Spring Fling Read online

  Spring Fling

  Sean Ashcroft

  Copyright © 2016 by Sean Ashcroft

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Chapter One

  “Oh no, no no no,” Cassie said as Spencer came out of his bedroom. “We’re trying to get you laid, not taking you to a job interview.”

  Spencer looked down at his pressed pants and polished shoes. “Too formal?” he guessed. He didn’t really have going out clothes. He never went out. The comfy cardigans he preferred at work didn’t really seem like the ideal outfit to attract a man in, so he’d defaulted to being neat. Which, in his case, meant putting on the one suit he owned for occasions when he absolutely had to wear a suit.

  “Way too formal.” Cassie pushed herself away from the couch where she’d been leaning and walked over to him. “We’re trying to attract Mr. Right Now, not marry you off. I know you own jeans. I’ve seen you in them.”

  Spencer sighed. He was never going to get this on his own. “Can you just… dress me? Because I’m not gonna get this right.”

  Cassie’s whole face lit up. “I was hoping you’d say that,” she said as she whooshed past Spencer into his bedroom, throwing his closet doors open.

  The look on her face at first made Spencer wince, but the determined set of her brow a moment later gave him hope. His closet wasn’t particularly varied, but if anyone could make it work, it was Cassie. Problem-solving was kind of her thing.

  He hadn’t had sex with another person in so long that he might as well have been a virgin all over again. Apparently even his students had noticed last semester that he was wound up. Cassie had let him in on the fact that he was, among the student body, widely thought of as someone who desperately needed to get laid. It had come as a shock, because he didn’t think of himself as someone who snapped a lot. He’d been under a lot of stress lately, and not having an outlet—or any time to find one—hadn’t helped.

  Cassie insisted that he was getting laid before Spring semester started, and since she seemed determined to help, Spencer wasn’t about to say no. He was all for the idea, and he needed all the help he could get.

  “There’s a cute guy in there somewhere,” Cassie gestured at Spencer, and then at the clothes in his closet. “We’ve just gotta coax him out.”

  Spencer watched as she flicked through his limited wardrobe, watching as she threw old, worn jeans, a button-down shirt, a sweater vest, and the tweed jacket with elbow patches she’d gotten him as a joke when he’d first gotten his job at the university. They’d known each other since their freshman year, having met through the school’s LGBTQIA+ Alliance when they’d both joined. Cassie was his best friend in the world, and Spencer still sometimes wondered why. She was so vibrant and full of life and fun, she made friends wherever she went. She definitely didn’t have to hang out with him for lack of better options.

  He was grateful for having her in his life, though.

  “Do you own shoes that aren’t sneakers or, like, wedding shoes?” She glanced around the room, searching.

  “Work boots?” Spencer tried. They were worn, and he suspected Cassie would reject them, but they were the only other pair he owned.

  She dug them out, dusted them off, and inspected the scuffed brown leather. Spencer used them mostly for the hike up to the local observatory. They were the only pair he had with decent tread.

  “These are perfect.” Cassie set them down at the end of the bed. “Okay. Get dressed, and wear nice underwear.”

  Spencer wasn’t sure he was convinced. Dressing up like someone who played a professor on TV didn’t seem like it was the best way to attract a potential one-night stand. “Are you positive this is a good idea?”

  Cassie nodded. “We’ll go to a nice, fashionable bar. You’ll have the whole geek chic thing going on. Someone nice and clean-cut and wholesome will take you home and be surprisingly good in bed. Trust me.”

  “You’ve got this all figured out, huh?” Spencer smiled wryly. He knew there was no point in arguing. Even if it didn’t work, at least he’d get a night out. He hadn’t had one of those in a while, either.

  Cassie raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Okay, okay. I’ll get dressed again. Can I have a little privacy?”

  “You haven’t got anything I haven’t seen before, but yeah,” Cassie headed to the door. “You’ve got five minutes.”

