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Rhett coughs into the back of his hand, the dust under his sneakers kicking up into his nose. He continues forward, running into the low California sunset. It feels so good to be running again, pacing quickly over paved road.
His back pain is a low twinge, nominal amidst the sharp tugging of his lungs.
It feels so damn good.
It reminds him of the evenings he used to play basketball back in North Carolina, shooting hoops until the bugs came out and stung him through his newly- emerged leg hair. Being a teenager was so taxing. He feels free now, running twenty years later after a long day in the studio.
He barely feels the buzz against his thigh, but he does, and slows his jog to a trot to answer his phone.
“Hey,” Rhett huffs into his AirPods, out of breath. He doesn’t look at the caller ID, he knows who it is.
“Oh,” Link grins from the other end of the line. “Did I interrupt something?”
Rhett laughs, says, “No, brother, I’m out for a run.”
“Okay cool. Run here, why don’t you?” And suddenly Link’s voice is softer, warmer as it leaks through the headphones sweaty in Rhett's ears.
“You’re back already? Yeah, okay,” Rhett fizzles his trot to a walk in a moment of surprise. His heart drums in his chest, taps in unison with his feet.
“I’ll see you soon?” Link asks.
Rhett didn’t want to go home anyway. He was finding solace in the fact that he was gaining distance from his house, the house into which he has invested many hours and dollars, and the house where he is raising two kids with his wife of over eighteen years. Despite this, a ten second phone call from his best friend has Rhett turning on his feet, working back up to run to reach Link faster, faster, as fast as his feet can collide with earth.
He lets himself in through Link’s open garage, ducking through the inside door straight into the kitchen.
“Link?” Rhett hollers, because his impatience gets the best of him sometimes.
“Hey,” Link, wearing only the minimalist joggers and a tight black t-shirt, emerges from the living room with his arms wide.
Rhett grins and drags Link in for a hug, shaking him a little with the intensity, desperate for the ravenous consumption of attention he’s been yearning for all day, no, all week.
“Love you, man, work has been terrible all week without you,” Rhett says as he pulls back from the hug.
“Terrible? No, never,” Link laughs, catches himself, turning a rosy flushed as he realizes he’s been missed.
“Terrible, awful, awful,” Rhett grins. “Awful. And how was Florida?”
“Florida was a lot of fun. Glad the kids could see family again. But I have to admit, I’m glad to be back in LA, even though apparently I’ll have to do damage control on set tomorrow,” Link says with a wink.
“Do some damage control on me first, I’ve been lonely,” Rhett whines, half-joking. He relishes being around his best friend again; candid and vulnerable, only for Link. These days, everyone else has such high expectations of him.
“Hot tub should fix that, come on. Christy and the kids won’t be back until Friday morning. I came back to catch up on work, I guess, but they’re staying the weekend in Orlando with my parents,” Link explains what Rhett already knows, had already been meditating on for the entire four days Link was absent.
Rhett doesn’t respond, already stripping down to his boxers, his workout clothes sweaty and thick on his skin.
“Woah, buddy, the tub’s at 87, we’ll need to give it a minute,”
“I’ll be patient if you have whiskey,” Rhett shrugs, already headed toward the kitchen in just his boxers.
-
The water is much warmer than the air around them in the LA winter chill; furrows of steam make it a few inches above the water before cooling and returning to the tub. The water condensates on Link’s biceps, dragging Rhett’s eyes down Link’s body.
Link chooses to wear actual swim trunks, only because he couldn’t justify staying in his boxers when his wardrobe was so near.
“What’s the family up to?” Link asks absently, tapping his fingers on the edge of the tub.
Rhett has to mentally separate himself from the situation right now and recall his family, the three people he loves most in the world. He almost laughs at the slight mistruth, even unspoken, while Link is sitting right there in front of him.
“They’re good,” Rhett answers finally, not really answering Link’s question.
“It’s almost eight, did you run through dinner?”
“No, we ate at five because Shep’s got a book club tonight,” Rhett remembers the spiralized zucchini noodles covered in sauce and it feels like it was twelve hours ago.
