Effortless (Less Is More Book 3) Read online

  “There’s just nothing to really talk about,” I say. “We’re friends, and that’s it.”

  Elliot shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders. “Fine. I’m just saying, this isn’t as easy and smooth as you think it’s going to be.”

  ***

  I wake up annoyed the next morning. I know Elliot means well, but I also felt like he was already shooting down what I’m doing with Oliver without even knowing what is going on.

  The sun blinds me as I look out my bedroom window, but I don’t care. I can see the outline of the tallest buildings in the city, and it is beautiful. Another thing that is beautiful: Oliver’s stomach.

  I hop out of bed and go to the bathroom. I mess with the shower handles and get the water the right temperature. It hammers at my back once I get in, and my mind instantly wanders into thoughts about Oliver.

  Oliver touching my ass, Oliver touching my back, and Oliver touching my lips.

  I guess I don’t know if Elliot is actually right or not. I’ve never done with this a friend; I’ve never done this, period.

  What I do know is that for the first time in a long time, I am happy because of more than just work.

  Even if this could pose a problem in my life later on, enjoying it right now is what I should be worried about.

  ***

  Oliver: I’m outside, Mr. Erickson.

  I stick my phone in my pocket and see Oliver outside my apartment window. He’s leaning against his bike with his arms crossed, and he’s looking great like always. I smile, and I make my way outside to him.

  “You look good,” he says.

  “I always look good.”

  He laughs, and he says, “That you do.” He puts his hands on my hips and kisses my neck. “I brought my swimming trunks like you asked me to.”

  I smirk. “Good. My sister’s gone for the night, so we can enjoy the pool, and we can enjoy the apartment.”

  “I’m gonna have to meet her eventually.”

  I grab the helmet off his bike and strap it on. “It’s not like I sent her away.”

  “She’s never here when I come over,” he says. “It’s almost like she isn’t real.”

  I laugh and grab his shoulder. “Can we go eat? I’ve hungry, and the sooner we go eat, the sooner we can come back here.”

  ***

  “Can’t you get in trouble for being here this late?” Oliver asks me. I open the gate to the pool and set my towel down by the chair. “Like, is someone going to call the owners and get you kicked out or some shit?”

  I look over at him and roll my eyes. “Would you relax; it’s fine. People come out here all the time for night swims.”

  “Yes,” he says, “but I get the idea that we are out here for more than just a swim.”

  He’s right. Yes, I want to swim because I really haven’t used this pool at all yet, but I also want to possibly have some hot-wet pool sex with Oliver.

  “Is that a bad thing?” I ask him.

  He laughs, and he says, “No. I’m just saying.” He walks over to the pool and dips his foot in. “Jesus, that is freezing.”

  I walk over and dip my foot in as well. “It’s not that bad.”

  Oliver takes his shirt off, and my eyes dart down to his beautiful stomach. He sees me watching him and slowly runs his fingers down his stomach.

  “See anything you like?” he asks me.

  “Eh.”

  He laughs and uses the ladder to get into the pool. He doesn’t react to the cold and dives deeper into the water. After a few seconds, he comes back to the surface and makes his way up the ladder again. The water is dripping from his body, and his trunks are tight to the point where I can make out his dick in the crotch.

  The water makes his skin glisten in the moonlight, and I lick my lips.

  He smiles, runs his fingers over his chest and stomach again, and he says, “How about now?”

  I walk over to him and put my hands on each side of his face. He smiles as I bring his lips to mine and stick my tongue in his mouth. He wraps his hands around my waist and drenches my shirt in water. His hands run up my back, and he pulls my shirt up and over my head. He throws it towards the chair where our towels are, and he gets back into the pool.

  I make my way towards the ladder, and he says, “No.”

  He shakes his head and points to the edge of the pool. I look down at him, confused, and sit down where he is pointing.

  The water almost reaches my knees and as I go to scoot into the water, Oliver positions himself in between my legs and stops me.

  He leans down deeper into the water, and his swimming trunks appear beside me on the concrete. I look from them to him, and he smiles.

  “If we’re gonna enjoy this,” he says, rubbing his hands up my thigh towards my crotch, “then we should really enjoy it.”

  I look down and see the outline of my dick through my trunks - it’s hard and pounding. I look up to his face, and he smiles.

  He brings his hands to my waist, and slowly scoots my trunks off, as I lean up on the concrete and lift my legs.

  Oliver hasn’t even done anything yet, and I already feel a sense of pleasure that is so comforting to feel right now. He positions my dick between his lips, sticks my tip in his mouth, and moves both of his hands back to my waist. I dig my fingers in his hair and let out a soft moan.

  The fact that anyone could be watching us right now makes everything that much hotter, and Oliver knows this. He moves me deeper and deeper into his mouth, and my moans grow louder.

  For reasons I don’t know, my thoughts travel to Andrew. He went down on me quite often, but I never really enjoyed it. I thought it was because I’ve just never been a very sexual person, but I realize in this very moment, he just wasn’t very good at it; he wasn’t very good at anything. Andrew had a pretty big dick, which I guess would explain why some people would enjoy being fucked by him, but he truly was never good.

