“I’ll give you some cash before I go. We can split the shopping and the cooking if you like? It’s what me and Ben have been doing.”
“Yeah, okay.” Because eating together and playing house were just what Patrick needed. His toast chose that moment to pop up, and Patrick busied himself spreading it with butter and jam.
Thankfully Will took his breakfast back into his room with him. Patrick didn’t fancy his chances of remaining unaffected if he was subjected to those tight,tightboxers for much longer.
WILL PUSHEDthe door shut behind him and let his head fall back against the wood.
Fuck.
He’d always known Patrick had a crush on him, but Will had never paid much attention to it before.
Except it seemed fairly obvious from the way he’d eye-fucked Will in the kitchen that this was more than a passing phase. Will sighed and placed his tea and cereal bowl on the bedside table before collapsing onto his bed. Christ, he’d need to be careful, or these next two weeks could go horribly wrong, and Ben would kill him.
He hadn’t exactly warned Will off Patrick—Ben was as laid-back as they came, and Will hadn’t exactly expressed any interest—but they’d had a “talk.” As far as Ben was concerned, Patrick could make his own decisions, and that would probably lead to him propositioning Will at some point. If Will decided to take him up on it, Ben couldn’t stop them “hooking up or whatever,” because he wasn’t his brother’s keeper. Will had tried to point out he had no intention of doing anything with Patrick, but Ben ignored him and added, “But if it’s going to be a one-time-only thing, for fuck’s sake, make sure he knows beforehand. I don’t want my brother getting hurt.”
Which, okay, Ben was well within his rights to say all that. Will would be exactly the same with his sisters. But Ben didn’t have anything to worry about on Will’s part at least, even if Patrick seemed to have filled out a bit since his last visit. He might look a little older now—and hotter than Will remembered—but Patrick was six years younger than Will and was his best mate’s brother. No way was Will going near that. He took a drink of his tea and ate his cereal, mulling over the best plan of action. If they were going to be sharing the flat for the next two weeks, he might have to tell Patrick outright that nothing was going to happen between them before things got awkward.
But that could wait until after work. Will sighed, then grabbed his towel and headed for the shower. He let the hot water ease his muscles and chase away the last vestiges of sleep, then soaped up his body with long, lazy strokes and toyed with the idea of a quick wank before work.
But it didn’t seem right jacking off with Patrick in the other room, so he quickly rinsed off, got out, and wrapped his towel tight around his waist.
By the time he’d cleaned his teeth, shaved, and dressed, Will was running a little late, and he hurried through the flat grabbing his phone and his keys on his way to the door. Patrick had moved from the sofa, probably gone back to bed if he had any sense—Will would have done exactly that if he didn’t have to work—and Will paused to leave him forty quid and a hastily scribbled note that it was for his share of the shopping. He added a couple of items underneath that he’d thought of, hoping Patrick wouldn’t mind picking them up.
It should work out all right—them sharing the flat while Ben was away—as long as he could establish some boundaries first and manage not to offend Patrick in the process. It may have been a few years since he’d been in that position, but he still remembered how shitty it could be when your crush told you they weren’t interested.
Will’s phone buzzed a few hours later with a text from Ben letting him know they’d landed at Palma Airport and were now at the villa. He then sent a picture of them all by the pool. Will grinned at the state of them. Bloody hell, it was only lunchtime and they looked pissed already. There were six of them sharing the villa, and for a minute he felt a twinge of jealousy at all his mates being out there together. He’d already booked a holiday with Darren when they’d planned this trip to Majorca. He should be lounging on the sunny beaches in Malta right now, but of course that had all fallen through.
Ben and the others had told him to come with them, have a laugh and take his mind off everything, but then his offer on the flat had been accepted and he needed his holiday time for moving instead. He replied to the text, sending them a picture of his desk, telling them he hated them all and he hoped they all got sunstroke. His phone chirped almost immediately with a smiley face and “fuck you,” and Will had to smother his laughter as he turned it to silent and set it back on his desk out of the way.
PATRICK SPENTthe day exploring. The nearest supermarket was off the ring road at the edge of the housing estate. He’d been in there a few times before, but Ben had said they’d opened a new café and a couple of new shops since he’d last been down—turning it into more of a retail park, now. Maybe some of them were still hiring. It’d be handy if he could get a part-time job within walking distance. His petrol costs wouldn’t be nearly as bad, and he could maybe take a few weekend trips down into Cornwall if he saved enough money. Ben would probably be up for something like that.
