Page 18 of Rebound

“Do I need a step-by-step?” Thomas looked up at him with an arched brow. His expression was decidedly smug, like he knew he was good in bed without instruction. That if Ben did offer him a little guidance…he could be great.

“No,” he conceded. “But it wouldn’t hurt for you to finesse your technique a little.”

“Finesse.” Thomas looked at him in disbelief, taking a drink of his wine but not breaking away from Ben’s gaze.

Ben, for his part, was enraptured. The Thomas sitting across from him was almost like a whole new version of himself. At least as far as Ben knew. To him, it seemed that giving Thomas the space to admit his sexuality had empowered him to speak freely about the things he wanted, the things he was good at. It wasn’t arrogance or cockiness. It was confidence. It was competence.

It was fucking hot.

“There’s things that you can learn,” he said.

“Practice makes perfect.”

Was Ben imagining things, or had Thomas’s voice slipped down a register with that ask? Ben shifted his weight, thankful he’d put a shirt on, but regretful he hadn’t opted for pants. The underwear did little to hide the interested bulge between his legs.

“Is that what you’re looking for?” Ben asked. “Someone to practice on?”

“Practice with,” Thomas corrected.

“Casually.”

“Formally.”

Now it was Ben’s turn to arch a brow. That wasn’t anywhere close to what they’d talked about the first time.

“Not committed,” Thomas amended. “Well…”

“Exclusive,” he supplied.

“But not serious.”

“Right.” Ben didn’t have enough wine in his glass—or the bottle—to have this conversation.

“I’ll go get tested,” Thomas said.

Ben swallowed, dragging his tongue across the front of his teeth. “Why?”

“What I said earlier still stands. I don’t like condoms.”

“You’re not the only person in this…this…formally exclusive casual arrangement.”

“Did you want to keep using them?” Thomas asked.

“I feel like this conversation has gotten away from me.” He topped off his wine and took a large swallow. “You were just coming out of the closet at me and now you’re talking about fucking me bare.”

“Well, when you say it like that…”

“Now I have to use the restroom. Let’s talk about this another time,” he muttered, pushing away from the table and walking down the hallway. He locked himself in the small room and studied his reflection like he would find the answer in his own face.

Thomas hadn’t outright asked him for anything, but the conversation had made it clear Thomas wanted to keep sleeping with him. Ben didn’t hate the idea, in fact he was quite a fan of it, but the continuation of their relationship did mean the bounds of it would change. He felt it was important for him to be as honest as Thomas was being so they would have a level playing field before making up their minds.

He returned to the dining room table, and Thomas gave him a knowing look about understanding the necessity for a bathroom pep talk to gather his wits.

“I just got out of a bad relationship,” he shared. “I don’t want another one. Good or bad. So this is just…it’s whatever it is and that’s all it’s going to be.”

“Are you proposing that you want to use me for sex?”

“That’s whatyou’reproposing,” he corrected.