Up a Notch and Looking for Relief
The restaurant was busy the week after Ilya and I drank Russian vodka and had one of the most awesome conversations ever. And I was glad it was busy because it kept my mind occupied. I was in love. Fuck was I in love. And more importantly, with a guy who said he felt the same way. There's nothing better. I hadn't felt this way since Susan told me she loved me.
But I managed to still be a good waiter: joking with customers, even being all coy and sexy with two women who were there to celebrate a birthday. It was fun and if it had been some other time, I would have totally asked one of them out. But that's not the world I was in at that moment. I had just told this lovely man how I felt about him and he kissed me and told me he felt the same. How could I want anything else?
But at the same time, during my break, sitting behind the restaurant with a beer, I realized I was uneasy. This whole ex-boyfriend problem and him stalking Ilya? That made me feel a little sick. I realized I wanted to do something. I wanted to help. I know, I know, it wasn't my job to solve this problem, but I wanted to do something. I couldn't just sit back and not worry about it. Even though Ilya and I weren't in anything like a relationship – it was just an aspiration at that point – I still felt like it was something I needed to do.
I finished my beer and as I walked back into the kitchen, joking with the chef, flirting with Mathilde, and got back to it, I kept thinking about the situation. I was scheming. I guess that's the best word. And when my shift ended and I cleaned up and the chef made me some nice pasta and I had a glass of wine with Mathilde and the two other waiters, I realized who I needed to talk to. I was standing on the street outside the restaurant when I called Sanjay.
“Steve! How are you?” He sounded happy. He was totally crushing on Josh, who was the nicest guy, so why wouldn't he be happy?
“Hey, Sanjay. I'm good. But I wanted to talk to you about something. Professional stuff, I mean. I know it's late, but can I come over?”
“Sure. Come on by. Josh is coming later, so...”
“No problem, I'll clear out when he gets there.”
I looked at my phone. It was after midnight. Those two had a nocturnal life together, I realized. Tech guys seem to have a different clock than the rest of us.
When I got up to his condo, he gave me a big hug and a kiss. We sat on his balcony in the cool evening with some scotch. I took a big gulp and said, “So what I wanted to ask you is, if someone is being like...I don't know what the word is...stalked on social media and stuff, what can you do?”
He looked surprised and said, “Stalked? How?”
I shrugged. “I'm not sure. It's Ilya. Or Ilya's ex-boyfriend. I guess he's sending Ilya creepy messages from anonymous accounts or something. But Ilya can tell it's him.”
Sanjay took a sip of his scotch and nodded. “I get it. So how can I help?'
I felt stupid. “I don't know. Can someone be stopped?”
Sanjay immediately said, “No. Not really. If he's not saying anything threatening or abusive, it's hard to stop someone.”
Feeling more useless, I said, “Right. That's what I was afraid of.”
But I could see that Sanjay was thinking, which is exactly what I was hoping for. He put his glass down and went and got his laptop. He sat down again and said, “So first you need to get his real email address.”
Surprised, I said, “How would that help.”
He grinned at me and said, “Oh, it's just a point of entry. Maybe you can find out some stuff about him that would give us a clue as to where to go with this. Do you think Ilya would give it to you?”
I thought a moment. “I don't know, but I'll try.”
Sanjay keyed some things into the laptop then said, “And his last name. Any other information that Ilya has might be useful.”
I realized that Sanjay was scheming and I liked it. He was so cute when he was thinking. I finally said, “That's great, Sanjay, thanks.”
He smiled, then said, “Oh and get the names he used for the anonymous messages as well. He probably only used them once, but you never know. And there are ways of tracing back to him...”
“How?”
He shook his head. “The less you know, the better. About all of this. And Steve, you should be careful. If you two become an item, you may find yourself in the middle of it.”
I hadn't thought of that. Sergei, from what I gathered, was definitely the jealous type and probably still was, even after two years and a divorce. It left me feeling a little shaky, like this was more serious than I really was willing to think about. I finally said, “I'll talk to Ilya and see what he thinks.”
Just then we heard a door close from inside the condo. “Hey, Sanjay...I'm here...” It was Josh and then he was standing there at the door smiling at us. “Nice to see you, Steve. It's kind of late for you to be out, isn't it?”
I laughed and then told him why I was there. Josh sat down in a chair next to Sanjay. They had a little kiss which was sweet to see. I got Josh up to speed on everything and he had some interesting things to say. I had almost forgotten that Josh worked in a similar industry as Sanjay. They both had so much to say that I pulled out my phone and started taking notes.
