Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
NATHAN
I double-check the recipe on my phone to ensure I’m not missing anything. My phone screen dims between steps, and I’m convinced I’ve missed a critical step each time I turn it back on. I take a quick taste off the spoon to be sure it’s edible. Not too bad, considering I almost got stuck working late—again—and ordering takeout. Colt might not care, but I do.
Other than the late nights at work, which are hopefully temporary, my life is pretty good. I have wonderful friends, a job I love, and a home. So why did everything seem so much better now that Colt had waltzed back in?
I still don’t have an answer when Colt knocks at my door. “It’s open,” I yell, not moving from the stove. I don’t want to seem overly eager. Despite the guys pushing me to have an honest conversation with Colt, I’m not sure I’m ready for the conversation tonight. I hear the thunk of his shoes followed by footsteps. I’ve watched him do this enough times now that I can picture the way he toes off his shoes without bothering to untie them.
He sets a six-pack of beer down on the counter. “You know, we can always order something. I don’t mind.”
“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” I stir the pot on the stove several times before turning off the burner. “What kind of friend would I be if I let you eat garbage seven days a week?”
“A great one.” He grins and hops up onto one of the stools. “I’m trying to do better, but healthy eating always falls toward the bottom of the list.”
I click my tongue at him. “Taking care of yourself should always be at the top of the list.”
“Oh really? So tell me what you had for lunch today?” He raises an eyebrow at me, and I wince. He’s got me figured out.
“Coffee?” I did try, but with the pressure of doing work for the fundraiser and doing my regular job, skipping lunch became a regular thing. It wouldn’t be as much of an issue if I ate breakfast. At best, I manage a granola bar on my drive to the office. At worst, I sneak a few pieces of candy from the bowl in the office waiting area. I didn’t have a lot of room to lecture anyone on healthy eating.
“Coffee’s not a meal.
“Lucky for both of us, dinner tonight has vegetables and whole grains.”
Colt scrunches up his face. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that. Any chance you want to reconsider and order takeout? My co-workers were talking about a new Chinese place.”
“Not a chance.” I smack his arm with a stack of napkins. “This is done. Why don’t you grab the dishes and set the counter while I finish.” He opens his mouth but snaps it shut.
He reaches into the upper cabinets and grabs a couple of plates. His shirt rides up as he does, revealing a strip of skin across his abdomen. I shouldn’t stare, but I can’t help it. He might not pay much attention to his diet, but he makes up for it by running. My mind conjures images of stripping him naked and getting to lick a stripe up from his belly button to his chest. Does he like his nipples played with?
“Nathan?” Shit. He’s obviously tried to get my attention a few times.
“Yeah?” I shake the vision from my head and refocus on dinner.
“Are plates okay, or do we need bowls, too?” He holds up one of each in his hands.
“Plates are fine.” He nods and moves around me as he grabs utensils and napkins from the drawers. He’s at ease in my kitchen, grabbing things he needs without asking where anything is or if he can get something. It’s comfortable and easy to imagine doing this every night as we make dinner and share stories about the day.
The clatter of a plate against the counter pulls me from my thoughts. I plate the food and move the food over to the counter. I still haven’t gotten the kitchen table cleaned off. At this rate, it won’t happen until next year. “This looks great! What is it?”
I laugh. “It’s Thai red curry. It’s a new recipe, so I hope it turned out okay.”
“Well, if it didn’t, we always have Chinese as plan b.”
We eat in silence for a few minutes. Colt nods his approval before making a slew of nearly pornographic sounds as he digs into the food. No takeout required. However, if he keeps making those noises, I’d need a few minutes alone before we get to the movie. I shift in my seat a little bit and try not to imagine what he’d sound like with my mouth around his cock. I take a long drink of my beer and focus on anything else—work I need to get done next week, yard work to prepare for the spring, and making sure my tux still fits. Those do the trick to at least get my dick under control for the moment.
“So, how’s Cardinal Falls treating you? Make any new friends?” Or find a date? I still couldn’t bring myself to come out and ask him about his date.
“I have a bunch of work friends now. I’m unsure if they’ll ever be people I see outside the office, but they help make the day go by faster.”
“That’s good. I’m lucky I still have the guys from college. I swear if they moved away, I’d be screwed. It’s so much harder to make friends later in life.”
“I know. I even tried one of those dating apps.” I stop chewing and turn toward him. “Just to meet some people.”
