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Luca

The guilt gnawed at me ever since I threw Juri down the stairs, yet the thought of washing him brought a forbidden joy bubbling up within me.

Get a grip , I scolded myself. It doesn’t mean anything. Even the fact that we jerked each other off last Saturday doesn’t mean anything. That was probably just because of the situation. The damn back room had made me hornier than I expected. And apparently Juri too .

“Alright,” I said after loading the dishwasher. “Let’s get you cleaned up then.”

The remark didn’t go over well. The way Juri grimaced, it was clear he didn’t like being so vulnerable to me. But if the roles were reversed, I probably would have felt the same.

I went over to him and helped him up. I wrapped my arm around his back and supported him, feeling his slender body against mine and inhaling his rugged scent.

At least I wasn’t lacking in strength; I saw it as extra training.

As long as I focused on Juri, it had a calming effect on me.

With him, at least I knew what I had to do.

Basic needs had to be met. But I was lost on how I would solve the issue with my film project.

The detour to the back room of Exil had sparked a true firestorm.

Since then, I could hardly get Juri out of my head. Now that we were living under the same roof and I was guiding him to the bathroom, things didn’t get any easier.

Juri gripped my shoulder with his uninjured hand and groaned with effort. It would have been quicker if I had piggybacked him, but I doubted he would have agreed. And so, with each step he took, I felt his heavy breath on my ear and inevitably remembered what had happened at Exil.

Why didn’t he want to kiss me?

Juri groaned beside me and tensed up.

“Sorry, did I—”

“No,” he gasped, bracing himself against the bathroom doorframe. “My leg was already hurting anyway. Overexertion isn’t exactly helpful.”

I sat him on the edge of the bathtub and turned on the water.

Afterward, I helped him undress. Last night, the strangulation marks on him had consumed all my attention.

I had been so shocked and panicked because I was certain those bruises couldn’t have been from the fall.

Yet there had been that brief moment of doubt that had thrown me off.

Juri’s response hadn’t reassured me either, and I went to bed convinced that he had engaged in sexual activities with someone who had strangled him.

When I asked if Clé was his boyfriend, he vehemently avoided the question, leading me to assume he was single.

However, that didn’t eliminate the possibility of him being involved with others, which left a rather unpleasant taste in my mouth.

No, the thing in the back room meant absolutely nothing. So, get a grip.

As soon as he became shirtless, my gaze roamed over his upper body.

The bruises from the fall had darkened, and his right flank had taken quite a beating.

When something stirred in my pants, I realized how sexy I found the guy.

And then he had that stud in his nipple.

Even the scar on his neck, which, as I now saw, extended over his collarbone and was at least seven inches long, made him irresistible.

“Are you just going to stare at me?”

“No.”

“Then help me with the shorts.”

Oh damn.

I knelt in front of him and assisted him in removing his underwear. Being so close to Juri's crotch quickened my heartbeat. To distract myself somehow, I focused all my attention on Juri’s black pile of clothes on the white ceramic floor. It felt like time stood still. And then I heard him chuckle.

“Do you want to give me a blowjob?”

Those words helped me refocus on the task at hand, and I rolled my eyes. “What if I said yes?”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Embarrassed, I averted my gaze. “You act like it’s no big deal for you.” I busied myself and grabbed a bar of soap from the mirrored cabinet. When I turned back around, he was holding his penis in his hand, giving me an inviting look and raising an eyebrow.

“It’s no big deal,” he said, even licking his lips. “I just have to hold still.”

Damn, he’s hot! I stood there, feeling foolish and unsure of what to do next. Was he serious? He didn’t even seem embarrassed when he got hard.

“Stop it,” I said, placing the soap on the edge of the tub. “The situation is weird enough already.”

“I just stated the obvious. This practically screamed for it.” With a sweeping gesture, he included the bathroom.

“You wish,” I said, helping him into the tub.

“My cock is ready for it. And it wouldn’t be the first time you’ve had it in your hands.”

With his left foot and left arm over the edge of the tub, he sat in the water and grinned at me. I was glad that the water was high enough by now and I didn’t have to see his hard-on anymore.

Well, maybe not.

Moreover, this would have been the perfect moment to address what had happened last Saturday, but I couldn’t.

Unlike him, I wasn’t used to naming such things.