But after a while, we were just chilling. I looked at my phone and realized it was after one in the morning, so I got up and said, “Hey guys...I've got to go and I'm sure you two have other things you'd rather be doing than listen to my stories.”
They both got up and followed me into the living room, but I caught a look between them that made me wonder. It was late, and I was yearning for Ilya and even though we hadn't had sex, in some ways it was all I could think about. I stood in the living room and Josh was giving me a little smile which I recognized and Sanjay was right there beside him. Sanjay leaned forward and took my hand and put it right on his crotch. He said, “We do have something we might like to do...how about you?”
They were both wearing shorts and I liked the look of their tight shorts and hairy thighs. I got on my knees in front of them and smiled, saying, “Yeah, I would totally like to do that.”
Josh wasted no time and pulled off his shorts really fast. He was wearing no underwear so he had clearly come prepared, and his cock flopped out, all meaty and half-hard. Sanjay more carefully pulled his shorts down his strong legs with all that dark hair on them. His cock was hard. He stepped closer to me and rubbed the head all over my face, then both of them were. I licked Sanjay's cock from base to tip a few times, then pulled Josh's big hot pole into my mouth, giving it a few deep slurps. I could smell cock and sweat and guy musk which started to do it's work on my head because I inwardly said, 'fuck it' and got up. I grinned at them and started to walk to Sanjay's bedroom. “So one of you better be prepared to be fucked, that's all I can say.”
I didn't wait to see how they reacted and got myself out of my clothes and onto the bed. I lay on my back and started to stroke my swelling cock, feeling increasingly randy. Maybe it was the late night, the weird anxiety about Ilya's situation, the fact that these two beautiful dudes were offering themselves to me, but I was into it. When Josh – now naked – got on the bed, I got up and grabbed him and started to tongue my way into his ass, pulling his cheeks apart so my lips could get in there. He seemed surprised, but started to make some noise. I stopped for a second and said to Sanjay, “Get me some lube. I want to fuck him.”
Sanjay looked just as surprised but tossed me the little bottle. He laughed and said, “Someone's all dominant tonight. I like it.”
I smirked at him. “Yeah, it happens sometimes.”
After I had explored Josh's ass, digging my fingers and tongue in and enjoying all that softness and heat, I got my cock slicked up and pushed it in slowly, savouring the feel of his body caressing my aching dick. He was on his hands and knees and Sanjay took the opportunity to feed me his big brown cock by standing up overtop of Josh. Josh was moaning as my dick snaked its way into him. Once I was there, and could feel his ass connect to my groin, I started to use my anxiety and frustration and I fucked hard and pivoted my mouth on Sanjay's prick. My body was smacking into him, pushing him as Sanjay went deep into my throat. I sort of growling with that mouthful of flesh, slurping and groaning all at the same time. I looked up at him and his brown hair was all messy and hanging in his face. I ran my hand up his strong back, feeling his taut muscles, his slightly sweaty skin.
I was a little surprised at myself, not used to feeling all this dominant energy, but I liked it. Sometimes with Susan I had been like that, but since I started having sex with guys, it didn't happen very often, but at that particular moment, it was exactly what I needed. And I could tell Josh was down with it, so I fucked him more deeply, pulling myself almost all the way out, before jamming my cock back in. I wanted release, I wanted to blow some of my frustration out of my body and for a second I tried to imagine fucking Ilya – or him fucking me – and that seemed to do it, because a flood of intense pleasure washed over me all of a sudden and I could feel my cock spurting into Josh's ass as I continued to plough him. I spat Sanjay's cock out and threw my head back, gasping. With one last big lurch forward, I stopped, barely able to breathe.
Josh turned to me with a smile. He was all sweaty. “Fuck, Steve! You're demon tonight.”
I shrugged and said, “I'm kind of freaked out about Ilya...”
Sanjay moved down and kissed Josh for a second then said, “And you two haven't had sex yet, right?
“It's true. He's way too busy. But I guess once he's done we will.” I began to think of it like it would be a consummation or something. Like it would make things real. Or more real.
Josh got on his back and said to to Sanjay, “Well since I'm all lubed up with Steve's cum...” I looked down at Josh's hole which he was presenting and I could see my cum drooling out.
With a laugh, Sanjay pulled Josh's legs apart and pushed his very hard dick in where I just had been. He said, “Steve...it feels like there's a litre of cum in there.”
