Page 11 of Always Him

We just breathe into each other, my mind growing foggy like the cold mornings in winter up here when the ocean pulls the clouds over the bay.

Finn’s hands slip under my shirt and brush up my back and I shudder under the touch, just loving the feel of him against me.

The joint falls to the ground, snuffing itself out, and still, we don’t move, our lips pressed together. Everything else just fades away.

It’s just him and me.

My eyes flutter closed and I inhalehim.

A sudden loud bleating has my eyes popping open and I turn toward the door to see Vincent standing on the threshold, his little rectangle-shaped goat pupils watching us.

I can’t help but grin at him as I lay my head against Finn’s shoulder.

“My parents are neglecting him,” I say.

“He’s a fucking goat. He could survive on grass and trash.”

I let out a loud chuckle.

“They’re never just animals with my dad. They’re like children to him.” I push myself up, moving to where Vincent is standing. I scoop him up and cradle him to my chest.

“Let’s go find Dad,” I tell the tiny goat.

I don’t even need to glance behind me to know that Finn is following me. I just know he is.

A hand slips around my waist and my heart flutters in my chest.

See?

He’s always right there.

We make our way through the backyard, past the greenhouse and chicken coop, and toward the backdoor when I hear it. A loud rhythmic thumping vibrates through the windows.

“Oh, Jesus, for real?” I mutter, and Finn lets out a dark laugh. “They couldn’t wait until later?”

The notorious sex playlist—90s R&B—is blaring from the speakers inside the house and immediately I know exactly what my parents are doing right now.

I shudder.

There are things my ears cannot unhear. There are things my eyes cannot unsee.

“Let’s just go for a walk while they get it out of their system,” Finn says. “You want to grab the leash for this guy?”

He looks at Vincent and I shake my head. “I’m not going in there. No fucking way.”

“Fine. If you insist, but if I see something nasty, I won’t be coming back here with you ever again.”

“Like they’d let you avoid them. You’re like a son to them,” I say as he disappears inside.

A moment later he reappears with Vincent’s leash. He clips it onto the goat’s collar, and I set him on the ground, the three of us making our way to the side gate and out to the road.

My parents live outside the suburbs in an unincorporated part of the city. Mainly they chose the boonies so that my dad could raise his chickens without complaint and have enough land to grow his vegetables. And it’s a good thing because Vincent is a loud asshole when he wants to be.

“How long do you think we’ll be out here?” he asks as we step over a large crack in the pavement

I side-eye Finn. “God, I hope they’re quick about it. Sometimes they go through the entire playlist. That’s a lot of TLC and Color Me Badd.”

He shoves his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie, and I frown a little. Reaching out, I tug one of them out and link my hand with his. Pfft. Trying to hide it from me.

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