Painted Passion (boyxboy)

Chapter 1

Danny balanced the box of groceries awkwardly in one arm and jabbed the doorbell with his free hand. The box teetered and swayed to the left. "Shit!" Danny hissed and grabbed it, securing it in both arms. That's all he needed—to drop the customer's items. Fuck up on his first day? He'd be fired for sure.

Footsteps approached the door from the inside. Danny shifted the box again as the door opened and a man in his mid-to-late twenties appeared before him. He was tall—taller than Danny and that was saying a lot, as Danny stood at six-foot-two-and-a-half. A skiff of neatly trimmed beard stubble sprinkled his chin and jaw, as black as his thick hair, which was a tad long but definitely worked for him. The man was built solid, though not bulky. Danny's eyes crawled helplessly over the swell of his biceps as they stretched the short sleeves of his t-shirt, his strong neck and hard body all the way down to his wonderfully "filled out" jeans—causing a zing in Danny's crotch.

Danny was still getting used to living openly as a gay man. He hadn't come out to anyone until he graduated high school, and that was barely a year ago. His family and friends hadn't ostracized him, but neither had they seemed thrilled by his news. His "lifestyle choice". As if he'd awakened one day and made the conscious decision to live the rest of his life fucking men rather than women.

"You can put the box in the kitchen," the man said. His voice was pleasantly deep and strummed Danny's nerve endings like a fine tuned instrument.

Nodding, Danny entered the house when the man stepped back and motioned him inside. He avoided eye contact for fear the guy would detect Danny's attraction to him. If he knew Danny was gay, he might ask the market for a different delivery boy. Straight men often felt very uncomfortable around gay guys, though Danny didn't really get why. Gay didn't mean deviant. Yet straight men seemed to have this preconceived perception that all gay men were a sexual threat—as if they would just jump on anything with a dick. Truth was gay men usually had higher standards than straight men, at least in Danny's opinion. He discreetly scanned the man's body as he stepped into his house. Although...I wouldn't mind jumping on you.

He banished the thought and entered the kitchen, placing the box on the counter. He turned around and bumped into the man who was closer behind him than he'd realized. "Sorry, sir," Danny mumbled and stepped out of the way as the guy checked the contents of the box. With the man distracted, Danny took the opportunity to give him a more thorough once-over.

Danny noticed paint stains on the guy's jeans and a few on his t-shirt. He was either an artist or had been painting his house. Danny's gaze sank down and settled on his ass, hugged quite snuggly in the denim. Damn. Danny had always been a sucker for a man in jeans.

"Everything looks good," the man murmured.

Indeed, Danny groaned inwardly, eyes still glued to the man's denim clad ass. He quickly redirected his stare when the customer turned around.

The man's sky blue eyes were a stark contrast to his black hair and matching eyebrows, and swept absently down Danny's frame as he reached into the rear pocket of his jeans and tugged out his wallet. "Are you new at the market?" the guy asked casually and plucked out a few bills. He met Danny's stare and Danny noticed that his eyelashes were as thick and dark as if he'd applied mascara, yet it was all natural. "I haven't seen you before."

"Uh, yeah," Danny nodded and accepted the payment for the groceries. "This is my first day." He thumbed through the bills then looked at the man. "You gave me too much," he said with a short laugh. "About fifty bucks too much."

"Consider it a tip."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "A fifty dollar tip?"

"You can't use the money?"

"Uh...yeah, of course, but..."

The man nodded. "What do you make as a delivery boy?"

Danny shrugged. "Minimum wage."

The guy chuckled. "That bad, huh? In that case, I wouldn't balk at a fifty dollar tip if I were you."

Nodding, Danny pursed his lips in a smile. "You're right. Thanks."

"I'm Magnum, by the way." The man thrust out his hand.

Magnum. Danny clasped his hand. Not a name he heard every day—but definitely the "name" he loved see splashed across his lover's box of condoms. Danny willed his eyes not to dive to the man's crotch to try and determine if his name suited him. "Danny," he spoke with a sudden rasp and thought he noted a slight quirk of the man's lips.

"Danny," Magnum murmured and smiled, retaining a firm grip on Danny's hand. "I like Danny. A very wholesome name."

"Wholesome?"

Magnum chuckled. "What? You're not wholesome?"

I was just contemplating the size of your package...you tell me. Danny smiled and was startled to feel warmth in his cheeks. Was he seriously fucking blushing? He hadn't blushed since his early teens—when he had been wholesome and innocent. But those days were long gone. So what the hell?

"Uh..." Danny grinned. "Probably wouldn't be the first word to come to mind."

His cheeks were scorching and he hoped like hell it wasn't showing nearly as much as he was feeling it.

Releasing his hand with a light squeeze that Danny desperately wanted to read something into, Magnum laughed softly. "Well, there must be some modesty in there since you didn't make a suggestive remark about my name."

Danny frowned. "Why would I do that?"

"Well," Magnum shrugged and smiled. "You tell a gay guy your name is Magnum, and...well, you usually get something back."

"Gay guy?"

"You are gay, right?"

Danny cleared his throat and shifted his feet. "Is it that obvious?" He hadn't considered himself "obviously" gay before now. But maybe he was wrong.

"Straight guys don't usually eyeball my ass," Magnum pointed out.

"Oh..." Danny's face pinched. "You saw that?"

Magnum cocked an eyebrow. "Mm-hm."

"Sorry," Danny cleared his throat again and averted his eyes. The guy seemed cool, but would he call the market after Danny left and request a different delivery boy next time? If he did, Danny would likely be fired. All because you couldn't keep your eyes off the guy's ass. Maybe if he did some damage control, he could avoid a disaster. "I shouldn't have been looking. If you let me continue to deliver to you, I'll be more respectful."

Magnum stared at him soberly and for a split second Danny thought he was up shit creek for sure—until the guy chuckled and shook his head. "Shit. The fifty dollar tip was for thinking I had a nice ass and boosting my ego."

Why would this guy need an ego boost?