Naughty Neighbors

Author’s Note: Hey guys, I’m glad to see that a lot of people are enjoying this story. I added the Dark Tower parts mostly as filler and had intended them to become cool down points between steamy scenes. However, I get the sense that it’s not going over well, so from here on out, the Dark Tower will be mentioned (it’s Eric’s favorite book, after all) but there won’t be excerpts from it.

Diego

Diego sat on his couch, staring at the TV, his hand in a bag of chips. It had been four days since he’d walked in on Eric and Marshall in Eric’s living room. Three days ago, Diego had Cassidy over but ended things with her, sending her storming from his house crying. She hadn’t done anything wrong, exactly, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Eric.

Although some TV show with a woman yelling at someone in Spanish was playing, Diego wasn’t paying attention to it. His mind was wandering, replaying the days since he’d met Eric, wondering if he could have done anything to get Eric to be interested in him.

Diego stood, accidentally knocking the bag of chips to the floor, but he didn’t care. He’d fallen into rut of sadness over the last few days and his house showed—it was filthy. To add insult to injury, the weather decided to reflect his misery, dumping buckets of rain from the sky.

Standing at the window, Diego stared across to Eric’s house where Marshall’s Ford Escape sits, being pelted by rain. Eric’s living room window is closed, the curtains drawn closed.

Come to me, Diego thinks sadly. Come to me, Eric. I want you.

***

Eric

Eric was standing in the rain, his hair and shirt soaked through. He looked over to Diego’s house, where he could see the tall figure of Diego standing in his doorway.

“Eric!” he shouted over the tumult of the wind and rain. “What is it you are doing?”

“Diego!” Eric called back. “I love you! I want to be with you!”

With a smile on his face, Diego ran out into the street and pulled Eric into his arms. He cupped his face, bringing their lips an inch apart.

“Eric,” Diego said, “wake up.”

With a jolt, Eric opened his eyes to see Marshall leaning over him.

“You okay?” Marshall asked.

“O-of course,” Eric said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You were moaning in your sleep. But not a good moan, kind of…sad. What was your dream about?”

Instead of answering, Eric pulled Marshall down into a kiss which he deepened as Marshall’s hand ran down Eric’s stomach. Marshall stopped his hand at the base of Eric’s cock, then pulled away.

“If only we had time,” Marshall said, causing Eric to groan. “Get up, sleepy head.”

“It’s raining, Marsh. Let’s just stay in today.”

“I can’t, babe. I have work. I’m already going to be late.”

It was only then that Eric realized Marshall was completely dressed and his hair was wet from a shower, presumably. Marshall bent down and kissed Eric again before wishing him a great day and walking out the door.

Without any other option, Eric threw the blanket off of himself, freeing his cock. He grabbed his phone and opened Xvideos, then scanned the homepage. Two videos immediately caught his eye—one of two attractive white guys and the other of a Latino man and a white guy. Without hesitation, Eric tapped on the video with the Latino guy.

He reached into the bedside table and pulled out his bottle of lube. He gasped as the cold liquid coated his dick, but it warmed quickly enough when he started to work his shaft. In the video, the Latino man was holding the white twink down by the back of his neck and fucking his ass. The cameraman brought the camera in closer, filling the frame with the ass fucking.

Eric propped his phone against the wall and lubed up his fingers. He brought his knees up and, still working his cock with his lubed hand, he circled his hole with his now slick fingers for a moment before pushing two inside himself.

“Oh, fuck,” he groaned as he massaged his prostate. The gentle shlick-shlick-shlick of his hand running over the head of his cock fell into time of the man’s rhythm in the video. He pulled his fingers out, lined up three of them, and shoved them into his hole.

“Oh, yes, fuck me, Diego. Fuck my hole.”

He worked his cock and ass furiously, spreading his fingers apart to widen his hole. He groaned in pleasure, imagining his fingers were Diego’s cock as he moaned his name. With a surge of ecstasy, he felt his balls tighten. Just before he came, Eric pushed his fingers into his prostate, sending a spasm over his whole body and sending his load shooting farther and harder than it ever had in his life. Several ropes of cum splashed on his stomach, chest, and chin as he bucked his hips, sending his ass off the bed. With a final groan of pleasure, he relaxed, lying flat.

Then, a feeling of shame came upon him. What was he doing, imagining Diego fucking him when he was with Marshall? And he was perfectly happy with Marshall, wasn’t he? Was he?

Beside him, the video was still playing. Not wanting to smear his phone with lube, he tapped the video with his pinky, pausing it. The Latino man had pulled out and was about to bust on the white man’s face. He looked away in disgust, knowing he’d chosen this video because the Latino man reminded him of Diego.

Was this technically cheating on Eric? No, of course not, Eric tried to tell himself. It was just porn. Porn isn’t cheating. But it wasn’t just porn. Eric had jerked off to Diego, not the video. He hadn’t jerked off to some random dude on the internet, but someone he and Marshall had both known.

Wanting to wash himself clean of his guilt, Eric stepped into the shower and turned it on much hotter than he normally would have. But try as he might, he couldn’t get Diego off his mind.

