tarotgal

Part 8

Lucas was the first to wake the next morning. He found himself in a tangle of limbs, sheets, and blankets. He was no longer in the position he’d fallen asleep in, but he was all right with where he had ended up. He lay on his back with his left arm wrapped around David, who was lying upon Lucas’ chest. Nestled into David’s front now was Troy, and Lucas had his right arm around him. Their heads were tucked beneath his chin, their weight both comforting and a little restraining against his chest. If he didn’t have to piss so damn bad, he would have liked to have stayed there like that all morning, just holding the two of them and dozing, letting his body rest after all the excitement of yesterday.

But as his body was the one demanding something else from him now, he knew it was best to listen. Besides, he also craved a bit of movement. His body felt stiff and one of his legs was tingly and asleep from the way Troy was lying on him. He was also a little excited about another day at the conference. There were some demos he wanted to check out in more detail, now that he’d had a chance to get a good overview of all the vendors. And there were a few classes today he hoped to attend. It was strange trying to juggle his conflicting desires right now. On one hand, they had made this trip across the country specifically so that he could attend this conference and learn things that would help him attract and retain more clients at the gym. This was his chance to learn from industry leaders and try products that might make a difference at the gym. But on the other hand, there was a gorgeous man lying on top of him who was a perfect fit for their dynamic and seemed into them as well. Who knew if they would ever find someone like Troy again or if they would even want to? Lucas felt every bit as drawn to Troy as he felt drawn to his career.

Deciding that he didn’t need to make any choices right now and just needed to go to the bathroom, Lucas set to work extracting himself from the tangle. He decided slipping out to his left, dealing with Troy first and then David, was the best course of action based on the arrangement. He managed to unhook his leg and bend his elbow over his head without smacking the headboard. He shifted and inched and moved pillows down to fill in the gap he’d left. Troy stirred but did not fully wake. A few seconds later, he went right back to snoring lightly, his nose still stuffed-up with cold. Lucas considered his move a great success.

Getting out from under David was going to be a little more difficult, as he was entirely under the man now. He tried shifting, but the pressure of David’s body was hitting him in all the wrong places—including his bladder. After a bit of struggling, he finally just gave up and pushed David up a little, treating him more like a barbell than a husband. But that allowed him to slip out and off the bed entirely. Unfortunately, David opened his eyes.

“Hey, good morning,” Lucas said, kissing him as if he’d intended to wake him all along.

David narrowed his eyes, confused for a second about what was going on.

“I desperately need the toilet,” Lucas whispered. “And you need to keep snuggling this handsome man.”

Understanding dawned on David, and he got an overly goofy, satisfied grin on his face. He snuggled closer to Troy.

Instead of rushing to the bathroom, though, Lucas stood by the bed for just a few more seconds. He stroked David’s head. “Go back to sleep,” he whispered. “Everything’s all right. Everything’s perfect. Get some more sleep. You earned it.” It was true. David had been the last of them to fall asleep this morning, spending his time manning the tissues until Troy finally managed to nod off.  

David’s eyes were closed again, but he wasn’t asleep just yet. His breathing was still normal. Lucas knew he needed another comforting push and had a feeling about what might just do it. Ever so softly, he began humming their song, the one that they’d danced to first at their wedding. He kept stroking David’s head, slowly, in time to the lines of the song now, though: Oh, baby, you, you got what I need. You got everything I need. You’re like medicine to me. Oh baby. It was almost like Freddie Scott had written it just for them. The humming didn’t seem to disturb Troy, thankfully, and within a couple minutes, David was breathing slow and deep and Lucas’ leg had gone from tingly to intense pins and needles to back to normal again.

He considered going to use the bathroom in his own hotel room so as not to disturb either of the sleeping men, but he didn’t want to leave the room and break whatever magic spell had been cast on them all in the middle of the night. So he shut the door, stuffed a towel in the crack beneath it to muffle the sound, and tried to be as quiet as possible as he relieved himself and washed his hands.

He found them both still asleep when he returned, and decided not to risk waking them by trying to insert himself back into bed. So he threw his shirt on and continued cleaning up. The pile of used tissues by the bedside was pretty impressive, having officially overflowed both trashcans.

After tidying up, Lucas did what he did every morning and started his workout routine.

First up were a few basic stretches, which his body seemed to appreciate greatly. He breathed in deep through his nose and out through his mouth. Next were thirty push-ups, and his body appreciated these far less. But he powered through them, keeping his grunting to a minimum, and moved on to sit-ups. 

Lucas didn’t notice when the sound of snoring ceased. He was too busy pulling himself up and counting them off in his head. But he did notice the sound of bedsheets rustling. He looked up just in time to see Troy propping himself up on one bent arm to peer over the edge of the bed.

Lucas paused mid-sit-up. He was glad to give himself a brief rest, in all honesty. “Sorry,” he apologized, resting his arms against his knees. “I was trying to be quiet. Did I wake you?”

