Chapter 6

John woke with a shiver of pleasure. Frank's rough stubble was rubbing against his stomach as he gently sucked the tip of John's cock into his mouth. Waking this way made him groan and rub Frank's shoulders to encourage him to continue.

"Oh, I could get used to this," John murmured.

Frank's response was to roll his tongue around until John was fully erect, then he began to suck and release with an unhurried rhythm. It was minutes before John began to flex and squeeze he muscles to match Frank's languid tempo.

John ran his hands over Frank's back and shoulders, hissing and humming as the pleasure took him away. It would have been easy to let go quickly, but there was no reason to hurry and John was happy to enjoy the slow pace.

Frank pushed at John's thigh to get him to open up more, and when John complied he felt warm fingers caress his balls and lower shaft. The warmth and pressure built until John had to bite his lips to make it last a little longer.

"Oh," he murmured as his moment arrived and he throbbed inside Frank's mouth. Hissing as Frank took him in all the way, his orgasm intensified again then left him feeling limp as it passed. "That was amazing."

After sucking a moment longer, Frank slid his rapidly deflating shaft out with a kiss and a stretch. "I'm still hungry."

"We never ate dinner," John said and pulled for him to come up to the pillows.

"I'll cook us something in a little bit," Frank said as he shifted around to rest his head on John's chest. He touched his stomach and chest, moving his fingertips around slowly.

John sighed and kissed his hair, his own fingers tracing among the curls. "I'm fine with cereal or whatever. You don't have to cook for me."

"I should get up and go work out. I haven't had time to go to the gym since I got back from the ski trip." He chuckled. "You make me lazy."

"Don't blame me, I've only been here since Friday!" Had it only been four days? It felt longer than that.

"Want to go with me to the gym?" Frank asked, looking around to meet his eyes. "There's a smoothie place we could go afterwards and pretend to eat a healthy breakfast."

"Sure," John replied. "But first come a little closer."

Frank's earlier activities had aroused him and John wanted to release his tension. As they kissed, he stroked Frank's soft skin, pushing him over on his back. The slick precum already covered his head, so John kept kissing as his fingers squeezed, bringing up more of the slick mess to smooth things along.

Eventually there was enough to stroke him from balls to tip, his hand a tight tunnel for Frank's cock to push through. Frank stopped kissing as his forehead beaded sweat. John watched his face as he tensed until his mouth opened and a small sound in his throat announced the flood that spilled over his fingers.

"Now we can go," John whispered and nipped at Frank's lips.

Frank's gym wasn't like the slick, colorful strip mall gyms John was familiar with. The building looked run down and neglected, with faded posters announcing boxing matches near the door. John glanced around the rough looking neighborhood and wondered how Frank found this place.

"You can put your stuff in my locker," Frank said as he led John into a musky smelling room full of rusty lockers covered in graffiti. Frank's locker had a shiny combination lock that he spun with practiced ease. After putting their work clothes away, he led John into a free weight area next to a boxing ring.

That early in the morning there weren't many people there. Frank nodded to one guy, then moved over to change the weights on the bench press. "Wanna spot me first?"

"Sure," John said and moved around to help Frank get the bar in position. "How many reps."

"Four sets of twenty," Frank said as he adjusted his grip.

John helped him lift it, then stood by mentally counting as Frank began pushing the heavy bar through the first set. At twenty, John took the weight of the bar to give Frank a chance to rest and adjust his grip.

"Okay," Frank said as he took the weight back for his second set.

The place was the exact opposite of the kind of gym he imagined Frank would have picked. The drop ceiling had stained and missing tiles, the carpet had been put together from mismatched patches, and corners of the ceiling had wispy cobwebs.

"That's two," Frank said, letting John hold the bar as he swung his arms around to loosen the muscles. "Okay, I'm ready."

The boxing ring looked newer, or at least less stained than the ceiling. He saw a cracked glass case full of trophies next to a closed wooden door with a small sign that said Office.

"Three," Frank whispered through the last push. "Fuck, I shouldn't have skipped for so long."

"I got ya," John said as he held the weights. "Take your time."

Shaking out his arms one more time, Frank took the weights again. "Watch me. I may not make the whole set."

John stared at the sweating face below him. Frank clenched his jaw as he concentrated on forcing the bar up. By ten he was starting to quiver from the strain, so John kept his hands under the bar in case he dropped them. By fifteen his face was red and cords stood out on his neck, but he kept going. Nineteen was a close thing as he got his arms fully extended only by making a guttural grunt. On twenty he made it half way up before he stalled.

"You can do this, push it up," John commanded. Frank shouted as he gave one last effort to his arms straight. John took the bar from him and placed it back in its cradle. "Told ya. Good job."

"You're turn," Frank said with a grin. The muscles in his arms were standing out, clearly defined and shiny with sweat.

He tore his eyes away and glanced at the taped up cushion on the bench. "I've never done free weights. Just machines."

