Will usually had no trouble putting everyone at ease, and Patrick needed him to hold up most of the conversation until he could get rid of his stupid nervousness. He had no business being like this. It wasn’t as though he didn’t know Will. Despite Patrick’s long-standing crush, he’d never had any trouble getting along with Will before. They always had a laugh, and Patrick liked talking to him.
But Will had never been single before. There’d never been the slightest chance that anything could happen between them—not that it would now; Patrick wasn’t stupid. There were far too many reasons, not least of all, he was almost positive Will didn’t see him like that—Patrick would probably always be Ben’s younger brother to Will. But now, in the back of Patrick’s mind, he couldn’t help but think there was no boyfriend standing in his way. It made him uneasy, and from the look on Will’s face, Will could tell.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Will sat forward, rested his forearms on his thighs, and clasped his hands. Patrick waited expectantly, hoping like fuck Will wasn’t about to give him “the talk.” He didn’t think he’d been that obvious.
“I’m sorry about taking your room,” Will said finally, and it was the last thing Patrick had been expecting, so he frowned.
“What?”
“I know Ben forgot to tell you I’d be here, so I imagine you weren’t expecting to end up on the sofa.”
“Yeah, but that’s only for one night.” Shit. Will looked guilty. Patrick knew he’d been acting a little off, and Will obviously thought it was because Patrick was pissed off at him. “I’m not bothered, honest.”
Will looked pointedly at Ben’s sofa, which probably wasn’t going to be all that comfortable to sleep on, now that Patrick thought about it.
“Point taken.” Patrick laughed and forced himself to shake off his weird feelings. He might not get to spend the next fourteen days in Will’s bed—which would be the ideal scenario—but they could definitely have a good time. Patrick refused to feel awkward for the whole two weeks. “Ben’s sofa sucks to sleep on, but like I said, it’s only for one night. I’m not bothered about you having the guest room. I mean, have you seen the bed in Ben’s room? It’s fucking huge.”
Will smirked, and Patrick mentally kicked himself for talking about anything bed-related with Will. His mind was likely to go to places it really shouldn’t if he didn’t want to embarrass himself. “Anyway,” he forged ahead, ignoring the way he felt a little hot all over. “What I mean is that I don’t mind you being here. To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to being here on my own anyway.” That may have been a barefaced lie before, but things change. “It’ll be nice to have some company.”
“Thanks.” Will’s smile was soft and genuine this time, and Patrick immediately returned it. “The last few months have been a bit shit, and I didn’t want to spend four weeks in a B & B.” He stood and stretched, and Patrick tried not to look at the strip of skin exposed where Will’s T-shirt rode up. He also tried to ignore the dark hair peeking over the top of Will’s pyjama bottoms, but he failed. Miserably. “I think I’ll turn in too. Night.” He squeezed Patrick’s shoulder as he walked past.
“Night.” Patrick sank back into the sofa cushions with a groan, a warm feeling settling deep in his belly.
He was so totally fucked.
