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During the week, Stephen had a bad habit of leaving things everywhere. The days in the office were long and when he stumbled into his place each night, he wanted to relax. And that did not include loading the dishwasher or throwing socks into the hamper.
If he ever wanted to actually keep a boyfriend, though, maybe those were a few skills he should start learning. Being a slob wasn’t exactly attractive.
By the time they’d walked to Stephen’s car and driven to the other side of town to his place, Ehren had dipped into brooding again. That was to be expected. Little in the world was more unsettling than to know a stranger had been in your personal sanctuary, digging through your possessions. Or even the terrifying thought: What if they’d arrived at his condo a bit earlier. Could one of them have been hurt by the thief?
No, the best thing for Ehren was to get settled in a warm and inviting place, relax, and try to get some sleep. Tomorrow would hopefully offer some better perspective.
“Wow,” Ehren murmured as they cut through his gleaming kitchen with its dark-wood cabinets and black marble counters. They moved into the living room, where there were more shelves of the same color wood and deep-blue furniture. Stephen was more monochromatic than Ehren in his color choices. But then, he didn’t trust himself with bold colors.
“I don’t get to spend nearly enough time here, but when I do, I like to be comfortable.”
“It’s very peaceful and cozy,” Ehren replied.
“Come on. I’ll show you to the guest room.” Stephen led the way up the staircase to the second floor. The first room on the right was rarely used. His oldest brother had crashed in there a few times, but it had been a couple of years. There were a few old friends from his college years who popped through Denver occasionally and would stay over.
The walls were painted a warm cream color, and the queen-sized bed was covered in a dark-red duvet. He wrinkled his nose against the staleness of the air. How long had it been since he’d last been in here? Too long, apparently.
“Sorry. It’s stuffy. We can open the windows.”
Ehren placed a hand on his arm and squeezed. Stephen looked around to find him smiling sweetly at him, which only sent his heart into somersaults. This guy was too good, too kind for this horrible thing to have happened to him.
“It’s fine, Stephen. Stop worrying.”
“Who’s worried?” Stephen scoffed, and Ehren shook his head as he chuckled.
“It’s written all over your face and in your tense shoulders. I thought it was that you didn’t want me in your space, but I think it’s more about being afraid that I won’t like your place.”
“Hey now,” Stephen said, dropping his voice to near a whisper as he leaned close enough to press his forehead to Ehren’s. “Which one of us is the shrink here?”
Ehren’s smile grew even larger. “Not used to people calling you out on your bullshit?”
“Some people have tried, but few have been as accurate as you.” And that was the truth. Stephen was sure that he was damn good at masking his emotions, particularly worry, but he’d either let his guard down with Ehren or the man was far more observant than Stephen had expected.
It was kind of refreshing.
Stephen lightly kissed Ehren’s lips and then pulled away again. They’d agreed to behave, and Stephen was sticking to that vow.
“Would you like to just crash?”
Ehren frowned as he dropped his overnight bag on the foot of the bed. “I’m still feeling a bit wired. Any chance you’ve got something to drink in this place?”
“I believe I have some beer in the fridge and maybe some bourbon my brother failed to suck down during his last visit.”
“A beer would be great,” Ehren said with a small, weary sigh.
They returned to the first floor, where Stephen paused long enough to toe off his shoes beside the sofa before fetching beers for both of them. Settled on the sofa with their sock-covered feet on the coffee table, they relaxed, allowing a comfortable silence to sink between them.
As much as Stephen wanted to let this all go, he found himself replaying the burglary scene over in his head. Something was bothering him about it. Yet, he was hesitant to ask Ehren because he wanted the man to stop worrying about it.
“You’re thinking about something awful hard over there,” Ehren teased.
“Maybe.”
“The break-in?”
Stephen closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the sofa. “Maybe,” he admitted with a groan. “I’m one of those puzzle people. I love them, but I tend to obsess until I get them figured out.”
Ehren huffed a laugh. “If it helps, so am I.”
Opening his eyes again, he rolled his head to look over at Ehren. “Do you mind if I ask you an uncomfortable question?”