Troy nodded. “But it’s okay. I like the view. A lot.”

That sounded like an invitation to keep going, so Lucas did, enjoying having an audience.

“Do you do this sabe routide every day?” Troy asked. He still sounded congested, but the stuffiness wasn’t quite as thick as before. And he was sniffling a little, but both the coughing and sneezing hadn’t yet made an appearance. That was a good sign the decongestant might actually be working. Thank goodness.

“Just about.” He nodded in the direction of the bed. “David won’t let me do it if I’m sick, though.”

Troy smiled and rubbed at his nose with the back of his hand, as if mere mention of being ill was enough to remind his nose to bother him. “I’b dot surprised. Eved I’b dot this active first thidg id the bordig.” He watched as Lucas moved from sit-ups to lunges, turning from one side to the other as he did them for an extra stretch. After a while, he asked, “Take your shirt off for be?”

Lucas glanced over, seeing a level of desire on Troy’s face that he had been unprepared for but certainly welcomed. During his next lunge forward, he tugged the ends of his shirt and pulled it over his head. Feeling dramatic, he twirled it above his head and then flung it across the room. Then he went into another lunge, not even letting it break his rhythm.

The next exercise was Russian twists, which he did by tilting back and lifting both his legs off the floor for the extra challenge. Lucas wished he could keep his expression neutral, as if this were a piece of cake for him. But cake had far too many carbs and doing the exercise like this hurt. Besides, he wasn’t going to pretend to be anything he wasn’t, and this morning he was someone who wanted to complete a challenging set of morning exercises.

“Dabb!” Troy looked impressed.

Lucas smiled, pausing for a second and catching his breath. “You know… that’s what I thought when I first saw your body. Your abs are to die for.”

Troy’s dimple-filled smile was such a delight to see first thing in the morning. “Cheers, yeah, I work hard to keeb ‘eb that way.”

Moving into plank position, he knew he was giving Troy an excellent view of his backside now, and that little exhale of breath Troy gave Lucas some satisfaction. On his elbows, he tightened his core and began by lifting his leg and holding it there, pulsing, letting his bodyweight keep his muscles toned. At home, he would have added weights, but despite packing multiple bags, he hadn’t been able to bring his favorite sets of weights with him when traveling. Damn those overweight baggage fees.

“You ever try bird doggig there?” Lucas looked over his shoulder at Troy. “How’s your baladce?”

Lucas evened things out, pulsing with his other leg for the same count. “Normally… pretty good.” He finished up and lowered his leg, holding the plank for a few more seconds, concentrating on distributing the weight properly, on tightening the areas that needed to be activated. Then he went up from his forearms to his hands in high plank. “On three hours of sleep… my balance is probably not so great.” But he tried anyway. Slowly, keeping control, he raised his left hand up, sticking it straight out in front of him, and his right leg up, sticking it straight out behind him. Balancing was indeed a challenge, and he could feel his core muscles working hard to keep him stabilized. Sweat trickled down his chest. “That feels great.”

“Looks great, too. David’s a lucky guy to get to wake ub to this every bordig.”

Lucas decided not to mention that half the time David complained that Lucas was grunting too loud or that he was left all alone in bed on a cold morning while Lucas worked out. And David couldn’t appreciate the subtleties of working various muscle groups routinely as a way to start the day and prepare his body for whatever was coming his way. Even when he felt like shit, his morning workout routine brought him joy. No matter how bad his day went, he could always remind himself that he’d had a good workout. Just knowing he was doing something for himself, something to help his body cope with whatever the day had in store was the best.

Which wasn’t to say he didn’t crawl back under the covers to David as soon as he was done with it, most mornings. Starting his day with his cock buried deep inside his man was the second best way to start his day.

Troy coughed a little, and it sounded significantly better than it had last night. Most of the rich wetness was gone, leaving just a dry, irritating cough behind. He stretched his arm out, resting his head on it. “I dod’t dow if I’b goig to get to ady the codferedce today either.”

Lucas felt bad for him. He’d traveled all the way from England to attend the conference, and now he was sick and stuck in a hotel room rather than getting to try out new techniques and equipment, resisting the urge to buy absolutely everything in sight, and socializing with fellow professionals in their field.

“What are your blads for the day? Blease let be live vicariously through you udtil I feel better?”

Lucas laughed, which made him lose his balance and fall to the side. Deciding that was all he had in him anyway, he crossed his legs and sat up, bending one arm behind his head and pulling the elbow to stretch. “There’s a class this morning on maximizing value for clients, and there’s one a little later about foam rollers I thought I’d check out. There are also a few exhibitors I need to visit for work. We’re looking at some new equipment purchases for the end of the fiscal year. I’m supposed to see the demos, ask my questions, and then write up my suggestions with a usage breakdown and cost analysis when I get back.”