I leaned down a kissed Josh and said, “I hope so. Listen guys, don't stop, but I'm going to head home. You two have some work to do and I don't just mean the stuff with Ilya's ex.”
I didn't wait for an answer, but when I left the bedroom, Sanjay was kissing Josh really deeply and fucking him nice and slow. Those two. They were clearly in love and that made me happy. But I felt stressed and a little sad. I knew that at some point Ilya and I would be able to be that way together, but not yet.
When I got home it was close to three, so I went right to bed. I knew Ilya was home because his bedroom door was closed. I almost went in and crawled into his bed, but I knew he wasn't ready for that. He was too distracted and tired and pre-occupied to deal with my yearning, so I would just have to wait. I had a shift the next evening, so I knew I would be able to sleep in and when my head hit the pillow, I was gone.
When I woke up, bright sunlight was coming in my window and the room was warm. I had tossed the sheet off the bed in the night and I was lying there naked. It wasn't that I was all turned on, but I felt kind of sensual, or something. My dick was sort of hard, but sort of soft, but I didn't feel like I needed to jerk off, but I certainly enjoyed the air on my body.
But I also had to pee and since I couldn't hear anything from the rest of the apartment, and I couldn't smell coffee or breakfast, I assumed that Ilya was still asleep so I got up and opened my door and headed for the bathroom, really enjoying the feel of being naked in my own place and not having to care. I did my business and just as I stepped out of the bathroom, his door opened and before I saw him, he said, “Hey, Stephen. We both slept in...”
I stopped just as he came out. He was wearing nothing but these briefs, these fucking boxer briefs that were pale blue and fitted him as if they had been sprayed on him. But I was the one who was naked. He had seen me before when I was naked and hard on the sofa with Troy but this felt completely different. Because this time, Ilya and I were contemplating being together but the whole sex thing had seemed impossible. And suddenly it was there between us.
I couldn't figure out what to say so I just smiled and said, “Fancy meeting you here.”
He laughed a little nervously and said, “Fancy that,” and he took a step closer to me, then another. He was close enough that I could feel his breath, and the heat of his body. My cock, still only half hard, just barely touched the fabric of his underwear and that touch was more intense than anything else. Just a soft touch on me of his fabric-enclosed cock and it was electric.
I decided to let him do whatever he felt like he could do. He put his hand on my shoulder and leaned close to me, pulling my body toward him so we were touching from our dicks to our faces. His hands slid down my back and over my ass, gently squeezing and pulling me closer so our cocks were pressed together. I could hardly breathe and I mirrored him by sliding my hands in his briefs and cupping those beautiful ass cheeks and pulling, our cocks pressing into each other more firmly. He said in a low voice in my ear, “Stephen...do you realize how much I've wanted this?” and he ran his hands down my ass, then back up, then said, “And maybe it's time we did something about it...”
By the time he said this, my cock was as hard as rock. He shifted his head and we kissed. Not like we had done before. We really kissed. His mouth opened, and mine followed and our lips pressed, then ground together. I felt his tongue slide into my mouth as if it was his cock sliding into me and the thought of his tongue being his cock made me respond, my hips doing a slow circle so my cock rubbed against his. I reached down and pulled his briefs over his cock and I suddenly felt all that warm flesh, the hardness of our cocks rubbing together. He moaned into my mouth and thrust his tongue even deeper, and I responded with equal force.
We were both flexing our hips so the heads of our cocks were pressing together, then, as we thrust forward, the head of mine ran up the shaft of his, pressing even harder. I could hardly believe it, I could hardly think that I was in this moment with Ilya at last. I turned my head and our lips changed angles and our mouths pressed more intensely into each other.
I reached down and took our cocks in my fist, stroking them both together. My mouth moved to his neck and I kissed and licked my way around to the other side of his face, still massaging our cocks. I sucked on his jaw, enjoying his scruff on my tongue, then our mouths met and our lips mashed together even more eagerly.
I leaned back and looked into his eyes and his face looked hungry. He gave me a little smile, his lips wet and delicious. I kissed his chin, then crouched a little and softly licked one of his nipples, then sucked on it, running my tongue over the head, then gradually bit it gently. He gasped and pushed my mouth more deeply onto it. Then I licked my way over to the other one and did the same, biting it more firmly. I was still stroking our cocks and I could feel them getting slippery and I massaged the heads with my thumb, spreading the pre-cum around.
