Because I was late with the previous chapter, I decided to upload this one early :3 Many thanks to my lovely pre-readers and of course you lot for stocking with me. Things are getting interesting now...

Hot as Fire

Chapter 15

Zoro heard the door open and someone heading upstairs, only to come down again a few minutes later. "Hey, Marco," Nami called out, counting her Monopoly money.

The arson inspector appeared in the doorway. "Evening. I put Ace to bed."

The green haired man burst into laughter. "He fell asleep during the movie again?"

Marco nodded, though he didn't seem irritated. And that while, according to Luffy, it had happened a few times already in the short time that they were dating, that Ace fell asleep right in the middle of it. The raven haired man couldn't help it though, and Marco seemed to understand that.

"You want a beer?" he asked but the arson inspector shook his head.

"No thanks. I have an early day tomorrow. Good night."

Making his way inside again, Sanji bumped into the other blonde. He said goodbye to him before entering the living room again. "It seems Ace couldn't stay awake," he said snickering.

"They're so funny," Luffy grinned, while cleaning with his tongue the plate that had been stocked with snacks a few minutes ago.

Sanji shook his head. "Anyway, I think I'm going to follow Marco's example."

"But you can't leave," Nami protested. "I haven't cleared you out– I mean, nobody has won yet." She gestured to the Monopoly board.

"It's not like anyone else but you can win anymore." Zoro slid his small pile of remaining money towards the girl. "Besides, this game blows anyway."

She made a happy shriek upon seeing the money, but snorted at his words. "You only say that because you suck. But I suppose it is bedtime anyway. Come on, Luffy."

"Ah, but I don't wanna," the boy whined.

"Geez, what are you, his mother?" the green haired man supported his friend.

Nami placed her hand on the table and looked at the swordsman treating. "Are you sure you wanna meddle in this, Mr 'I still owe Nami five hundred and forty two bucks'?"

Zoro winced and shut up, making Sanji snicker.

So the red head dragged her still whining boyfriend upstairs at his ear.

The blonde turned to Chopper, who was yawning. "Do you need a ride home?"

The boy nodded happily and hopped off his chair to get his coat. Before Sanji could ask Zoro the same question, they heard someone tear down the stairs. The front door was yanked open and slammed shut, before Ace came rushing into the living room. "Damn, did Marco leave already?"

The swordsman nodded. "He said something about having to get up early tomorrow."

The fire fighter pouted. "Crap, and I just was in the mood to– Oh, hey Chopper."

The doctor-to-be smiled and Sanji was kind of glad the boy was here. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the ending to that sentence. "We were just leaving as well. Marimo, you need a ride too?"

The green haired man looked at the blonde. "There's still beer."

The chef rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Later, Ace. Come on, Chopper." Followed by the brown haired boy he left the house, somehow a little relieved the swordsman didn't join them. He had no idea what to say to the man now that he was sure he liked him.

"What was that?" Ace asked after the two had left.

Zoro made a questioning sound while drinking his beer.

The raven haired man sighed like he couldn't believe he had to elaborate. "Could that have been a more obvious innuendo? 'You need a ride, sexy?'," he said in a voice that sounded nothing like Sanji's.

The green haired man stared blackly at his friend. "He didn't mean it like that. Besides, I'm done with him."

"What do you mean, 'I'm done'?"

"I mean– Ouch!" Before he could finish his sentence Ace's fist landed in his stomach. He knew that the blow wasn't as nearly as hard as the freckled man could – the guys from Ace's boxing club didn't call him Firefist for nothing – but still he winced.

"I know what you mean," his friend snapped. "But I won't allow it!"

Zoro rubbed the painful spot. "What the hell, man?! You don't have any saying in this! Sanji isn't into men, and there is nothing you can do about it. Geez, just 'cause you have a boyfriend doesn't mean you can meddle in my love life!"

Ace snorted. "I always meddle in your love life. And you know just as well as I do that our chef isn't going to be happy with a girl, as he has shown on his last date. Didn't you tell me that? Along with how you two made out?" he added with a grin.

Zoro groaned. It was true. As he made his way home, he walked past the fire station – though he couldn't remember that was supposed to be on his route – and excited as he was, he ended up telling Ace, who had a late shift, everything. He regretted it already.

"Look, he was really drunk," he tried.

"So that means deep down he wants to kiss you soberly as well. Zoro, you almost have him! He only needs the last little push. You can't give up now! Look, I'd help you, but Marco doesn't want to share me, so a threesome is out of the question, let alone adding a fourth person." He grinned sheepishly. "I wouldn't mind though."

