"Can't do that," Jeffery said. "It's an important guy from Silicon Valley who flew in just to talk to me. This is big. There's a lot of money involved. This guy owns the most important online social media outlet since the invention of TV and he's going public soon and I'm his biggest investor."
Evan didn't truly grasp what Jeffery did on Wall Street because he'd always worked in the more creative end of publishing. He knew it had a lot to do with the stock market and investments- venture capitalism. Jeffery had made his fortune in the right technology stocks at a time when a lot of other investors had been laughing at them. And he'd continued to build his billion-dollar fortune by following all the latest trends in social media. At this particular time social media seemed to be booming and Evan knew Jeffery would never miss an opportunity to get involved in something this important.
Evan smiled and said, "I didn't think you would. I understand, and I'm sure Kenny will, too." Now he would have to go to the reading. He would not let his son down the same way Jeffery always let him down.
Jeffery moved closer to him and rested his palm on Evan's thigh. He ran it up and down and said, "You look fantastic. I was expecting to find you all depressed and pale like the other times you've returned from Havilland. But this time you look different. It's hard to explain."
Evan shrugged. He felt different this time, but he didn't want to get into anything too deep with Jeffery. "I've lost too much weight. My clothes are falling off. But I feel good." When he said this, he realized how true it was. He really did feel good and he wasn't sure why.
"You look like you did the first day I met you," Jeffery said. He move even closer and put his arm around him. He kissed his neck and said, "You smell good, too."
Evan laughed. "What are you doing?" He tried to pull out from under Jeffery's arm but Jeffery held him even tighter.
"I'm welcoming my husband home the proper way," Jeffery said. His hand moved higher and he squeezed the inside of Evan's thigh.
Evan reached for his shoulders and said, "We shouldn't be doing this."
Jeffery's hand went higher. "We're married. We love each other."
Although they were separated in the sense that they didn't live together, they weren't formally separated and they had been having sex regularly since Evan had moved back to his old apartment. The reason they didn't live together wasn't because of Evan's drinking problem. It was because Jeffery couldn't be monogamous, no matter how hard he tried. He hadn't lied to Evan. He'd been open and honest from the beginning of their marriage and Evan had known what he was getting into. They'd always had what some couples call an open relationship and were free to have sex with other men as long as it was safe sex and there was nothing emotional about it. At first, Evan thought it was the perfect relationship for two gay men. But then they adopted Kenny and Evan found he wanted a more traditional lifestyle. He'd tried to make the open marriage work; he'd tried to live with knowing his husband was sleeping with other men. But it finally reached a point where he couldn't take it anymore and he moved back to his old apartment to sort things out on his own.
As Jeffery continued to kiss his neck, he pushed Jeffery's shoulders and said, "We're not like other married people and you know it. We don't live together, but we're not actually separated or even talking about divorce. Most people would think that doesn't make sense."
"Fuck what most people think," Jeffery said. "Most people are dumb, most people are not informed, most people don't know shit, most people are fat and ugly, and most people can kiss my hot American ass."
"You're an arrogant prick," Evan said, enjoying the way Jeffery's hands were moving between his legs.
"And you love arrogant pricks, especially big ones," Jeffery said, as he removed his suit jacket and threw it over the back of the sofa. He buried his face in Evan's neck and said, "I've missed you so much. You know you've missed me, too."
This had always been the problem. Their open relationship kept Evan awake at night; sometimes he thought it was part of what caused him to drink. But he had missed Jeffery; he did still love him even if he couldn't live in the same house with him. No other man in the world could to do him what Jeffery did. And Evan had been with more than enough men to know this.
So Evan stopped fighting him and he submitted to his aggressive advances the same way he'd always done in the past. As much as this would frustrate him later in some ways, he also knew it would comfort him and give him the courage he needed to go to Kenny's reading later that night. By making love to Jeffery, Evan could pretend for a short time that he was a normal married person having sex with his husband, the man he loved. He could pretend that everything was okay and that he didn't have any serious problems or issues to deal with. He'd been doing this for a long time and he knew how to rationalize his motives.