I let go of our cocks, and I bent lower, kissing his belly. I could smell our cocks, smell the sex smell of guys who want to fuck. His dick was close to my face. I knelt and leaned in and put my nose on the shaft, inhaling his hot Ilya smell and stuck out my tongue and ran it from the base all the way to the top and opened my mouth...
From the bedroom, I heard an alarm go off. My lips were about to wrap around the head of his cock and I froze and then he stepped back. I looked up at him, his throbbing dick a little farther away from me. I knew in that moment what I had to do.
I stood up, pushing all the lust away from me into some little room in myself and said, “Now is not the time for this, right?”
He looked pained. He was trying to smile, but it wasn't very convincing. He said, “No. It's not. I'm so sorry, Stephen. I wouldn't blame you if...”
“Stop. Ilya, it's fine. I mean sure, I'm a little crazy for you, but I can wait.”
But he went on and he put his hand on my face really softly and said, “We're not in a relationship is all I'm saying. Not yet. We will be, I know we will, but in the meantime...you know what I mean.”
I laughed. He seemed so sweet and earnest. I kissed him and took hold of his cock one last time. I said, “Yeah. It's cool. I can take care of myself.”
And it was true. I could. And I could wait for whatever we would do when we had time to do it.
He smiled and said, “I feel guilty, and I can't wait until we do find the time. But now I have to get ready to go. I have an hour to get to the hospital.” He kissed me and pulled away, letting his cock slide out of my hand. He turned and went into the bathroom. I stood there for a while, listening to the water run, imagining it flowing over his body. I hoped he was jerking off. I shook my head, realizing I was going to drive myself crazy.
I got my bathrobe from the bedroom, and went into the kitchen and made coffee and put some bread in the toaster. I heard the shower stop and him walk into his bedroom. The toast was done and I buttered it up and put some jam on it. I poured us mugs of coffee and put milk in and a bunch of sugar, just as he liked it.
He came into the kitchen looking scrubbed and clean, his gorgeous wavy hair all slicked back, his eyes sparkling. He took the mug I handed him and had a big sip, looking at me over the rim. He said, “Thanks, Stephen. That was unexpected....but really nice.”
I grinned and said, “It was and yes, it was really nice. I look forward to the next part, whenever that is.”
He put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Soon. I can't wait either.” He reached for the toast and took a bite, then said, “Well, I have to take this to go...”
I dug in a cupboard for a travelling container and filled it from his mug. I wrapped his toast in a paper towel and kissed him very intently for a moment, and he responded and wrapped his arms around me, and we almost fell into that moment again, but then he pulled back with a shake of his head and said, “Later. Have a good day, Stephen.”
Then I remembered something. I said, “My friend Sanjay is going to be looking in to the stuff Sergei is sending you...”
“What? Really?” He looked both excited and scared.
“Yeah. So, he wants to know more about him. I don't even know his last name.”
Ilya said, “Platov. He's from Perm....”
I said, “Wait!” I ran out of the kitchen and got my phone then came back. He gave me some facts about him which I put in an email to Sanjay. He was about to leave, when I saw in his face that he thought of something. He walked quickly into his room then came back and handed me a photograph. It was of a really attractive guy with dark curly hair and big blue eyes. I assumed this was Sergei. Ilya took my hand and said, “I want you to know what he looks like. Just in case...”
“In case what?”
He was silent for a moment, then said, “In case he follows you...or something like that. He used to follow me when things were bad.”
That gave me pause and I found myself getting anxious again. I gripped Ilya's hand tighter. “I guess that makes sense.”
He leaned close to me and kissed my cheek, then our lips met and it was like every fucking time I kissed him, it was different. It was as if we had never kissed before. I looked into his eyes and said, “Ilya...I...”
He put his hand on my back really lightly and said into my ear, “I know. Me too.” He pulled away and gave me another look and turned and left the apartment.
I sat in the living room for a while feeling dazed by all the feelings I was having. Love, lust, fear, concern and a bunch of other things. I tried to picture our future but I simply couldn't. I knew we had one, but I had no idea what it might look like.
After a while, I wondered how Troy was doing. I hoped he and his ex were figuring things out. Mostly because it would make me feel less guilty. I had decided to give him some space regardless, but at the same time, I missed talking with him. I would love to talk about all this with him, but he was the person who would least want to hear about it.