The green haired man thought about Ace's words for a moment. They actually made sense, aside for the last ones, of course. Maybe the chef only needed a few more days… He jumped up. "Alright. I'll do it."

"That's the spirit! Now, go get that nice piece of ass!" Excitedly Ace smacked with his flat hand on Zoro's butt.

The swordsman glared at him dangerously. "Don't ever do that again!"

The freckled man grinned. "Sorry, got a bit over excited. You want another beer?"

Hesitant Sanji stood before the little bookstore, debating whether or not to go in. He wanted to know more about what it would be like to be with a man. Of course, the easiest – and least embarrassing – solution would be to look it up on the internet. But he had grown up without a computer – as they were according to Zeff "shitty, good-for-nothing things that only made life more complicated". Personally, Sanji had nothing against computers, he just never felt the need to buy one. And going to an internet café to look up the things he wanted to know…

So internet wasn't an option. He could rent an adult film, but he doubted he would be ready to see two men in 'action', so to speak. So he had to find out the old fashion way, by consulting a book.

Of course he could go to a large bookstore to be more anonymous, but that felt like betraying Shanks – even if it was porn he was buying. He always bought his books here. Plus, in the little bookstore he wouldn't have to worry about someone breathing down his neck, as there usually weren't any other customers.

Cutting the knot, he took a deep breath and opened the door. As usual, the little bell greeted him.

Shanks was standing behind the counter, grinning broadly. "Well, well. Long time no see. You really like to keep me waiting, don't you?"

"Sorry, I've been busy lately," the blonde apologized absent minded. He glanced around the bookstore. Usually he only paid attention to the cookbook section. Would there be…

"Are you looking for something?" Shanks interrupted his trail of thought.

He could already feel a blush creeping up his face. "I was just wondering… Do you… Do you perhaps have…" he stammered. Dammit, he couldn't even say it.

Fortunately Shanks apparently could read his mind. He smiled friendly. "In the back, through the curtain."

He mumbled thanks, but then turned around again. "D-does that include…?"

"Everything I have is in the back." The red haired man winked at him, making him feel even more embarrassed. It was a good thing they were the only two persons in the store.

Blushing deeply – and still not quite believing he was actually doing this – Sanji made his way to the back of the store. Surely enough he hit upon a curtain and going through it, it was like he landed up another store entirely. Everywhere he looked he saw pictures of scantily dressed people, each wearing less than the one before. And there was something for everybody, surely. Cheeks red with embarrassment he tried to find what he was looking for without glancing around too much, silently thankful he would need his reading glasses to read the – no doubt – disturbing titles. His eyes lingered on a manga of two men going at it. Quickly he averted his look. He wasn't ready to see that. He decided that he didn't need pictures, just lecture was enough for now. Blindly he fetched a book. Much to his relief it was just what he was looking for: a story about two men, 'getting together', and no pictures.

Having found what he needed, he hastened himself out of the dirty corner of the bookstore and made his way back to the counter. There he froze.

He and Shanks weren't the only ones in the bookstore anymore. Near the counter stood the man Sanji had met the last time he was here, Shanks' friend Benn. But that wasn't the worst part. On top of the counter was sitting a young girl from around five.

"Sanji, meet Rika." The bookstore owner caressed her hair affectionately.

Quickly he hid the dirty book behind his back. "H-hi, Rika."

The girl looked up to him with big, dark eyes. She looked like innocence itself with her brown hair tied in two pigtails.

"Thanks for looking after her," Benn said to Shanks. "I'll be back in an hour." His gruff face was softened when looking at the girl.

The red haired man waved his hand. "Yes, yes. It's fine. Now, go before you're too late."

Benn kissed Rika on the head and told her to behave, before reluctantly leaving the store. Shanks laughed. "Aw, parents. Well, have you found what you were looking for?"

Sanji looked up in surprise when he realised the store owner was talking to him. "Er, yeah." He still didn't dare to come closer to the counter, afraid the girl might see the book. Not that the title or the cover gave much away – thank God – but somehow he got the feeling she would sense he bought a dirty book.

"Rika, why don't you go pick out a book you like and I'll read it to you," Shanks suggested smiling. Happily she jumped off the counter and started to explore the bookstore.

Sanji let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. Shanks smirked at him as he walked over to the counter and reluctantly showed the book. He looked askance at the store owner, but the man didn't comment on his choice. Well, he didn't say anything, but his grin spoke volumes.

After he had paid, Sanji wanted to get out of the store as soon as possible. He said goodbye hastily, but before he could get to the door, Shanks decided that that was the time to speak up. "You know," he said with a meaningful smile, "if you have any questions, I'll be happy to explain it to you."

