He stood up and walked over to stand right in front of me. He looked me in the eye and said, “I promise I’ll talk to you. I won’t shut you out.”
It was different to hear your insecurities in the light of day. I didn’t know why, but talking of such things in darkened rooms seemed so much easier. I was a little embarrassed when he brought it up now. I guessed that was the irony of my request for open communication. “Thanks.”
“I really wish I didn’t have to go to work today,” he whispered.
“Me too,” I answered honestly. “But I told Emilio I’d help him out this morning, and Lola’s taking me to some college in a last ditch effort to find this Yanni guy this arvo.”
He squinted at me. “What’s an arvo?”
“Afternoon. This arvo is Australian for this afternoon.”
“Oh.”
“But it’s more one word, like thisarvo.”
He laughed and grabbed his keys and wallet. He opened the front door. “Tell me, do Australians really say crikey?”
I walked past him. “No. As a general rule. Not ever.”
We walked to his car. “What about g’day mate instead of hello?”
“All the time. But usually just g’day or mate. We might say g’day, how’re ya goin’? or hey mate. Generally not g’day mate together. Sometimes but not always, unless you’re taking the piss.”
“So you need to have a lobotomy to be Australian?”
I stared at him over the roof of his car. “I am truly offended.”
He laughed. “No you’re not.”
He climbed into the driver’s seat, and I got into the passenger’s side. “I am offended, I’ll have you know. Just as I’m offended that you didn’t serve me green tea this morning.”
He drove the car out onto the street but eyed me cautiously. “I could buy some.”
I sniffed. “And breakfast? Where was that?”
“Um, well it was late, and I already missed the gym.”
“I mean, the protein shake I had in your shower was good and all, but not enough to keep me going.”
He barked out a laugh, and his cheeks tinted pink. “Oh my God, Spencer.”
“Does that embarrass you?”
He glared at me as he drove and tried to not smile but failed. “A little, yes.”
“And now you’re thinking about what we did in the shower, aren’t you?”
“I wasn’t,” he said. He shifted in his seat. “But now I am.”
“And now you’re thinking about me being commando, aren’t you?”
He shot me a glare but looked back to the road and swallowed hard. “No.”
“You totally are.”
He squirmed in his seat. “I hate you.”
I grinned at him. “No you don’t.” I took his free hand and kissed the back of it. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re really not.”
“No, I’m not really.” We were both smiling, and I kept hold of his hand on my thigh. “But I promise to talk about something else for the remainder of the drive.”
“I should have made you catch the bus.” He squeezed my hand. “But perhaps a change of topic in conversation would be a good idea.”
I sighed. “What are you doing tonight?”
“Well, I was going to go see my boyfriend, but he’s being a bit of a jerk. I’m sure he wants me to go to work with a semi.”
I cracked up laughing. “Still thinking about me being commando?”
He groaned. “I hate you.”
“No you don’t.”
He laughed. “No, I don’t. But I was thinking I’ll probably go to the gym tonight. Can we do something tomorrow night?”
“For sure. Oh, I’m buying dinner for everyone tomorrow night as a thanks for helping me out when this hot guy I really liked was gonna do a runner.” I shook my head. “God, was that only a week ago?”
He squeezed my hand. “I know. Pretty hard to believe, huh? And for the record, I was never gonna do a runner.”
I kissed his knuckles again before putting his hand back on my thigh. “But then this weekend you’re all mine, so don’t go making any plans.”
His smile was smug. “I’m all yours, am I?”
I could see Emilio’s shop up ahead so I knew I didn’t have much time. “Yes you are. We said we’d make it to this weekend before we take turns fucking each other’s brains out, remember?”
Andrew’s eyes widened and he blushed. “Right.”
“I thought you could fuck me all day Saturday, then on Sunday it’s my turn to have you.”
His breath was all pitchy, and he struggled to change lanes. Without saying a word, he stopped in front of Emilio’s, and I pushed his hand on my thickening dick and whispered, “Just thinking about it…” I groaned. “I’m gonna have to go upstairs and take care of this.”
He made a whining noise in the back of his throat and squirmed. He pulled back his hand. “I hate you.”
I laughed as I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “No you don’t.” I got out of the car and watched him drive off and was still chuckling as I walked into the tattoo shop.
“Hey, you’re looking far too happy for this time of day, my friend,” Emilio said.
“Gimme ten minutes to drop these dirty clothes off,” I told him, holding up my bundle of yesterday’s clothes. “Then I’ll do a breakfast run. How does that sound?”