Chapter Text
Johnny doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do when he sees him.
In fairness, he wasn’t really all that sure what he was supposed to do when he saw what LA had to offer either. Harp’s so up his own ass that it’s easy to just smile and nod before rolling his eyes once his back is turned and Pappas seems to respect him, but that’s only because he made him through brute force. That’s all Johnny knows at the end of the day; “listen and shut up” or “yell until you’re on top” are the only ways he won games and the only way he got through Quantico. Both are quick and easy which is why a full undercover mission thanks to their only evidence being a screenshot of a bare ass and a tin of surfboard wax doesn’t sit well with him, especially not the easygoing hippie types that he’s gonna have to deal with for the next month.
The way that this Tyler Endicott treats him like shit is actually a massive relief more than anything; Johnny’s kinda into it if he’s honest with himself, but she’s just a contact. He’s just using her to get in since she doesn’t at all match the profiles he’s been given and she’s totally not someone he could see himself pursuing if this wasn’t a case. He also knows that the way he talked about his parents to get into her space and get him surfing was purely for show. Yeah, his old man was the one to get him into football and him getting into law enforcement was him and his mom’s dream instead of his, but the dead parents thing is his Get Out Of Jail Free card. Johnny didn’t use Tyler’s amazing listening skills and eventual agreement to teach him the next morning as therapy by proxy to get out his frustrations about being controlled all his life.
He knew if he told himself that enough times while he shopped around for a second wetsuit before coming home and letting his cat, Unitas, curl up at his feet while he took notes on what she’s like, it would become true. What he can’t do now that next day after intense but rewarding lessons from Tyler that are gonna come in handy later is figure out what he’s gonna do about the fact that he now has a second surfer that’s catching his eye in the wrong way with Bodhi.
Tyler’s been telling him little tidbits about all the regulars throughout the day so she can immediately sense the way he’s staring at him, Johnny hoping that it’s only curiosity she’s getting. Bodhi’s obviously the one with the most skill, grace, and poise of everyone on that beach and he knows it with how he hollers and carries on in the surf, making Johnny stare at him even as he gets the impression that his instructor of sorts isn’t all that impressed. He doesn’t get how she couldn’t be either, not with how commanding he looks - at least until he’s sprinting over and collecting her in his arms to kiss before she shrugs him away.
No wonder. Doesn’t stop Johnny from feeling a pang of something towards them both for it, though.
It doesn’t stop him from clamming up either, feeling speechless over the way Bodhi rags on his board just like he did when Tyler gave him hell for it just a few days before, but at least he had the excuse of almost dying to back him up there. Johnny has nothing to fall back on except dazed confusion with an attempt to think of how talking to the most talented member of the surfing gang here would be a massive boon for the case, but it’s not enough. He has to rely on being a dumb jock once again and steals an incoming football from the game being played nearby them on pure instinct as an icebreaker which does the trick even if he’s got the voice of Harp in his head reprimanding him for it. If it manages to get him to learn the basics about him - how long he’s been surfing, where he’s from, whatever “the ultimate ride” is - it has to be good, so Johnny could care less what his boss might have to say.
Bodhi, it turns out, is from further south of LA and has been at this for nearly a decade; that makes him a perfect lead-in now that Johnny knows enough not to kill himself thanks to Tyler. When he asks about that ultimate ride over a picnic dinner that the group gets set up once they’re mostly back in their streetwear, Bodhi just laughs and says, “That depends on your perspective, compadre ,” and Johnny takes much too long to chew his shrimp to keep from scoffing. Tyler does the job for him, clearly having heard this song and dance countless times before, but he can’t deny what a great storyteller this guy is even while being all existential about it. Johnny’s trained to know when something’s a façade and when it’s not so even with all the flowery descriptions of waves that make them sound like certain pieces of anatomy or all the platitudes about how “totally gnarly the weather gets so it can fuck up our auras,” Bodhi seems one hundred percent genuine to him.
It might be why Johnny runs back to his car after they eat to switch on his walkie-talkie so he can let Pappas know that he’ll be a part of the football game the guys have invited him to once he’s briefed him on all the new info he’s gathered. The way his partner barks out a laugh and says, “Alright, kid, have fun playing grabass with your new buddies,” makes him wonder if his ruse that it’s for the good of the operation is that transparent.
