Free Dance by Teodora Kostova

stay?”
    “Adam,”
Jared said, shrugging easily, like it was the most natural thing in the world
to go stay with his ex-boyfriend. Fenix frowned. He could not control the next
thing that came out of his mouth even if he’d wanted to.
    “Adam?
You’re going to stay with your ex?” Fenix hated the edge in his voice almost as
much as he hated the idea of Jared staying with Adam.
    “We
lived together before I moved in here. It’s no big deal.”
    Fuck.
That.
    Fenix
was torn – he didn't want to sound like a jealous boyfriend because he wasn’t Jared’s boyfriend, but the
thought of Jared staying at Adam's was killing him. The rational thing to do
would be to shut up and get over it. Fenix tapped into years of performance
training to rein in his emotions and clear his features of any distress. When
he felt confident his voice would not betray his unfounded jealousy, he asked,
    “For how long?”
    “Three
weeks. At least that’s what the contractor tells me.”
    Three
fucking weeks!
    Fenix
pressed his teeth so hard together he thought they might fall through his jaw.
They needed a change of subject, fast.
    “Look,”
Fenix began and gently removed Jared’s arms from around his waist, taking a
small step back. “I’d love to stay, but like I said, I have plans with Joy
and...”
    Jared
cut him off, closing the distance between them once again and stealing his
breath with a languid kiss. For a moment Fenix forgot about Joy, about
contractors and Adam and irrational jealousy. His world shrank and moulded
itself to that kiss. He didn't want to go, he didn't
want to be out of touching distance from Jared.
    Jared
moved his wet lips along Fenix’s jaw and down his throat, along his collarbone
and the hollow of his throat. He traced his way back to his lips, his arms
tightening around Fenix as if he planned to physically restrain him from
leaving. That would not be necessary. Every desire to walk out that door had
already evaporated from Fenix’s brain.
    “Call
Joy and tell her you won’t be coming home tonight. You’ll make it up to her
some other time,” Jared whispered seductively in Fenix’s ear, sucking on his
earlobe for emphasis.
    Fenix
nodded on an instinct – he was too far gone in a haze of red, hot lust to think
clearly.

 
    Jared made
baked salmon and steamed vegetables for dinner while Fenix tried to put his
brain cells back together. He lay in Jared’s bed,
listening to him cook in the kitchen, his body still sensitive and trembling.
Jared had sucked his cock, bringing him to the edge and then back down so many
times he’d lost count. He’d driven Fenix out of his mind with the desire to
burst out of his skin. Just thinking about it now, he felt goosebumps erupt all
over his body, every nerve ending still over stimulated and aware . He’d needed some time to come
down from the high of his orgasm, to convince his body that the pleasure was
over. Jared had held him, selflessly, not even trying to make Fenix return the
favour.
    Fenix
heard the extractor fan go quiet and Jared started opening and closing
cupboards, clacking plates and silverware together. It was time to get up and
have something to eat – Fenix had a suspicion his groggy state was at least partly due to his lack of food since breakfast that morning.
Sitting up, he found his phone in his discarded jeans on the floor and typed a
quick text to Joy letting her know he wouldn't be coming home tonight. Even
though a text was the coward’s way out, he had no energy to deal with her right
then. Turning off his phone in the very plausible case she’d call him the
second she got his message, Fenix put his boxers on and padded to the kitchen.
    Jared
greeted him with a smirk, giving him a once over, pleased with his handy work.
Fenix must have looked as relaxed and sedated as he felt. Conversation flowed
easily while they ate and talked and laughed in such comfort with each other,
as if they’d been doing this years instead of a couple of