Appetite (Chapter 14)
Title: Appetite
Main pairings: Rafael Nadal/Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer/Andy Murray
Other characters: Carlos Moya, Tommy Haas
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and this is a fiction.
Summary: Tommy and Carlos wake up in the morning after a dramatic night while Novak and David can't get over their losses.
From the previous chapter:
Carlos had taken care of a sick Tommy while David and Andy had gone out on a dinner-movie date. Rafael had been worried that Novak’s state might get worse since they came back in Spain so he was glad to see him happy, hitting with Dmitry.
Chapter 14: Sweet kisses
Tommy woke up in the morning with a horrible feeling in the head and in the ears.
‘What is this noise? Am I dead and in Hell?’
The answer to the question snored again and Tommy recognized that truck-driver snore.
‘Carlos?’
He suddenly remembered all about last night; how he had a high fever and sent his friend Philipp for a snack and ended up in Carlos’ arms.
‘Oh, so it wasn’t a dream! It was real! All of it! I actually called him hot!’
He lifted his head from the well-muscled chest and pinched the Spaniard’s noise. No matter how much he loved the elder player, his snore was unbearable.
A few seconds later, Carlos woke up, having difficulty to breathe. Someone was holding his nose.
“Tommy?” He sounded nasal until the German let go of him.
“Good lord, Carlos. I hoped you would be sleeping a little more quietly these days.”
The Spaniard couldn’t believe that the first real conversation after such a dramatic night was about his snore.
“Yeah, that’s why nobody wanted to sleep over.” And, he had just made that conversation even more awful.
Carlos bit his tongue and wanted to die, but since Tommy had his fair share of one-night stands as well, he decided to let it pass.
“Good to know that no one else can stand your snore. I’ll be the only one left in the end.”
Tommy had no idea where that kind of arrogant confidence came from but he didn’t regret saying it. He was jealous of whoever had shared the Spaniard’s bed for the past six years and didn’t want to think of anyone else other than himself in that bed.
Meanwhile, Carlos wondered if he was still asleep, dreaming one of the happiest dreams that he could ever think of. He had wished for so long to have a light, teasing conversation with Tommy and now, somehow it seemed like he was having one.
“Tommy, can I kiss you?”
Now, if this wasn’t a dream, Tommy would clearly laugh hysterically and kick him out of bed. But if this was a dream, Tommy would smile his to-die-for smile and nod.
‘Oh, so this is a dream.’ Feeling sad that it wasn’t reality, Carlos let out a long sigh and sat up properly to kiss the beautiful man.
The kiss was surreal and he couldn’t help smiling at the familiarity of the way how Tommy responded to his lips. He was lovely. This whole dream was lovely… until Carlos felt a sharp pain in the ribs.
“Ah!! Why are you hitting me?”
Tommy was angry, punching him all over.
“Carlos Moya! Do you think I waited six years to get a lousy kiss like that! Huh? You kiss me properly right now or I swear to God no matter how sick I get, I won’t see your god damn handsome face again!!”
Carlos needed a moment to recover from the sudden attack and happily realized that, in fact, it was not a dream. He could see Tommy shake his head, muttering something in German that didn’t sound too sweet. Tommy in real life had never been too sweet and he hadn’t hesitated to use a little violence on him. This Tommy in front of him was real.
“I don’t care if you’re worried of getting sick too. If I don’t get a decent kiss in three seconds, I’ll…”
Carlos didn’t need three seconds. He already had six years to get ready. He had been having a lot of practice with different mouths and tongues just in case Tommy would want something different. And, he would never care about getting sick as long as the German wasn’t giving him mononucleosis. So he gladly pulled the angry man in his arms and showed off his improved kissing skill which was at its very peak.
Tommy had no words for the kiss that he was getting. Not that he had an extra mouth to talk at the moment but still, he would have liked to comment on the incredibly sensual event.
‘So it’s totally worth getting sick like hell and probably having to pull out of Madrid.’
The kiss was deepened if it was possible and all Tommy could do was to hold onto Carlos’ neck. Either he was going to melt in the burning sensation or either he was going to die of thirst, eager for more Carlos.
“Carlos…” He pulled away, instinctively wanting to live.
“Sorry. You should be resting.”