But Johnny doesn’t linger on it, knowing that being in his comfort zone of getting to play again is gonna help him be more comfortable among these people. Their area of the beach reeks of alcohol now that the sun’s gone down, but it just adds to the loose, playful atmosphere as he tries his best to integrate into what’s obviously a chosen family. A part of him feels nervous when Rosie, the resident biker of the group, scoops up Tyler and starts to carry her away when she brags about landing a great catch, but the joyful laugh she lets out calms him down. Keeping an eye on her is also his excuse as to why he opens himself up to a tackle from Bodhi, the two of them being the quarterbacks for the evening, just like the chill of the night is his excuse for the goosebumps that prickle over his skin after.
Bodhi’s able to best him after that, knocking everyone who gets in his way to the sandy beach below, and Johnny doesn’t know if it’s to get on his level or to impress him when he finds himself going for the ball. He knows Bodhi must hear his footsteps but he doesn’t look back and it challenges him, especially after Roach, Grommet, and the rest of his pals spent the last round making fun of him, so Johnny has no problem chasing him down the entire expanse of the beach. It reminds him of his final game at the Rose Bowl with the Buckeyes when they were just one touchdown away from taking it and this moment of getting Bodhi to recognize his talent makes him stupid.
It’s a level of stupid enough to make Johnny grab him just as he reaches the shore and fling him into the sea. The grip Bodhi gets around his torso is nearly painful, the way he stares him down as they come up for air hitting him just as hard. His mouth hangs open as it curls into a smirk and Johnny nearly misses the way his posse barrels towards them when they start heading back. Roach is the one to get in his face, his eyes wide and crazed as he asks, “Hey, what the fuck is wrong with you ? Don’t you think that’s a little out of line?”
Johnny’s ready to point out how they’ve all been tackled during the night and a little water isn’t gonna hurt anybody, but he feels like he’s lost his voice when Bodhi takes the reigns and says, “Whoa whoa whoa, cool it, Roach - don’t you know who this is?”
“No, I don’t know who this is.”
“This is Johnny Utah,” Bodhi declares triumphantly like a celebrity is amongst them. “The Ohio State Buckeyes all state conference, remember?”
It’s amazing how quickly the group becomes peaceful in the blink of an eye once they recognize him and Johnny’s happy to bask in the attention, but it’s the way Bodhi pointed him out that’s got him buzzing. Tyler looks like she barely gives a shit beyond banal amusement over his feats, but Bodhi seems downright tickled to be here with him and it’s screwing with Johnny’s head. They haven’t even known each other a full twelve hours and this man respects him so deeply already; Johnny’s supposed to see this as a win for the case, but he can’t think about it. He can only think about how thrilled Bodhi is that the Johnny Utah’s gonna be surfing with them and just how warm he feels over the attention.
But it certainly isn't the same warmth that he felt low in his stomach over getting to roll around with him. It absolutely cannot be and he shouldn’t hang back after the group starts dissipating to head home after another full hour of football. Johnny needs to go home too, needs to report back to Pappas about how he’s already fully integrated and has to get home to make sure Unitas is fed, but he’s gotta let his knee rest and sit on the shore for a while. It flares up after heavy physical activity, after all, no matter how much he stretches and exercises it. He hasn’t let himself drink any of the Coronas that have been tossed back so he’s stuck with a bottle of water as he waves goodbye at Tyler, laughing after she calls out, “Don’t let me catch you with that shitty footing again tomorrow!”
“I swear I won’t,” he calls back once he’s taken a swig of it with a weak attempt as a shaka brah. “Don’t want to get my ass kicked.”
As she gives him the middle finger with a grin on her way up the steps towards the parking lot, he just sighs and leans back on his elbows while letting his legs stretch out on the blanket underneath him. The droplets splashing towards him from the waves hitting the shore just a couple feet away from him are a cool little bite against his exposed stomach that relaxes him as he watches a sober Bodhi making grand gestures while he sends his drunken friends off. It’s all intense shoulder claps, hair-ruffling, and fake tackles that make Johnny tut where he lays once it ends with Roach, Grommet, Nathaniel, and Rosie all giving him a group hug that they spin around him for. The whooping and cackling coming from it with their grips no lower than their shoulder blades makes it an incredibly masculine one, but there’s still some semblance of love there.
It’s way too early to decide that they could be the Ex-Presidents, especially when there’s a fifth person among them, so Johnny just flips his bangs away from his forehead and stares up at the moon instead of thinking about it too hard. Some peace and quiet after all the excitement sounds pretty nice anyway and it seems like he’s gonna find it now that he’s alone with his board perched in the sand behind him. Johnny shuts his eyes and breathes in the salty air with a soft hum, doing everything he can not to let his thoughts drift to the tug of war already going on in the back of his mind over his two new associates.