“A book club? For an eleven year old? What’s next on the list, Fifty Shades of Gray ?” Link cackles at his own joke, sliding his head back to stare at the handful of stars starting to emerge.
“It’s good for him to see other boys reading and being studious,” Rhett says in an oddly somber tone.
“Dads not allowed in the book club?”
“I wanted to be with you tonight,” Rhett says firmly.
“Do you want to read and be studious together?” Link asks factiously with his eyes locked on the darkening sky above him, held there as if he is afraid to look Rhett in the eyes with such an invitation for desire.
“No, I want to just be with you,” Rhett says in reply, scooting closer to Link.
The water churns around them, hot against their red skin.
“With me?” Link whispers, learning his head on Rhett’s shoulder.
It feels safer here than Rhett would like to admit. He feels warmth from the waist down and human skin from the waist up, sticky against his own.
Link holds him, turning his cheek to press his lips against Rhett’s shoulder, the tub water misting against his chin. He holds his mouth there as he lets a hand fall on Rhett’s stomach beneath the water. Rhett grabs Link’s chin softly, but turns his face to kiss him firmly on the lips.
It takes only a second for Link to straddle Rhett and begin kissing every inch of his cheeks, wet and warm. He allows himself to be unrestrained for a minute.
“God, I missed you,” Link murmurs between kisses, his hands on Rhett’s arms, hanging on.
Rhett hums back and Link can feel it vibrate through him.
It’s stupid to do this outside, even in Link’s private back yard. Rhett pulls back and moves the disgruntled Link off his lap.
“Why’d you stop?” Link says, and Rhett can’t help but think it sounds a little accusatory, but he understands. He was getting into it, and he’s really missed this man, but this can’t happen here.
Rhett throws his head back and stays still, like a dead thing. Like a half beached creature.
Link laughs, he can’t help himself. Even years into it, he still bubbles over with happiness when he’s allowed to kiss Rhett.
“I should go to the house,” Rhett huffs, still head back, eyes closed.
Link stops laughing. He lets the silence answer Rhett, allowing him to decipher whether it is a protest or a quiet acceptance. A beat passes as Rhett hears whatever he wants to hear and stands, water dripping from four feet above Link’s head only to cascade onto his left arm like a sort of impromptu baptism.
“I’ve got nowhere to be, I’ll see you later brother,” Link says softly, closing his eyes to feign apathy.
“I said I should go to the house, didn’t say my house, and I didn't say alone," Rhett says suddenly, despite very well knowing how he phrased it before. Link knows that Rhett likes to surprise people, knows that sometimes Rhett withholds information to be a little bit more exciting at the final reveal. It drives Link crazy, but not in the worst way, he supposes.
“Can we stop and get tacos?” Link opens one eye, hand already moving to dial down the temperature of the tub.
“We can stop at Kroger and I'll get us stuff to make food, skinny,” Rhett says. “I’m hungry again after my run anyway.”
“Oh, you ran here. I’d forgotten- hey! You just want a ride, ya jerk!” Link jumps out of the tub, yanking Rhett’s towel playfully out of his hands. He shakes his head like a dog, forcing Rhett to violently jump back.
“You caught me,” Rhett laughs; his entire body shakes with it.
“Ass. Let me get changed, unless you want to watch.”
“Nothing I haven’t seen before,” Rhett murmurs as he quietly follows Link to his bedroom.
-
They pull up to their stark white rented house and it’s not the first they’ve been here while it’s dark, of course, but it still is the first time they’ve been here alone in over a week, together, at night. And the intentions aren’t great.
But it’s theirs. Nobody can tell them what to do here.
They stopped by a Kroger on the way in and got parsley and cilantro, thick pork cutlets, and a pint of free range chicken stock. Rhett’s cooking before he’s even washed his hands, earning him an admonishing smack on the wrist.
“The- the virus. Wash your hands,” Link crosses his arms, removing the colander of parsley from the sink to give Rhett the space.