The Spaniard put a hand on Tommy’s forehead and added, “You’re still hot. I’ll get you a fresh towel and heat that soup. Philipp bought so much stuff for you last night.”
“He did? I shouldn’t forget to kiss him thank you then.” Tommy giggled, getting bolder by the minute and enjoyed Carlos’ open stare.
Not seeing the point of getting upset at a joke, the Spaniard gently pushed the German back down on the bed before getting out of the bed. His heart had finally been pumping enough blood again until Tommy asked a question.
“What happens now, Carlos? What happens when I get better?”
That was the issue that both had been trying to avoid during the short morning.
“What do you want to do?” Carlos looked down at the younger guy.
“Do you still love me?” Tommy had to ask. He needed one last push to get back in the secret relationship.
Carlos wondered if he had enough courage to speak it out loud. Tommy had already been extremely brave even if it might have had a lot to do with fever. Now it was his turn to face the denied truth that had been gnawing them for years.
‘Please, Carlos. We need each other. Don’t push me away.’ Tommy hoped that Carlos would see the desperate longing in his eyes.
He waited and waited, not taking his eyes off the Spaniard’s.
“I love you even more.”
Tommy’s world started to spin and he was grateful that Carlos had made him lie down.
“Say it again.”
Tommy’s eyes filled with tears of relief and he could vaguely see the Spaniard kneel next to the bed.
“I don’t know why we wasted all that time, Tommy. I thought you forgot about me when I heard you were sleeping with other people and I forced myself not to think about you. How stupid.”
“That’s not what I asked you to say again.” Tommy made his point even though he was sobbing.
“I love you, Hasi. And if you want to make our relationship official, we’ll do that this time. Now I know that there can’t be anything worse than losing you.”
Hearing his nickname on his lover’s lips was enough for Tommy to jump up and throw himself in the Spaniard’s arms.
Everything was back to normal. He could have a life again. He wouldn’t have to shiver alone, afraid that his shoulder will pull him into the dark where no yellow balls were to be seen. He wouldn’t have to stop walking whenever he hears a Spanish accent nearby.
He could have it all now; the joy of poking Carlos in the ribs whenever he burns their breakfast eggs, the pleasure of kissing the tattoo on his right arm in the showers, and the delight of going grocery shopping together, forcing him to buy all the food that he liked. He could have it all back. He could have his Carlos back.
“Oh, by the way, do you know that I have strawberries in my backyard?” The Spaniard asked and chuckled at how fast those words made Tommy stop crying.
“Did you just say strawberries?” Tommy looked into Carlos’ eyes and demanded the truth.
“Uh-huh, I said strawberries.” Carlos was proud to repeat.
“Like those cute, red ones that I adore to death? The ones that we also used to put in the blender and do naughty stuff with it?”
“Oh, yes, those ones.” Carlos would never forget about those heated strawberried nights.
“Damn, I love you.”
Tommy was soon back in position, arms tightly around Carlos’ neck, his whole body and soul busy breathing in the overwhelming happiness.
“Let’s not make an official announcement just yet. I’m sure there will be a time when we will both feel that it is right. And, right now, I’m just happy to be the only one in your heart again.”
“You never really left, Tommy. And, it’s always going to be you.”
Carlos caressed Tommy’s hair and Tommy smiled at the gentle gesture. He was loved by Carlos Moya and that was all he had to know.
A few days later, Carlos, David and even Novak had all lost their matches and were out of the Madrid tournament. While Carlos didn’t look much into his defeat since he was blinded by the joy of having Tommy back, David and Novak weren’t taking their losses too well. The world number five had his Masters Cup ticket on the line and the world number three had been constantly disappointed in his form both on and off the court for the past few months.
“Hey, Nole, guess what? I borrowed Monopoly from Juanqui. It’s amazing that he travels with it, no?” Rafael asked, closing the door behind him.
“I’m not interested in Monopoly.” Novak answered and rolled over on the bed, facing the wall.
“Really? But it’s the SpongeBob Squarepants Edition.”
When Novak quickly rolled back and looked up at him, Rafael knew that his boy had taken the bait.
“SpongeBob?”
“Yes, you like SpongeBob, no?”