“Hey Utah - you good over there?”
He exhales sharply and opens his eyes, knowing fate’s made the decision for him. “Yeah, Bodhi, I’m good.”
“Cool.” Bodhi waves at him once he turns his head to see him strolling over, asking, “Mind if I get a seat?”
Johnny shrugs, feeling the urge to seem cool and aloof as he shifts to sit with his legs crossed and rubs at his knee. “Whatever, brah.”
“Thanks, amigo ,” Bodhi chuckles as he sits next to him, their knees bumping together. “Did we wear you out back there?”
“No way,” he answers, laughing back while shaking his head. “This happens all the time, don’t worry about it.”
“Man, just three years ago, huh? Life’s got a sick sense of humor.”
“I guess so.”
“But it’s like I said - it’s just beginning for you.” Johnny misses the warmth he’s just beginning to feel between the layers of clothes on their knees as Bodhi turns to face him with a wild grin. “This sea behind us? It’s full of possibilities for you and I cannot wait to see what you do in it. I saw how it looked out there earlier too, it’s like - it’s like you were supposed to be in that ocean.”
Johnny snorts. “I thought I looked like a fish out of water, but thanks.”
“Not in my book, man,” Bodhi says, softer this time. “You could be one of the greats. Again, I mean.”
He can’t tell if Bodhi’s hitting on him or kissing his ass to mess with him, but Johnny knows it feels good whatever it is. “That’s really nice of you,” he says just as softly. “It’s so hard but it feels amazing when I'm close to getting it right and...and I guess I don’t have to tell you that, do I?”
Bodhi shrugs and keeps his eyes on him. “Doesn’t make it anything less than the truth. Talk all you want, Johnny. Unless you don’t want to do any talking.”
He really should make himself get up and do what needs to get done, so Johnny shrugs and says, “Yeah, man, there’s not much left to say but how nice tonight’s been.”
“I think so too.” Bodhi stays where he’s sat with his eyes steady on him which confuses him until he feels the slide of his palm over his thigh. “Never made it with a football player before,” he whispers jovially, impossibly loud over the still crackling fire ahead of them just like the sound of Johnny’s heartbeat as his fingers creep their way inward. “Never made it with a lawyer either, but that’s just ‘cause those don’t like me very much.”
“Bodhi-”
“Yeah,” he breathes before leaning in and pressing his smirking lips against Johnny’s.
Johnny gasps into it, his hands coming up to grab his shoulders and push against him even as he impulsively kisses back. Bodhi’s lips are impossibly soft and his grip on his thigh is so warm, but this isn’t how the night’s supposed to go - it’s not how he’s supposed to behave undercover on his first big case in bright, shining LA. Just as he starts to let himself tilt his head and part his lips for him, Johnny comes to his senses and gasps out, “Wait a sec,” sounding breathier than he wanted to thanks to the way Bodhi sucked on his bottom lip as he pulled away.
Bodhi’s brow lifts and furrows as he lifts his hand from his leg to push back Johnny’s bangs out of his face, asking, “Oh man, did I read the wrong signals or something? I was sure we had the same sort of energy going on here with the way you were sizing me up earlier.”
Johnny feels sheepish suddenly, wondering if he’s actually not as good of an actor as he thought he was. “Kinda hard not to size you up when you’re busting my ass.”
“Yeah well,” Bodhi says, his voice growing softer again. “It’s kinda hard not to size you up when you look the way you do.”
“Come on,” Johnny laughs out. “You do this with every new surfer you meet?”
Bodhi shakes his head, laughing back. “Just the pretty ones.”
“Good line.”
“Not a line.” Bodhi runs his thumb over Johnny’s cheekbone and cocks his head with a grin as he says, “Guess I’m not your type though, huh? You know what I mean?”
As Bodhi gestures over his form, Johnny knows exactly what he means; he knows that being undercover like this even as he’s used his real name means he can be honest about how Bodhi totally is one of his types. He can admit that he’s kissed guys before, let himself be touched by a few of his teammates in the locker room after games before doing the same for them, and even got curious with his roommate at Quantico enough for them to lay on their sides on his bed and suck each other off.
