Body Conscious (Body Heat Book 1) Page 2

  He cut up some bites of chicken and turned on the TV for some background noise to keep himself occupied. Sometimes the person on the other end of the conversation was in the middle of doing something and did not respond right away. Waiting for a reply could be frustrating.

  Jeremy responded, “Puerto Vallarta. I went there last spring with a group of friends.”

  “I’m headed there this spring! What did you think?”

  “Love it! Lots of hot guys. Great time on the beach. Some crazy nights out at the gay bars. Have you been before?”

  “First time,” Ollie replied. “Going with a group that goes every year.”

  “Let me know if you need any recommendations for anything. There’s a breakfast place near the condo I rented that was amazing.” If it did not find him a man or a playdate, at least Flame could help him plan his week away.

  Ollie rinsed his dishes and did a quick wipe down of the counter. Jeremy had sent another message when he looked at his phone. “What are you up to tonight?”

  Truth was, he had no plans. So far, he only had the riveting evening of eating dinner and cleaning up. That was the main event. But what to tell Jeremy? He had found himself trapped before admitting that he had no plans. If he admitted to nothing, he ran the risk of the guy wanting to meet. If he made up a lot of stuff that made him sound occupied, he could scare a cute guy off from possibly getting coffee or rolling around for a bit. It seemed weird to ditch all the fake activities with a simple, “Never mind, I’m free now.” But no one had ever complained.

  He eventually wrote, “Chilling at my place. Had a good workout and just had dinner.”

  “Cool. I’m procrastinating packing for a business trip. Off to LA for the rest of the week.”

  “Do you travel a lot for work?”

  “Too much lately. It used to be fun, but now it just gets old.”

  Ollie would kill to get out of his cubicle. Every day seemed to be exactly the same. He used to at least like his job, but more and more he dreaded going in. There seemed to be no purpose and no future. When he thought about jumping ship, he always found himself asking, “To do what?”

  “What fun things do you like to do when you’re in LA?”

  “I’m mainly working. Long days with clients followed up by business dinners.” It sounded like a cubicle without walls.

  Ollie did not know where to take the conversation next. It had not been flirty and leading to a hookup. No coffee date or dinner plans. There was nothing beyond idle chit chat and the loose offer to suggest places to eat in Mexico. There was no real sense that Jeremy was even looking for anything. Then again, Ollie was not sure what he was even looking for.

  Each day seemed to be part of the eternal quest for finding a boyfriend and true love. Mixed in with that was the hunger to be with a hot guy and play. Ideally, the two would be the same person, but more often than not they were two competing interests.

  The phone buzzed with a new message from Jeremy, “Got to get packing. Let’s chat when I get back to town.”

  “Sounds good. Have a good trip.” Ollie went back to the profile page. He held his finger over the button that saved the profile to a list of favorites for easy reference later. What were the odds that he would actually chat with Jeremy again? The end of the week was days away, but it was an eternity just the same. He pushed the button anyway.

  Four

  In the break room at work the next day, Ollie pulled out his phone and brought up his conversation thread with Cameron. He had been texting all morning but Ollie had been in back to back meetings about a project he was on. His phone buzzed periodically in his pocket where he hoped no one was noticed.

  “Tell me you didn’t hook up with that guy.”

  Then a bit later, he had written, “Okay, maybe tell me you did. OMG—not sure if I want you to make bad choices or just get laid.”

  When Ollie had not answered, Cameron had grown impatient, “Why aren’t you answering me? Are you dead?”

  The thread continued on as only Cam knew how to do it. He spiraled in the drama in his own mind.

  “I’m alive,” Ollie wrote back, “Busy day at work.” He wondered if he should tell Cam the truth or make something up and string him along. He could build a fantasy until eventually either Cam gave up asking for more details or Ollie crushed it all by revealing the truth.

  “No hookup. Just chatted with the guy on the app.” He did not have time in his day for anything but the truth.

