CHAPTER FOUR
THE FLATwas quiet when Patrick got up and headed into the kitchen. He hadn’t planned on getting up before at least ten, but they’d gone to bed a lot earlier than he normally would, and he’d felt wide awake when he first opened his eyes this morning. Of course it didn’t help matters that his first thought was remembering Will’s kiss, and sleep was impossible after that.
He hadn’t even bothered to wait for his morning wood to die down before leaving his room, hoping to catch Will and maybe give him some ideas. But there was no sign of Will. His bedroom door had been left ajar, and Patrick had a quick peek in, but his bed was empty. Okay, then.
He checked his watch again—seven o’clock—and felt a little pissed off that Will had left for work so early, as though he was avoiding him, but whatever.
The front door opened as Patrick began to pour out his cereal, startling him into nearly dropping the whole box. “Shit,” he said, as a sweat-soaked Will came through from the hallway. “Thought you’d left already.”
“Nope.” Will grinned at him, then proceeded to use the bottom of his T-shirt to wipe the sweat from his face.
Patrick watched shamelessly as the material bunched up, revealing an impressive six-pack and the start of a thick dark happy trail that disappeared under Will’s shorts. He slowly dragged his gaze back up to Will’s face, shrugging at the raised eyebrow obviously meant for him. “What? Like I’m not going to look when you do that.”
Will stared at him for a second, then got a wicked glint in his eye, as he pulled his T-shirt the rest of the way off and threw it on the floor in front of the washing machine.
Patrick carefully put the box of cereal on the counter and leaned back against the edge of the sink. “So, I’ve slept on it, and sex still seems like a great idea.” It wasn’t quite what he meant to say, but Will’s chest was right there, all flushed and damp from his run, and Patrick couldn’t focus on trying to be subtle right now. Will stared at him for long enough that Patrick began to have doubts. He felt himself start to blush and quickly looked down at the floor to hide it. “Unless you’ve changed your mind, that is?”
He bit back the urge to try and talk Will round; the last thing he wanted was to seem clingy and desperate. If Will had decided it wasn’t what he wanted after all, then that was fine. No big deal. The touch of Will’s fingers under Patrick’s chin snapped him out of his thoughts, and he let Will gently tip his head up until they were face-to-face, a lot closer than they had been before.
“I haven’t changed my mind.” Will leaned in and kissed him, and Patrick closed his eyes, sinking into it and not caring how easy he was. “But I have to shower now,” Will said, pulling back and letting his hand fall down to his side, “or I’ll be late for work.” He took a step back, putting some distance between them, and Patrick took the opportunity to catch his breath.
“Tonight, though?”
Will smirked as he walked backward toward his bedroom. “Yeah, tonight.” He stopped and ran his hand through his hair, making it stick up at some crazy angle. “I’ll cook this time, and we can watch a movie or something. How’s that sound?”
It sounded sort of like a date to Patrick, but what did he know? It wasn’t like he did this kind of thing all the time. He nodded and smiled back. “Sounds good.”
Patrick watched Will disappear into his bedroom, and slumped against the sink as the door closed behind him. So they were doing this, then. He paced around the kitchen, eyeing the box of cereal sitting abandoned on the counter, but it didn’t have the same appeal as it had ten minutes ago. He felt on edge, a sort of nervous excitement running through him at the thought of what they were doing, or would hopefully be doing later, and it made him fidgety and unable to sit still.
He needed to tell somebody before he wore a hole in the floor.
Sean seemed like the obvious choice since Patrick usually told him everything. He had his phone in his hand as he heard the bathroom door open and close, and the shower turn on. Damn, he’d missed Will leaving his bedroom. Patrick wondered if he’d still been in his running shorts, or…. He shook his head and forced himself to concentrate on his phone. The day would probably drag as it was, he didn’t need to make it worse by imagining Will all naked and wet. Damn it!
He adjusted himself in his pyjamas and scrolled through his contacts list for Sean’s number, deciding to text him first since it was still early. Sean might be a morning person, but it wasn’t much past seven o’clock yet, and Patrick doubted even Sean would be awake at this time.
Might possibly have done something stupid.
He pressed Send and hadn’t even had a chance to put his phone down before it pinged with Sean’s reply.
It’s only been 2 days!
Patrick grinned as he read, he could almost hear the eye roll that accompanied it.
Will’s staying here too.
Patrick wasn’t expecting his phone to ring, and fumbled it when it vibrated with Sean’s name flashing on the screen. He should have known Sean would call after he’d dropped that bombshell. He slid his thumb across to accept the call and lifted it to his ear.
“Please tell me you didn’t get drunk and proposition him again? Or maybe do tell me that. I could do with a laugh.”
“That was one time!” Patrick protested. But he had kind of propositioned Will. This arrangement had been Patrick’s idea after all. He sighed and closed his eyes for a minute before walking into the lounge to get comfy on the sofa. “And maybe? Except I wasn’t drunk this time.”
“Oh God, I almost feel embarrassed for you.”
“Hey, he said yes, so you can get lost.”
Patrick recognized the rustle of blankets and muffled curses, and laughed when he realized Sean had dropped his phone.
“Clearly I’m missing something here, because the last I heard Will had a boyfriend, and I know you wouldn’t do that. So explain.”