Maybe Johnny even feels okay with slipping his fingers inside himself when he’s alone and stroking his cock isn’t enough, but of course he can’t be a complete open book. Saying all of that even in this space where nobody knows him and this guy’s clearly into him is still terrifying, so Johnny just laughs again and says, “Never said you weren’t.”
Bodhi catches the way he licks his lips just as he’s realized he’s done it, but he doesn’t try to act like he’s been caught. “So what’s the catch then? I’m not asking to marry you or anything,” he says with his own chuckle. “I just want to feel good with you for a little while and then we can go home. Let me off easy if you want. I’m a big boy and you’re your own man, but I swear that’s all, Johnny.”
Having the out comforts him; it’s not like it’s a good idea to get involved with Bodhi anyway, not when Johnny knows there’s still that slim possibility that he’s his guy. He’s technically on the clock too, bound by the Bureau’s oath even while leading a genuinely ridiculous undercover sting, so getting off with anybody instead of asking more pressing questions about the kind of people who are out here is grounds for some reprimanding. Johnny managed not to let himself think with his dick with Tyler, so he knows he should be able to do it a second time now, but Bodhi’s eyes are piercing. They’re still trailing over his figure and land to stare at his stomach that he pulls in impulsively over the attention, trying to will away the arousal starting to stir in it over the idea of being touched by someone else after months of nothing since his Quantico roommate.
He’s just been so focused on getting it right; the longer Johnny feels Bodhi’s gaze on him and feels himself twitch in his jeans, he starts to wonder what would be so bad about shutting his brain off to do something wrong for just one night.
“If that’s really all,” Johnny says, slowly shifting to face him. “Then I think I can handle that.”
Bodhi looks hopeful as he brings his gaze back up to his face. “Yeah?”
Johnny nods, feeling bold. “The Bodhisattva’s supposed to be selfless or something, right? Prove it.”
“Oh baby, I will,” Bodhi sighs with a grin before coming forward to cup the back of his head and pull him in.
The grip of his fingers curled in his hair is gentle even while he kisses him hard enough to make him have to cup either side of his neck and Johnny’s happy to part his lips so Bodhi can lick inside. Johnny hugs around his shoulders and lets him lead, trying to keep his bearings about him once he feels Bodhi guiding him to lay back against his towel once he’s kissed and bit at his lips long enough to get him panting. He’s had to be strong and tough for weeks now that he’s finally where he wants to be, but letting himself be pressed into and splayed out for someone feels like a weight’s been lifted from him and makes him desperate. There’s irony in that as Bodhi’s chest leans heavily against his, his thigh creeping between his legs while the press of his lips grows softer, but Johnny’s too distracted by both to care. The shift from needy licks to gentle pecks as the press of his thigh grinds against him confuses him and makes him lightly pull at the sun-soaked hair dusting the shoulders in his hold for more, but Bodhi just pulls back to chuckle down at him.
“Relax, Number Nine,” he says while he rests his forehead against his as they catch their breaths. "The night's still young."
"After the way you kissed me?"
"And now I see my mistake." Bodhi's leg is still pressed deliciously against him, but his hands stay up high, cupping his face as he says, "You're too special to rush with - gotta take my time with you."
Johnny scoffs even as he bucks up lightly against the pressure. "That's your nostalgia talking."
Bodhi laughs. "You think I just want to do this because I'm a fan?"
Johnny shrugs, turning his head and trying not to nuzzle into Bodhi's palm. "Haven't known you long, so maybe."
The way he's started talking back is a defense mechanism, part FBI brain knowing that whatever Bodhi's got to say back is just a maneuver to get in his pants and part that tiny voice of reason in his head saying this is a mistake trying to put up a fight. There’s no point in trying since he can feel how hard he’s getting against him and he’s happy about it, but Johnny still feels like he can’t have this - like he shouldn’t have this. As if Bodhi can read his mind, he leans in to press his face in his neck and breathes him in. “Feels like I shouldn’t get to kiss somebody as pretty as you,” he whispers against his skin. “Doesn’t have a thing to do with any bullshit nostalgia. It’s just you.”
Johnny shivers, craning his neck to let him kiss along the slope of it and shutting his eyes when he whimpers over Bodhi just barely pressing his teeth against the place where his neck and shoulder meet. He means for it to have more bite, but it comes out breathy again when he pets through his hair and asks, “So I’m just pretty then? Is that really it?”
