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.But then, maybe he’d stay.Only time would tell.I could only hope that he would let me down more gently than Tony if he ever felt it was time to move on.Thinking of those wide brown eyes of his, of the day he saved me from the sea, I felt certain I could rely on that.One More Rideby Sommer MarsdenYou know when a man looks at you a beat too long.We all do.And Will looked at me a beat too long.He also happened to do this exactly 12 hours after I pronounced (drunkenly) to my best friend Toby that I was done with men.My exact words were, ‘They can all suck my ass and not in a good way.I am going to be a loner.A lone wolf.A monk.As lonely as a door-to-door salesman.A lonely, lonely man.’ Then I belted out Only the Lonely in my best Roy Orbison voice and promptly passed out on his zebra-print sofa.It was half a day later that I went to visit Lee at work.She wanted me to eat lunch with her because she was on a diet.I have no earthly idea why she was on a diet.She’s so goddamn skinny she’s nearly transparent.But I went, and I took my sad, soggy tuna sandwich and my mental gossip to share about our normal group of friends.Tony was banging the bag boy, Theresa had a pregnancy scare, Maria had gained six pounds and Matt was close to a book deal.All Lee wanted to talk about was the new man in her life, Todd.So, while she droned on about Todd, I kept time with my heartbeat.I had had so much to drink the night before that my pulse was beating in my temple like a drum.I did not want food.Or gossip.I wanted to get laid and go to sleep.Only one seemed to be an option.‘Are you listening to me?’ Lee smacked my leg and I jumped.My itchy, tired eyes registered her look of disgust and, over her shoulder, a very thin, very well-muscled, brown-eyed man staring at me.He gave me a crooked smile like he knew a secret and three things happened.My heart pounded, my stomach bottomed out and my cock got hard.‘Lee?’Lee turned her disgust on the god in the doorway and I just stared like an ijit.‘When are you back on? We have the shipment of bedding you’re supposed to get.’ He spoke to her, but stared at me.‘I have ten more minutes, go stalk someone else, William!’ Lee waved her fingers at him dismissively but grinned.‘And put a shirt on.You’re so distracting in your wife beater.’Will laughed easily and then he did it.He stared at me a beat too long and I was done for.He disappeared back inside the warehouse like a shadow as my heart tried to find its normal rhythm.‘Oh, shit.’ Lee frowned.‘What?’‘You have that look.That struck look.You are struck and you are horny.You are lusting after that man.Don’t even give Will a second thought.He’s a bike boy.He lives, eats and breathes his bike.’‘What kind of bike?’ I asked.Dumb, dumb, dumb.I kept talking.‘Is it like a mountain bike? A ten speed? Does he race?’Lee stared at me open mouthed and then her eyes slammed shut and she was laughing much too hard to talk.The door to the warehouse flew open again and Will poked his head in.My brain went blank and my dick got stiff.He had quite the control over me already I noted.I smiled, trying not to look stunned or stupid.‘Lee, not to be a pain in your ass, but I will.’ He winked at me and I could hear my ears ringing from the adrenaline rush.‘Can you at least poke your pretty head in here and tell me if this is the right batch of shit? You know the stuff you’ve been bugging us about all day.’My friend stomped into the warehouse on her cheap black high heels.Her skirt was ragged and wrinkled, her cardigan the same.Girl really had to stop partying so late.And she needed to invest in a decent pair of heels.The door came back open and, for just an instant, Will’s big brown eyes were staring right at me and then he was gone.Lee shuffled forward, thrust a card at me.‘Here.Call him.You boys need to learn to communicate with each other.I’m tired of being the gay community’s go-between.’I took the card with trembling fingers.It was a standard card for the store but on the back was scrawled Will Benjamin and his phone number.Below that, it just said, “Call Me.Tonight.”I practised and practised talking to him.In the car on the way home, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, facing the phone before I actually picked it up.When I found the balls to dial, I heard his rich, deep voice.‘Yeah?’‘Hi, Will, this is Chr–’‘If you’re getting this, I’m at Mickey’s.It’s Tuesday and that’s where I am.Come on up and meet me.’ Then he rattled off the address.Well, that fucking sucked.He was inviting the whole damn world to see him tonight.My brain raged at all my worry.But then my ear heard, ‘And yeah, this message is for you.If I didn’t meet you at the warehouse today, just say something and get the hell off my line.’I blinked at the phone but my heart stilled before shocking back to life.My god.That was for me.So I put some shit (Lee calls it product) in my hair, sprayed myself with Axe and hurried out.I wouldn’t let myself think about it or I’d be too scared to go.Mickey’s was nearly deserted and a shiny black and chrome motorcycle sat out front.Ah, the bike.And it sure as shit wasn’t no ten speed.‘Get on, yeah?’ His voice was deep like I remembered, his eyes as dark as his tone.I shrugged, trying to look nonchalant but my throat wanted to lock up.He must have been watching for me through the front window.I hadn’t even made it inside the bar.‘Yeah.Sure.Is it OK?’‘Who’s gonna care? I want you to, it’s my bike.Are you afraid?’ He grinned at that and I felt my body respond with a flash of warmth and a blush that crept up my neck.‘No.I’m afraid of you, kind of.’ My mother always said honesty was the best policy.Sometimes I told the truth before I thought better of it.‘Maybe you should be.’I climbed on the bike and he got on in front of me.I didn’t let myself think, I wrapped my arms around his trim waist, feeling the flat, hard muscles in his stomach flex from the contact.‘Where are we going?’‘Oh the silent spot sounds good to me.’I had no idea what that meant but I nodded.He patted my hands on his abs and then stroked my flank for a split second before kick-starting the bike.‘Ready?’This time my throat had stopped working, so I nodded against his shoulder and inhaled the smell of beer, shampoo and a hint of oil.His helmet was small and sleek and black and he handed it to me.‘Won’t you get in trouble?’‘Maybe, if I get pulled over, but I’ve only got one and at least I have a shot at falling correctly.’Before I could answer, we took off into the twilight.Wind sliding its chilly fingers inside the helmet to rustle my hair and howl over my ears.I closed my eyes and moved with Will and the bike as it moved like a large, lazy animal through the increasing dark.The vibration seemed to wrap itself around my balls, my dick, my insides.I felt hollow but filled with a buzzing kind of peace.The silent place was indeed silent.The reservoir at night is as silent as a tomb on most nights.Not in the summer and not on holidays but every other time it is.Will parked the bike and we got off.There were no lightning bugs, the chill had moved in for good, running summer off into the wings to wait for her turn to come back around
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