  Cam started typing a response, but then the bubbles disappeared. Then simply, “Oh.” He was disappointed. “Are you going on a date then?”

  “No date. He is traveling for work.” And would probably move on to someone else the next time he logged into the app.

  “Please find someone to sleep with,” Cam wrote and Ollie laughed. If Cam was anything, it was consistent and persistent.

  He put the phone back in his pocket and turned his attention to the vending machine. He swiped his debit card and punched the code for a Dr. Pepper. The aluminum clanked as the can bounced into the bin below. As he retrieved it, he sensed someone approaching.

  “I’ve been by your desk five times this morning looking for you. Where have you been?” Jessica leaned in close to him, “Did you hear the news?”

  “Hey, Jess. No, what news? I’ve been in meetings all morning.”

  “It’s your lucky day.”

  Ollie doubted that. He had worked in this cubicle wasteland for five years and had never considered any day there to be lucky in the slightest.

  “Guess who is retiring.”

  Ollie shrugged. Hearing about someone quitting was a regular occurrence. Retirement? That was rare.

  “Marvin Schneider.”

  The can almost slipped from Ollie’s grip. Marvin was the trainer for all the incoming entry-level employees. He was not someone Ollie liked. Jess and Ollie had spent most of their training rolling their eyes at how boring class was and spent many happy hours designing a better program. Every class of new recruits since had lodged similar complaints. Their training left them ill-prepared to do their job. Ollie, Jess, and a handful of other tenured coworkers stepped in to help when they could, but too often people quit and Marvin had a fresh crop of green recruits to “train”. Management seemed to have a blind spot when it came to Marvin. As a senior employee with the company, he was a legend to those who had been around in the early days.

  “It’s a miracle. I thought I’d retire before Marvin ever did.”

  Jessica’s smile grew big, “And now it’s time for you to be the trainer and shake things up—just like we’ve always talked about.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you.” Jessica punched his shoulder. “You’re applying for that job. There’s no one else who can right this ship and get people actually trained for their job.”

  Ollie shook his head. Step into the trainer role? He was not qualified. He would never even be considered. Management had to have a list a mile long of candidates they would interview before him.

  “Oh, come on, Ollie. I thought you would be excited! What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t think they’re going to hire me.”

  “Sure, they will. You’re amazing. Half the people they hire owe you their job because of the coaching you’ve done. Marvin didn’t train them—you did.”

  “We all helped.”

  “That’s a load of bull. You’re patient. You explain the complex concepts in easy to understand terms. You encouraged me to stick with this place and pushed me to get every promotion I didn’t think I could get.”

  “But…” Ollie started to spit out the reasons why he could not get the training position. Jessica put her hand to his mouth.

  “You’re doing this. You’ll be great at it.” She looked out of the door to the cubicles, “You’re dying out there.”

  She was right. He hated his job and could do better than Marvin without even trying. But proving to the managers that he was the best person for the job seeme
d like an impossible task.

  “Okay, I’ll apply.”

  “Next time, say it with some energy.”

  Ollie shrugged.

  “Send me your resume. We’ve got to get to work. The opening isn’t official yet, but we need to be prepared.”

  Ollie popped open his can of soda and took a sip. Jessica thought this was his lucky day, but fear gripped him and his stomach began to tighten. Going for the trainer job might be the best or worst decision he had ever made.

  Five

  Ollie drove straight to the gym after work. He had a duffel bag of workout gear in his trunk and made a quick change. The post-work crowd could be intense with everyone vying for equipment as they worked off the stress of the day before heading home to family.

  In the back row of treadmills, he saw a few open spots that he hoped were not broken machines. As he walked that direction, he loaded up a workout mix on his phone and put earbuds in.

  He got up to speed and tried to put the day’s events out of his mind. If he had run into Jessica again, she would have talked him into grabbing some beers and making a game plan. He felt better about focusing on the weight loss game plan.

