“I wasn’tturning my crank!Shit.”I was insulted.I hadn’t jacked since he’d moved in.
“Why did you think I’d mind?”
I couldn’t look at him.“Because it’s you in a compromising position.”
“If it turns you on, I don’t mind.You’ve known me long enough to know that.”
“Oh god.”He’d noticed.I picked up one of the couch cushions, set it on my lap, and pressed my face into it, wishing I could disappear.
“You want to go get dinner?I’m okay either way.But since you watched my movie, and you’ve met my ex-girlfriend, you already know that.”
“How can you joke about this?”I tossed the cushion, which was probably a mistake since I was blushing like crazy.
“What’s up?”he said, still sounding flip.
“Do you want to have sex?”I said, without looking at him.
“What—with you?”
“Who else is here?Do you want to have sex with me or not?”
“Yeah.”
I wasn’t blushing anymore, because shit just got real.
“But not right now,” he said.
“Why not?”How did I go fromoopsto daring him to fuck me?
“Because of how you reacted when I came in,” he said.“If you can’t look me in the eye when you’ve got a hard-on, how am I supposed to have sex with you?What am I supposed to do?Wear a blindfold?”
“Shut up,” I said, but my heart wasn’t in it.
“Let’s go out to eat.We can talk about this once you’ve calmed down.”
I grabbed my keys.“Where do you want to go?”
“Clark’s Corner.We might run into some actors I know, and the food’s good.”
We took the subway downtown and then walked to the restaurant.He tried to start a conversation, but I didn’t want to talk.The restaurant wasn’t too busy, and we got a round booth by the window.
“You want to split some fajitas?”he said.
“Sure, whatever.”
He kept looking at me, but I still felt embarrassed about earlier.When the food came, I started eating right away, even though it was still sizzling, so I didn’t have to talk.Then he started eating too, but things were really awkward.
It got more awkward when two people I didn’t know came over to our booth and said “hi” to him.
Turned out he’d acted with them in a movie.Without anyone asking me, they joined us.Eddie slid around the booth to make room so he was sitting right beside me.
“This is Craig,” he said to them.“Craig, this is Andy and Cub.”
Cub was a chubby, smiley redheaded guy with a beard, and Andy was a rangy guy with a Newfoundland accent.They both shook hands with me.I couldn’t tell from their expressions if he’d told them about me.
I was super self-conscious because of what had happened at the apartment, and Eddie was sitting so close he was practically in my lap.I shifted away from him.
“Are you an actor too, Craig?”said Cub.
