough to make my cock try to get hard again.

But I didn’t do that. Not tonight. Maybe not ever. I still couldn’t believe this had happened, but I wasn’t going to make it weird by pushing things too far.

Ryder’s forehead was pressed against mine, his hair slick and dark. I could feel his breath on my face as he laughed.

“God, that was good.” He sounded like he meant it.

“I’ll be right back.”

I kissed the tip of his nose, then slid off the bed. I cleaned myself up in the bathroom, drank a huge glass of water, and pulled my pajama pants back into place. I brought a clean washcloth and a refilled cup back to the bedroom for Ryder. He looked dazed and happy as I handed him the cup, and I watched his Adam’s apple rise and fall as he drank deeply.

“Thanks,” he said, setting the glass down on my nightstand.

“Sure.”

I passed him the washcloth, then lay back on the bed, tired and satisfied and not quite sure what was going to happen next. Was Ryder going to spend the night in my bed? Go back to the couch? Or would he leave my apartment, having gotten what he wanted?

I closed my eyes and lay there, waiting for him to decide. But after a few minutes of silence, I turned towards him and saw that he’d fallen asleep, the cloth still clutched in his hand. He hadn’t even managed to pull his boxers back up.

Well, I guess that was my answer. For now, anyway.

I took the washcloth from him gently and set it on the nightstand.

“Do you need anything else?” I whispered, just in case. But he didn’t respond, and his chest rose and fell in slow, even breaths. He was out.

I looked around for my shirt, then wondered if that was weird. When Ryder woke up, would he rather see me half-naked, or dressed again? Should I tuck him back into his boxers out of courtesy? Or was that creepy, touching him when he was asleep? Should I get my own dick out again so we’d be on equal footing when he woke?

I didn’t have the energy to think through that tangle. All I wanted to do was pull the covers over both of us, lie back, and fall asleep.

Tonight felt like a dream. Maybe I’d wake up tomorrow and discover it had been. But for right now, Ryder was in my bed, warm and solid, and I was in heaven.

I drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face.