“And what, in two seconds I’ll touch my phone again and all the same germs will jump right back on?” Rhett scoffs, but does what Link says. Always does what Link says.
“Get the cast iron pre-heating,” Rhett says. And Link does what Rhett says as well.
They cook well together. Link follows easy commands, and Rhett picked a dish that’s hard to mess up, so they fall into an easy dance around the cheap countertops and pretend that they’re young and new to this whole thing.
The plates are a light pink and Rhett loves them, he picked them out himself in TJMaxx before they’d even caught Jessie’s eye. They eat quietly and fondly, of the food and each other. They open a back door and let the breeze shift the tablecloth and the curtains.
Link whines that he ate too much afterward when they’re on the sofa watching the disenchanting movement of shadows cast by passing headlights across their bare living room wall.
“I ate too much,” He says.
“I’m still hungry,” Rhett says.
“There’s no more,” Link says.
“Not for food,” Rhett says.
His eyes are dark as he focuses them on Link.
“You’re sweaty from your run, go shower,” Link grins, turning away from the nearly suffocating gaze.
“Just going to get sweatier, come here,” Rhett counters.
So Link crawls to him over the sofa like a child and swings one leg over his lap like he had in the hot tub earlier that evening. Rhett’s breath catches when Link kisses him, always taken aback when his best friend slots together with him like a lover.
“Make love to me,” Rhett says, his voice pitched low against Link’s neck.
Link nods furiously, hands working under the hem of Rhett’s shirt as Link’s pulse quickens under Rhett’s lips. Beyond the sofa, the light churning of the dishwasher fills the silence. They don’t do this with music, or TV.
They got lube at the Kroger, too, a water based one that smells of nothing. Link inhales as he opens the tube and shudders hard when he inhales only the pure scent of post-run Rhett. They both still smell of chlorine, but Rhett’s clothes bring back this undeniable sweaty man smell, beyond familiar in the way it permeates as Rhett rids himself of his shirt. Link snatches it from Rhett’s hand and buries his face in the cotton, inhaling and grinding down.
“You like that?” Rhett laughs, low, and reaches for Link’s buttons.
There’s no bed… yet. It would be too obvious, perhaps, or - maybe they haven’t found the right one. The couch is sturdy. It will do.
Link could cry with this feeling. He lets Rhett remove his shirt as he grows harder in his jeans, anxious and squirming as Rhett takes his time. Rhett leans in and presses a kiss to Link’s sternum, his hands sliding down his waist to end up on his hips. He holds Link down and thrusts up, his eyes fluttering shut.
“Get up, take off your pants,” Rhett hoists Link off him and they both work at their trousers until Link’s naked and back against the cushions and Rhett’s looming over him with his cock hard against his stomach.
Link catches his eyes and flushes, embarrassed, but drags a hand over his face and breaks out into a smile big enough to make Rhett laugh above him. Link had been waiting a week for this. It had felt like a lifetime.
It is now that Rhett takes the tube and squeezes some onto his outstretched fingers, moving them slowly together to warm them. Link hooks his fingers under his thighs and drags his knees to his chest.
“Oh, so pretty,” Rhett coos as he uses the back of his heads to spread Link open for him. He marvels at the way Link’s dark pink hole clenches and unclenches in the warm air of the house. Rhett leans in to press a kiss to Link’s ass, eliciting a shudder from the man.
“Rhett,” Link whimpers, head thrown back on the sofa and his eyes clamped shut.
“Shh,” Rhett says, the sound a breath of warm air centimeters from Link’s entrance. He dips forward again and trails his tongue along the edge, licking hungrily at the clean, warm skin.
Link trembles and works hard to keep his legs up while his entire body is shaking from the warm drag of Rhett’s tongue. It’s too much when Rhett presses just past the surface and Link exhales like the breath has been punched out of him.
“Are you hard?” Rhett murmurs when he comes up for air.
Of course Link is, he’s aching with it, smearing precome across his chest every time he shudders through another one of Rhett’s touches. Link’s eyes are dark and heavy, his cheeks flushed with arousal as he looks up at Rhett.