  The gym had plenty of eye candy. Even without Cameron pointing out the hottest guys, it was easy to get distracted by a hot butt, thick thighs, or muscled arms. Surrounded by so many hot men was getting him excited. He increased the speed on the treadmill and focused the energy on the workout.

  He felt his mind pulling to thoughts about work and applying for the promotion. It would be a great opportunity and something he had always wanted to do. But was he ready? Could he actually do it? He talked a good game from the sidelines but he had no real experience leading a training program. Maybe he was a Marvin Schneider in waiting. As soon as he took over, he would give up because of some unforeseen restrictions. Maybe Marvin wanted to do more but could not and had just grown apathetic to it all.

  Ollie shook his head and pushed those thoughts out. He stared ahead and focused on his breathing. Sweat was pouring from his forehead and he felt his back growing more and more wet. Beneath him the steady pounding of his feet on the treadmill created a rhythm.

  He controlled his breathing and focused on running. If he focused on that simple task, maybe everything else this his mind wanted to think about would stay at bay.

  When he neared the thirty-minute mark, he slowed for a cool down and wiped his face and neck with his towel. The strategy worked—for now.

  He headed to the locker room and found it surprisingly empty. He undressed, stashed his gym clothes in his locker, and stepped into a shower stall. The water’s flow pushed the sweat and problems of the day off of him.

  Wrapped in his towel, he headed back to dress and head out and enjoy a dinner of chicken and vegetables. He stopped as he saw a man enter the sauna. The hair and tanned muscled back gave it away—the Silver Fox that Cameron was enamored with. He really was a regular in the sauna.

  “Go check him out. You won’t be disappointed,” he could hear Cameron say in his mind.

  He was an attractive man. Even if he stayed covered up, he would be something to admire. He looked solid and ripped whenever he strutted around the gym.

  He had no plans for the night other than eating sensibly and watching TV. A few minutes in the sauna to relax seemed doable.

  There were two sets of doors to get into the sauna, deadening the sounds from the locker room. Even before the second door opened, Ollie could smell the cedar benches and walls. He stepped through the second door and looked around. The benches formed two tiers around a square room. The Silver Fox sat to the left on the top tier. His head rested against the wall and his eyes were closed. Ollie decided to head straight ahead to the upper tier. From his spot, he could still take in the beautiful stranger but would not have a straight forward look. With just the two of them in the room, that seemed awkward.

  As he sat, he shifted his towel to make sure it fell down between his legs to prevent anyone from seeing his penis if they walked in. Anyone entering would probably expect to see at least glimpses of other men’s private areas. Still, Ollie preferred to do the looking than the showing.

  The Silver Fox was covered as well. Ollie looked down his body. Short salt and pepper hair covered his chest and narrowed to a trail heading down his abs. He was tanned and his skin glistened with sweat. His right hand rested on the towel over his right leg, next to his bulge.

  Ollie closed his eyes and rested his own head against the wall. He wanted to relax and give off the vibe that sitting in the sauna was something he did all the time, even though his stomach was twisting with nerves.

  The Silver Fox was looking at him when Ollie opened his eyes. He smiled broadly, exposing bright, white teeth. Everything about him was manicured and perfect. Where did people find the time? He winked at Ollie.

  Ollie nodded in response. What was the proper sauna etiquette? The air was quiet and reminded Ollie of the sections of the library dedicated to quiet study. Any little sound deemed to be a huge disruption. Did people chat in here? And what else did they do?

  The Silver Fox broke his smile with a slow sweep of his lips with his tongue. Ollie looked down as his legs parted and his towel loosened and fell to either side. A semi-hard penis popped up. Chatting did not seem to be on the agenda.

  When he looked back up, the Fox smiled again and cocked his head to the side. He knew he was sexy. People came to the sauna to get a show from him and willingly gave whatever he wanted in return.

  “Come on over.” He patted the spot next to him.

