Rebound

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Nate

----

"Russ." I bounded over the second Jude left. "Russ, Russ, Russss.... He's not... his ring is gone. I think he's single." Russell glanced at me and his eyes softened as he shook his head.

"Nate." He sighed. "Come on man. Bad idea." I shook my head.

"I know, like, I really know. Just real quick, remind me why? I don't think I can stop myself." Russell sighed and smiled at me. He folded his arms.

"Number one, he is about to be your boss. Number two, even if he is single, he just came out of something with someone he at some point wanted to MARRY, he's not in the right headspace for you. Number three, he is way too old for you." I opened my mouth and Russell held up his hand to stop me. "Number four, because I can already see you arguing with number three, even if the age gap is ok he's at a very different stage of life. Number five, I know you don't get it but you need a break from boys anyway. Number six, because it bears repeating, he's your new boss." I sighed.

"Ok, good. That's good." I nodded. "Repeat that before he comes in everyday, ok?" Russell sighed.

"Is it going to make ANY difference?" I shrugged. Well. Maybe not.

"I'll hop on Grindr." I suggested. "Like ASAP. Find a daddy type and get it out of my system. Hopefully before next week." Russell plugged his ears.

"Gross." He said. "Do whatever you need to do. But fuck's sake don't tell me about it."

------

Friday

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Nate

----

Russell and I were hanging out with Shona at Havana Bar, waiting for some other mates to join us and see where the night went. We made fast friends with some strangers next to us, your classic group of gay men and one maybe straight who knows woman, because they had clearly been drinking for most of the afternoon and started teasing me about my hair from the second I stepped outside.

"Is it real?" The girl said.

"Yes!" I swatted her away.

"Can I touch it?" One of her friends said, and I suddenly didn't feel annoyed in the slightest because... he had dimples and freckles and a really warm smile.

"Yeah, go on." I sat next to him and let him do whatever he wanted to my head and we talked about who we were and all the stuff you talk about with strangers. The girl was joking about how she literally could not go out to a bar and have a conversation with straight people, how everyone she ever met was queer and gestured at me.

"Like, how did I end up sitting next to you?" She said. "Is Wellington like, gayer than anywhere else or are we just magnetically attracted to each other?"

"I guess like attracts like." I said. "Ow." I muttered as the guy playing with my hair pulled too hard. He laughed.

"Oops." He said. "I am drunk and not a professional. My apologies." I shrugged.

"Well how did YOU end up here?" The girl asked Russell with a laugh. "You're as straight, white and male as they come." Russell grunted and stood up.

"Need a drink Nate? Sho?" We nodded and glanced at each other as he stormed off. Talk about hitting a nerve. The girl giggled.

"What did I say?" She asked. Shona coughed.

"Ignore him." She said. "He just needs another drink." She rolled her eyes at me and I grinned.

"Yeah, and someone to pull that stick out of his ass." Shona smiled at me.

"Give me time." She said. I shrugged. Good luck, Sho.

"Are you done with my hair yet?" I changed the subject and turned to the guy beside me. "This is starting to go from cute to torture." He laughed and nudged my shoulder.

"I'm making you beautiful." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm already beautiful." He grinned.

"You're alright." He said. I felt my chest grow tight as I smiled at him. I hadn't met a boy in a bar.... Well... ever.

"Nate." I introduced myself. "Russell is the macho man who just stormed out and this is Shona, his girlfriend."

"Rita." The crazy girl introduced herself. "Ethan and Logan." She gestured to the two guys who were hanging off each other. "George." The guy playing with my hair grinned at me.

"Rita and I do plays together." He said. He opened his mouth to say more but Russell returned with wine for Shona and beer for him and I, and he sat next to Shona with a sigh. I nudged his knee.

"We could always go to JJ's." I mumbled to him. "Crowd's more your scene there." He shook his head with a grunt and sipped on the beer. He caught my eyes and smiled at my concern for him.

"We'll see." He mumbled. "Maybe more my crowd but definitely less your crowd and the whole point of tonight was helping you get over Jude so..." I laughed and looked at George with a grin. Russell shrugged. "He's ok." He said dubiously. I sighed. He would literally never approve of anyone would he?

-----

Although it turned out it didn't matter what Russell thought of George. About half an hour later I was introduced to Richard, George's friend, and it was the weirdest introduction I'd ever had. I almost felt like I was being presented to Richard for inspection, the way George held my shoulders back and gestured almost proudly at me. My neck pricked as Richard looked me over- and even though I could see he liked what he saw, I didn't like the interaction at all. I felt... like a piece of meat to be quite honest. I looked around for Russell to help me out of the weirdness but somehow we were on the other side of the bar, just us three. My heart started to beat faster. This was so shady. George and Richard were looking at each other, almost right through me.