Diego and Eric had both agreed that nothing would change in their relationship. True, Eric wanted them to change, and they had. But not in a good way. He and Diego had barely spoken since Diego had walked in on Eric and Marshall. Eric knew Diego had broken up with Cassidy. If you can even call it that since they weren’t really dating. Not like he and Marshall were.

And Eric wasn’t sure if it was only his imagination, but Diego seemed to be dismissive of Marshall. The few times Eric and Diego had talked over the last couple of days, Diego changed the subject anytime Marshall was brought up. Stepping out of the shower, Eric decided to call Diego and meet up with him. They were friends, damn it, and Eric didn’t have a lot of friends.

He didn’t want to lose Diego.

***

Diego

Still standing at his window, watching the rain as it drenched the Earth, Diego saw Marshall step out of Eric’s house and open an umbrella before walking briskly to his car. Marshall was wearing the outfit he knew he worked in, although he had no idea what it was.

Out of spite, Diego cursed him in Spanish, wishing he could trade places with Marshall. He imagined waking up next to Eric, cuddled in his embrace.

“Pull yourself together,” Diego said aloud to himself. “You are better than this.”

It was time Diego moved past Eric, and the only way to do that was to get out there. He grabbed his phone, which only had 20% charge and plugged it in before stepping into the shower—his first in three days. When he stepped out, he found a missed call from Eric.

No, he thought. I will not call him back.

Diego pulled up the Lyft app and ordered himself a ride to a gay bar downtown. Twenty minutes later, they were pulling up to Jocks & Straps, the highest rated gay bar in the area. He walked leisurely through the rain—he’d heard somewhere that running in the rain makes you wetter—and entered the bar.

Although it was only 11 AM, there was a decent crowd. Most of them were drag queens, apparently celebrating some award they’d won. A couple of them eyed Diego as he made his way up to the bar where a shirtless bartender was rearranging some of the bottles, his back to Diego, who sat himself at the bar and looked around, hoping to catch someone’s eye.

There was an extremely attractive man sitting at the end of the bar, looking at Diego with seductive eyes, but Diego turned his attention away from him. He had red hair, like Eric. He didn’t want anything that reminded him of Eric.

“Diego?”

Hearing his own name made him turn toward the bartender, who’d said it. It was all Diego could do to stop his jaw from hitting the floor.

It was Marshall.

Marshall was shirtless, wearing nothing more than a sparkly silver thong. His body was covered in glitter, each spot reflecting the lights above, making him look like a vampire from Twilight. Diego hated that movie, but the look suited Marshall.

“Oh, hello, Marshall,” Diego said, managing to keep venom out of his voice. “You are working here?”

“Yep,” Marshall said. “I usually manage, but one of my boys called out and Fridays are our busiest.”

“That is what I am thinking,” Diego said. “It is packed in here, yes?”

“Not really,” Marshall said, the end of his sentence ending in a higher pitch, like a question.

“I just mean for the time of day it is.”

Marshall nodded. “So, what’ll you have?”

What Diego wanted to do was tell Marshall to go fuck himself and leave the bar, but insulting Eric’s boyfriend would probably not be in the best interest of their relationship. Diego may want to be with Eric, but he’d rather be friends than nothing at all.

“Surprise me,” Diego said.

Marshall gave Diego a wink and a smile, then turned to start mixing a drink. While Marshall made his drink, Diego decided to scan the crowd again. When he turned, however, he found himself face-to-face with the red-haired guy. He was wearing leather pants and a leather vest with nothing under it. It was unbuttoned, showing off his hairless, thin torso.

“Hey there, handsome,” the red-haired twink said. “I’m David and you’re delicious.”

“Thank you very much,” Diego said, “but I am not—”

David put his finger up to Diego’s lips, stopping him. David bit his bottom lip as his eyes rolled over Diego.

“Shush now,” he said. “I’m not looking for anything serious. I just want a little fun.” David brought his lips to Diego’s ear and whispered, “I’ll let you do anything you want to me.”

“David,” Marshall snapped and David took a step back from Diego. “Leave him alone.”

David stuck his tongue out at Marshall in a juvenile display of annoyance and stalked away.

“Thank you,” Diego said begrudgingly. On a different day, he might’ve taken David’s offer up and fucked him silly, but today he didn’t want anything that reminded him of Eric.

“Don’t mention it. Besides, David’s kind of a slut. He’s had a different guy take him home this week. I don’t slut shame, but I’d be surprised if David didn’t pick something…” Marshall paused, looking for the word, “…infectious, if you catch my drift.”

“Ah, I see. Then, thank you again,” Diego said, this time more sincere.

“Again, don’t mention it,” Marshall replied, sliding a tall glass over to Diego. “And this,” he indicated the drink with a flourish of his hands, “is our Tropical Long Island Iced Tea. I hope you don’t mind, but I made it a bit stronger than normal.”

“No, no that is good,” Diego said, then took a sip. It was fruity and, as Marshall said, stiff. “That is good, gracias.”

“De nada,” Marshall replied before another customer caught his eye and he slid down to him.

“Well, aren’t you just a tall drink of water?” a voice to Diego’s left said. He turned to see a tall Black man with long black dreadlocks, rippling muscles, and perfect white teeth.