I ate breakfast – that was really lunch – and then, feeling restless, I went for a walk. Vancouver can be so beautiful – when you're not downtown, that is – and I enjoyed the ocean air and the rare blue sky. I walked to Waterfront Park and stared at the seagulls. I sat on a bench, feeling really happy. How could I not be happy?
A woman sat beside me with her little dog running around her. She looked at me for a second in a way I recognized. Assessing, considering. In other circumstances I might have played along, I might have let something happen and we might have ended up at her place or mine. She was beautiful and sexy and I could see it happening. But I didn't want to. It was that simple. I decided to get up. I gave her a little smile, but left pretty quickly, not wanting to encourage her.
Besides, I had to go to the restaurant, so I got there early and helped set up for dinner. It was good to be busy, to take my mind off this glow of love and lust I was feeling. But it made me a good waiter that night, since the customers seemed to sense it somehow without really knowing it. I got into several flirtatious conversations with customers and it was fun. And there was this one dude who was there with two friends and I think all three of them were interested. The first guy – he told me his name was Tyler – seemed to be the instigator, but I think his friends were into it. By the end of their meal, they had told me a some important pieces of information. They were staying at a nearby hotel and that they would be in all evening if I wanted to come and hang out.
What else could I do? That moment with Ilya had left my body buzzing with sex. I felt like it could be seen from space. So at the end of my shift, I cleaned myself up in the washroom at the restaurant and headed over.
When Tyler opened the door, he gave me a huge smile. He was a redhead and face was all freckled and adorable, and seemed to be about ten years older than I was. And he was wearing a bathrobe. Very convenient. I sauntered into his room. I sat on the bed, wondering how this would go and watched Tyler obviously texting his friends. And sure enough, in a few minutes the other two came in who were clearly a couple: Matthew and Shawn. Matthew was had a kind of pan-Asian look, with dark hair and deep brown eyes. Shawn was all pale and blonde with light hair. The contrast between them was kind of sexy. Oh, and did I mention they were also in bathrobes?
I decided to play it the way I wanted it. I got on my knees in front of Tyler and opened his robe to find a really long, really hard cock. It reminded me of Trevor it was so big. Matthew and Shawn moved closer and I noticed they had gotten rid of their robes. They were both slim and toned and their dicks weren't much smaller than Tyler's.
I took Tyler's cock in my hand and stroked it a few times, just to get a feel for it. It was thick and smooth and when I licked the head it was sweet and salty at the same time. His pubic hair was untrimmed and bushy and I really liked it, his balls all forested with it. I wanted his cum suddenly really badly, so I took as much of his cock in as I could, feeling my lips stretching. He put his hand on the back of my head and gave me a little push so his cock started to dig into my throat. I managed to take it, but it was intense. I was aware the other two had moved closer and I felt the heat of their bodies and I pulled off Tyler's meat and turned to Matthew's prick and took Shawn's in my other hand. I sucked them both one after the other and felt Tyler's cock rubbing my cheek. There was a lot of man-flesh in my face and I loved it.
I went back to Tyler's cock which was the biggest and, frankly, the one I really wanted, enjoying the stretch and girth of it pushing into my throat. The other two moved away and I felt one of them undo my pants and slide them off. I had worn black boxers and they were quickly removed as well. They left my shirt on, so I undid the buttons as Tyler started to very slowly fuck my mouth, holding my head with both hands. I took hold of his balls, enjoying their hairiness. Tyler groaned and said, “Fuck, dude! You have an awesome mouth.”
I like compliments. Who doesn't? I managed to get my shirt off and as always, loved the feel of being nude, and having all that guy flesh around me. I felt one of them start to root around in my ass with with his mouth and tongue. I pushed my hips back so he could go deeper.
Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mathew get behind Tyler and he was clearly using his cock to massage Tyler's ass. Tyler moaned a little more loudly and I assumed Matthew had just pushed his cock into him, rotating his hips so his cock went deep. So deep Tyler's cock went further into my throat. I gagged, but managed to hold on. Then it was my turn to groan – with a mouthful of dick – as Shawn slowly swivelled his cock into me, pushing with little thrusts, stretching and grinding. His cock was big and I had to concentrate so I was just riding the edge of pain.
Matthew had started to fuck hard because I could feel Tyler's body shoved forward each time, and soon that was matched by Shawn doing the same to me. It was all really intense and that's what I wanted, but at the same time, it somehow wasn't as intense as Ilya kissing me. Or the look he gave me when we were standing in that hallway, our bodies close, our cocks pressed into each other. That was a whole other level of intensity. This, as fun as it was, seemed to be a good, but not great substitute. Maybe there was no substitute for the way I felt with Ilya.