  Spencer laughed as she left the room and hurried to change his clothes. A glance in the mirror showed him that it did actually kind of work, and that Cassie was probably a genius. Well, he knew she was a genius. Just not in terms of fashion.

  She always looked good, though. Put-together. Maybe she’d give him lessons so that when he did finally meet The One, he might not scare the guy off with some kind of huge style faux pas that was invisible to him.

  “Lookin’ good, Spence,” she said as he emerged from his bedroom again, giving him a slow once-over. “You’re gonna have your pick of the boys. Promise.”

  Spencer wasn’t sure he believed that, but he followed her out of the apartment feeling a little more confident than usual, anyway. Confidence was supposed to be the key to attracting people, wasn’t it? Maybe it’d all work out anyway.

  * * *

  The bar Cassie had chosen was a little crowded for Spencer’s tastes, but Spencer’s tastes ran more to quiet libraries and small cafés people didn’t know about. It wasn’t so loud he couldn’t hear Cassie telling him she was going dancing, at least.

  That did mean he was suddenly alone, but that wasn’t so bad. He’d been right to trust his best friend—this particular place was full of people who caught his eye, and it was easy to pass the time watching them and wondering if he’d be able to pluck up the courage to approach one.

  Even if he didn’t, it was nice to be among people for a change. Spencer wasn’t so much of an introvert that he didn’t like to be reminded that other people existed, after all. Especially attractive people. Most of the contact he had on a daily basis was with students, who seemed like children to him, now. He was old before his time, perhaps, but it was just as well that he wasn’t likely to get caught up in a scandal with a student. There was more than enough of that going around these days.

  This might not have been quite his pace, but he wasn’t going to meet people anywhere else. At least he had a chance here. Slim as it felt.

  “Hey.”

  Spencer turned to see where the voice was coming from, and saw a man in a plaid shirt sit down next to him. The first thing Spencer noticed were his tattoos, coiling their way up his arms and disappearing into his rolled-up sleeves.

  The second thing he noticed was the way the guy was looking at him. Appreciative, bordering on predatory. Spencer wet his lips. This was a long way from the clean-cut, wholesome man Cassie had promised him earlier.

  He kind of liked that. He liked having a stranger’s eyes on him, taking him in as though he was worth looking at. Arousal curled deep in his stomach at the thought that this guy—who was by all possible definitions gorgeous, with warm eyes and a very promising smile—might be interested in him.

  Maybe his chances weren’t so slim after all.

  He was tall and broad-shouldered and handsome, everything Spencer generally told himself was aiming too high, well and truly out of his league. And he’d approached Spencer unprovoked.

  Unless…

  “Did Cassie send you over here?” he asked, unable to hide the disappointment from his voice. Help was one thing, matchmaking was another.

  The guy raised an eyebrow. “Who?”

  Spencer licked his lips again, a bl
ush creeping up his neck. Maybe she hadn’t, after all.

  “Oh, umm. I just thought… you’re very attractive and attractive men don’t normally say hey to me.”

  The guy burst into laughter. Spencer wasn’t entirely sure how to take that.

  “Sorry, sorry,” he said after a moment. “That was… weirdly earnest, and I probably shouldn’t laugh at you if I want to improve my chances, huh?”

  “Your chances?” Spencer asked shyly. He couldn’t quite contain the hope that he was hearing exactly what he wanted to hear.

  “Of convincing you to take me home with you.” He grinned. “I’m Jesse, by the way.”

  “Umm, Spencer.” Spencer blinked at him. “Why would you want that?”

  He knew he was talking himself out of getting laid, but he couldn’t quite stop himself. It was such a shock to be approached by someone like Jesse that he couldn’t get his brain to switch back on and make him act like a human being who was used to being found at least a little attractive.

  “Because I’m new in town, and you’re very cute,” Jesse whispered conspiratorially. Spencer’s ears burned.

  “I am?” Spencer asked. He wasn’t used to hearing that at all.

  Jesse laughed again. “Yeah, you are. Maybe I’ve got a thing for nerdy guys. You’ve got the whole sexy college professor thing going on.”