  Oliver is good.

  No, Oliver is grand.

  I lift his chin up and slip down into the water. It’s cold, but I don’t really think about it once he grabs my face on both sides and sticks his tongue in my mouth. I feel his dick poking against my stomach and stick my hand down in the water to grab it. It’s hard, thick, and mine.

  I lean my elbows back into the concrete and swing my legs around Oliver’s waist. He smiles and moves his hands down my chest and stomach. I lean my head back as I feel his dick poke my ass.

  “Okay,” he says, kissing my chest. “I don’t want to ruin the mood, but I can assure you, I’m not going to stick my dick in you in this pool. This water is filled with gross shit, and I don’t want you getting some awful infection.”

  “The fact that you care so much makes me want you more.” I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. He laughs and swings me around in the pool. “I’ll just rub it mercilessly instead.”

  “How relaxed do you think you can be?” he asks me.

  I raise my eyebrows at him, and I say, “What do you mean?”

  “Here.” He gently shoves me off him and cradles me in his arms. “I want you to float, so I can finish what I started.”

  He straightens me out and places one of his hands under my back. With the other hand, he grabs a hold of my dick and lifts it up. He looks at me, smiles, and sticks it in his mouth.

  “It probably still has a lot of gross shit on it.” He bites me a tad, and I laugh.

  “It still tastes like you,” he says.

  I lean into him as he lifts his hand on my back. His tongue makes its way around every part of me, and I close my eyes, relishing in the pleasure of it all.

  I feel myself getting closer, and I hesitate in the water. He sticks both hands under my back and holds me up.

  I let my hips rise, and I say, “I’m close.”

  He doesn’t let up and before I can blink, I unload into his mouth and splash back into the water. I look over at him, and he smirks, licking away the taste of me on his lips.

  “Come on,”
he says, making his way over to the ladder.

  “Where are you—“

  “Follow me, and you’ll find out.” He picks up both of our swimming trunks and makes his way toward our towels. I get out of the pool and catch one of them that he throws to me. “Come on.”

  I follow him into the small weight room that sits beside the pool. He leaves the lights off and sits down on one of the weight benches. He motions me towards him with his fingers, and I make my way over to him and onto his lap. I wrap my arms around his neck as he starts sucking on my neck.

  I’m hard again, and I’m ready for round two.

  I spit in my palm and lather him up. He leans his head back and closes his eyes. His dick has been hard the whole time, and it’s finally his turn.

  I spit again, massage his dick again, and massage the middle of my ass. I sit down on top of him, and I let him slowly find his way into me. He moans once the full length of his dick is inside me, and I smile.

  I ease up and down, focusing on the slapping of our thighs together as he moves in tune with my motions. He sets his hands on my hips and lies back onto the bench. His moans grow louder as I speed up on top of him.

  “Yes!” he lets out. “Faster.”

  He sits up, and I wrap my hands around his neck. He lifts me up, turns, and lays me on my back onto the bench. My legs go onto his shoulders, and I run my hands down his stomach as he pounds into me.

  He grabs a hold of my dick and starts jerking me back and forth. Within minutes, I feel myself getting closer and closer to unloading all over my chest. Just as I’m about to cum, he pulls out of me and steps in front of my chest. I smile as he shoots onto my stomach and lets out a beautiful moan. He leans down and plants a kiss on my lips.

  ***

  “All I’m saying is, they really need to add some more gay characters into the mix.” Oliver pushes pause on the game controller and takes a drink of his beer. “I mean, honestly, do you really think I have the option to make choices like they say when I can’t even properly play as a gay man on here?”

  “The industry is starting to come around,” I say. “Way more options than you would’ve gotten years ago.”

  “I know,” he says, “but still. I can’t suck a dick on a game, and I just don’t think that is very fair.”

  I laugh, and I say, “I don’t see you ever having the option to suck someone’s dick.”

  He smiles and looks back toward the TV screen. “And that is the problem.”

  “How’s Sadie?”

  “Good,” he says. “I’m going with her next weekend to New York. She has a book signing there, and she has never been to the city before.”

  “Everything is really taking off quick for her.”

  He nods. “She’s overwhelmed with it all, I think. She’s usually not conflicted or stressed about anything, but lately she’s been exhausted and trying to keep up with it all. She likes the fact that her words are out there, but she doesn’t like all of the fame and attention it has brought her.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “I just hope she gets more comfortable with it all, I guess.” Oliver squints at the TV, and I can see how genuine his emotions are without him really letting on.

  Oliver is easy to read, which I like. I’ve always been able to read people well, but I haven’t always liked what I saw. I like every emotion that Oliver puts off. Whether he is happy, mad, or sad, he is always real. He’s always genuine, and he doesn’t care to show it.

  “I don’t care much for New York,” I say.

  “I like it here better,” he says.

  I put my hands behind my head and look up at the ceiling. “I always wanted to live in California or Seattle; somewhere on the west coast, mainly.”

  He pauses the game again and sets the controller down on the coffee table. “Have you ever actually been to either place?”

