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Simon walked in, taking my hand. “Then don’t. We’ll deal with it. No jumping to conclusions until we have the facts, remember.”
Pulling him into a hug, I relaxed into his arms, finding comfort for once. I released him a few minutes later, not wanting to tempt myself too much. I’d instilled the no touching boundary for a reason.
“You know, you are your own special form of asshole.”
“Oh? Please, tell me more,” I taunted, walking over to the dresser and grabbing my wallet and keys as he laughed behind me.
“You have that ‘I’m rough around the edges’ thing going on about you, but where you’re secretly a softy on the inside.”
Scoffing, I rolled my eyes. “There isn’t anything soft about me, Fish.”
“Deny it all you want, babe. You’re abrasive to a fault, but it’s how you show you care because under it, there’s always a line of thoughtfulness, your delivery just sucks. Good thing you’re not DoorDash, or you’d have a 1-star rating.”
“Har-de-har-har.” Turning, I took in his frame as he leaned against the door. Simon was dressed in black jeans that had holes in the knees and a blue shirt that made his eyes stand out. I caught myself licking my lips, and I lifted an eyebrow, running my thumb across my chin as I assessed him. “There isn’t anything 1 star about my performance, Fish. And I think you’ll find my satisfaction rating is off the charts. What I want to know is, why you think I care?”
He pushed off the wall, walking forward with a swagger I didn’t know Simon possessed. His hips swayed a little as he did, and I felt myself grow hard as I watched him approach. Fuck, this dude had always been the one my heart had melted for. When he reached me, he placed his arms on the dresser behind me, trapping me. Simon wasn’t taller than me, but he was able to dominate a little at this angle. Needing to gain some control, I grasped his hips, pulling him closer, our lower halves melting into one another.
“I know because I know you, Slade.”
“Oh, is that so? You think you have me all figured out, huh, Fish?”
“I think I know you better than most people,” he whispered, his breathing ragged as we held our position, eyes locked on one another.
“Hmm, I’d say you’re correct there. You always were one of the few people I could be myself with,” I growled, nipping his nose. His whimpered moan had me groaning, and I pushed him back, putting space between us. “You’re too tempting, though, and I don’t want to screw things up. Must. Talk. To. Peach,” I panted, shoving my hands in my pocket to keep from reaching out to him. “Then, we can fuck until neither of us can move. Deal?”
“Why do you have to say things like that? It just makes me harder,” he groaned. He stepped closer, barely brushing up against me, and my eyes rolled back at the briefest touch. “Please, Fish,” I pleaded.
“Okay, okay.” He stepped back, putting space between us, and I could breathe again.
“So, um, where do you want to meet Peach for lunch?” I asked, attempting to change the subject.
“I have a place in mind, but it doesn’t open for a few more hours. It was nice, you know, to hear you play.”
“Thanks, it’s been a while. I’ve always enjoyed playing. Just not really in front of people. But Lennox… kind of changed that.”
“She has a way of doing that.” He chuckled, his eyes going misty.
“Yeah, she does.”
“Since we have a few hours, want to play Xbox, or is that still too risky?”
“Yeah, sure, let me pack this up, and I’ll be out there. I emailed the owner as well to extend our stay a few extra days, and got Bubba to cover the shop. Are you okay with that? I know you said you had a million vacation days, but I don’t want to assume.”
Simon grinned, nodding as he left, and giving me a cheeky wink. Picking up my stuff, I read over the song again, and I realized how quickly it had flowed from me. Things were changing in me, and I liked it.
Walking out to play, I realized how nice it would be to do something casual with Simon. Over the years, we’d wanted to hang out, but we were always afraid, feeling like we had to hide, or in Simon’s case, choose.
There was always a level of secrecy, which made it hot at first, but increased our guilt. I didn’t want to admit to Simon that having him keep this from her had eaten away at me. I knew of their connection, having witnessed it on paper for years and in person as well. It got to the point in the end where I’d shut him out to save their relationship. I pushed him out the door as soon as things were over, throwing up those barriers left and right. Shit, I needed to make things better with Simon too. It was time I owned up to my feelings and accepted responsibility for the mistakes I’d made. No time like the present to make better choices.
When we left to meet Lennox later, I felt hopeful that, for once, new things were on the horizon, eclipsing the bad, just like they both did in my heart.
Love Letter
Dear Peach,
I decided to show you that I'm me in the way I know best… words. It’s funny that face to face, I struggle with the basic things like telling you my feelings or being honest. But when pen touches paper, I’m not able to hold back from you, never was. On paper, we poured our hearts out, not understanding the connection we were forging.
Every week I looked forward to your fun envelopes, the stationary changing as you ran out, but when I saw something bright or girly, I always knew it was from you. I think that was when you started being my sun. You radiated positivity and sunshine into my life, your exuberance and joy grabbed me from the pages. I started staring at the stars because of you, and ended up loving the view. It felt fitting to name my first shop Equinox. You were my sun, my Nox. I wanted you to be part of it, and having my sun and stars for the same length of time felt right.