To be more persuasive, the world number one held the Monopoly box in front of the Serb’s face. “See? It’s really SpongeBob.”
“Why does Juanqui have the SpongeBob version? That doesn’t sound like him.” Now Novak was more interested in why the Spaniard had such a thing that didn’t suit him.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s from a fan?”
Since there were all sorts of different tennis fans around the world, Novak bought Rafael’s guess and nodded. He had already done too much thinking about his short tennis career and life in Spain that he was on the verge of getting a headache at any moment.
“You’re okay? You don’t look too well.” Rafael sat on the edge of the bed and caressed the boy’s cheek.
“You borrowed a SpongeBob game for me. Of course, I’m okay.”
Novak got out from the bed with his boyfriend’s help and sat down on the carpet with the board game.
“It’ll be more fun if we have four players, don’t you think?”
“Yes, that’s for sure. You want to go play with your friends?” Rafael suggested but Novak shook his head.
“No, let’s just call Ferru and Andy. I bet David could use some fun like me.”
“Ok. I’ll call Ferru, you call Andy.”
“Done.”
A few minutes later, a slightly drunk David and a very sober Andy walked into the hotel room together.
“How come you’re coming together?” Novak asked, wondering if they were sharing a room.
“We were down at the bar when you guys called.” Andy answered, sitting on the carpet. “I had a coke while he got a beer, if you want to ask why I look so non-alcoholic at the moment.”
Andy explained and was about to chuckle at the Monopoly in front of him when he felt David jump beside him.
“Oh! You have the SpongeBob version too! I gave this as a present to Juanqui last week!”
The other three froze in their seats while David was happy to discover that he had a close friend to share his passion for SpongeBob.
“Uh, well, this is Juanqui’s. He was kind enough to lend it to me.” Rafael explained while Andy turned around, his shoulders shaking with silent laughs.
“Oh, it’s Juanqui’s.” David felt blue again until Novak patted him on the arm.
“I like SpongeBob too. Just never thought that there were products like this. I only caught the cartoon on TV.”
That must have been a good explanation enough to help David get his good mood back and now, he was choosing which token he would like to play with. Of course, no one was surprised when he eventually chose SpongeBob. The other three quickly picked one each and the game started.
Things went fine as David started to sober up and Novak started to joke. Andy and Rafael were both relieved that a simple board game had the power to cheer up their boyfriends.
“Is it my turn?” David asked, maybe still not sober enough to remember unimportant details.
“No, I think it’s mine.” Novak spoke.
“Yeah, it’s your turn.” Rafael handed over the dice and Novak rolled them.
“Three.”
He made his Patrick take three steps and saw that he landed on Treasure Chest.
“Ok. Let’s flip the card over.”
He took the first card and turned it around to read it when he had to raise his eyebrows before roaring with laughter.
“Puhahaha!”
“What is it? You have to do something stupid?” Andy asked, anxious to find out what was written.
“I’ll read it. Give your boyfriend a blowjob or pay $ 8,000 to the bank. Ahahahaha.”
“What?” Rafael snatched the card and saw that the card had been tampered. Someone had written over the card and he knew that it wasn’t Juan Carlos’ handwriting.
“Good God, did Marat write that?” Andy took a look at the card as well and now all four were picking up the cards, busy reading them.
“Give your boyfriend a good, long kiss or go to jail.” David read.
“Give your boyfriend a huge smile and praise his personality or pay $ 1,000 to each player.” Andy read.
“Give your boyfriend a handjob or sell all your pineapple houses.” Rafael read.
“Give your boyfriend a strip show or don’t collect your salary.” Novak read and they all giggled.
After a few more rounds of interesting reading, they realized that actually not many cards had been tampered.
“Maybe he ran out of ideas, no?” David suggested but the other three shook their heads.
“Impossible.” Rafael didn’t have to say another word.
“With Marat? No chance.” Novak seconded his boyfriend.
“Maybe Juanqui slapped his hand while he was writing down another one.” Andy even gave his opinion on what might have had happened.
Then, Novak had a question that everyone had wanted to ask. “Ferru, tell me, why did you give them such a game?”
“Because they usually do very… dark stuff, no? With lights off, making noises.” David blushed a little before adding, “So I thought this would make them brighter but maybe it made them even darker.”