  “I visited California when I was younger. My parents took us there one year for a vacation. Really, though, it was because they had some business stuff to look into. I was fifteen and my sister wasn’t very old at all, but I took her around, and we saw random things. I’d like to go back now that I’m older. I forget most of it. I just know I liked the vibe, I guess.”

  “I’ve never been,” he says. “You can take me.”

  “What about you?” He raises his eyebrows at me in confusion. I laugh, and I say, “Is there somewhere that you have always wanted to go and live for awhile?”

  He looks down at the coffee table and then looks back up to me. “I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it, I guess. To be honest, having to up and move when I was younger has made me want to stay in one place for a while. If it hadn’t been for my ex being a dick, I probably would’ve stayed in that town for the rest of my life.”

  “I mean, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “In some ways,” he says, “it is. I’ve never really been crazy-open to going out and seeing the world. I haven’t lived a closed-off life by any means, but I haven’t lived as much as I could have, either.”

  “You still have a few years to see some stuff,” I say, laughing.

  He laughs. “I know. I just sometimes feel like I wasted a good chunk of my life being comfortable when what I really needed to do was be reckless.”

  For reasons I don’t understand, this hits me. I look into his eyes, and I don’t say anything. The last few years since Andrew messed things up I’ve done nothing, but live comfortably. Oliver is the first thing I’ve done that would be considered “reckless.”

  “You OK?” he asks me.

  I nod and get up off the couch. “I just think that we really should go on a trip. I don’t know where, but we’ll go.”

  “With you,” he says, “I’d probably go anywhere.”

  Chapter Eight

  Oliver

  I STEP THROUGH THE GATE BEHIND SADIE and follow her towards the entrance of our plane. It only takes a few hours to get to New York, but our flight got delayed, so we have been at the airport for longer than we planned. In conclusion: Sadie is pissed.

  “We haven’t even gotten there yet,” she says, “and things are already going to shit.”

  I laugh. “We’re fine, just relax.”

  “I swear, if we get to the hotel and something is fucked up there, I’m going to punch whoever the bitch is at the front desk in the face.”

  Me make our way onto the plane and slide past rows and rows of other disgruntled passengers. Everyone looks exhausted and pissed, and all I want to do is find our seats.

  Sadie finds them a few minutes later, but there’s a woman standing directly in front of them. She’s talking to another passenger that is across the row from our seats, and she has her bags down on the floor on each side of the walkway. I hear Sadie sigh, and I already know what’s coming.

  Sadie stops in front of the woman, but she doesn’t say anything. The woman continues to talk and doesn’t even look in our direction.

  “Hello!” Sadie screams. It startles the woman, and she looks over at Sadie with her eyes wide.

  “Yes?” the woman says.

  “You do realize you’re just standing here while we are trying to get to our seats, right?”

  The woman laughs, and she says, “I was just talking to my friend.”

  “Our seats are right beside where your ass is,” Sadie says. The woman opens and closes her mouth. “So, if you could kindly move it, we would love to sit down.” The woman picks up her bags, turns on her heel, and makes her way deeper into the plane.

  Sadie puts her carry-on into the overhead compartment and sits down. I do the same, and I sit down beside her, closest to the window. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She exhales, looks over to the friend of the woman’s, and she says, “Yeah?”

  The woman quickly looks away, and I laugh. “Do you need a Xanax or something?”

  “I’m fine,” Sadie says. “I’m just tired and annoyed and ready to get to the hotel.”

  “Are they e
xpecting a big turn out tomorrow?”

  She nods. “It’s going to be a bit overwhelming. This will be my first book signing, and I don’t know how I’m supposed to act.”

  “Like a person?”

  “I’m just nervous.” She looks down at her phone and scrolls through different things. I rest my hand on top of hers on the armrest, and she looks over at me and smiles. “I’m glad you’re coming with me. I know it’s stupid—me being overwhelmed—but I’m just not used to this much change at once.”

  “I know,” I say. “I get it.”

  “Seriously, though,” she says, “if we get to the hotel and there is a problem, I—“

  “Will relax, and you will just let me handle things.”

  ***

  We get to the hotel and absolutely nothing is wrong. Everything went smoothly like it was supposed to, and Sadie doesn’t have to punch anyone in the face.

  “Is there anything else I can get you guys before you head up?” the young girl at the front desk asks us.

  “Nope,” Sadie says.

  We wave to the girl and make our way to the elevator. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket.

  Sam: You make it OK?

  Me: Yeah, thankfully everything went smooth. Sadie is pretty blah today.

  Sam: Tell her good luck tomorrow for me.

  Me: Will do

  I put my phone back in my pocket and smile.

  “That your boyfriend?”

  I look over at her and sigh. “He says good luck tomorrow.”

  “I’m so tired, Olli.”

  “We don’t have to go anywhere tonight. I’m tired, too.”

  “How is Sam?”

  “Fine,” I shrug. “I mean, I guess so. I think he’s going over to his friends house tonight for dinner.”

  “Is everything still pretty laid-back with you two?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Is the friends-with-benefits thing still going OK?”

  The elevator dings, and I walk out into the hallway. “I mean, I think so.”