"Pussy," Frank muttered. "Get on that bench." The smile in his eyes took the sting away from his words.

John settled himself on the hard bench and put his hands on the bar. He realized he could see up Frank's shirt as his eyes caught the light trail of hair leading down into his shorts. Pushing up, Frank helped him lower the weights until the bar was just above his chest.

"Push straight up, don't let the weight shift forward or back. Tell me if you are losing your grip and I'll grab them. Let's see how far you can go."

At first the weight didn't feel like much of a challenge. He breezed through the first five reps before he felt the burn start. He kept at it and made it through the first twenty without too much trouble.

"Think you're tough, don't ya," Frank grinned as he held the bar while John rested.

"I don't know about four sets," John warned as he gripped the bar again.

"Just keep going until you really feel it, but don't push too hard and hurt yourself."

The next set all burned, but it was the good kind of burn of muscles warming to activity. He was breaking a sweat when Frank took the bar again. "So far so good."

By the end of the third set, John was done. His arms felt like noodles and he was sweating freely. "I'm gonna have to play catch up for a few weeks."

"You did great," Frank said as he led them to the hand weights. "Let's do some curls and lifts."

Frank's workout was brutal, but it made John feel better than the less intense, more aerobic workouts at his gym back in San Diego. They focused on their arms, chest, and back, and after an hour John didn't feel like he could lift his arm over his head. By the time they headed to the showers, the place was filling up with huge guys who clearly spent more time in the gym than either of them.

"Let's get our towels and soap. The showers are over here."

John smiled at the surreal way they could be naked around each other in a public place like this after the intimacy they shared in the morning. Frank was all business as he tossed John a towel, but the smiling wink he gave said he was thinking the same kind of thing.

The showers were in one large cinder block room with hooks for towels and little trays for soap. Frank turned on two on to let the steam build. "So what do ya think?" Frank asked.

"I like it," John replied as he looked around. "It has character."

"Exactly," Frank said with nod. "And it's about the workout here, not about trolling for dates. I fucking hate those neon places full of chicks who put makeup on before they go work out."

John nodded as he washed his hair. "I miss the eye candy, though. In San Diego, it seems like all the girls looked like actors or models."

Frank leaned into the streaming water with a smile and began to wash his hair. "For someone who never worked with free weights, you did pretty good."

"You're a good teacher." John scrubbed the sweat from his body with the soapy cloth.

After they rinsed, Frank looked away and asked. "So have you decided?"

"Yes," John said with a determined bite.

"And?" Frank asked.

"Yes," John said, turning off the water and rubbing himself briskly with the towel. He felt his face heat, but didn't want to look at Frank for fear of forming a physical reaction to his decision.

Frank took a deep breath as he turned off his shower to dry off as well. "Good."

The office looked the same, but it already felt different to John. He put his laptop bag on the meeting room table and pulled out his laptop. After Frank got him up and running on the network, he disappeared into his office for a while.

Roger showed up with his briefcase full of papers and began to arrange himself at the meeting table with John.

"You guys figure out what you're gonna do?" he asked.

John had a moment of panic when he thought Roger was asking about their living arrangements, but realized he wanted to know about the new company structure. "We're both in," he said after too long a pause.

Roger looked up and stared for a moment, his face inscrutable. "I'd rather see Frank go down fighting. Thanks for pitching in on this with him."

"It's a great opportunity." John couldn't look away from his eyes. Roger looked like he wanted to say something, but finally shrugged and returned to the documents in front of him.

"Any better idea for a name than Six Way Consulting?" Roger asked.

"Nothing came to mind. It doesn't really matter. The product name is more important."

"What are you gonna call it?" Roger asked.

"Beats me. Not my job," he laughed. "Maybe Lily will have an idea. She's the one with marketing experience, but we've got to get it built first."

The rest of the team came in over the next half-hour in looking fresh and excited. While John created a new folder and set of templates for the project on his laptop, he greeted everyone by name.

He was tempted to get up and wipe the whiteboards clean, but didn't know if any of it was important. Just as he thought that, Raj got up and began to spray and wipe the boards back to pure white.

The initial meeting confirmed everyone was on board, at least for the initial six week development period to get the product ready. After they'd all signed, Roger left them to work, promising to return later with notarized copies for everyone of the articles of incorporation.

Some of the legacy code from the first failed attempt could be reused, but Frank didn't want to taint the new direction with old assumptions. While he created new source code repositories, cleared the bug tracking system, and archived all the old documentation, John spent time getting to know the staff and take notes as they eagerly planned the revised product specifications.

Frank worked quietly and didn't speak much, which helped the others feel free to speak their minds. The original effort was treated like a learning process rather than a failure, taking the sting out of Frank's demotion from boss to coworker. As everyone spoke, John took copious notes, asking questions to allow each person an opportunity to clarify their points and ideas.