"What? Are you surprised?" Enrico asked. "I want you to dress me, undress me..."
"Stop it. We're supposed to be working," Mitch said while he made sure that Sammy was playing far enough away not to hear them.
"Yes, boss," Enrico said insolently.
Now he was calling him boss. "I can't win, can I?"
"Nope."
"Fine," Mitch said, giving up and picked up the work gloves. To think that he had been afraid of Enrico's touch like it might brand him, mark him forever, and now he was putting gloves on him while he smirked.
They got to work, but the whole time Mitch couldn't stop thinking about last night. While he sweated alongside Enrico, Mitch wanted to bury himself in him over and over again until his body and soul were satisfied.
That was no good. In the light of day, he needed to forget what a good kisser Enrico was and how good his arms felt wrapped around him. But even hours later, the heat of his touch still burned him like a fever that wouldn't break.
Stopping to get a drink of water, Mitch deliberately kept his eyes off Enrico and how sweat glistened on his skin. Tipping back the bottle, Mitch looked up at the sun, high in the sky, almost overhead. It wasn't as hot and bright as Enrico though. Nothing was.
At lunchtime, Sam texted that he would be dropping by with some takeout from the café. Enrico sat on the front porch steps to wait for him, and Mitch went in to get cleaned up. After letting Sammy know that lunch was on the way, Mitch came around the corner of the house and saw that Sam had arrived. He sat down next to Enrico so Mitch decided to not interrupt them. He leaned against the corner of the railing at the side of the house and replied to a text from a former client to let her know he wasn't available.
"Looks like a lot," Enrico said as he took the takeout bags from Sam.
"You grandmother sent all this. There are three slices of peach pie with whipped cream on the side," Sam said.
"That's what Sammy had the first time she ate at the café," Enrico told him.
"Your grandmother seems really fond of her," Sam said.
"Of course she is. Who wouldn't be?" Enrico said as he looked inside the bags.
"You," Sam told him and Mitch wondered what he meant. "I remember you telling me you didn't like kids."
That was a shock to Mitch. Realizing he was eavesdropping, he knew he should leave or at least let them know he was there, but he couldn't make himself do either.
"Sammy is great. But I wasn't talking about kids. I was talking about guys with kids," Enrico corrected him. "Kids are a major roadblock to having a good time. You can't do what you want when you want."
Mitch felt stricken by what he heard, but it was better that he knew.
Sam was about to say something when Sammy ran right past Mitch and over to Enrico, who smiled at her.
"Check it out, Sammy. Sam brought us lunch," Enrico told her and let her poke around inside the takeout bags as he stood up.
"It's from Mrs. Del Rio," Sam told her then he noticed Mitch stepping over to them.
Mitch forced himself to smile at him. "Are you staying to eat with us? You're welcome to."
"Thank you, but I have to get back to work. You guys enjoy," Sam told them and then he left.
They went inside to eat, and Mitch didn't find it easy to hide how troubled he was. After what he heard Enrico say, he had to wonder what he was doing with him. Just passing the time? Proving he could seduce him?
Despite how good he was to Sammy, Mitch shouldn't have been surprised about Enrico's attitude. And he also shouldn't be letting it get to him, but he felt the pain of it like a stab to the heart.
Always beckoning him closer since the day they met, Enrico ensnared him. Whatever defenses Mitch tried to put up, Enrico broke through so easily. One look, one smile, a stray or an insistent touch, and Mitch was left aching for him.
But Enrico was never serious.
After all he was a man with no future plans. To get so worked up around him, lose self-control, that wasn't like him, but now Mitch felt like there was no going back.
That's what always scared him, that his attraction to Enrico would spark something bigger, ignite a fire inside him that could never be put out. Even after he was long gone, Mitch could never go back to being who he was. He wished he never knew what it felt like to yearn for Enrico.