His eyes closed, Troy gave a dramatic snore.

Laughing again, Lucas switched arms. “I know. Boring paperwork is definitely not my favorite.  But trying out some equipment and maybe building a relationship with the sellers will be good.”

“Just watch what kide of relatiodshib you’re buildig. I dod’t thidk you or David are ready for a foursobe just yet.”

“I’ll try to restrain myself,” Lucas sighed, as if he were frequently turning down requests from people who wanted to hop into bed with him.

“I’m also signed up for a bodyweight workout at 11 and a weight lifting class at 3 o’clock.”

Troy rubbed at his nose. “Oh yeah. I sigded up for that liftig class, too. Baybe I should drop it so they can fill by slot.”

That was probably the sensible, considerate thing to do. But Lucas had a sudden mental image of Troy on his back on that weight bench. Of how he’d found something in that moment he hadn’t been looking for. “Nah, you should come, if you feel up to it by then.” The suggestion was a casual one, but Lucas felt this strong surge of hope in his chest that Troy would take him up on it. Feeling a little nervous that Troy might not, though, he got up and stretched his quads.

Troy glanced over his shoulder at David, still sleeping. When he spoke, he did so at an even lower volume. “You thidk he’d let be?”

“Sure, if you’re feeling up to it. Honestly, we both want you too badly to get on your bad side,” Lucas grinned. “Even David in level ten care-giving mode wouldn’t dare stop you. Neither of us want to see you miserable, bitter, and disappointed. Besides, you don’t have to do any of the lifting. You can spot me this time, watch my form, and give me tips. Get some ideas and learn from the instructors without having to get in there and exhaust yourself physically.” For the first time since the topic of the conference came up, Troy looked genuinely hopeful. “Just think about it as an option, okay? I promise I’ll look after you—maybe not as good as David would, but I’ve learned a thing or two from him over the years.”  He winked.

Troy smiled again, and Lucas had the urge to walk over and kiss both those dimples. But Troy also rubbed the side of his hand at his nose again. It was bothering him, which meant he was probably going to sneeze eventually. Which meant he was probably going to wake David up. Which meant the morning was probably going to get a whole lot more interesting really quickly.

“hehh!” Troy rubbed faster and harder at his nose. “ehh!” He pinched his nose and squeezed his eyes shut tight. “hnnngg Nnnghhh… hngehh!” Then he pressed his nose into the crook of his elbow, sneezing into the thick, cotton sweatshirt. “hehhhEHSHhooo! Ehhh… hihhh… hihIHHttchhh!”

David came reluctantly awake after the first, giving a little moan into a pillow. By the time the second hit, he was awake enough to formulate words, even if he hadn’t evolved yet to being able to open his eyes. “God bless you, baby.”

“Sniff! Thadks.Sniff sniff SNIFF!”

David reached for the tissue box, eyes still closed, and found it using some sixth sense of his. He hauled himself up into a sitting position and lunged forward, offering the tissue in the direction he’d heard the sniffing coming from. He waved it until Troy took it and blew his nose. By then, David pulled a second tissue out to have at the ready and was scrubbing his other hand up and down his face to wake himself up. He blinked, eyes getting used to being open and staying that way. He didn’t seem surprised to see Lucas up already. Though he did give his watch an angry look when he checked it for the time. “You’re superhuman, Lucas. How are you even… functional?” He paused in the middle, giving into a body-shaking yawn.

“Not only that, I’m hungry. Anyone want to join me for breakfast?”

David groaned. “You’re not going anywhere without a kiss good morning. Get your ass over here.”

Lucas did as commanded, rounding the bed and crawling onto the other side. He shuffled close to David, pulled him into a hug, and then kissed him good morning properly as he always did, as if they were the only two in the room.

Halfway through the kiss, David flung his hand out toward Troy, who took the offered tissue immediately. “hah-IHPshhhphhhh! hahIHshmphhh!”

He might be grumpy dead tired, but when it came to care-giving, David sure could multitask like a beast. Lucas couldn’t imagine anything hotter.

When he was released, Lucas sat back so both men were within his sight. “How about I go raid the breakfast buffet and bring some food back? We could eat it here.”

“Or…” David was starting to switch on now. Lucas could see it in his eyes. “We could eat it over in our room.”

“Had edough of be already?” Troy wiped the tissue at his nose.

“Of course not.” David stopped to yawn again. “But your room could really benefit from a visit from housecleaning, and it would probably be better if we weren’t here when that happened. Our room has two beds, one of which wasn’t slept in last night. So we could all just move over there for the day.”

It seemed like the perfect arrangement.

“I’ll go grab as much food as I can carry. What do you both want?” Lucas scribbled their orders on a sheet of the hotel’s memo pad. From the doorway, he blew them a kiss to share. “See you in the other room.”