"Hey." Richard said warmly, and squeezed my hand with a smile. George somehow slipped away and I felt my whole body grow stiff as I was left alone with some guy I'd just met who was looking me up and down like he was going to take great pleasure in like... literally eating me...

"Hi." I let my hand fall to my side and moved fractionally, trying to get back to the others. Richard smiled at me and reached for my arm.

"What are you drinking?" He laughed as I glanced at my hand, still clasping a beer, and he rolled his eyes at himself. "Ha ha, sorry." He sat down and leaned on his arm as he looked at me. "Well, I'll get you the next one then. Uh.... how do you know George?"

"I don't." I somewhat reluctantly sat opposite him. "Just met now." I hesitated. And I thought he was into me, I didn't say, but now he's bolted and left me with you. "How do YOU know George?" Richard smirked.

"He owes me a favour." He said. "A lot of favours actually. I think he has this idea I'll let him off the hook if he keeps introducing me to hot guys. It's his way of apologising. Sorry, I can see you're a bit weirded out." I blushed.

"Oh." I didn't know what to say to that. "Uh. Well, thanks?" Richard rolled his eyes.

"---Thaaanks---." He mocked me. "Like you don't know. Anyway are you single?" He looked me over. I shrunk into myself a little self consciously. I was wearing my 'I want to get fucked' outfit, which consisted of a t-shirt that juuuust showed my bellybutton piercing if I stretched out and jeans that cupped my ass delightfully. I glanced at Richard. Well, he was hot. That tall, blonde, shaved sides of the head Scandi thing. I shrugged.

"Constantly." I said. "You too, if you're getting George to hunt down men for you." He choked on his drink.

"Yikes." He said. "That's not..." He looked over to our party and sighed. "Well, yeah. That kind of is what he was doing." He grinned at me. "I live nearby." He said. I could feel my cheeks heating up. No. No, you make so many bad decisions Nate. This is like the ultimate in bad decisions. You've been... like, what.... Scoped? For a real shady guy? You really want to go to his huh? And what? Get fucked? Well, yeah. Get fucked. Which was actually why I was out tonight anyway. I glanced at Russell and he caught my eye and shook his head. Ugh. I wish he'd let me make my own decisions. Richard saw where I was looking and squeezed my hand where it was lying on the table.

"Blondie over there doesn't like me." He muttered.

"Blondie over there doesn't get a say." I smiled suddenly. Fuck you, Russel. I'm an adult. This guy wants me. I looked back to Richard and put on my bedroom eyes and he grinned.

"Oooh." He said. "So someone has decided they're not freaked out after all." He looked at my beer and raised his eyebrows. "Drink up, Nate." I obeyed him, sculling the dregs and standing up.

"Ok." I said. "How far? I'm freezing." Richard looked me over.

"Should have worn actual clothes then." He said. "Come on."

"Wait-" I paused and glanced at Russell and Shona, who were both glaring at me. "I'll just say goodbye." Richard laughed.

"Not goodbye." He grinned. "I'll have you back soon."

"Either way." I went to say something to the two of them before Richard had a chance to escort me out of the bar.

Russel sighed at me and handed me his jacket.

"Look." He said. "I'm not going to police you but I will say I think going home with some guy you met one minute ago who won't even offer you his jacket when you're shivering is a bad idea." I took the jacket gratefully.

"Ok, obviously not marriage material." I admitted. "But he's hot." Russell rolled his eyes.

"Have fun." He said dubiously.

----

Richard wasn't much of a talker so I bridged the silence with chatter as we walked to his. Which was actually way further than he'd let on, just in Newtown which was about as far away as you could get and still claim 'nearby'. He hadn't said a word to me since we left the bar. Asshole. But I guess he was getting what he wanted, it's not like he needed to seduce me. He led me into his apartment building and grinned as he looked me over.

"George might be reprieved." He grinned at me. "He has exceptional taste." I winced and blushed as he pulled me into his room before I'd had a chance to look around properly. He grunted as he started pulling his clothes off and glanced at me. "Get naked." He demanded. I obeyed him, and stood awkwardly at the foot of his bed. I wasn't horny. This wasn't hot at all. This was scary and mean. I glanced at him. Dammit. Go for guys smaller than you, I told myself. You are fucked.