  He hesitated, but then Ollie stood and walked over. His heart raced. He sat down, his palms on the cedar planks that formed the seat. “Hi,” he managed with a laugh.

  “Relax,” the Fox whispered. “Show me what you got.”

  His eyes were looking down to Ollie’s crotch. His hand had moved to his penis and was slowly tugging from the base to the tip with alternating strokes with each hand. Ollie guessed he was near nine inches. Is this what Cam saw when he came in here? What the hell was this guy doing?

  He untucked the towel and exposed himself and his own enlarging penis.

  The Silver Fox’s fingers on his left hand were now tickling Ollie’s leg and their knees touched. Ollie took a deep breath and tried to relax. What was the big deal? He had been with a naked man before. Just because he was a gorgeous man, did that really make a difference?

  “Very nice. I’ve wondered when I might see you in here.” Ollie felt invisible at the gym with so many other cute and fit guys. How and when had he caught the eye of a guy like this?

  The Fox was fully erect now. He grabbed Ollie’s right hand and pulled it towards his penis. “Help me out.”

  Holy shit! Was this really happening? Ollie began to stroke the rock-solid cock and felt his own twitch with excitement. Touching another man for the first time never got old. There was electricity in the touch. His heart raced and he stroked faster.

  “Yes, that’s it. Not too fast, though.” He groaned.

  Ollie wanted to do more than stroke. He wanted the cock in his mouth, to taste his precum that was starting to form at the tip. Could he? And could he finish before someone walked in?

  “Oh, god. I’m almost there.”

  The exterior door hinges squeaked as it opened. The Silver Fox brushed Ollie’s hand away, stood, and wrapped his towel back around himself. He stepped down and headed to the door. Ollie fumbled to cover himself and hide his erection.

  “Excuse me,” the Silver Fox said as he met a balding, middle-aged man at the door. They made room for each other and passed without a glance or another word. Ollie watched the hottie disappear as the door closed.

  It did not take long for his dick to go soft. When he was confident not to be showing, he stood, secured his towel, and departed.

  Had Cam ever jerked the Silver Fox off? Ollie was pretty sure he would have heard about it. Would he be jealous that Ollie had been able to touch him?

  As he dres
sed in the locker room and collected his things, he tried to understand why he had acted so impulsively. Why had he been so willing to reach over and jerk off a stranger? He was hot, but it was risky and out of character. The Fox had seemed perfectly okay with it—his exit even seemed practiced. Did he usually just put on a show, or did he regularly play with others?

  Ollie left the gym with unanswered questions and a ton of uneasiness.

  Six

  “OMG. I can’t believe you got to play with the Silver Fox!” Finally, Ollie had news that Cameron was interested in learning about.

  “I thought he would at most put on a show. I didn’t expect him to invite me over to sit next to him.”

  “He jerked off for me once while sitting on the opposite side of the room. I’m so jealous.”

  “What does Mark think about you watching guys jerk off in the sauna?”

  “I can look but not touch,” Cam texted back. “If I can snag a pic, he’d like to see it.”

  “Shut up. Is he really okay with that?”

  “Of course, he is. What’s the harm? I may leave out a few details though.” What kind of details exactly was Cam leaving out? Ollie did not like the idea of his friend keeping secrets from Mark. What as the harm? Cam could get himself into a lot of trouble if he was not careful. Playing in public was risky—it was easy to get caught. If reported to the police, there could be sex offender charges that would follow him wherever he went. What would happen to Mark’s career if his husband was charged with such crimes?

  Was Cam even thinking about that? Ollie had not thought about much when looking at the Silver Fox. His sexual appetite took over. When the other man entered and the play came to a sudden end—only then did Ollie realize how at risk he had been.

  “Maybe we should steer clear of the sauna.”

  “You ruin everything.”

  Ollie set his phone aside and turned his attention to the TV and the police drama he liked to watch. No romance and its varied entanglements. Just the murder that came after.