  “I am a college professor,” Spencer said.

  “A sexy college professor,” Jesse insisted. “That’s awesome, though. What do you teach?”

  “Astrophysics.” Spencer smiled wryly. As if he could have sounded like a bigger nerd.

  “Oh, cool. Like Neil deGrasse Tyson?”

  Now it was Spencer’s turn to laugh. Non-academics normally just asked him what astrophysics was, or stared blankly at him. It was nice to talk to someone who at least had a passing understanding. “Yeah, kind of. I like to think I’d be more fun at parties. I try not to pick apart the science in Star Wars, y’know? It’s a movie. Let it be a movie.”

  “I’m with you there.” Jesse smiled. “Can I buy you a drink? You can talk to me about astrophysics and I promise I’ll try to keep up.”

  It all seemed too good to be true, but Spencer was enjoying Jesse’s attention just enough to accept it. He didn’t get a lot of attention like this at all. Certainly not so much that he could afford to knock it back just because he couldn’t believe he’d gotten this lucky.

  “Sure. I’d love to hear all about your tattoos, as well. They’re so cool.”

  To Spencer’s surprise, Jesse blushed. “What’re you drinking?” he asked.

  “I’m not fussy.” Spencer shrugged. “Whatever you’re drinking.”

  Jesse stood. “Keep this seat free for me. I’ll be right back,” he said, heading for the bar.

  As quickly as he could, Spencer got out his phone to text Cassie.

  A gorgeous man approached me and wants to talk about astrophysics. He wants me to take him home. I just want to be a hundred percent sure you didn’t hire him.

  He didn’t really think Cassie would go to that extreme. He was just still surprised that someone like Jesse would want to talk to someone like him.

  Nothing to do with me. Have a great night ;)

  Spencer’s stomach twinged at the thought. He’d caught the eye of a beautiful man less than an hour into his night out, and he already had an offer from him. It was exciting to be wanted.

  He could see why Cassie put so much effort into the way she looked, now. He’d have to ask her for a proper makeover later if a few seconds of her time was enough to net him someone like Jesse.

  Jesse returned with two beers and handed one over to Spencer as he sat down. “So. Tell me about the classes you teach?”

  “Well, this semester I’m taking a couple of undergrad classes on astrophysics and covering one on mathematics, but it’s not really my strong suit. I’m very good at describing space, and I personally think I do a great Carl Sagan impression, but math is… I mean, it’s necessary and everything and you need to understand how it works, but computers do most of it for me and I’d rather keep it that way.”

  “I hear you on that,” Jesse agreed. “Numbers and I are not friends. Bordering on mortal enemies.”

  “They’re not for everyone.” Spencer chuckled, sipping his beer. This was nice. He hadn’t talked to a stranger other than his students in a long time. And this was a nice stranger.

  “So, what do you want to be teaching, if not math?”

  Spencer hesitated, but then decided Jesse really was interested, and started explaining about all the most interesting recent developments in his field. He wasn’t sure how much of it Jesse actually understood, but he was nodding along and asking questions in all the right places.

  It felt so good to be listened to like this. Few people ever really listened to him. Especially about his work.

  Now all he had to do was keep Jesse’s interest until they were ready to head home.

  Chapter Two

  Jesse could barely believe his luck as he pressed Spencer up against the bedroom wall, kissing him eagerly and working his belt buckle open. Spencer’s hands were already working on pulling his t-shirt out from where it was tucked into his jeans, his fingertips skimming the sensitive skin of Jesse’s belly.

  He’d only gotten into town yesterday, and on his first trip out he’d met someone like-minded, super cute, and willing to take him home.

  He would have offered to bring Spencer back to his own place, but most of his stuff was still in packing boxes. Including his bed sheets. He’d slept on the couch last night.

  Spencer was definitely someone he wanted to take apart on a bed. Something about him pushed every button Jesse was aware of having, and then some.