He rubbed his chin with a serious face and asked, “Do you think they would’ve really done what’s written in here?”
“Eww, I hope not.” Andy dropped his card in disgust while Rafael started to take out the inappropriate cards from the deck.
“We’ll just use the right ones, no?”
Everyone agreed to his suggestion and soon the play resumed.
Exactly an hour later, David was close to bankruptcy while Novak was enjoying the wealth of his life. Rafael and Andy were hanging on with tight budgets, constantly getting loans from the bank and selling their few left pineapple houses.
Given his financial state, the elder Spaniard was fully sober now, trying to throw the dice in the best way possible so that the numbers would make him avoid landing on Novak’s fancy properties.
“Please, please, please, please, please!!”
After a loud and desperate pray, he threw the dice high in the air and moved five steps forward.
“Yay! Life preserver cards!”
David happily flipped his card, relieved that he stayed out of Novak’s land but then he realized that there could be something even worse than paying more money to the Serb.
“What’s wrong?” Rafael asked, looking at his best friend who looked like he was going to cry. Actually, Rafael knew perfectly well why he was looking like that but he never thought it would be David who would get to pick that card.
“This is one of those wrong cards! You forgot to put it away!” David’s voice was louder than necessary and Rafael pinched his own thigh not to roll on the floor, laughing.
“What is it?” Andy asked and tried to look at the card but David jumped back and shook his head.
“Hey, if it’s a wrong card, why don’t you just… ouch!! Rafa!” Novak rubbed his arm where his boyfriend had slapped him.
“Yes, I should just pick another one, no?” David pleaded with his eyes but unfortunately, it didn’t have any effects on his best friend.
“Even if I made a mistake, we already played with all the cards for an hour, no? Too late to pull that one out now.”
While David’s jaw dropped in shock, Andy finally snatched the card and read it out loud. “Give your boyfriend the kiss of his life or declare bankruptcy.”
“Oh…” Novak could see Rafael’s fingerprints all over the card. His boyfriend had purposely left it in.
“Andy, it’s not fair to really do that, no? It’s a bad card so I’ll just pick the next one.” David now begged to Andy but sadly, the Scot was thinking about the idea of getting a good kiss.
Judging by recent events, he was sure that kissing the Spaniard would be a huge challenge. But with a little help with the tampered card, maybe he could get lucky.
“I’m sorry, Ferru. Honestly, I’d like a kiss.”
Novak and Rafael giggled like crazy kids while David considered giving up the game.
‘No, it’s SpongeBob Monopoly, no? I can’t retire in anything that has to do with SpongeBob.’
Besides, he was a professional athlete. He was competitive more than people thought.
“But since this wasn’t supposed to be here, why not just give him a short kiss? That sounds fair, right?” Novak felt bad for his practice partner and new friend, and gladly, everyone agreed.
To make things easier for David, Andy closed his eyes and Rafael lowered the light. Novak was feeling so much better now. His matchmaking was going just perfectly, thanks to his wicked boyfriend and not-so-shy best friend.
Thump-thump.
David’s heart was beating too loud and he felt light-headed.
‘Oh, what did I do to deserve this? Was losing a tennis match that bad?’ He asked a question to God but since he didn’t get any kind of immediate response, he knew that he had to go through his blissful punishment.
‘Ok. It’s ok. I can do it. I kissed many men before, no? Many!’
He courageously grabbed Andy’s face, maybe a little too forcefully and took a deep breath.
‘Ah, I hope he doesn’t mind the beer I drank.’
Gulp.
‘Ok, on three… two… one…’
He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his lips against Andy’s.
“Yay!!”
Novak and Rafael enjoyed a high-five while David already forgot about everything else and immersed himself into the kiss. Andy felt even better than he had imagined. The kiss was so much more than he had dreamt of.
‘Ah, now I feel much better, no? Next time I lose, I’ll ask for a kiss.’
Taking a mental note, David let go of poor Andy’s cheeks and rather hugged his boyfriend by the shoulders. It felt good and he could tell that Andy felt the same.
“Aww.”
Novak grabbed Rafael’s hand and they shamelessly stared in awe.
‘SpongeBob Monopoly rules!’ Novak thought, laying his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder.