Page 25 of Starved Until Sunset

“Sounds like asking for trouble.”

“Are you suggesting I’m a troublemaker?”

“You were back in school,” Demetrius said. “And you pretty much still are.”

“Excuse me?”

“Still. Are. A. Trouble. Maker.” Then he went back to reading.

“I’ll have you know I am a well-respected member of this community…” Cody sighed and kicked at the gravel shoulder. “Ugh. I can’t even say it with a straight face.”

“Yeah, not even a bisexual face.”

After a moment of silence, Cody said in a very dry voice, “Well, look who’s so funny all of a sudden.”

Demetrius grinned. “I’ve always been funny.”

Cody stepped in closer, his body heat and the smell of his sweat sending sparks all along Demetrius’s nervous system. Dear God, Cody could turn him on in a heartbeat. Sometimes even faster.

“How about me?” Cody said, his voice low, almost a growl. “Am I funny?”

“Right now you’re about to push so many of my buttons it’s not even remotely safe. And we need to get paid tomorrow.”

Cody pouted. “Fine. But I’m picking this up again when we get home.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“I’ll hold something against you,” Cody rumbled.

“Okay, here.” Demetrius held a rag up in front of the spray bottle and pulled the trigger several times, drenching the material with pungent cleanser. “Take this and see if you can clean off the ten dollar part.”

Cody made a face and held the rag out away from him. “This smells like hippopotamus piss.”

“Should I even bother asking how you know what hippopotamus piss smells like?”

“Probably not.”

Cody was so tall, he didn’t need the ladder to reach that portion of the tag. As Cody scrubbed at the sign, Demetrius watched his muscles move beneath the tight fitting long-sleeved t-shirt. It scared him sometimes just how much Cody’s very presence affected him. But he didn’t have time for that kind of thinking right now. The Parson’s Hollow teenage vandal crowd had been busy over the weekend, and they had a lot of signs to work on.

The cleaner worked with some effort, and they made their way along the road, trading off scrubbing signs clean. By the end of the day, Demetrius’s shoulders and upper back burned from the work. Shadows were long when they finally pulled the city pickup truck back into the lot. Demetrius followed Cody inside the garage and looked around the big open space. It was empty, and even John the Bastard’s elevated office was dark.

“Everyone else must have finished early,” Cody said, bouncing the keys on his palm. “I’m going to hang these up. Punch me out, will you?”

“I’ll need a step stool.”

Cody smirked and turned, bending over and holding his chin out in a prominent manner. “Care to give it your best shot?”

Demetrius moved fast, grabbing Cody’s chin with a tight grip then giving him a long, hard kiss. When he leaned back, Cody’s eyes were open, his pupils wide and expression stunned.

“That’s some right hook you’ve got there,” Cody said.

Demetrius patted his cheek then brushed past him. When he reached the cracked and grease-smeared time clock, the metal door to the left of it opened, startling him. He had never seen anyone use that door, but now John the Bastard stepped through it. John looked surprised to see him standing so close, and quickly closed the door. But not before Demetrius caught a glimpse of a metal stair rail descending into darkness behind him.

“Hi, John,” Demetrius said, intentionally loud enough for Cody to hear, and hopefully prevent him from saying anything derogatory about their boss in front of their boss.

“Finish cleaning those signs?” John asked in a gruff and grumpy tone. He pulled a ring loaded with keys from his pocket and used one to secure the deadbolt in the door.

“Yep, all set.” Demetrius pushed his time card into the clock and waited for the acknowledging clunk. “Cody and I were just saying the vandals in town are getting more creative.”