Having finally come home, Sanji slammed the door close and leaned against it. It felt like a miracle that the earth at some point didn't decide to swallow him up. He wouldn't have minded that happening, though. His ego had suffered a serious blow today. He stared at the book he had bought. Now only to hope that it would be worth it.

He sat down on the couch and taking a deep breath, he opened the book. He read the first page, but then decided he didn't have the patience to read the whole book. Flipping through the pages he searched for the part where the sex would be explained.

It wasn't what he had expected, at least the part preceding the sex. The men in the book first were talking a lot and behaving rather clingy. And apparently in every sentence it had to be said how much they loved each other. The blonde burst into laughter when he imagined him and Zoro behaving like that. That would be ridiculous.

He didn't want the marimo to pamper him. He liked him because the swordsman challenged him, riled him up. He hated him, but at the same time he loved being with Zoro. A smile appeared on his face.

Shaking his head he focussed on the book again. It was a good thing he had bought it for education purposes only, because the quality of the story left much to be desired. He read the passages from the book that explained how things worked. After that he put the book down.

The sex scenes hadn't turned him on, but that was probably also because he got annoyed at the style. So now he tried to imagine Zoro doing all that stuff to him – aside from the clingy stuff, of course. He closed his eyes.

Zoro was lying on top of him, kissing his lips before moving to his yaw, his neck. He arched his back to touch as much of the swordsman as possible, when he suddenly felt teeth sunk in the sensitive flesh of his neck. He yelped, but immediately felt a wet tongue lapping at the painful spot.

His shirt was unbuttoned and thrown aside carelessly. He didn't care, not right now. Zoro's head moved further down, sucking on one of his nipples, while a hand paid attention to the other one. His other hand moved farther south until it grabbed his…

Sanji's eyes flung open. Okay, he definitely liked that. Without noticing it he had opened his shirt and had cupped his growing erection with his hand. With difficulty he sat up and made his way upstairs. In the bathroom he opened his pants, sighing as his erection sprang free.

In one of the cabinets he found lotion, using it to slick his hand. He couldn't believe he was actually going to do this…

Putting aside his embarrassment, he gave his imagination free rein again. In his mind's eye Zoro was taking off his clothes slowly, revealing more beautiful bronze coloured skin. He swallowed when he imagined what it would be like to touch him, feel the muscles ripple below the skin. His hand slid to his neglected cock and he started to stroke himself. What would it feel like if Zoro did that? The swordsman's hands were strong and calloused. He moaned and started to pump faster.

Zoro's hand moved up and down, speeding up his pace. Suddenly he stopped and the swordsman sunk down on his knees, grinning wickedly. Then he opened his mouth, swallowing Sanji whole. A strong hand held the blonde's hips in place, to prevent him from choking the green haired man. Sanji moaned when the other man started to bob his head up and down. The blonde closed his eyes and threw his head in his neck.

A hand snuck up between his legs, before pushing his way in. The chef's eyes flung open at the foreign feeling. The finger moved, but it didn't hurt as much as he had thought. Zoro's mouth was distracting him. A second finger entered, started to stretch him. Suddenly the fingers bended and a wave of pleasure jolted though him. The fingers repeated the motion over and over again, until he came harder than ever before…

Panting, Sanji opened his eyes to see the mess he had made. Shit, that had felt so good. Now he was rather grateful he had bought the book. Only imagine how great it would be if Zoro really had been there…

The sound of the doorbell ringing, started him from his high. Of course he could pretend he wasn't home, but he had ordered a new set of knives a while ago. Hopefully the postman had them right now.

He hoisted up his pants and quickly washed his hands. Still buttoning up his shirt he made his way down. Through the window next to the door, however, he saw it wasn't the postman on his doorstep. Ace and Luffy! They should have spotted him already, so pretending he wasn't home wasn't an option. He took a few deep breaths, hoping he didn't look like he just jerked off and was about to open the door, when he realised the book was still lying on the couch. No way he would let Ace see that! He wouldn't hear the end of it.

As fast as he could he ran to the living room and threw the book behind the couch. Then he tried to calm himself, before opening the door like nothing was going on. "Hey guys, what are you doing here?"

Ace smiled friendly at him, while his brother was doing some sort of dance. Sanji was wondering what Luffy was doing, when he made out the chant the boy was repeating: "Gotta pee, gotta pee, gotta pee…" As soon as the chef had fully opened the door, he slipped past the blonde and began to make his way to the bathroom.

Horrified Sanji realised what a mess he had made. He couldn't let Luffy see that! He did a nose dive, tackling the boy. "You can't go there!" he exclaimed.

