Hayes held his gaze for a moment and then shook his head, as if he did not know what to make of him. “All right,” he said, grabbing one of the glasses, “we’re going for a walk. Don’t follow us.”
We trekked down across the lawn to the far side of the pool and installed ourselves on one of the lounges.
“I’m sorry about that. That was weird, right?”
“No weirder than Liam only having one dick.”
He laughed. “God, I love your humor.”
“I love hanging out with you. Thanks for inviting me. I’m glad I came.”
“I’m glad you came, too. And itisperfect… your face.”
I kissed him then. “Yours, too.”
We lay there for a bit, side by side on the lounge, kissing, and it felt like high school, innocent and pure.
He stopped at one point, reaching for the Scotch and taking a long sip before offering it to me.
“I’m not really a Scotch person…”
“How do you know? You weren’t a boy band person either, and now look at you. You’re like knee-deep.”
I laughed at that.
“You’re worse than knee-deep. You’re like up to your chin.”
“Fine.” I allowed him to serve me. It was hot going down, smoky, like all the goodness of the first fire lit in winter, bottled and put in my mouth. And suddenly, that night at the Crosby Street Hotel came rushing back. The nervousness of it, the newness, the postorgasmic freak-out.
“Well…?”
“It reminds me of you.”
“That’s good enough.” He placed the glass down and rolled me on top of him.
“I love this face,” I said, tracing my thumbs over his eyebrows. “I love the proportions of it. I love the symmetry. I love that it reminds me of a Botticelli cherub.”
He smiled. “I’m pretty certain I’ve never heard that before.”
“Can I tell you a secret?”
“Do.”
“That first night, in Las Vegas… I distinctly remember thinking, ‘God, I just want to sit on this kid’s face and pull his hair.’”
“What?” He began to laugh. “You thoughtwhat? That you would compare me to art and then consider desecrating it in almost the same breath is a little unnerving.”
“Sorry to have unnerved you.”
“And yet you made me beg you for a date…”
“I wanted to have sex with you, I didn’t want to date you.”
“I’m going to pretend I’m not offended by that… What made you change your mind?”
“What makes you so sure I have?”
He stopped laughing then and grabbed both my wrists, tight. “What are you afraid of? Right now, what are you afraid of?”