While Jeffery stood up and removed all of his clothes, Evan remained on the sofa, on his back, and removed his. When Jeffery climbed on top of him and their naked bodies touched, Evan closed his eyes and sighed aloud. His husband smelled like a man who had been working all day. His natural scent mingled with remnants of his the hair product he'd used on his short dark hair earlier that morning. Though his powdery deodorant had softened since he'd showered, traces of it lingered each time Evan took a breath. And the damp scent that rose from between his legs filled Evan with such a sense of excitement he lifted his legs up and rested one foot on the back of the sofa and the other on the cocktail table.
They made out for a while on the sofa in the same familiar way they'd always begun their lovemaking. Jeffery had a way of kissing Evan that made him close his eyes, lift up his legs, and surrender completely. It wasn't rough, and yet it was forceful in an unplanned way. Sometimes when they kissed for a long time it felt as if they were one person breathing through the same set of lungs.
While they kissed, Evan's fingers explored his husband's strong, solid upper body. Jeffery was only a year older than Evan and he still worked out on a regular basis at five o'clock every single morning. Jeffery had never been a sleeper. If he managed to get four hours a night he considered that a novelty. All this working out had been as much of a stress release as it had been a successful attempt to keep a good body. It had paid off, too. Every muscle on his back, his arms, and his chest made Evan's erection grow harder.
After they kissed, Jeffery moved up on the sofa and he straddled Evan's head that same way he'd been doing since the first night they'd made love. Evan took him gently in his palm and opened his mouth. The instant Jeffery's erection entered, Evan closed his eyes and started sucking slowly. Though he knew Jeffery preferred him to be rougher, he also knew his husband didn't complain when he used a gentle touch. This was fine with Evan. He didn't like to get rough. These lines had been drawn early in their marriage and he saw no need to alter them. What worked well and didn't need to be fixed should be left alone. In fact, if every other aspect of their relationship worked as well as their lovemaking, his life would have been perfect.
Evan sucked until he tasted his husband's pre-come. He reached up with his left hand and gently squeezed Jeffery's scrotum. He pulled Jeffery closer and started to suck harder, wondering if Jeffery wanted to climax this way. In this respect he could never be certain. It all depended on Jeffery's various moods.
He brought Jeffery to the edge of climax, and then Jeffery reached down and held Evan's face in his hands. He smiled and shook his head back and forth, and then he slowly pulled his dick out of Evan's mouth, ran the tip across Evan's lips, and reached over to the coffee table where he knew Evan kept the condoms. Though Evan would have preferred to take his husband raw, without a condom, this wasn't an option in their marriage. This was a part of their deal that drove Evan to move out: he longed to be with his husband without condoms, but knew that one simple thing wouldn't happen as long as they remained in an open marriage. Because they had always had an open relationship they'd both always used condoms. They could have taken a chance and trusted each other because they'd both sworn they would always use condoms when they were with other people. But they both agreed to play it safe just in case.
It didn't take long for Jeffery to enter. Evan had one leg spread over the back of the sofa and the other dangling over the side. Jeffery grabbed the ankle dangling over the other side and lifted Evan's leg up higher. With his other hand, he guided his dick into Evan's body and watched Evan's expression the entire time he did this.
Without saying a word, Evan looked into Jeffery's eyes and nodded to let him know he was okay, to let him know he could continue. He didn't stop nodding until every inch of Jeffery was inside his body and Jeffery's balls were pressed to the bottom of his ass. When he finally did stop nodding, he closed his eyes and threw his arms back over the arm of the sofa. The leg over the back of the sofa went higher and Jeffery pushed his other leg so far back his knee met his shoulder. Evan had always been agile this way and men had always been able to bend him and spread his legs apart in ways that made them more comfortable.
When Jeffery began to move his hips, Evan reached down with one hand and he started to stroke his own dick. He knew what to expect with his husband most of the time; he knew this time Jeffery would begin slowly and the fucking would increase until he heard slaps. Jeffery had always been one of those men who predominantly fucked with his pelvis, not this entire body. Though he had his more aggressive moments in bed, Jeffery's moves were not always as dramatic as they were orchestrated and even. There had been times when they'd made love in the past when Evan had glanced into a nearby mirror and watched his husband's hips moving. The rest of his body remained relatively still, but those slim sturdy hips moved so fast every nerve ending in Evan's body filled with what he'd always considered unwarranted inspiration. And that was because it was inspiring to watch from a distance, and just as inspiring to experience deep inside his body. The other men he'd been with tended to be awkward, without a sense of balance and rhythm. They often poked and prodded instead of entering and exiting with grace and dignity.