Both Ace and Luffy looked at him confused. He turned completely red. "I dropped a glass bottle of shower gel," he quickly made up. "I have to clean it first!" And before either of them could protest, he was already upstairs and had locked the bathroom door. Trying to catch his breath he eyed what he had to do. He wetted a towel and cleaned up the remainder of his cum. After the floor was cleaned he threw the towel in the clothes basket. After that he took a few seconds to look at himself in the mirror. He looked a bit heated, but fortunately his clothes didn't have any stains. Taking a deep breath he opened the door. Luffy was already waiting, continuing his chant and dance. Sanji stepped aside, grinning. "It's all yours."

The boy ran past him, not even bothering to lock the door. The blonde heard the toilet seat being thrown up and a relieved sigh. Shaking his head he made his way downstairs, where Ace was waiting for him.

"So, what are you doing here?" he asked the fire fighter casually.

"Luffy had to pee."

The chef laughed. "Yeah, I got that."

Silence fell for a moment, before Ace said: "So, you had to 'clean'."

Sanji wasn't sure if he imagined the tone that seemed to imply that to 'clean' didn't mean to clean. "Yeah," he said hesitantly. "I dropped a bottle."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Everyone has to 'clean' sometimes," the dark haired man said with an unsettling grin. "Just keep in mind that there might be someone who would like to help you to 'clean'."

They stared at each other for some time. Ace seemed to try sending telepathic messages and the chef was worried his heart might beat out of his chest. Finally he took a deep breath and said: "I don't have the money to hire a maid…"

The fireman blinked a few times, like he couldn't believe how stupid his conversation partner was and Sanji hoped Ace wouldn't spell out what he meant. He had the feeling he already knew, but he really hoped he was wrong. Fortunately for the blonde at that moment Luffy decided to join them again. He looked a little confused from one to the other, probably noticing the tension, before shrugging, deciding it was not important. "That's a relief," he said grinning and patted his belly. "Now I have room for meat again."

Zoro was counting the times he lifted his weights – somewhere in the thousand – when his phone started to ring. Annoyed he tried to ignore it, as he hated being disturbed while working out, but the person calling him didn't seem inclined to give up. Eventually the green haired man gave in, throwing his weight aside and making another dent in the floor. He wouldn't get his deposit back anyway.

Grabbing his phone, he saw Ace was trying to reach him. He answered with a grunt. "I was working out."

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that," the freckled man said hastily, not sounding sorry at all. "You'll never guess what I found out today." He was very excited about something.

Zoro sat up, making a sound that indicated he was listening. Ace didn't need more encouragement, because he started rambling: "So I just got back from Sanji's house–"

"What were you doing there?" the swordsman asked, wiping his brow with a towel.
"Just saying hi and Luffy had to pee. Not the point of the story. Anyway, when he opened the door, our chef was looking very heated." He paused, like this information should mean anything to Zoro.

As it didn't, he asked: "So?"

"Well, Luffy had to pee, like I said, but when my brother wanted to use the bathroom, Sanji stopped him – by tackling him, nonetheless – claiming he first had to 'clean' the bathroom."

The swordsman waited for his friend to continue, but when he didn't, he repeated: "So?"

Ace made an annoyed sound. "Do I really have to spell it out for you? Fine, pay attention to the facts. One, he looked very heated. Two, he had to clean the bathroom. Three, I found porn behind his couch."

Zoro, who had just taken a sip of water, immediately spitted it out again. "What?! You didn't say that the first time!"

"The other things should have given it away. But," his friend continued grinning, "do you get it now? Right before Luffy and I came, our chef had been jerking off."

Zoro was glad Ace couldn't see him, as his cheeks were bright red at the moment. The image of Sanji pleasuring himself wasn't very good for his brain. Trying to sound normal and not like every ounce of blood in his body had rushed south, he managed to choke out: "So? Every guy jacks off every once in a while." Not too long ago Sanji had caught him doing it…

"That's not even the best part." Ace sounded like he was dying to tell him, but also was having the time of his life. "The book I found behind the couch… It was gay porn."

The swordsman was just trying to drink something again to calm himself down, this time he almost chocked on the water.

The fireman seemed amused by his reaction, as he continued: "Well, porn is a bit exaggerated. More of a romance story. Badly written too. But it was definitely about boy-on-boy action. Do you get what this means?"

"That Sanji has a bad taste in books?" Zoro asked, still coughing.

"No, stupid! That he finally realizes how hot sex with a guy is!" Ace yelled out frustrated. "Don't you get it yet? He finally has had the last push he needed! So go over there and fuck him raw!"