He glanced at me and could probably see the fear all over my face because he sighed.He pulled me onto his bed and wrapped his arms around me, and stroked my hair, and touched my cheek gently.

"Oh Nate." He said quietly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Is this ok?" I nodded. I was already knee deep, so no, it wasn't ok, but I'd literally walked into it. It was hard to feel particularly sorry for myself when at every step of the way I could have, and should have said no. Richard sighed and clasped my chin, tilting it up to look at him. "Oh, it's not ok." He murmured. "Sorry, the way you were dressed I... I read you wrong." He stood up and threw a dressing gown at me. "There you are, honey." I slowly wrapped it around me as he pulled on a jersey that fell to his knees. "Can I make you some tea or something?" He said. I glanced at him.

"Uh... is that ok?" I muttered. Richard smiled warmly at me.

"Yeah, of course." He said. He offered me his hand and pulled me off the bed. "Come on." He led me to the kitchen and went to boil the jug, pulling out a bunch of tea and asking me which one I wanted. I sat quietly as he put the teabags in the cups and placed them in front of me. He glanced at me as he went to fill them and sat down at the kitchen bar opposite me. I glanced at the cup and he followed my gaze. "Just Earl Grey." He said. "I'm really sorry for scaring you Nate."

"No, you...." Didn't, I was about to lie. I winced. "Sorry." I said. "I... haven't ever really gone home with someone I just met. You're... kind of a lot." He grinned and sat back comfortably.

"Yeah, that was a bad approach." He laughed. "Try again, yeah? Hey Nate, welcome to my place. Do you want some food?" I sipped on my tea and smiled slightly as it began to warm me up.

"No...." I caught his eye. "But thanks for the tea." His foot caught mine under the bar and I let our bodies stay that way, just barely touching.

"What do you do anyway, honey?" He smiled. "Something creative? Acting? Modelling?" I laughed and felt my ears going pink.

"I'm... actually... just interning at MBIE." I said, the words sounding foreign on my lips. I wasn't, not till Monday actually, but it felt so much better than saying I make coffee. Richard wrinkled his nose.

"Boring." He said.

"What do you do?" I asked. Richard glanced at me and swallowed.

"I'm a teacher." He said, not quite meeting my eye. Liar. I narrowed my eyes at him. I wonder why he was lying. He stared off into the distance.

"Cool." I said, eventually. "Where? Like primary school or secondary or..." He grunted.

"What's with the third degree, honey?" I raised my eyebrows.

"That's hardly the third degree!" I kicked him. "That's called small talk, it's really easy usually, but I guess not for a guy who barely gets to know anything about you before he tells you to get naked." Richard laughed.

"Ouch!" He said. "I know." He sighed. "Ok, I'm not a teacher."

"You're a bad liar." I grinned. He caught my eye and smiled at me. "So what? Something illegal obviously? Ooh, actually, my guy can't get me MD anymore, do you know someone?" Richard winced and shook his head.

"Do I really scream drug dealer?" He mumbled. I smiled.

"Yeah." I said. "I would bet money on it. Am I right?" He looked across the bar at me. He narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know where to get your MD." He said slowly. "Can we switch to small talk about... the weather?"

"Sure. Fucking freezing." I said. He nodded and said nothing. I sighed. "Small talk usually goes both ways." I smiled. "Although I am pretty good at one-sided conversations. My flat is so cold at the moment, I have to sleep in like three layers. Your place is warm though. Central heating?" Richard nodded. "Nice. Imagine that. A well insulated house and central heating. Oh well, a guy can dream. I guess if I could ever get my own place... oh is this your place? Or do you rent?" Richard's eyes crinkled as he looked at me.

"It's mine." He said. I glanced around the apartment.

"You should get a dog." I said. "Number one thing I'd do with my own place." He shrugged.

"Not a huge fan of animals." He said. Ew. I wrinkled my nose.

"Biggest red flag so far, and you're throwing me a lot." Richard laughed.

"You're still here though, honey." He said quietly. I looked at him.

"I guess so."

We finished the tea and I suggested we go back to his bedroom. He seemed hesitant this time. I stood in front of him and looked up at him. I held his hand.

"I'm feeling a lot more comfortable." I whispered.

"Are you?" He stroked my cheek. "We don't have to, Nate. You could leave your number if you want and we'll try again another time. Or you can leave, I understand." I bit my lip.

"Well... or we could hang out in your bedroom for a bit...." I mumbled. "Just see where it goes...." Richard smiled.

"I'd like that." He said.