After a few minutes of being fucked – front and back – I decided I was almost uncomfortable. I pulled off Tyler's cock and said, “Let's get on the bed.”
I didn't wait for an answer. I pulled away from Shawn and crawled on the bed so I was on my knees. Tyler laughed and came over and stood on the bed in front of me, sliding his big cock in my mouth again. Shawn came and knelt beside me and Matthew stood beside Tyler so Shawn and I each had a cock in our mouths.
This felt easier and I could concentrate on how Tyler's prick stretched me, and on his crazy pale skin. He smelled a little sweaty in that guy fucking kind of way and I suddenly changed my mind. I pushed him out of me and got on my back with my legs spread. I said, “There's only one thing to do with a cock like that...”
With a grin, he got down and went to work. He seemed as nuts as I felt and he quickly pushed that thing into me. I had been stretched by Shawn so it wasn't bad, but it was a lot. When I felt his balls hit my ass, he leaned down and kissed me a few times, taking some thrusts and rotating his hips to get even deeper.
I glanced over and saw Matthew on his hands and knees beside me with Shawn already fucking him fast. Those two were a little crazy themselves. But Tyler pulled my face back and fed me his tongue and his cock moved faster in me, finding depths I didn't know I had. I slapped his ass a few times to encourage him and he growled into my mouth. I stuck some fingers in his hole and he growled even more, fucking even faster. We were both really into it and I liked the instant chemistry we had.
As he got faster he sat up and used my legs for stability. I looked up at him and he grinned at me. I finally gasped, “I want your cum in my mouth...”
He nodded and kept going, closing his eyes as if trying to work out a really hard problem. But soon his breathing got all desperate and he pulled out, jacking really fast and pulled himself up and I opened my mouth just as he blew, two or three long jets of cum going right into my mouth, almost choking me and then he pushed his whole dick in, still jacking the base and the cum just kept pouring. I swallowed and swallowed again, the taste kind of mild and slightly sweet. I could eat cum like that for days.
When he was done, he pulled his big, pale cock out of my mouth and rubbed the head on my lips. He surprised me by turning and leaning over and swallowed my cock, holding onto the end. He used a lot of suction and massaged the base in this amazing way that sent me up a notch and my body kind of took over and I felt this blast of pleasure and relief wash over me, as if all the intensity of being with Ilya for that short time finally resolved itself and I flooded Tyler's mouth with cum, feeling it rocket out of me. He gulped and held on and I watched it ooze out under his lips, and flow down my cock until I finally calmed down. He pulled off my cock and went over to Matthew who was still being fucked by Shawn, and forced his mouth open and let my cum pour from his mouth into Matthew's who moaned and swallowed, closing his eyes, his body still being pummelled by Shawn's cock.
Then Tyler moved back to me and leaned down and kissed me very sweetly, all tender and gentle. Nice dude. If I had been single, I might have considered seeing more of him.
When I looked over at the other two, I saw that they had reached their conclusion, Shawn collapsed on Matthew's back, his dick still deep in him. Matthew got up on his knees and we watched him pump a huge load onto the bed with a low groan. He turned around and Shawn licked the head of his dick, collecting the last little stream.
I felt sated and all I wanted to do was go home to bed, so I got up and said, “Well guys. Thanks, but I've got to go.”
Tyler kissed me really deeply and I could tell he was into me. He said, “I come into Vancouver regularly so if you ever want to get dinner or something...”
I slapped his ass and kissed him and said, “Well, you never know.” But I knew it wasn't likely, but I took the card he gave me anyway.
When I got home, Ilya wasn't around, so I had a bath and texted him while I was surrounded by bubbles, telling him I missed him and that I hoped he had a good night. I knew he was busy so I didn't expect to hear from him, but my phone rang a minute later.
His voice was bright and I was really happy and excited to hear it. “Stephen! I miss you, too! It's crazy here and I have an exam tomorrow so I doubt I'll see you until the weekend.”
I could hear all kinds of hospital sound in the background. I said, “You probably need to get back to it, but I'm so glad to hear your voice. I can't wait until we have more time together.”
“Me too. But you're right, I've got to go. Sleep well.”
I put the phone down and sunk into the hot water feeling both really happy and really eager to get to know Ilya better. To really know him, not just pine after him. But there was a little while to go before that happened. But I slept well that night content in the knowledge that something was finally happening between us.