“More than that,” Bodhi answers between licks to soothe him. “Anybody that goes from the field to corporate like that is a fighter, but anybody that goes from corporate to coming out here? That’s a warrior. You’re driven and a force of nature and I can feel that under your skin, Utah, so I am all about seeing what I can do to let you loosen up a bit. You with me?”
“Fuck,” he says under his breath, knowing this minimal attention shouldn’t be riling him up as much as it is. “Yeah. I’m with you.”
“Good,” Bodhi sighs before grazing his teeth over his neck again and humming softly. “Your boss at the firm probably won’t like seeing you all marked up tomorrow, though, huh?”
Johnny swallows thickly, unable to stop from chuckling to himself over the way Harp would lose his mind over it. “I don’t think so, brah.”
“Then let’s find somewhere else for that.”
“Huh?”
Bodhi lifts up to flip his hair out his eyes and slides down until he’s level with his crotch so he can trace his fingers over the stripe of skin on display over his waistband. “There we go,” he says before leaning and pressing a soft, wet kiss next to his navel. “That’s perfect, don’t you think? The second I saw you come back from your car looking like this, I knew I had to get my mouth on you. Time to make it happen.”
The way he can feel Bodhi grinning against him over the gasp he lets out makes goosebumps spread under his lips while he mouths at his stomach and finally gets his hand over his now fully-hard cock through his jeans. He squeezes the line of him as his thumb traces over the head, his other hand tugging at one of his belt loops so he can get to his hip and latch onto it with his mouth. That firm press of lips and teeth makes Johnny groan louder than he means to in time with the way he brings down the hand not bunching up his towel to curl into Bodhi’s hair again.
That just makes Bodhi snicker against him, taking his time to pull away before he circles the mark he’s left with his tongue. “Listen to you,” he whispers before pressing a kiss there. “Beautiful.”
Johnny swallows down the whine he tries to let out over Bodhi’s thumb tracing lower to lightly press against his balls, clearing his throat before he asks, “What are you gonna do to me?”
“If I’m honest,” Bodhi says as he lets go of him so he can unbutton his jeans, tugging his zipper down at a painfully slow pace. “What I really want is to get these off, mark up your thighs until I reach right up here-”
He stops once he’s pulled Johnny’s jeans off so he can dip his thumbs under his boxer briefs to tug down low enough to lick through his bush, grinning when Johnny can’t hide his whine this time as he arches up into it. “Yeah, you got it,” Bodhi says before pulling them all the way off and tilting his head over the way his cock slaps against his stomach. “Once I’m up here, I’ll suck you down while I open you up nice and slow so I can get your legs up over my shoulders and fuck you good and deep for all the stars to marvel over.”
Johnny squeezes his eyes shut and exhales sharply over the thought, thrusting up into Bodhi’s fist once it wraps around him. His calloused thumb dragging down his foreskin to let him kiss over the head makes him want and tremble over getting to have someone else’s fingers inside him, but the step that comes after feels like too much. It’s not that he’s overly sentimental about it, but doing that with someone else for the first time out on the beach like this with a guy he’ll forget about once the mission is over feels like a waste. Even if he sighs out his name when Bodhi licks one broad stripe up from his balls to the tip, Johnny also knows that actually being fucked by another guy is just another thing to avoid about himself and how he’s-
“But unfortunately for both of us, I don’t have what we need to do all that.”
His eyes shoot open, curling forward to look down at how forlorn Bodhi looks as he lets go of him to pull away and sit on his knees. “That, uh,” he shudders out before he stops to swallow at his dry throat. “That’s cool, I don’t mind.”
Johnny hopes that Bodhi can’t hear how relieved he feels and he focuses on the way he tugs his shirt off to calm him further. “Good,” he says once he throws it to the side before untying the drawstring of his sweatpants. “I think we can reach a compromise too.”
“Yeah?”
Bodhi just nods before tugging those sweatpants off, his briefs following to show off his cut cock that’s just as tan as the rest of his muscular physique, and thoughts of him seducing other people out on the beach just like this swirl through Johnny’s head. He can’t help licking his lips at the sight of him; there’s a vein that starts just at the base that curls halfway up the shaft that curves just slightly upwards and if he weren’t so apprehensive about taking it, he’d want it inside him. Before he can get tempted to get it in his mouth instead, Bodhi comes back down to hook his thumb under the hem of his crop top and tug it up, pressing wet kisses against him between words as he says, “You just lay back with those sweet eyes of yours and I’ll get us where we want to be. Only need one hand to do it - you ready to play, Utah?”
He takes care to suck one of his nipples in his mouth after asking, his eyes steady on him as he presses up against him with a whimper. “Y-yeah, Bodhi, I’m ready.”
“Good,” Bodhi says before slotting Johnny’s legs around his waist and waiting until Johnny’s lifted his shirt up enough to get the hem over his head and behind his neck to press forward and rest over him. When their chests and cocks meet, they groan in unison, Bodhi’s softer and deeper against Johnny’s louder and more desperate exhalation with how the tension’s starting to get to his head. “This is gonna be so much fun, gorgeous, I guarantee it.”
“Just kiss me, man, c’mon.”
Bodhi grins before taking them both in his hand and stroking once to make him gasp. “Always liked them feisty,” he whispers before bending forward and doing just that.
And really it’s just the two of them panting and licking into each other’s mouths, chaotic and sloppy as Bodhi’s touch makes them both thrust and moan into the night, but Johnny loves it. He shouldn’t love it as much as he does, but Bodhi keeps his thumb steady over both of their prominent veins, flicks his wrist just right at the head, and laughs every time he pulls another whine out of him, and the attention is intoxicating. Every handjob he got and gave in locker rooms was out of convenience and a need to get off while stuck with the same group of guys for weeks on end with those moments of curiosity at Quantico always ending like they’d gone out for coffee instead of come down each other’s throats, but this is different. Bodhi makes him feel like he’s actually wanted because of who he is as he strokes him, moving to kiss and bite at his collarbone as he sighs out little compliments that make Johnny squeeze his thighs tighter around him.
“You sound so good saying my name like that,” he breathes after Johnny sighs it out over him smearing precum over his tip in teasing circles with his thumb. “You’re making me think about getting you all riled up again after tonight.”
His lust-hazed brain wants him to agree, but Johnny knows what a demonstrably awful idea getting attached would be. That doesn’t stop him from embracing the moment, though, and petting through his hair while he asks, “What’s on your mind?”
“A whole laundry list.” Bodhi drags his nose and lips down to his chest, nuzzling between his pecs and bringing his free hand up to pinch one nipple between his thumb and forefinger with, “Thought about fucking you right here between your tits before it occurred to me I’d get cum all over that pretty face of yours.”
When Bodhi starts to suck at the nipple not being rolled between his fingers, Johnny arches so much that his back bows off the towel and wonders if he’d have a problem with the mess. “And what about me,” he asks while he scratches down between Bodhi’s shoulder blades, still unable to bring down his front. “What would I get out of it besides a face full of cum?”
Bodhi huffs against him, taking care to drag his teeth over his nipple before licking over him once and saying, “I’m so glad you asked because the second I saw this, I knew I had to have you sit on my face.”
He lets go of his chest to squeeze his ass, making Johnny cry out and buck into Bodhi’s steady grip that’s twisting over and stroking them even faster. Johnny laughs weakly, starting to pant out every word he says with, “I’ve never - never had anybody ask me t-to do that. Never even thought about it.”
“Oh you’d love it,” Bodhi gushes as he moves onto the other nipple to lick at roughly. “Bet you think you’d just be fucking my mouth, though, don’t you? No way, hot shot - I’d spread you open, get you sat on my tongue once you’re wet enough and let you fuck yourself silly.”
“Oh fuck .”
“That’s the idea, baby.”
“Jesus,” Johnny chokes out, rolling his hips up into him subconsciously with the thought of riding Bodhi’s face on his mind. Of course he knew it was something guys did, he wasn’t stupid, but Bodhi’s making him feel out of his mind with pleasure and possibilities for how to feel it and it already has him clawing at him to stay where he is while he whimpers out nonsense. Bodhi seems to love it, though, grinning against him once Johnny’s had enough and tugs at him to get face to face with him while he says, “C’mon, please, I’m close, I just need-”
“Need what?”
“Need to come - make me, Bodhi, please.”
Bodhi grins even wider, looking devious as he moves in to kiss him once before letting himself out of his fist and focusing on jerking off Johnny on his own up close at the head. “As if you couldn’t get any prettier, you gotta sound like that when you beg for me,” he says against his cheek. “You’re easy, aren’t you? Guess that makes me lucky.”
Johnny wants to talk back because he is so not easy on any other given encounter, but it’s hard to say anything besides Bodhi’s name once he squeezes the head of his cock with one hand and squeezes at his nipple with another to make him spill against his stomach. He knows he sounds like a slutty, whiny mess but when he forces his eyes open where he’s got his head tossed back to look at how marveled Bodhi is at the sight of him, he deals with it. Bodhi’s fist is relentless as he strokes him through it, slowing down as he gets quieter just as he moves to whisper soft encouragements in his ear. Once his breathing starts to even out again, Bodhi squeezes Johnny once before kissing his earlobe and saying, “There you go, Johnny, just relax,” against him.
His skin still buzzing, Johnny shuts his eyes and breathes deep through his nose even as he crinkles it at the feeling of cum sticking to him. “What about you? I want to-”
“Uh uh, you stay right there,” Bodhi says, sounding further away as Johnny picks up on the telltale swish of his hand jerking himself off. “I’ll worry about me, you just lay back and enjoy the breeze.”
Johnny laughs breathlessly before letting out a soft moan when he looks back up at Bodhi sitting on his knees, eyes trailing over his arm flexing with the motion down to the way he thrusts into his fist. Bodhi looks like he’s starving, his breathing ragged while he stays focused on his cum-streaked skin, and Johnny accepts losing all sense of shame as he smiles up at him and says, “At least do it right there. Compromise and all, right?”
“Oh Johnny, you're so- you're just so-”
And just like that, Bodhi’s coming and choking out another groan of his name while he fucks into his fist, sending the spoils where Johnny asked him to and then some. A few drops land near his chest and the feral part of Johnny’s brain that Bodhi’s unlocked makes him think about scooping them up to taste. He stays where he is instead, watching the way Bodhi lets go of himself and stretches his neck with a pleased moan before he picks up his shirt to wipe his hand off with. Johnny shivers when he brings it up to wipe away some of their mess from his torso before Bodhi stops once he has one small section that lingers over the scar trailing up his stomach and tosses his shirt to the side, making Johnny frown. “What’s up?”
“Think I could make this a whole lot easier,” Bodhi says before pushing his hair behind his ears. “You got this after your first injury on the field, right? Got somebody’s cleats in the wrong place or something like that?”
“Yeah,” Johnny answers. “The stitches were in for a month and - hah!”
In favor of listening to the whole story, Bodhi licks off the rest of the cum grazing his stomach, his tongue careful against his scar as he runs his fingers over his sides. Johnny shakes under it, still sensitive after his orgasm while he clutches at his towel, but the way Bodhi presses a soft kiss against his sternum once he’s swallowed and gotten him clean makes him sigh. “You didn’t have to do that.”
Bodhi shakes his head before sliding over to lay on his side next to him. “I’m not gonna leave you looking like that,” he says as he lays his palm flat over Johnny’s stomach. “You deserve to be taken care of, so I had to see to it that you were.”
“You only just met me,” Johnny laughs out, turning to look at him. “How do you know what I deserve?”
“Call it intuition. You lawyer types have to have that, don’t you?”
Johnny laughs again at how assured Bodhi sounds over it, feeling warmer than he’d like to about it. “Thanks,” he says softly, humming over Bodhi’s thumb running along his scar. “It’s been a while, so - I needed that.”
Bodhi snickers. “I could tell.”
“Fuck off, man.”
Bodhi laughs louder at how playfully indignant he sounds before bringing his other hand to cup his face and sighing out, “C’mere,” so he can pull him in to kiss.
Johnny lets himself be led, gasping softly at the way he can taste both of them on his tongue once they slide together. He turns on his side to rest his hands over his chest while Bodhi slides his hand from his stomach to the small of his back, pressing his fingertips there to make him hum. The soft heat still washing over him is something Johnny decides is the fire still burning behind them and the afterglow of the moment instead of any legitimate feelings for him; it has to be if he wants to keep himself grounded and focused on why he’s out here in the first place. He can let himself press his face in Bodhi’s neck with a smile once they’ve had their fill of kissing, but he can’t get too caught up in the strong arms around his waist. Johnny can’t let the gentle way Bodhi gushes about all the tubes they’re gonna catch and all the waves he can’t wait to see him land make him fond of this guy even if it feels so good right this second.
It’s when Bodhi suggests that he drives him to his place to stay for the night with the offer to bring him back in the morning to get his car that Johnny finds clarity, shaking his head and sitting up to straighten out his shirt. “Gotta get Unitas fed,” he mumbles while looking for his other clothes. “That, uh - that’s my cat.”
“Oh rad,” Bodhi says, still laid out naked and inviting. “Must be a chill little guy.”
