“You’re being a dick,” I said as I followed him at speed.
“Nope, just being me.” We turned out of our road and began to head towards Lick It!, the streets already starting to fill with Saturday morning foot traffic. “Also, don’t think I didn’t notice the way you glossed over the fact he’s our employee. I’m not going to make it into a big deal, because I’m pretty sure you’ve already done that yourself, but just be careful, okay? I know he’s only here for the summer but that doesn’t mean it can’t get messy. And this shop is your dream, so don’t let anyone take it away from you.”
“I’m not going to. And you’re right, I’ve already given this a lot of thought. Probably more than necessary.”
“Wouldn’t have expected anything less,” Milo interjected and I chuckled.
“But we’re both adults, we both want this, and we’ve both agreed it’s nothing serious. It’s nothing more than a fun form of stress relief. And, I don’t know, maybe it’s a bad idea and maybe I’m only thinking with my dick, but I kind of want to choosemyself for once. Do something for me. Yes, I probably should’ve found someone else, but I like Owen, we get on well, and I don’t have to do any of that awkward introductory shit—or find someone who won’t care I work odd hours and will still be down to fuck at random times. Owen already gets it.”
“That’s true. And he figured out what you need just by looking at you.”
“I mean, he did ask me some questions,” I said quietly, hoping I wasn’t blushing and giving my embarrassment away. It was only sex and Milo already knew everything, I didn’t have a reason to be embarrassed. Especially not if this was simply a casual hook-up where the entire point was really good sex. But I’d always struggled to be open about my personal life.
Hence the invention of the UTI.
“Good. Because nobody I love should be having shit sex. I won’t let you be subjected to that.”
I chuckled softly. “Thanks for looking out for me. And, er, thanks for the, um, supplies. They were very useful.”
“No worries. I figured you wouldn’t have any, and if you did, they probably all went out of date a while ago.”
“Thank you for that very damning statement on my sex life,” I said dryly.
“Eh, I think we’re all in the same boat with work and all. Except for Alfie, he’s definitely getting laid.” He said it so casually it took me a moment to figure out what he’d said. I frowned as we rounded a corner.
Milo was so bright and brash, it hadn’t occurred to me he might also be suffering from a lack of physical connection. I’d always assumed he was hitting up tourists and leaving a string of satisfied men behind him, with the odd broken heart thrown in for good measure.
“Milo, are you… you’re… you’re getting laid, right?”
He shrugged. “Not for a while. But it’s fine.”
“Is it work? Because I know our work-life balance has been pretty shocking recently, but I don’t want you to suffer. If you need to take some time off… go out, get away, we’ll manage.”
“Nah, I’ll be fine.” He waved his hand. “I’ll just go down the pub this weekend, or open Grindr or something. This isn’t about me anyway.”
“We can make it about you.” We were nearly at Lick It! now, and I could see the front of the shop. The front door was open, and Alfie was already putting out the brightly coloured metal tables and chairs we had for customers. The sight sent a flutter of worry through my chest because, if he was doing that, it was so much later than I’d thought. How had I not noticed the time?
Likely because I’d been so blissed out, with muscles that felt like jelly, that getting up this morning had been a very slow, leisurely process.
“No thanks,” Milo said. “By the way, I won’t tell Alfie what’s going on. That’s something you should do. I know it’s your sex life, but it could affect the business too so don’t let him be the last to know.”
“Mm, yeah, I suppose,” I said half-heartedly. I didn’t really want everyone at the shop knowing what Owen and I were doing, but I’d hate Alfie to think I was trying to deceive him. It wasn’t about him. It was about me and my personal life.
Although, I guessed I didn’t really have a leg to stand on since I’d decided to combine professional and personal.
Goddammit, maybe this thing with Owen wasn’t going to be as straightforward as I wanted. And I had nobody to blame but myself.
I should have been thinking about immediately ending things with Owen, telling him it had been fun but could never happen again, but I didn’t want to. He’d made me feel so fucking alive last night, and I didn’t want to give that feeling up.
I deserved to have fun.
I deserved to get fucked so hard I couldn’t breathe.
The consequences could wait until tomorrow.
“Morning,” Milo called with a casual wave. “Sorry we’re late, somebody overslept.”
“Sorry,” I said apologetically as Alfie put the last of the chairs down and looked at us.
