Skype Date
We take our time driving to California, and I take even longer to unpack. I’ve been here nearly a week and I’m still tripping over boxes and sleeping on an air mattress because I’m just that lazy. My dishes are mostly all still in boxes, too, with only a few glasses, plates and utensils for frozen food and take out actually unpacked. Tonight I’ve decided on take out again and I’m sitting on the couch playing a video game while I wait for it to show up. My internet just got turned on today, so Kate and I made plans to Skype later so I can talk to the kids. That and eating some seriously greasy pizza are my only plans for the night, and I am absolutely okay with that.
Aside from all the boxes still sitting around, my condo is pretty nice. It has a huge,open living room and kitchen combo, and a master suite on the first floor. The two bedrooms upstairs are nice, too, and I’m looking forward to Shep and Junia visiting and making them their own. When we Skype in a little while, I’m going to let them pick out their rooms and decide how to decorate them. Something about this condo just has me feeling so… hopeful. Even though I’m all alone, except for a certain someone over in Silver Lake who likes to laugh about the fact that I ended up in West Hollywood, I don’t feel alone.
Not long after I sit down on the couch, my video game is interrupted by the doorbell ringing. I rush to answer, suddenly realizing how hungry I am. When I open the door, though, I’m not greeted by a pizza delivery guy. Instead, I see Carrick… holding two boxes of pizza.
“Hope you don’t mind,” he says. “I met the guy in the driveway and paid him for you.”
I give Carrick a quick glance up and down, then smirk. “You know, I think I had a fantasy once that started like this…”
“Yeah, I bet you did,” he replies with a smirk of his own. “Come on, let’s eat. Assuming you got something that isn’t covered in meat.”
My perverted self can barely stop laughing long enough to tell him that one box contains breadsticks. I’m still laughing as we make our way to the couch and settle in to eat dinner. I hadn’t really planned to invite Carrick over, but I don’t mind that he just showed up on his own. I wouldn’t mind if he never left at all.
While we’re eating, I hear the Skype ringtone playing on my laptop from where it sits on the other end of the coffee table (one piece of furniture I actually own). I instantly feel bad for forgetting that Kate was going to call as soon as Carrick showed up, but I force myself to ignore that feeling. It isn’t like I was supposed to do something for the kids, didn’t do it and missed my chance; as soon as I hear that ringtone, I reach for my laptop and accept the “call.” When I do, Kate pops up on the screen, the sounds of Shep and Junia playing somewhere off in the background hitting my ears.
“Hey, Katie,” I say, sheepishly swallowing my last bite of pizza.
“Hey, Zac,” she says, then glances to the right. “Oh, Carrick, hey.”
Carrick gives her a little wave, then asks, “Skype date?”
“I wouldn’t call it a date,” Kate replies, blushing a little. “But the kids miss their Daddy, so we planned to chat. And now they’re busy playing. Shep, Junia–come say hi to Daddy!”
They ignore her, of course, because they’ve both been cursed with my attention span. I chuckle. “Let them play; it’s fine. They’ll wander over eventually.”
“Alright,” Kate says somewhat skeptically, tossing another little glance at something I can’t see, which I assume is the kids. She glances back at Carrick somewhat more seriously. “Well, are you taking good care of him?”
“I’m trying to,” he replies, chuckling. “He can take care of himself pretty well, though.”
To my surprise, Kate smiles and says, “I know he can. But I still worry. I’m glad you’re there for him.”
“I’m glad I am, too,” Carrick says.
Thankfully, things don’t have a chance to get any mushier than that. Junia finally notices voices other than Kate’s and waddles over to the desk to see what’s going on. Not one to be left out, Shep soon bounds over as well, and then they’re both babbling at us, their voices overlapping so much that all we can do is nod and make vague noises that are barely even real responses. But that’s okay. I’m just glad to see my babies again, and even though I hate myself for leaving them, I’m glad that they seem happy. I’m glad they we’re all so happy and comfortable now.
Somehow, things seem to be working out. I know it’s too soon to judge, but I have a good feeling about all of these changes in my life. I just do.
After the kids babble at me for a while, I pick up the laptop and give them the grand tour of my new place. It’s a mess already, which Carrick and Kate both feel the need to comment on, but the kids love it. I’m glad that I can once again share in their excitement. I miss that childish innocence. I know mine is long gone, banished early on by our fame, but there are times when I get fleeting glimpses of it. I’ve felt a lot more pure glee since moving to California than I can remember feeling for years.
Once the kids have finished fighting over who gets which of the bedrooms that are basically identical anyway, Kate informs them that it’s time for bed. They fight that, of course, but eventually, after several rounds of goodbyes, they grudgingly agree to take their baths.