I hadn’t even been in a proper relationship.

The thing with Matteo had been nothing more than a no-strings-attached affair, and as open as Juri talked, we had never discussed it.

Having a bit more sex would be nice, but if it ends up like with Matteo …

Juri had already helped himself to the soap, scrubbing his body and washing his face. He struggled with just one hand, and his movements betrayed that it was painful for him.

“Would you like me to wash your hair?”

“Not a bad idea,” he replied.

I removed my pants and hoodie, leaving me in just boxers and a T-shirt, and sat behind him on the edge of the tub against the wall. “Okay, tilt your head back,” I instructed, rinsing his hair with the handheld shower. With that done, I grabbed the shampoo and lathered him up.

“That feels good,” he said with closed eyes. “I could get used to this.”

“Please don’t.” I laughed and rinsed the soap off him.

We were both silent for a while, but it was a pleasant silence. I assisted him with the areas he couldn’t reach, scrubbed his back and right arm, and helped him get out of the tub. He was becoming more accustomed to my movements and was dressed again in no time.

I led him to the living room, where he settled on the couch and propped his leg up on a pillow.

“Can you bring me my laptop? Oh, and my cigarettes.”

“Sure,” I said, going into his room briefly. “You can smoke here by the balcony door. You don’t have to go outside. Just opening the window is enough.”

Juri glanced over the back of the couch—there was a door between the kitchenette and the dining table that led to the terrace—and nodded. After that, I made him a jug of tea and showed him how the remote control worked.

“I would have offered to set up the Xbox for you, but it’s probably hard to play with one hand.”

Juri chuckled. “Besides, I’ve never really played a video game.”

“Really? Then we definitely have to catch up on that once your hand is back in action.”

“Oh, believe me. Once my hand is back in action, I’ll be catching up on a lot of things.” He said it casually as he unlocked his phone. But then he looked up at me and dismissed it with a slightly embarrassed smile.

“Understandable, as a lefty,” I joked and placed the chair next to the couch.

“Are you leaving?”

“I’m heading to training and then to the store for groceries. Need anything? Craving any snacks or treats?”

“I don’t snack. But …”

I paused for a moment, waiting.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“No, I mean … I hope I’m not causing you too much trouble.”

“You’re not,” I assured him. “Try to relax here. Think of it as a vacation.”

He nodded briefly and turned back to his phone. I packed my training gear, and after making sure once again that Juri didn’t need anything, I was on my way to the studio.

It wasn’t just the workout I urgently needed, but also the conversation with Dario. Last night, flipping out was one thing, but hurting someone in the process was a whole different story.

“Don’t overdo it,” were Dario’s first words as I battered the punching bag.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and was just relieved to see him.

“You look like you’ve been here for ages,” he commented on my sweaty appearance.

“Thirty minutes,” I replied, checking the time. But in reality, I had completely exerted myself in that time.

“Up for a training match?”

It felt like my prayers had been answered. “Absolutely! Against whom?”

“Vasily! Are you warmed up?”

A brown-haired guy, who had been by the dumbbells, turned to us. “Always,” he replied, grabbed his gloves, and joined us in the ring.

I had never seen the guy before, but that wasn’t a big surprise.

Most of the time, I trained by myself. The only person I talked to here was Dario.

And he was busy reminding both of us of the rules in the ring and in the studio.

Finally, it was time. We shook hands, nodded to each other, and off we went.

Vasily was almost half a head taller than me, and I was already 6’1”.

He had a powerful right punch. Very quickly, I realized that I had to focus on speed here.

While Vasily was strong, he was also bulkier than me.

In the end, I still took a few hits, but I also landed some of my own.

Meanwhile, Dario followed our fight and shouted tips to us.

Afterward, I felt good. We sat on two benches next to the ring and exchanged thoughts. Dario commented on Vasily’s right, and I nodded and took a big sip from my water bottle. Yeah, that right had some power. Dario then praised my defense.

“I really want to compete again,” I declared.

Dario scrutinized me.

“I’m ready. Please! You've been pushing me here for far too long.”

“Alright,” Dario hesitated. “I’ll sign you up. But I believe the next competition isn't until the end of January. That should give you ample time to prepare.”

“Yesss!” I exclaimed, pumping my fist. Even if I had lost the fight against Vasily, it felt like a victory right now.