“What, seriously?” Patrick had his hands on his hips, doing nothing at all to hide the obvious bulge in his pyjamas, and his frown quickly turned into a smirk when he caught Will looking. “Are you sure?” He stepped forward, reaching out to the matching but not as obvious bulge in Will’s jeans.
“Yes.” Will deftly moved out of the way and adjusted himself a little. “I meant what I said earlier. Take tonight to think this through. If you still feel the same in the morning, then we’ll take it from there.” He nudged Patrick with his shoulder as he passed, earning himself a grumbled “fine” before he managed to escape to his bedroom. He took a minute to calm down before peeling off his clothes and getting ready for bed. It wasn’t just Patrick who needed a night to mull things over.
“UGH,”WILLgroaned and reached for his phone, the sound of an incoming text message waking him up far too early. He squinted at it, swearing under his breath when the time read one minute past five. Who the fuck would text him at this hour? But then he saw the name and the accompanying picture, and he quickly tapped in his password to open up the message, a smile spreading across his face.
The full-size photo was even better—Ben and the rest of the guys, all covered in foam, with beer bottles raised and grins on their faces.
The message read:Wish u were here?
They looked as pissed as anything, Ben almost falling over and only staying upright by grabbing hold of someone else’s shirt.
“Arses.” Will laughed and shook his head, typing up a reply.
Not with you bunch of drunken losers
His phone buzzed again, two seconds later.
Yeah right lke youd be any better
Will rolled his eyes. They were an hour in front so what the hell were they still doing out at just after six in the morning.
Aren’t you too old for this shit
He sat up a little in bed, imagining the indignant look on Ben’s face, and laughed again when the reply came back straight away.
Fuck off. talk bout being too old for things hows my brother
The smile slipped from Will’s face, and he sat staring at the message, wondering how to reply.
Bollocks. If he took too long, Ben might get suspicious, but although Will didn’t want to outright lie, he wasn’t keen to confess anything either.
Fine I guess. Why don’t you ask him yourself?
Nah didn’t want to wake him
He added a smiley faced emoticon, and Will pictured him laughing at how funny he thought he was. For a moment Will wished he’d gone with them. Maybe a trip abroad with his mates was what he needed. But then he’d have had to put his moving date back, and he just wanted to be in already. Besides, he thought of Patrick in the room down the hall and his stomach fluttered. Things were starting to get interesting here.
I feel so special. Now fuck off so I can go back to sleep. Some of us have to work
He put his phone on silent and lay back down, pulling the covers tight around him. His alarm wouldn’t go off for another hour and a half, but even though Will still felt tired, he couldn’t get his mind to cooperate. Ben might have been drunk, but his offhand comment still struck a nerve.
Will sighed and rubbed at his eyes, finally giving up on trying to get back to sleep. The morning looked nice enough from what he could see through his curtains, so maybe he’d go for a run before work. It usually helped him sort through any problems, and he could do with some time to think before he had to face Patrick again.
He pushed the covers off and noticed Cleo sprawled out on the far side of his bed. She lifted her head when he sat up, opening one eye and fixing him with an unimpressed glare.
“Don’t look at me like that.” The last thing he needed was to be judged by Ben’s bloody cat, as though she was doing it for him in his absence. She blinked but kept staring at him. “It wasn’t even my idea!” he hissed at her and then threw his hands in the air. What was he even doing? She was a cat, for God’s sake. And one that hated him on top of that.
He glanced over at her as he pulled on his running gear. She yawned, stretched, and then rolled over so her back now faced him, tail flicking in a distinctly irritated fashion as though thoroughly disappointed with him.
Will shrugged, trying not to let a cat, of all things, make him feel guilty, and quietly left his room in search of his running shoes. He needed to get out of the apartment more than ever now.