By the end of the Skype call, Carrick and I have found our way into my bedroom. I close my laptop and set it on the floor, then collapse onto my air mattress, motioning for Carrick to join me. He chuckles, but crawls onto the makeshift bed anyway. He looks absolutely ridiculous, all long legs and arms slinking across the mattress.
“I’m not sure how I feel about your decorating choices,” Carrick remarks as he curls up beside me.
“It’s just temporary,” I reply, resting my head on his chest.
“The bed, right?” He says, sounding more nervous and self-conscious than I knew was even possible for Carrick. “I’m sorry, it’s just… you know, hard to believe you’re actually here.”
“And that’s how I felt when you were in Tulsa,” I reply softly. “But this is permanent. I’m staying. As long as you’ll have me, anyway.”
He grins. “So… forever?”
“Sounds good to me.”
I crane my neck so that I can reach Carrick’s lips and plant a soft kiss on them. The kiss doesn’t stay soft and sweet for long, and I’m not sure which of us is responsible for deepening it, but I suppose it doesn’t matter. This thing between us isn’t purely based on physical attraction, but it’s been too damn long since we’ve had the time and privacy to be together like this, and I want to take advantage of that. It doesn’t matter that we’ve just promised each other forever. There’s still no need to wait.
Carrick seems to agree with these thoughts I haven’t voiced, because it isn’t long before he’s climbing on top of me and shoving my shirt over my head. Once it’s been flung into the floor, I start unbuttoning his and send it flying into the floor to join mine. Our pants are next, and soon Carrick is crawling down my body, coming to rest between my legs. He plants a few kisses along my inner thighs before finally letting his mouth land on my dick.
“Carrick…” It’s halfway between a moan and a whine, but it has the intended effect. His eyes trained on mine, Carrick takes me fully into his mouth, the wet heat of it feeling even better than I remembered.
It isn’t long before I feel an orgasm building, and I nudge Carrick’s shoulder to tell him to back off. I don’t want it to end like this; it’s been too long and I need more of him than just a blow job. He gets the hint and backs off, but to my surprise, he crawls into my lap instead.
I give him a quizzical look and ask, “Are we… I mean, are you gonna…?”
“Yeah.” He nods. “It’s always the other way around, so I just figured… I mean… if that’s alright.”
“It is,” I reply, nodding perhaps a little too eagerly, judging by the way Carrick laughs.
“Good. I just… need you this time.”
I could get off just on those words. I really could. And when Carrick lowers himself down onto me, I feel like I might die. It’s so different from when Taylor and I did this. For one, Carrick is basically in control, since he’s sitting on top of me, effectively pinning me to the mattress, and setting his own pace. But it’s not just that. This is, as much as the phrase makes me roll my eyes, making love.
I don’t like all this romance and mushy stuff, though. I grasp Carrick’s hips and pull him down harder, holding him against me and thrusting up into him. He moans loudly and reaches down to grasp his own dick. Part of me wants to do that for him, but I’m enjoying being the one to set our pace now. Between the way I’m thrusting roughly into him and the fact that he already has me so worked up, I know I’m not going to last much longer. Watching Carrick jerk himself off isn’t helping, either.
Carrick tosses his head back and moans in ecstasy, and that’s it. I’m done. It’s over. I press my fingertips into his hips and hold him in place as I come, needing to be as connected as possible to him. My orgasm rips through my body, and I swear Carrick moans even louder as it fills him. I wrap my hand around his to give him the last few strokes to push him over the edge as well.
“Fuck, Zac…” he moans out as he coats our hands in his come.
I don’t mind, though. I just lift my hand to my mouth and lick it off, reveling in the taste, a taste that I didn’t even know until a few months ago, and now it’s one of my favorite things in the world.
Carrick chuckles a little as he watches me lapping it up eagerly, then lifts his leg to climb off of me. Something goes a little wrong somewhere along the way, and he tumbles off the side of the air mattress. Since our legs are still tangled together, I go tumbling with him. The mattress held up surprisingly well as we fucked, but none of our desperate scrambling stops us from ending up in a naked, sweaty heap in the floor, both of us laughing uncontrollably.
“Not… one of my… finer moments,” Carrick gasps out between laughs.
“You’re lucky I love you,” I reply, still giggling. “I think you almost broke my bed.”
“I’ll buy you a new one,” he says. “But not right now. Right now, I think I could go to sleep.”
“In the floor?” I ask, staring incredulously down at him.
He shrugs. “Why not? Can’t be any less comfortable than your inflatable bed.”
“You’re probably right,” I reply, then lean down to kiss his forehead. “Anyway, you’re here. So that’s good enough for me. Who needs beds or mattresses that don’t have to be pumped up when I’ve got you?”
“Such a way with words,” Carrick teases. “You should be a poet or something.”
I laugh, then rest my head against Carrick’s shoulder, curling my body around his. I wasn’t kidding. For once in my life, I don’t need anything else. Everything I want… everything I need… is right here.