I lay curled up around him and he stroked my hair and let me make more small talk with myself. He really was taciturn, but he was warm. He didn't seem as scary now. I ran my fingers over his chest which was covered in hair and I could feel him getting hard. I glanced up at me and he raised his eyebrows as he caught my eyes.

"Sorry, honey." He turned a little pink. "I can't control that." I smiled and pushed my hair off his face, and his breathing hitched as he looked at me. I wriggled down on the bed and looked at him.

"May I?" I paused, my lips a hair away from his dick and he moaned.

"Can I ask you something?" He whispered. I sat up a little.

"Ok." He reached for his bedside drawer and fumbled for a second before pulling something out. I turned really, really red as I looked at it. "Oh, you're that kind of guy." I said lightly, trying to overcome the heat in my chest. Richard bit his lip.

"I just... it would look really hot on you." He said. "But you'll be hot either way so don't feel obligated." I glanced at his hands.

"Would you like to..." I searched for the right words. "Would you like me to be a bit..." I sighed. "Subby?" I suggested. Richard moaned.

"I would like that." He said. "Is that something you'd be into?" I shrugged. Sometimes. For the right guy. I pulled my hair up and knelt before him on the bed, presenting my neck to him, and he fastened the collar around my neck. Hmmmm. Maybe not my thing. But his eyes glazed over as he looked at me and, fuck it, I could do a bit of that if he liked it that much.

"Thank you, master." I whispered. He moaned and closed his eyes.

"Oh, that's good pet." He whispered. Pet huh? My name is Nate, not Pet. I almost said something, but I changed my mind and went back to doing what I'd been about to do. Richard stopped me before I could get started and pulled me off him by my hair. I whimpered. If only my hair wasn't wired for sex. He grinned as he looked at the expression on my face. "You're meant to beg." He said. I blinked. I hate begging.

"Please, master." I parted my lips and made my eyes as round as they would go. He grinned.

"Please what, pet?"

"Please, let me suck you." Richard smiled.

"Good boy." Well I liked that at least. He let me go and I pressed my lips to his cock reverently. I sucked on the top for a bit before running my tongue over everything- his inner thighs, his heavy balls, the vein popping out of the side of his cock. My face was flushing and my heart was beating faster as he moaned appreciatively and ran his fingers through my hair. "Now that's a good little slut." He said. "Cute little pet, desperate for your master. Good boy. Take it all baby, you sweet little whore..." Huh. Quite verbose when we weren't discussing the weather.

I took it all, his cock was lovely- thick and curved and cut- but nowhere near Darius so he was in for a treat because I knew I could take him really deep. He moaned and ran his fingers through my hair, calling me a slut and a whore and murmuring what a good boy I was. I was getting hard, and found myself humping against his thigh and he laughed and slapped my ass. It stung, and I wasn't expecting it, so I jolted off his cock swearing. Richard growled and grabbed my hair again. He clasped my chin hard, and his nails dug into my neck. I glared at him and opened my mouth to tell him to chill out and go easy, because I really wasn't into this, but he didn't let me speak.

"You don't even think about your dick when you're with me, pet." He said. My eyebrows almost flew off my face.

"I am not that guy." I choked out against his grip. "You better fucking get me off, or I'll bite your dick in half." Richard's eyes grew wide and he suddenly laughed, letting me go.

"Christ." He said, patting my head. "Sorry, I keep reading you wrong. I so thought you'd be into that." I swallowed and smiled at him guiltily.

"Not into power exchanges." I said.

"Right." he said. "Got it. I'll make you cum, Nate." I smiled.

"Into sucking you off though." I said. "I won't bite, promise." He grinned and his hand drifted to my chest, circling a couple of tattoos and grazing his hand against my nipple.

"Before we resume, at some point I was going to flip you over and fuck you. Is that ok?" I grinned at him.

"THAT is ok." I said. "Welcomed even. Thank you for asking." Richard smiled and bent over to kiss me.

"Alright." he whispered as I moaned into him. "Go on then, little pet, suck me off." I smiled and knelt down again.

"Thank you, master." I said, all cute and subby for him now I knew he knew where we stood.

I gagged on him, tears streaming from my eyes, getting off on his stream of loving degradation which was slowly turning into an incoherent sweat mess of drool, and moans, and even whimpers as I worshipped him and made him feel good. His hands drifted to my hair, which he kept stroking, and I could feel his balls getting tight against my chin. I moaned and went to switch to my hand... but true to his word he suddenly sat up and I found myself on my front, with him kicking my legs open and lifting my hips. He moaned as his fingers sought my ass, and after a pause as he fumbled in his bedside drawer again, I felt lube dripping down my thighs.