“And how was it?” My heart is pounding so hard I swear he must be able to hear it.
“Eh. It was fine, but we didn’t have a connection.” He takes a long drink of his beer. “It’s nice to meet some people. My sister’s been nagging me about being more social, so it gave me something to tell her.”
“Well, maybe the next one.” Am I a terrible person if I hope the next one doesn’t work out?
“Yeah, maybe.”
We finish our food with small talk about each of our offices. I stand up and reach for Colt’s plate when we both finish. He snatches it away and gets out of his chair. “You cooked, so I’ll clean up.”
I don’t fight him. I clean as I go, so there isn’t much to do besides putting the dishes we used into the dishwasher. I sit and enjoy the view. He hums to himself and moves about the kitchen, putting things away. I bite my lip when he bends to put things in the dishwasher. That muscular ass is what wet dreams are made of.
“Movie time?” He closes the dishwasher and turns toward me with a mischievous grin.
“Why do I feel like this is some sort of setup?” I like him picking the movies. Cooking is easy, but trying to pick a film from the never-ending list on streaming makes my skin itch. He’d think I gave in too quickly if I didn’t give him a hard time.
“You said I could pick.” I nod. “I want to continue our walk down memory lane with more movies from our childhood.” Something tells me that isn’t the whole story, but I shake my head and lead the way to the living room.
COLT
“Don’t laugh, but we’re watching the original—and best— Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.” Nathan barks out a laugh from his spot on the couch as I flip through the images on the screen to find the movie.
“You know they’ve made several new versions since the nineties?”
I click my tongue at him. “This is the original and best.”
“I’ll have to trust you on that one.”
“No guessing. I’m about to prove it to you.” I stop on the cover of the movie and click play.
“Wouldn’t we need to watch all of them to compare and make a final decision?” Nathan would want firm rating criteria and spreadsheets. If it meant regular movie nights, I was on board.
“Hey, if you want to stay up all night watching and ranking movies, I’m more than happy to make that happen.”
“How about we start with this one and see how it goes.” The opening credits appear on the screen, making us more comfortable. The air changes as we relax and sink into the nostalgia. We watched this movie dozens of times together as kids. We’d been obsessed with the Ninja Turtles , though my family disapproved of the violence, even in cartoons. Fortunately, his house was much easier, and I could stay current on pop culture while hanging out there.
“You know, my new couch is pretty nice, but there’s nothing better than one already well-worn,” I say during a lull in the movie. I shift a little closer to him, pulling my legs up and letting them curl under me.
As if to silence me, he speaks softly when he replies. “Then we better start doing our movie nights at your place so we can break it in.” A lot of options came to mind. None of them involve watching a movie.
We go back to watching the movie, but my eyes won’t focus on the screen. They repeatedly stray toward my friend. I love how a cheesy grin spread across his face when he found one of the jokes funny. Or the severe expression he got when one of the characters was in peril.
His eyes never leave the screen. Getting me to sit through an entire movie had always been a challenge. Hell, most of the time, I couldn’t make it through a single TV show episode. My regular restlessness isn’t the problem tonight, though. I need to talk to Nathan about my feelings, but I’m scared to fuck things up between us. Somehow, we rescued our friendship after that kiss years ago, even though we were clueless kids. Indeed, as adults, we both could be mature enough to handle this.
“I’m going to grab another beer. Do you want anything?” I need a minute and a little bit of space to refocus.
“Sure. Thanks.” His gaze doesn’t leave the TV when he answers or when I stand up and walk toward the kitchen. The fridge’s cold air helps pull me out of my daze. The pull I feel toward Nathan isn’t going away. If anything, it gets stronger each time we’re together, and I’m running out of platonic excuses to touch him. God help me, though; I couldn’t keep my hands off him. Ever since we rekindled our friendship, the part of me that wanted more had kicked back in—this time with a vengeance.
And what was stopping me this time? Last time, it had been my family. They would disapprove, and I couldn’t risk losing them. Not when I still had a whole year of high school left. Now though? It no longer held the same weight. They still wouldn’t approve, but it wasn’t enough to hold myself back from something I sincerely wanted.
“Did you get lost? You’re missing the best parts.” Nathan’s voice carries over the sound of swords and yelling on the TV.
“Coming.” I return to the living room and relax on the couch again, opening one of the cans and passing it off to Nathan. If I’m a little bit closer to him now, who could blame me?