  “Hey.” Jesse grabbed one of Spencer’s hands, stilling him for a second. “It’s not a race. We’ve got all night. Unless you have somewhere to be?”

  Shaking his head, Spencer chuckled. “No, nowhere to be. It’s just… been a while. A long while.”

  “How long?” Jesse raised an eyebrow. With the stress of finding a new job and moving, he hadn’t had time to pick up in a while, either. If Spencer was insecure about a dry spell, he wanted to reassure him.

  “Uh. Three years? Maybe four.” Spencer looked down at the floor. “I promise I remember how.”

  Jesse laughed at that, leaning closer to catch Spencer’s lips. That was a little longer than he’d gone, but it was kind of cute. Jesse wasn’t necessarily into seeking out virgins to deflower, but it was nice to have a partner who’d be a little extra appreciative from time to time.

  As the kiss deepened, Jesse focused on the way Spencer melted under him, fitting neatly against his body like they were both made for exactly that purpose. He loved smaller guys. Spencer wasn’t tiny, not by a long shot, but Jesse had his preferred two or three inches of height on him, and Spencer had narrower shoulders and the tiny bit of give to his tummy that Jesse had always had a thing for.

  “Well, if it’s been three or four years…” Jesse smirked, and then dropped to his knees in front of Spencer. “Then you definitely need this.”

  “You don’t have to,” Spencer said. He sounded way more convincing about it than most guys did. It definitely wasn’t a no, though, so Jesse wasn’t going to back out now. Besides, he loved watching buttoned-up guys like Spencer coming undone.

  “And yet, I’m going to.” Jesse looked up at him as he flicked the button of Spencer’s fly open, drawing the zip down slowly for maximum effect. Spencer was already half-hard, obviously responsive to makeouts and the promise of a blowjob.

  This was, almost certainly, the fastest way to start taking him apart. They could move to the bed later.

  “Nice underwear,” Jesse said, smiling at the TARDIS print boxer-briefs under Spencer’s jeans.

  Spencer blushed darkly. “I wasn’t actually expecting anyone to see them.”

  “I’m not teasing. I like ‘em.” Jesse ran his thumb along the waistband of Spencer’s underwear,
delighting in the way his muscles twitched at the touch. “I guess I don’t look like your average nerd.”

  “No, you don’t.” Spencer shook his head. “I’m starting to get the picture, though.”

  “I’m a lot more than a pretty face,” Jesse said. He lifted Spencer’s shirt and sweater vest up and leaned forward to press a kiss just below his belly button. When Spencer’s breath hitched, he knew he was on the right track.

  Emboldened, Jesse hooked his thumbs in the waistband of Spencer’s underwear and pulled it down, dragging his jeans along with them and letting everything fall to the floor around his ankles. Spencer’s cock sprang up, hardening quickly now that it was free.

  Jesse licked his lips.

  He moved one hand to Spencer’s ass, squeezing firmly even as he steadied his hips with the other. The silence that had fallen between them felt natural, comfortable. He could feel anticipation rolling off Spencer in waves, in the way his thighs were tensed and the way his breathing had sped up.

  “I’m gonna enjoy this,” Jesse murmured, just loud enough for Spencer to hear. It had been a while since he’d had the opportunity to be with a man. He’d missed cocks, though that wasn’t something he was ever going to say out loud.

  He licked a stripe up the underside of Spencer’s shaft, smiling at the moan from above him. Spencer’s fingers tangled in his hair, gripping but not tugging. Jesse knew he’d be the kind of guy who’d try to behave himself.

  Jesse didn’t want him behaving himself. Spencer was a problem to solve, the end goal being to leave him wrung out and panting, eager for the next round. There was no point in going to all the effort of picking someone up—especially in a new town—if the sex was going to be anything less than amazing.

  “You won’t break me,” Jesse said softly, kissing Spencer’s belly again. He smelled of clean skin and sweet musk; a warm, comforting scent that made Jesse want to close his eyes and rest his head there. Not right now, though. “Don’t hold back on my account.”