Impress Me Not: Neon Underground

Chapter 62

"I'm not letting you go," Mateo tightened his grip around him. "You can't make me."

"For someone who's as toned as you," Melvin gave a raspy chuckle. "I'm surprised you can act so adorable."

"Don't ever call me that again," he threatened. "That's got to be the worst insult I could ever be called!"

"Oh, I can think of plenty more suitable ones," the man said, stretching underneath him. His muscles were hidden underneath his pale skin, but Mateo absolutely loved feeling them every time he flexed or stretched. "You shouldn't be insulted at being called adorable."

"You make it sound like I'm just a sissy or something," Mateo frowned, still keeping his arms around him. He couldn't help but want to be close. This man somehow managed to send him to heaven right after torturing him down to hell for hours. While there was pain, Mateo wouldn't have stopped it if he could. It felt like he had gotten pushed to the absolute limit that day. His body was exhausted, but he still craved more.

Mateo couldn't get enough of this man. Even a simple touch like him combing through Mateo's hair was enough to make his body start buzzing, trying to be as close as possible to him.

"Stop thinking like that," Melvin told him. "Men are allowed to be cute. The ones who think otherwise are just too insecure in themselves to accept a softer side of themselves."

"You really think that's all of them?" Mateo asked. "Even the toughest ones?"

"I've had completely straight men come into my bar with an expressionless face," Melvin started. "Start drinking, and as soon as they get a random hug and some comfort start bawling like a child."

"No way," Mateo shook his head. "That just sounds made up."

"Men are too used to the stigma of not being able to cry around anyone," Melvin told him. "There's both women and men both that teach others at a young age that men don't cry. It can cause a lot of pent-up aggression."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Mateo hummed. "Have you seriously randomly hugged a stranger before?"

"He looked like he really needed one," he chuckled. "All I did was hug him and say 'it's okay' over and over again. It was a little awkward at first, but eventually the tears came."

"What was he upset about?"

"He was dealing with a family member who was disabled," Melvin said. "Both him and his wife were having to spend most of their free time outside of taking care of their children, taking care of that family member as well."

"Isn't there a home for them or something?" Mateo asked. "I mean, I'm glad that they're taking care of the family member. But doesn't the state have something for when they can't take care of them by themselves?"

"Probably," Melvin answered. "But that wasn't the point. The point was that this man was the problem solver in his household, and felt like he couldn't talk about what he truly felt about the situation."

"Did you give him advice?"

"I told him to talk to his wife about it," Melvin answered. "A lot of the girls there came over and comforted him too, giving their own advice. It was a good night."

"That's a weirdly wholesome story for a nightclub focusing on sex," Mateo laughed. "How the hell do you get those kinds of nights at your club?"

"My club is about BDSM," Melvin answered. "And many people use BDSM for therapeutic reasons. You'd be amazed at what will be said in the middle of a session."

Mateo remembered the last session he had in those private rooms. He shouldn't be that surprised about this story, honestly. He was one of those people who had started bawling his eyes out in the middle of a session, just because of a few words that sparked some nasty memories.