turned into a kind of pillow talk, but there was a time when I nearly let that difference split us up. Fortunately, the chemistry we had was more than I could resist, and Seth isn’t nearly the tomcat he likes to make himself out to be.
“Yeah, I’ll bet that was a hell of a weekend too,” he said with a grin. He grabbed some napkins from dinner and sat up on his knees, reaching down the front of his jeans to clean up what he could. When he was done, he tossed them in the bag and straddled my hips, looking down at me with smug glee. “I think you should put your money where your mouth is.”
“What do you mean?” I was still hard as hell, and the warmth of him sitting squarely on my dick made it difficult for me to think.
He slid back a couple inches and popped open the button of my slacks.
“Hey!” I made a grab for his hand, but he yanked it out of my reach. “I thought we had an agreement here.”
“I didn’t agree to a damn thing. And if you’re claiming not to be uptight, then you won’t mind a little public display of perversion.”
“No way. I am not getting naked out here, someone will see.”
“Dino.” He leveled a gaze at me. “I just wanna give you a hand job, and no offense, but your dick isn’t that big. No one is going to see anything.” As he spoke, he wormed his hands into my pants and pushed my shorts out of the way. Being the horny pushover I am, I let him. “Besides,” he said, caressing my cock, “you don’t really want to walk home like this, do you?”
I licked my lips and swallowed hard, shaking my head. “No, not really.”
The air was cool on my skin and his fingers were warm. He wrapped them loosely around me and stroked lightly, teasing me. I was already halfway there. In spite of my protests, watching him get off like that had me wildly turned on, and I wanted to come so bad I could taste it.
“Come on, don’t be a jerk,” I said, thrusting up into his hand.
He raised an eyebrow, but closed his hand tight and picked up the pace. I hummed with pleasure and sat up enough to kiss him, bracing myself on my hands. All I could think about was his hot mouth on my neck and the grip of his hand, working me steadily. The crashing of the waves drowned out everything else.
Seth grinned and licked my ear. “Look at you, all wild and exposed on the beach.”
“Don’t remind me,” I panted. It didn’t actually matter anymore, though. Being lightheaded and on the verge of orgasm goes a long way toward lowering my inhibitions.
I rocked my hips and pushed up into Seth’s hand, moaning with pleasure. It felt so good I was shaking. The salt breeze and the surf heightened every sensation to a fever pitch, and I bit my lip as Seth sped up. The outdoor thing definitely tripped a few triggers for me, but unlike most people, I did not enjoy the ever present threat of getting caught.
“More,” I said. “Come on, please.” I reached to plant a kiss on the side of his neck.
He squeezed tighter and I was there, coming hard and trying to keep my voice down as I groaned with relief. I damn near knocked him off the chair. When the last of it was over, I slid down to my back and lay there panting, staring up at the stars. It was a beautiful night.
Seth cleaned us up and buttoned my pants for me, then dropped onto my stomach, peering close enough to see my face in the dark. “I told you no one would see.”
“You don’t actually know that,” I pointed out.
He shook his head and kissed me long and slow.
* * * *
The walk back to the garage was nice, and I had to admit I was glad not to be doing it horny and hard. Once I was no longer half naked on the beach, I would also say I’d probably remember that dinner fondly in my old age.
“I still get to come home with you, right?” Seth asked.
I cast a sideways glance at him. “There’s no way I’m sleeping in your bed.”
To say Seth’s apartment was generally a mess was seriously underestimating the situation, and while I was trying to influence his habits, safe sleeping there usually required a Hazmat suit. My place, on the other hand, is clean, and usually smells like pot roast or cinnamon buns due to the old ladies who live in the other two apartments in my building.
We climbed into Matilda and headed for my apartment. It’s only a short way, but I’d rather move the car at night than have to make that walk in the morning.
I live in the upstairs front apartment over an old hardware store, which shares the street with a plumbing outfit, a mini-golf course, and the CVS. The hardware store’s been closed for years, and I had recently gotten the go ahead to renovate it into an office for myself. Finding the time to do it was another story.
When I pulled up to the building, there was an unfamiliar black Mazda parked in my usual spot. I didn’t recognize the car, but I sure as hell knew the woman who climbed out of it. Ten years ago, she’d been the love of my life.
Chapter 2
Seth and I climbed out of the car, and he looked quizzically from her to me and back. She was a tall, attractive woman, mid-fortyish with straight brown hair that fell past her shoulders. She pulled her scarf tighter across her shoulders and came around the front end of her car with a nervous smile. My heart was in my throat and memories, both good and bad, came flooding back.
“Hello, Dino,” she said, searching my face for a reaction.
“Gigi.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Seth stop short. “It’s been a long time.”
“Yes, I know. How are you?”
“I can’t complain. Things are pretty good lately. You?” Seth cleared his throat meaningfully and I caught myself. “Oh, ah, Gigi, this is Seth Donnelly. He’s a good friend of mine. Seth, Gigi Sapora, also an old friend.”
She smiled ruefully and nodded at Seth. “Hello.” She turned to me and said, “I’m not so good. I came here because I need your help. As a detective. You’re not easy to find, I had to call Ernie to find out where you’re living now.”
Ernie’s a used car dealer I do repo work for, and we were all friends back in the day.
“Yeah, I just moved about a month ago. I still have the same phone number though.”
“Well.” She looked awkward. “I thought it might be better if I just came in person.”
“Okay, sure. Let’s head inside and you can tell me what’s going on.”
She looked relieved and said, “Thank you, Dino. I didn’t know who else to ask.”
I nodded and led the way to the front door, passing Seth who had an inscrutable look on his face. I had an uneasy feeling this would go badly for me one way or another. The three of us went in and climbed the stairs in awkward silence.
Behind us, I heard two of my neighbors, Della and Ruth, come in the front door chatting, and I realized they must have been sitting out on the patio the whole time.