“He’s alright, yeah.”
“Just like you.”
Johnny feels like an idiot for blushing once he’s found his pants and underwear and starts getting dressed, but he still feels himself growing flush. He deflects again as he shakes his head and says, “I’m not that little.”
“I meant no harm, I promise.” Bodhi finally sits up and stretches before grabbing his own clothes to throw on, stuffing his ruined shirt in his pocket and coming up to pat Johnny’s shoulder once he’s dressed and says, “But I do want to follow you home to be safe. Not everybody out here is welcoming and I’d hate it if somebody was waiting in the wings tonight to get at you.”
Through his research, Johnny knows all too well that some lifers are ready to snap at him for even looking at the water, so he lets himself appreciate that. “Alright, cool, thanks.”
“De nada.”
Once they’re straightened out and Johnny collects his towel to shake out while Bodhi puts out the fire, they head to the parking lot while leaning against each other. Johnny decides to tell himself once again that this is only to keep up appearances, but Bodhi’s hand still resting on his tailbone makes him feel safe. It feels ridiculous since he can damn well take care of himself in a fight, but it’s nice to have someone have his back in a different way than Pappas promises he will on the field. He has every intention of just shaking Bodhi’s hand before they go to their respective vehicles, but the touch of Bodhi’s lips against his cheek once he reaches his is too great of a temptation. Johnny lets Bodhi take his hands to turn him in his arms to kiss goodbye, the smell of sweat and musk and Bodhi thick in his nose and the smug lilt in his voice as he says, “Stay safe, hermoso ,” loud in his ears.
Johnny keeps his windows up on the way home so Bodhi can’t possibly hear when he flips his walkie-talkie back on to report back to Pappas with the knowledge that he’s got a second in. He turns down Pappas’ offer to do a deep dive into Bodhi since he’s clearly got a way to learn a lot about him very quickly even if he keeps just how to himself. He rolls his eyes when Pappas laughs on the other end and says, “Wow, a real name basis - sounds like the two of you are good ol’ buddies now, huh?”
“You could say that,” he lands on after a few seconds of trying to find a good lie and failing.
When he and Pappas wrap up their check-in just as he gets home, Johnny’s able to resist running to Bodhi’s car to taste his kiss once more and instead waves goodbye to him from his own. Bodhi flashes him a grin and throws up a peace sign with a cry of, “There’s gonna be a sick tube with your name on it bright and early before your grind tomorrow, I swear it!”
“I’m holding you to that,” Johnny calls back, giving him a more confident shaka brah than he managed to give Tyler. “Wish me luck!”
“If I get any luckier with you, it might kill me!”
Johnny scoffs and gives him the middle finger, making Bodhi laugh uproariously before blowing him a kiss and driving away. Even if he waited until he was out of sight to get his agent essentials from the passenger’s seat, he can’t lie and say he doesn’t feel some kind of way about it as he goes inside, making a beeline for the kitchen to make sure Unitas has a late night meal before he heads for bed. Unitas is already perched on the counter waiting for him, the gray and black American shorthair turning his head to follow him as he rifles through his cabinets for a can of food. Once he’s got it and starts to open it, Johnny snorts when he sees him and says, “Don’t look at me like that.”
Unitas keeps staring, mewling softly at the scent of food and looking judgmental.
“You’d do the same thing if you saw him,” Johnny says before getting on his knees to fill his bowl. “Now come on, you gotta eat. You shouldn’t be up there anyway."
His cat hops down gently and takes the time to nuzzle at his leg before digging in, seemingly unbothered by the No Furniture rule he’s had since being here. Johnny still feels pleasantly loose and sated, though, so he still reaches down to scratch behind his ears before he retreats back to his bedroom. Too tired from the night to do much besides strip down to his underwear and crawl into bed, he stretches out and runs his fingers over the hickey Bodhi left right along his hip bone. He feels oddly enthusiastic about heading out early once he makes sure Unitas is fine in the morning to surf again, knowing what a great workout it’ll be but also knowing the wealth of people to observe and analyze at his fingertips. Tyler’s shaping up to be a great informant even if she doesn’t know it, a lot of the regulars seem to be welcoming enough so far, and Bodhi is.
Bodhi is.
Well.
The more Johnny thinks about it as he drifts off to sleep, Bodhi might be more than just another contact if he lets himself feel what he wants. There’s plenty to gain from it, so why not embrace it?