Lost In Sea
It was Jude's junior year of college, and he had finally moved in with his boyfriend of eight years, Connor. It was only slightly off campus, in a small apartment complex next to a locally-run grocery store. Most nights they entertained themselves by picking up a carton of some strangely-flavoured ice cream and eating it together as they marathoned a random TV show. This night, however, Jude was completely focused on a piece of writing, and Connor had baseball practice.
The entire piece of writing was a joke, Jude thought. It stemmed from a dare from one of the other creative writing majors, who bet that she could write the most creative smut piece out of every other person within the major. Jude challenged her, and she claimed that she had yet to be proven wrong.
If you're so sure of that, then prove it. Write something more scandalous than what I would write.
Jude was never one to back down from a challenge like that. And now he was two thousand words into the dirtiest piece of trash he'd ever written.
Jude sighed and looked out of his apartment window, the grocery store catching his eye. He glanced at the clock: 7 PM. His stomach grumbled, and he sighed, knowing that this was when Connor's practice was due to start. Jude would have to eat alone that night. He left the computer open on the dining area table, and, noticing a slight drizzle had started up outside the window, he grabbed an umbrella before stepping out to grab dinner.
Seven dollars later, Jude walked back to their apartment with a frozen pizza tucked under his arm. The rain had gotten worse, and was joined by the occasional thunder and lightning. As he opened the door, he wondered if Connor was still practicing, or if the baseball team had decided to wait out the storm.
As he entered the apartment and went into the kitchen/dining area, he found his answer. Connor, hair wet with rain, was still wearing his baseball gear, but instead of being at practice, he was reading Jude's most recent piece of writing while wearing the most interested expression.
"Connor!" Jude exclaimed. He dropped the frozen pizza on the countertop and made his way to his boyfriend. "Oh god, you don't have to read that, it's really nothing-"
He tried to close the laptop, but Connor placed a hand on Jude's and stopped him. "No, actually, this isn't nothing, this is something... something special, Jude." He continued to read what Jude wrote, and Jude felt his face heat up.
Jude stood in front of Connor, careful not to move, wishing that the moment would pass as soon as possible. Trying to take his boyfriend's attention off of the graphic work, he ventured into conversation.
"So what happened to your practice?"
"It started thunder storming, and Coach was nice and let us off early. Now seriously, hush, I'm almost done with this."
Jude tried to speak again, but Connor shook his head violently, eyes still glued to the laptop. When he was done reading, he looked at Jude with the strangest expression on his face, and then looked back at Jude's writing.
Jude was silent, and closed his eyes, awaiting Connor's input.
Connor burst into laughter. "This is brilliant, Jude." His voice became high-pitched. "'My name's Sebastian, but call me Sea, like the ocean.'" His voice lowered, and Jude finally realized that he was mimicking what his characters said. "'Well, Sea, if you'd like, I'd love to get lost inside of you.'" Connor laughed again, a big, loud belly laugh, and even though Jude didn't see his face, he cracked a smile.
After a few minutes, when Connor had finally composed himself, Jude opened up his eyes to see his boyfriend still marveling in wonder at his story.
"Shoot, Jude, this is so brilliant. 'Roberto could tell it was time to rock the boat. ' And the setting is on a boat! And at the end, 'Roberto blasted his seed into Sea, wondering if beautiful kelp would sprout up inside of his partner.' Jesus, Jude."
Jude rolled his eyes, still smiling. "Cut me some slack, it's my first time writing something like this."
"Do you have a title planned for this?"
"I was thinking something like 'Lost In Sea'."
Connor started laughing again, and Jude couldn't help but admire the way his hazel eyes lit up. He felt proud that he could make him so full of joy, even if that did mean letting him see the one piece of writing he was most likely forever going to be ashamed of.
"Babe, that title sounds lovely, but word of advice: puns and smut don't mix."
Jude smiled. "No?"
"I mean, I appreciate the puns, but they take away from the kinkiness of the whole thing." Jude blushed as Connor talked. "Another thing, where did you get your inspiration for the kinkiness in this? Because as far as I remember, we've never 'widened our mouths like screaming sardines'-"
"Stop."
"Or 'lined ourselves next to each other like anchovies in a package'-"
"Stop!"
"Or 'outpaced the rhythm of the boat'-"
"Oh my god, Connor, stop!"
Connor smiled and stood up. "All right, babe." He got closer to Jude in order to give him a kiss on the cheek. Connor started to head into the living room, and Jude started to open up the frozen pizza, but then a stray thought made Connor stop moving away.
Turning to his boyfriend, Connor said, "We've never done anything like that."
Jude rolled his eyes, his attention focused on setting the oven to the right temperature. "You've already made me aware of that, Connor."
"Yeah, but have you, like... I don't know, thought about it?"
Confused, Jude turned to face Connor. "Thought about what?"
"Anything in your story?"
The thought of sleeping with a man named Sea hadn't. However, Jude's cheeks reddened when he remembered how Connor looked whenever they went out fishing together. They were never alone on the boat, seeing as it belonged to Connor's father, but Jude had often thought of what he would do if they ever were alone.
Jude hesitated, and that was enough to bring a devilish smile to Connor's face.
"So you have."
Jude shook his head, silence taking over. Connor moved closer.
"Don't lie to me, Jude."
"I'm not lying."
"Don't lie to me."
By now, Connor had reached Jude. He was so close, yet he didn't make any move to touch Jude, which only made Jude feel weak.
"Maybe I lied a little bit."
Connor smiled, rewarding his boyfriend by grabbing his hand. "About what? The tight swim trunks?"
Well, no, Jude hadn't ever thought of that before, but now that Connor had mentioned it, Jude couldn't help but picture-
"What was it, Jude?"
Jude blushed, looking anywhere but at his boyfriend. "Imaybethinkyou'rereallynicelookingwhenwe'reontheboat," he mumbled.
"What was that?"
Jude sighed. Connor lifted his chin up, so that now, Jude had to look at his boyfriend. Taking a deep breath, Jude gathered his courage and spoke to his boyfriend.
"You're always nice looking when we're on the boat."
Connor's hazel eyes drifted across Jude's face, and Jude couldn't help but notice how they seemed to darken. "The boat," he murmured. It didn't sound like a question, but Jude nodded.
Connor quickly moved his head, and, looking out the window, seemed to get very excited about something. He pointed outside, and with a deep voice, said, "It's raining, is that close enough for something?"
Jude looked at his boyfriend, who was looking at Jude with the most perfect face in the entire world, and Jude smiled and nodded again, leaning into his boyfriend for a kiss.
The kiss led to more, and after they were done, they positioned themselves into their normal sleeping positions, Connor on his back, Jude resting his face on Connor's shoulder, arm thrown across Connor's stomach. After a few moments of peace, Connor shifted suddenly, leading to Jude becoming confused as Connor turned himself and his boyfriend on their sides, before snuggling into Jude's back.
"Is everything all right?" Jude asked.
"Yeah," Connor replied. "I just wanted to line us up like anchovies in a package."
Despite the embarrassment, Jude laughed. "You're a nerd."
Jude felt Connor's smile on his back. "I'm your nerd."
Jude smiled and became comfortable in their new position. "I love you," he said, because he wanted to say something but nothing else felt appropriate.
Connor smiled into Jude again.
"I love you, too."