I let his words sink in. Not really knowing how to react.
“Don’t freak out,” he continued. “I never followed you home. Without really knowing you, you inspired me to do better, be better. So I got into a routine, and if you happened to be there then my day got a little brighter. I never expected to actually meet you. Definitely didn’t expect to shirt-front you. Sorry ‘bout that. Again.”
Surprisingly, the frantic drumming in his chest helped to soothe me. I inspired him? Me, the freak who thought I had control over my life? I understood now that I really didn’t, and still didn’t. Would it be so bad to lean on him? To put all my trust in him and let him be my foundation?
“Wow. Um. What do I say to that?”
“Say that I haven’t scared the shit out of you, and that you’ll move in, move in with me.”
“I’m not scared … I’m flattered. I don’t think I deserve the ego stroking, but I’m enjoying it anyway.”
“Can I stroke something else?”
I snorted. “You’re incorrigible.”
“My ego could use a little stroking.” Twisting his hips, he nudged his semi-hard cock into my thigh.
“Could it, now?”
“Mmm.” He hummed into my neck, quietly breathing me in for several beats. “Are we going to be roommates?”
What else could I say to that but, “Yes.”
Brad
Ben tapped the end of a chisel with a mallet, wood chips flying in all directions as he crafted a new bookcase. His garage was chock full of his tools and projects. There was no room for the cars, which were relegated to the driveway. It was a handyman’s dream in here.
My head was in a dream of its own. The mural was finally finished. I’d woken up this morning, hit by my muse and went with it. Veronica left extra early so she could have breakfast with her Granny before work. I gave her a kiss on the lips, a smack on the arse, and sent her on her way because I was bursting out of my skin to finish solidifying her form on my wall.
My chest was swollen with pride as I took in the finished work. It was a scene from the late 1800’s. She was poised at the end of a jetty wearing a long, white, cotton dress with lace trimmings, and a wide brim hat with ribbon tails flowing over her loose hair. It was my life on the wall. Coming out of the darkness to find her. I could’ve said the same about my second chance at a friendship with Ben.
The smell of wood as it transformed into something beautiful and with purpose … it warmed my blood. I loved it. Have done so since I was a kid watching my dad work in his shed, and I’d carried that love through my apprenticeship with my best mate by my side. I had so many good memories locked inside me. I felt stupid that I’d forgotten them for a while. That I let all the bad shit accumulate and eclipse all the good. I lost sight of the fact that life continued on and morphed into something else. Sometimes worse, sometimes better, but the point was, it was fluid. I felt so stuck in hell that I escaped by putting myself in danger. That kind of hell would’ve been permanent.
“So, you and Veronica are getting along well.”
“Yeah.” There was no hiding the perma-grin taking up residence on my face. I’d found cloud nine, and her name was Veronica.
“I like her, man. She’s tough.”
Relief rolled through me. If my best friend didn’t like her, I’d be disappointed. I might even be pissed, but it wouldn’t make me doubt my feelings for her. They were rendered onto the surface of my heart. If anything was to change them, it would crack open and drain of life in a big, bloody mess.
“Yeah. Her brain is so sexy.”
Shoving my hands into the back pockets of my jeans, my eyes blurred as a memory montage played across my vision. From the moment I first saw her, to the nights we’d spent together. She was the ultimate woman. There wasn’t a thing I’d change about her. I wished she didn’t have to endure the agony of losing her parents, especially the way she did. But she’d built herself up to be an educated, disciplined, capable woman. I had so much respect for that. It made me proud of her. She’d be pissed if she thought I was putting her on a pedestal. I knew she wasn’t perfect. Nobody was. But fuck if I could see anything not to like. She was smokin’ hot, but she didn’t play it up or down. She was comfortable in her own skin, and that was what made her even more attractive.
Switching my attention back to Ben, I realised I’d been standing there with my mouth open. Like a love-struck wanker. Snapping my mouth shut, I cleared my throat. “That’s a huge bookcase, are you sure that’s going to fit?” Ben was a perfectionist, there was no way it wasn’t going to fit. I just loved pulling his leg.
He rolled his eyes. “Hand me that sand paper?” Smoothing off the rough edges, he narrowed his eyes. “It’ll fit, dickhead.” A couple of stray woodchips fell from his hair as he shook his head at me. “Something about her, it’s … I dunno. She’s been hurt. Just take it slow. I know you have a tendency to go balls all in, but Andrea’s getting a bad vibe. Protect yourself.”
“Oh, yeah? Like you did, huh?”
“No, tosser. Don’t fuck it up like I did.” He paused his sanding and frowned at the wood as if he saw something unpleasant. “Andrea reckons Veronica