Zoro mumbled: "You don't even know if he likes me…"

It stayed silent for a moment before Ace burst out: "How stupid can you be, you stubborn buffoon?! Of course he likes you! You two spend all your time together! Who else should he like?"

"Aren't you always bragging even straight guys turn their heads for you?" the swordsman flung back.

His friend seemed to grasp for air, eventually making a frustrated sound. "God, you're an idiot! I can't talk to you. I'm gonna have sex with Marco!"

A little nervous Sanji sipped from his beer. Why he was sitting here, in this pub, he wasn't sure. Somehow he apparently hadn't humiliated himself enough lately, so he had decided to call an old friend to talk about what he should do with Zoro. Would he be too late? Would the swordsman have given up on him?

He almost spit out his beer when a hand slapped his shoulder. He turned around to face his friend. "Hey, Gin. Glad you could make it."

"I never turn down an old friend." The black haired man sat down next to the chef and ordered a beer.

"Really? Because last time I called you for a favour, you left me hanging for a shitty date," Sanji reminded him.

Gin shrugged. "You didn't offer me beer then."

They drunk in silence for a while. Sanji eyed his friend, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. He hadn't changed at all. Gin was a tall man with black hair and a small moustache and goatee. As usual he was wearing a blue white striped bandana.

Gin seemed to lose his patience. "So why did you call me out of the blue anyway? You need my car again?"

Biting his lip, Sanji took out his phone. He scrolled through the pictures on it, eventually opening one Nami had send him a few days ago. It was a picture of him and Zoro dancing at Vivi's wedding. They really looked like a couple in there. The red head said she had taken the photo, but forgot about it until then. And he really had the right to have it, according to her.

He zoomed in on Zoro, so that he himself wasn't visible anymore and slid the phone over to Gin. "What do you think of him?"

His friend took up the phone and looked at the picture frowning. "I don't know. What do you want to know?"

"You think he's hot?"

Gin looked at him like he had asked him to marry him. "What? Hell if I know. I don't think about guys like that!"

"Oh, really? 'Cause you did seem to enjoy yourself when you made out with me."

He didn't know why he brought it up. He had spend months trying to forget about it happening. But it did, when they were both really drunk. He couldn't remember how it happened, only that it did. Neither of them had ever brought it up and frankly, he had thought Gin didn't even remember the incident. Seeing his face now all heated up, however, told him his friend clearly did.

"That was a stupid drunken mistake!" Gin yelled out. "You think I'm gay? Is that why you invited me here?" The black haired man raised his fist threatening.

Sanji wasn't scared of him, he could easily take him down and they both knew that. Still, he wasn't here to fight. "Sit your ass back down. I'm not here to insult you. I need your help."

Gin seemed to calm down and sat down on the barstool again. "Okay, what do you need?"

The blonde took his phone and zoomed out the photo again, so both he and the marimo were visible. When he had received the photo, only a few days ago, he had been tempted to delete it. He didn't want to be reminded about that day. But for some reason he kept it and now he was kind of glad about that. It was a nice memory, lying in the swordsman's arms like that. Hell, if he'd known then how he would feel now, he wouldn't have needed to act. Zoro was a great catch, and they looked like an attractive couple.

He hadn't noticed Gin was looking over his shoulder at the picture until he spoke up: "Dude, are you gay?"

Hastily he turned around his phone, so the photo wasn't visible anymore. "No! I just…" He sighed. "He," he tapped on the phone to indicate Zoro, "is like the exception that proves the rule, you know?"

"So, you do like him?" Gin asked, still a bit disbelieving. After all, he only knew Sanji as the ultimate womaniser – aside from that drunken mistake, of course. When the chef nodded carefully, his jaw dropped.

In silence they drunk their beer, not making eye contact. Finally Gin spoke up: "So, you're coming out to me or somethin'?

"I'm not sure. I don't know how to proceed," Sanji shrugged.

"You're not dating already? 'Cause that photo…"

"I was only doing him a favour by pretending I was his boyfriend," the chef quickly explained. "I know he liked me, but I might have taken too long to realize…"

Gin rolled his eyes. "Dude, have you seen that picture?" He grabbed Sanji's phone and pressed the photo practically against his nose. "Do you see how he looks at you? How long ago was this taken?'

"A few weeks ago, " he shrugged.

"Well, if you like this guy, go for it! I've never seen you doubting yourself when you liked a girl! Go get him!"

Sanji looked at his friend in utter shock for a while. "So," he asked carefully, "you don't mind I like a guy?'

Gin shrugged grinning, taking a sip from his beer. "More girls for me."

~ To be continued