Chapter 12 Daniel #2
“I think my baby sister loves her, too,” I said while he’d already begun singing the lyrics.
The song was in English, and Elliot clearly had no idea what he was singing, and any connection between the words he sang and the lyrics was coincidental at best. It was incredibly funny, but seeing how much he was enjoying himself, I felt too bad correcting him, so I stayed quiet and allowed him to sing “Oops!… I Did It Again” by Britney Spears until the song ended and a new one came on.
Elliot continued to sing his gibberish while also dancing to the music.
Or at least as much dancing as sitting in a car allowed him to.
He looked so lovely and carefree, the epitome of youth.
Wishing to join his moment, I lowered the car’s windows and allowed the warm summer breeze in.
With one hand on the wheel and the other hanging out of the car, I enjoyed the moment to the fullest before I glanced at Elliot.
His eyes were closed while a big smile stretched on his lips as he sang cheerfully.
The wind ruffled his raven hair, making him look even more of a star than he already was, and I found it hard to look away.
If not for driving, I’d have probably kept on staring at him for hours.
Inside and out, he was striking, and it made my heart so full it nearly burst out of my chest.
In a short moment, all the stress from the last few weeks left my body, and it took me a second to realize what this odd feeling was—freedom.
Since getting to the Hamptons, I’d been so scared of being near Elliot that I forbade myself from letting my guard down.
But now, driving down an open road with the wind in my hair and him by my side, I felt so free and happy I wished for nothing more.
A sign on the side of the road caught my eye, and deciding to be spontaneous, I followed its directions and took a right turn. Elliot didn’t seem to notice I’d gone off course, continuing to sing until I parked the car in front of a small shop.
“Huh? Why did we stop here?” he asked, looking around.
I’ll never get used to him speaking French.
“I thought we could make a short stop for some gelato,” I said after turning off the radio and killing the engine.
“Gelato?”
“You don’t like it?”
“Of course I do…” He turned to look back. “But what about the stuff we bought?”
“I’m sure it can wait fifteen more minutes.” I smiled at him.
Elliot pressed his lips together as if considering what he should do before he nodded.
“Okay,” he said.
After getting out of the car, I checked the door to ensure it was locked before walking to join Elliot, who stood by the trail leading to the gelato shop.
He seemed so innocent, waiting for me there with his baseball cap and crew socks, that for a mere second, I felt like a perverted old man for even glancing his way.
Did people also think that when they saw us together?
But then I reminded myself that in a few days, he’d turn twenty, which meant he was still way too young for me.
Not to mention, I was married to a woman and my job and could never have a relationship with him.
So why was I even thinking about how we looked together?
For God’s sake, Daniel. You’re a lost cause.
“What’s your favorite flavor?” Elliot asked, his question cutting into my line of thought.
“Would I be boring if I said vanilla?” I held open the shop’s door for him to enter.
“Not at all.” He walked past me. “It’s my favorite, too.”
I followed him in, wondering if this small talk was his way of saying he forgave me.
“Is it?” I questioned as we stopped by the ice cream parlor.
“Yes.” He got closer to the glass and checked the flavors. “Although I’m in the mood for chocolate today.”
“Then, we should get you what you want, shouldn’t we?”
Elliot responded with a warm smile. Pleased, I went over to the counter and ordered two cones.
While I did, Elliot stepped outside onto the porch, where there was a nice view of the ocean.
Thankfully, the shop wasn’t busy at the moment, and after getting our ice cream, I joined him outside, where we were alone.
“There you go,” I said, offering him his chocolate ice cream.
“Thank you.”
After taking the cone from me, he fell back into silence, which worried me that he might still be mad.
Perhaps it was too soon to assume he forgave me?
But then again, I could never know what he was thinking, so instead of killing myself over it, I focused on my vanilla ice cream and took a bite, only to get an annoying brain freeze.
“Oh, shoot.” I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose in an attempt to whoosh away the sharp pain.
“You’re so silly,” Elliot laughed. “You’re supposed to lick it, not bite it.”
Once the freeze passed and my poor brain went back to normal, I opened my eyes and looked at him. Licking his cone, he seemed awfully amused by the situation. Perhaps I needed to make a fool out of myself more often—
“If you keep staring at me, your ice cream will melt.”
My cheeks flared at his accusation, and I coughed to hide my reaction.
“I wasn’t staring,” I defended myself while he went back to his cone.
“Sure you weren’t.” Lick. “You also didn’t stare at me this morning.” Lick. “Right?”
Shocked and completely at a loss for words, I gaped at him.
“W-what?”
Since his ice cream was all but gone, Elliot tossed the remainder of his cone into the garbage can before glancing at me, amusement in his eyes.
“You are too tall to hide behind such a small tree, Daniel.” He chuckled while licking his fingers clean.
“Elliot—”
Before I could develop a coherent thought and respond to him, he grabbed my wrist and brought my hand to his lips.
“I told you it would melt.” Darting his tongue out, he licked the ice cream that dripped along the cone and to my—
Hand.
My pulse roared like a drumbeat in my ears as he moved his tongue along my skin, and I held my breath so I wouldn’t let out an embarrassing sound.
Every part of my body tensed at his touch, and while my logic told me to pull away, I couldn’t move a muscle.
Instead, I kept still until he let go of my hand and straightened.
“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind you staring at me—” He cleaned the corner of his lip with his thumb. “—but tomorrow morning, skip the shirt when you run, at least, so I’ll have something to stare at, too.”
Jesus Christ.
Instead of waiting for my pathetic ass to come up with an excuse as to what I was doing outside his room at the ass crack of dawn, Elliot said he was going to the bathroom to wash his hands and that we’d meet by the car.
Once he left me alone, I exhaled all of the pent-up tension in my body.
Only one single breath wasn’t enough to calm down my dick, which was rock solid, thanks to Elliot’s small provocation.
He was leading me around like a dog on a leash, and given the erection pressing hard against my pants, I loved it, too.
With little to no effort, Elliot was discovering new sides to me.
Parts I was all too curious to learn more about, even though I knew I shouldn’t.
They say curiosity killed the cat, but in my case, it was a young French prince.