It’s the only answer Rhett needs before he’s pushing his lubed fingers into Link slowly. “Easy baby,” He breathes, feeling the hitch in Link’s breath all the way to his core. “You’re so tight for me. So nice.”
Link’s body pulses with arousal and he turns his head to pant breathily into the cushion. It’s been so long since they've had sex anywhere besides the office or their bedrooms, it’s exhilarating just by the change of scenery. It adds to the illusion that they are young and unattached in their first house together. Rhett pushing in the rest of the way and curling to find Link’s G-spot makes him moan, almost losing his grip on his legs.
From down south, Link can feel Rhett’s erection bumping against the back of his thigh. “Rhett, baby,”
“I know. I know,” Rhett pulls his fingers out and lets his big hands wander over Link’s slender but muscular form, long fingers pressing into the divots on Link’s butt. He takes over holding Link’s legs and ruts against his ass a few times blindly as Link uses his newly freed hand to tug at himself.
Rhett thrusts in after a minute and the cold slick of lube sends a shiver through both of them. Rhett’s just a minute more before he’s rutting rhythmically, Link’s legs coming to a rest over his shoulders.
“Good?” Rhett grunts, reaching forward to meet Link’s hands and intertwine them, using this development to drag him forward a little and see those dazed blue eyes better.
Link nods, meeting Rhett’s thrusts to blindly thrust up into nothing, tugging down Rhett’s hands to somehow get them closer.
“I missed you so much, Rhett, so much,” Link babbles, clenching his thighs as Rhett’s thrusts go more erratic. It’s hard to hold onto Rhett’s sweaty hands, but the more he clenches the better he feels. He drags Rhett’s wrist to his mouth and bites gently. “Mine.”
“All yours,” Rhett huffs, his pace quickening. He drops the hand that Link isn’t nibbling and jerks Link off in time with his thrusts. He runs his thumb over Link's slit and watches Link's cock twitch in reply. “So good and tight for me, Link.”
Link bites down hard as he comes in Rhett’s hand, grip tightening as he rocks into his fist and spills over. He clenches his ass hard to give Rhett more friction and lets go of his hand. Rhett finds purchase on Link’s waist and uses it to fuck into him one, two, three more times until he stills and comes deep inside of him.
For a minute they just sit there, Link’s fingers clenching and unclenching where he worked so hard to hold onto Rhett’s. Link laughs a little and stares up at his boy with a glazed-over expression. “You gonna cuddle me now?”
Rhett raises his eyebrows and backs off Link, giving the brunet the space to stretch his legs out. “Easy now, we want to keep this couch clean.”
Link rolls his eyes and waits for Rhett to toss his boxer briefs onto him, wiggling into them quickly with the last fraction of his energy. “This couch isn’t big enough to cuddle.”
Rhett shakes his head and sits down on it in his own underwear, beckoning Link to put his head in his lap. “No it is not. Maybe we should get a bed.”
“Yeah, we should get a bed,” Link yawns, scrubbing over his face as Rhett scrolls through his phone. “It’s late. We could just sleep here if we had a bed.”
“Well, I’ve got a family to get home to,” Rhett says with a tone of voice that knows he probably shouldn’t have.
“They’d understand. Because,” Link shrugs, rolling to tuck his face into Rhett’s soft belly. “We don’t know what might happen in the next few weeks, with the virus and all. So I think they’d understand.”
Rhett laughs softly and Link feels his whole body shake with it. “Post-orgasm Link can convince himself of anything, huh?”
“Nuh-uh,” Link closes his eyes, focusing on the twinge in his upper thighs.
“Yeah,” Rhett puts his palm on the small of Link’s back and strokes the red, couch-burned skin slowly. “We don’t know, do we?”
Link is asleep before too long, and Rhett decides he'll wake him up later and they can go home. For now, they can just sit here and be fucked-out with full stomachs and good company. Rhett leans down to kiss Link's hair and feels a wave of contentment wash over him when a small smile spreads across Link's face in response.