“This is not water,” Diego said, confused, taking a sip from his drink.

“That’s not what I—never mind,” the man said with a smile. “I’m Col. And you are?”

“I am Diego.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Diego. May I sit?”

“Please, do. May I buy you a drink?”

“I’d like that, Diego,” he said. “I really would.” Diego turned to see Marshall smiling at him as he returned to take his order again.

***

Eric

Marshall: Diego is here at my bar, and he just met Col

Eric looked at Marshall’s message, his stomach turning. He’d met Col before and knew he couldn’t compete with him. What was he thinking? He was with Marshall. He had to stop thinking about Diego. He couldn’t do that until he came clean to Marshall, and told him about this morning when he’d masturbated to Diego.

Eric: cool. Hey, let’s go out tonight

Marshall: where were you thinking?

Eric: how about that new Italian place?

Marshall: It’s a date. I’ll swing by your place and pick you up at 8

That night, Eric stood outside his house, waiting for Marshall to pull up. A car pulled up, not Marshall, and Diego stepped out of it. He didn’t seem to notice Eric as he made his way into his house. Deciding to confront him in person, Eric jogged over to Diego’s house and knocked mere moments after the door had shut. When it opened, Diego was standing there, smiling.

“Hello, Eric. How are you?” Diego stepped forward and threw his arms around Eric, who could smell the alcohol on him.

“I’m good. Not as good as you appear to be, though.”

“I am good. I met a guy today named Col. He is so funny and handsome and I like him a lot.”

That felt like a punch in the gut to Eric.

“That’s awesome,” Eric lied. He had come over to Diego’s, planning on telling him he was sorry for how things were between them and that he wanted to get their friendship back on track, but he couldn’t. Diego was so obviously wasted; he might not remember things the next day. Diego, however, took matters into his own hands.

“Eric, I am so sorry for how things have been lately. I have been distant for a while, but I will do better. Tomorrow, you and I are going to do something fun. I do not know what it will be yet, but it will be super fun and amazing and you will have—hic—a good time.”

“Good to hear. Maybe you should go inside and get some sleep.”

Diego only nodded as he shut his door. Eric heard the lock click.

It was only a few minutes more until Marshall pulled up and Eric climbed into his car.

On the way to the restaurant, Eric and Marshall chatted about inconsequential stuff like, “How was your day?” and “What happened in The Dark Tower?” and “Diego and Col looked so cute together.” That last one, said by Marshall, brought their conversation to a shuddering halt, although Marshall didn’t seem to notice.

When they pulled up to the restaurant, Marshall held the door open for Eric and they sat at a booth in the corner, set apart from everyone else. Their waiter took their orders and left them sitting there, quiet.

Eric didn’t think Marshall knew what the issue was, but it was obvious that Marshall knew something was up.

“What’s—”

“I cheated on you!” Eric blurted out, cutting Marshall off.

To Eric’s confusion, Marshall looked perplexed.

“What do you mean, you ‘cheated’ on me?”

“After you left this morning, I was horny, so I jerked off to porn.” Marshall’s expression didn’t change, still looking politely puzzled. “To a video with a Latino man.” Still no change. “And I fingered myself while moaning Diego’s name.” Finally, Marshall’s expression changed, but not to what Eric was expecting. Instead of anger, sadness, or hurt, his eyebrows just went up.

They sat like that, silent for several moments.

“Say something,” Eric said.

“Well,” Marshall said slowly, then took a sip of his water. “Thank you for telling me, I suppose.”

“You’re—you’re not angry?”

“Nope,” Marshall said, shaking his head. “I am a bit confused. But first off, we never said we were in an exclusive relationship. Are you sleeping with Diego?”

“No,” Eric said quickly. “We’re just friends.”

“Well, as I said, we aren’t in an exclusive relationship and believe me, I understand finding Diego attractive. Are you unhappy being with me?”

“Of course not!” Eric said emphatically. He reached across the table and took Marshall’s hand. “You’re amazing.”

“I think you’re amazing, too,” Eric said, smiling. “But do you want to be with Diego?”

“Yes, and thank you so much for understanding. I think we should just be friends and I’m going to go to Diego now and confess my attraction to him.” That’s what Eric wanted to say, but didn’t.

The fact of the matter was that he did want Diego, but Diego didn’t want him. He’d made that perfectly clear by saying their relationship wouldn’t change and now he’s talking to Col. Breaking up with Marshall and chasing pointlessly after Diego wouldn’t be fair to Marshall, or Diego, or Col for that matter. Hell, it wouldn’t be fair to Eric himself.

“No,” he said instead, looking into Marshall’s eyes. “I really like you and I think I’d like us to be exclusive.” Then something clicked in his mind. “Wait…have you slept with other people?”

“Nope. Nor have I masturbated to anyone else,” Marshall said with a wink and a smile. “By the way, I don’t consider porn or masturbation cheating. You can jerk off as much as you’d like.”

“Same to you,” Eric said.

“So, here’s to us, I suppose,” Marshall said, lifting his glass of wine.

Eric lifted his and tapped it to Marshall’s.

“To us.”