He parked up in the Sainsbury’s car park and wandered around the shops for a bit. It didn’t take long to find everything, but Patrick was surprised to find a takeaway pizza place, a coffee shop, a Boots, and an Argos. There were a few bigger shops, but those were probably his best bets for a part-time job. His stomach rumbled, reminding him it was almost lunchtime, so he decided to do some food shopping now and maybe start job hunting in a day or so. He’d only finished his third year at uni a few days ago, and this would be his last summer as a student. Patrick figured he deserved some time off before starting work. He had one more year left, and then it would be time to get a proper job.
The rest of the day passed relatively quickly. Ben had a great setup in the lounge—a PS4 and an Xbox One—and Patrick spent all afternoon going through Ben’s games. By about four o’clock, he felt a bit gross from not having showered all day. The early morning start was beginning to catch up with him too, so he decided a shower would probably make him feel better all round. Patrick hadn’t unpacked any of his stuff, since he didn’t have anywhere to put it until Will left, and his bags were in Ben’s room.
When he walked in to get his shower gel, the unmade bed caught his attention, and he groaned. Changing sheets was one of his least favourite things, and he wouldn’t normally be bothered, but there were some suspicious-looking stains where the quilt was pulled back. No way was he sleeping on those. He chucked his shower gel back into his bag and went in search of clean sheets.
Ben was surprisingly organized, a fact Patrick would definitely be teasing him about when he got back from his holiday. His room had been a mess when he’d lived at home, and Patrick didn’t think Ben’s flat had been this tidy the last time he’d been down. He idly wondered what had changed. Maybe that was what happened when you got old. He grinned as he imagined telling Ben that to his face.
He found both towels and bed linens neatly folded in the airing cupboard, and after wrestling with the quilt cover for what seemed like ages, he finally had the sheets changed and headed for the shower. All that messing around had made him sweat, his T-shirt sticking to his skin a little as he peeled it off. He tossed his clothes in a pile near the door and stepped under the spray, relaxing as the water washed over him.
It felt great. Ben had obviously had the bathroom done in the last few months, because the shower definitely hadn’t been this powerful before. Patrick sighed as he dropped his head forward and the water hit his shoulders. He rested his palms against the tiles for balance. He stayed that way for a while, letting the heat and the pressure relax his muscles, before finally reaching for his shower gel.
He soaped up quickly, intending to get clean and get out, but the minute he touched his dick, he changed his mind. It’d been at least two days since he’d jerked off, and he thoughtfuck it.Why the hell not?
The image of Will in those boxer briefs popped into his head, and Patrick wrapped his fingers tightly around his cock as he pictured Will bent over the kitchen counter with his arse on display. He began to stroke himself, leisurely at first, enjoying the slow slide of his hand as he imagined pulling Will’s underwear down and palming his skin. He wondered if Will was hairy down there or if he shaved. Patrick had no preference either way; both were hot in his limited experience.
His dick was fully hard now. With one hand still braced against the shower wall, he upped his pace, his toes curling against the shower floor as each pull brought him closer to the edge. He wondered if two people would fit in there. It might be a little snug, but the thought of Will down on his knees had Patrick biting his lip and squeezing his hand a little tighter. Patrick would feed him his cock, rub his thumb over Will’s cheek so he could feel himself inside Will’s mouth and—
Oh fuck.
He came with his eyes screwed shut, that last image burnt into his brain. Bollocks, he’d never be able to look Will in the eye when he got back from work. It took Patrick several deep breaths before he could finish off his shower and get out. His legs were still a little shaky, and he had to lean against the sink for a minute to get himself together. He needed to find some new material to wank over. Either that or avoid Will for the whole time.
Patrick dried off and eyed his clothes where they lay heaped in a pile on the floor. He didn’t fancy putting dirty boxers back on, and he’d been wearing those jeans for the past four days already, so he wrapped his towel around his waist and scooped them up to take to the kitchen. Might as well put a wash on. He knew how to do laundry, despite his mum’s comments to the contrary. Ben had a linen basket in his room with a couple of dark towels and a pair of jeans, so Patrick grabbed those too.
He popped his iPhone into the dock on the windowsill, shoved everything in the washing machine and then stood, trying to remember where Ben kept his washing powder. Normal people would keep it under the sink, but when Patrick bent down to look, he only found a couple of dishcloths, some bleach, and a dustpan and brush. He frowned; maybe Ben had run out and not bothered to stock up since he was going on holiday. Will could have told him they were out.
He continued to search through the rest of the cupboards, singing loudly to each song that came on, and hitching his towel up a little when it threatened to slip off. Ben had a big American-style fridge, which he’d somehow managed to fit into his kitchen, and the only cupboard Patrick hadn’t looked in was the one that went above it. Butsurelyhe wouldn’t keep it up there? Only one way to find out.
