“I’m glad you’re feeling very appreciative.” He nearly purred out the words but I still wasn’t sure what was going on. My dick was completely ignoring any and all questions, though. It was just happy to perk up and try to say hello to Knightly. “It’s nice to be appreciated.”
That was deliberate, right?
“I do.” Oh yes. “You… you’ve been very helpful.”
So appreciating him at some point would just be polite.
My dick and I both liked that logic, but my brain was waving around rainbow flags. It wasn’t going to be talked into ignoring the issue like my dick had been. Brains always complicated things, which was why I turned it off as much as possible when it came to dating.
But Knightly was my neighbor.
He wasn’t just an impulsively bad decision that I could write off later. He lived next door and I’d have to see him on a regular basis.
Ugh.
“I… I think there might be something I need to talk to you about before we get to that whole appreciation thing.” Reminding myself again that he was my neighbor and I didn’t want to have to avoid him until one of us moved or died, I sighed and focused on my meat. “Just to make sure I don’t surprise you with something that might be important later.”
It might be.
Maybe?
Most guys were nice even if they were confused, but Knightly was niceandreally confusing.
“I can’t think of anything that would be too much of a surprise unless there are bodies or a boyfriend locked in a closet somewhere.” I managed not to laugh at the closet joke, but that was only because I was worried about how he’d take the actual issue.
He had straight-guy levels of confidence and it was throwing me off.
Most gay men had enough radar for squirrely shit that they’d have backed off and asked me what I was into. Knightly just took it in stride and was confident he’d be able to handle it. I wasn’t going to feel bad for not realizing he liked men too.
“Nothing like that.” I was actually safe to date and not dangerous… I was just more interesting than average and I didn’t want to surprise him with that part. “I’m just going to make sure you help me first before you make excuses to leave and I have to pretend not to see you when we’re checking the mail at the same time.”
It’d really suck to have to find a new routine, though.
Making sure I got to see him at the mailbox on a regular basis was the only reason I checked it.
“I think that’s fair.” And funny based on how he was trying not to laugh. “But I think we need to add checking the house to make sure nothing interesting stands out to our to-do list.”
Oh.
Okay, so it was good he was actually going to be nosy and figure shit out, but I hadn’t thought about that part. “Um, I kind of want them to stay out of the second floor, but I don’t know how to do that.”
I could almost hear the wheels in his head turning as he considered the new item on his list. “Are we looking to be subtle or obvious that they don’t need to snoop around your house?”
“Obvious.” Subtle wouldn’t help. “The important spaces upstairs have locks on the doors but my uncle taught himself how to pick locks as a kid and he’s a menace.”
To the family and society in general… and I still hadn’t figured out which of the kids he’d taught to pick locks.
It couldn’t have been just me.
Knightly’s shoulders jerked but managed to let out a slow breath instead of laughter. “I’ve got you covered.”
He was amazing… and much stranger than I’d realized if he thought any of this was reasonable.
“But meat first and protecting you from your family second.” He somehow wrapped himself around me without actually touching me, which was an amazing feat and really erotic. He played it off as studying the food we’d been practicing with, but I was starting to think he really wasn’t straight. “Then we’ll talk about appreciation.”
Reminding my dick one more time that he had to behave, I managed not to moan as he took my hand, but it was hard and difficult and distracting. “Let me show you something.”
Anything.
