17. Indiana
SEVENTEEN
INDIANA
An hour after the epic blow job on the stairs, I pull into the parking lot of a restaurant in Clearbrooke, a town over from Willow Bay. I’ve only heard about it from former coworkers, so hopefully it lives up to the hype.
Salem was mostly quiet on the drive over, other than softly singing along to a few tunes that played on the radio. I can tell he’s stuck in his head, but I wish I knew why. I’m torn between minding my business and asking anyway. If I did something to make him withdraw, I want to know. As far as I can tell, we both enjoyed ourselves, so what’s bugging him?
“Here we go,” I announce even though it’s obvious as I shut off the car.
Salem’s face brightens. “Can’t wait. I’m pretty hungry all of a sudden.”
“Yeah. Me too.” Before he can exit the car, I cup his chin and lean across the seats for a kiss.
He’s tense for a second but quickly melts in that way he does that is absolutely fucking addictive. As I linger on his lips, nipping and dragging my tongue over their lush softness, Salem exhales, gripping my t-shirt.
I end the kiss, but press my forehead to his. “I love your taste.”
He huffs softly, pulling away. His eyes are glassy but not at all soft. In fact, they seem to harden under my gaze.
“I feel like I’m fucking up without knowing why.”
He flinches then frowns, shaking his head. “Fuck, Indy. I’m sorry. It’s nothing you’re doing, I swear.”
I nod, studying his face. “Want to talk about anything?”
Salem turns his head, staring out the window for a few seconds as a couple passes the car. “Not really. It’s just some lingering baggage I need to work through. I promise it’s not you though. You’re…” He scoffs. “You’re fucking perfect.”
“No, I’m not. Don’t put me on a pedestal. I’m just a guy.”
“Just a guy. Right.”
His tone confuses me, and I pull my head back. “Salem, dude, where is this hostility coming from? Did I imagine the epic sex we had not that long ago?”
Salem deflates, his shoulders slumping as he rubs his forehead, and he looks down at his hands folded in his lap. “I’m gonna mess this up. It’s what I do.”
“Want to elaborate?”
After a pause, he nods, turning his pretty eyes to me. “I think everything that’s happened in my life recently is coming to a head, you know? Moving back home, meeting you, running into Jackson. Let’s just say my dating life hasn’t been great, and I know we’re not dating, but we’re…” He gestures vaguely. “Whatever this is. I guess it’s just bringing up past shit that I really don’t want to dump on you.”
He forces a smile onto his face.
“I’ll work it out on my own,” he continues. “But if we can kind of ignore this gross display of inner thoughts, I’d appreciate it. Let’s just enjoy the evening.” He squeezes my hand. “Can we do that, Indy?” His voice nearly cracks, revealing the emotion he’s desperately holding back.
I want to wrap him in my arms and soothe away the pain he’s carrying, and that thought alone is fucking startling.
“Sure. We can do that.”
“Thanks.”
He’s out of the car and striding across the lot in a flash. I hurry to catch up with him, knocked off balance by my own thoughts. I’m not the kind of guy who gets attached or catches feelings, and definitely not after a few days of knowing someone. Yeah, Salem is a great guy, and his body is quickly becoming my obsession, but he’s stirring up new emotions.
Like this fucking jealousy every time a guy talks to him. What the fuck is that about? Or this weird desire to comfort him, take care of him, erase every bit of sadness from his pretty face. Since when do I give a fuck about anything but a good time?
I catch up to him in time to grab the door and hold it for him. An amused smile passes across his lips, causing a weird-ass flutter in my chest.
“Such a gentleman.”
“That’s me.”
Salem laughs softly as he maneuvers his way to the host stand, with me on his heels like a new puppy. We’re led to a table, and I’d bet we’re both grateful for the busy, loud ambiance of the place.
“What’s good?” Salem asks me.
“I’ve heard they have amazing burgers.”
“Mmm, a meaty burger sounds good.”
His delivery is pornographic, leaving me slightly panting for another taste of him, but he seems oblivious to what he just did to me, happily humming as he reads over the menu .
A few seconds later, a server appears at our table, a tall, good looking guy with cub written all over him. Kit would drool. Salem glances up at the waiter, briefly, before looking back at the menu.
“Hi, guys,” the server says. “I’m Cristo. Can I get you started with drinks?”
“What do you have for top shelf whiskey?” I ask.
“We have Glenlivet 12.”
“That’ll do. Neat.”
Salem is smiling at me with his head slightly tilted. “What’s a good whiskey drink if I’m not ready for it straight up?”
“An Old Fashioned is good if you want to enjoy the whiskey.”
“I’ll have that, please,” he says to Cristo.
“Be right back.”
Salem closes his menu. “Whiskey and burgers. I feel very masculine.”
I chuckle. “You are very masculine in your own way.”
Surprise flashes across his features before he blinks it away. “You think so?”
“Of course. You’re a man, right?”
“A man who wears makeup and lingerie and flits around like a hummingbird.”
“And? That’s your gender presentation. Fuck those arbitrary traits society has made up.”
“Easy for the super masc with a taste for femme guys to say.”
I nod, leaning back in my chair. “Yeah, I guess it is. I’m not trying to be insensitive.”
“Oh, I know. Trust me, I’m thankful men like you exist. I’m comfortable with who I am. I like my pretty panties and a glossy lip. Sometimes I wish…” His words trail off as he drags his finger down his water glass. “No thing.”
“No, tell me. Please.”
He looks up, his eyes big and vulnerable, and yeah, I want to crawl across this table and pull him onto my lap.
“I wish people would let other people live their lives, you know? I’ve never hurt anyone by wearing eyeliner.” His eyes well with tears, and this time he’s not successful at blinking them away before a tear escapes. “Fuck.”
I reach across the table and squeeze his hand. “It fucking sucks. Lowen told me stories too, and it’s not fair and it’s not right.”
Salem dabs his eyes with a napkin. “No one ever said life would be, right?”
“No.”
“It’s better now being grown, of course, but old wounds heal slowly.”
I nod. “I get it.”
Cristo approaches, dropping off our drinks, and we order entrées. Once he’s gone, I swirl the whiskey in my glass, inhaling the scent before taking a sip. Decent.
Salem takes a larger gulp of his drink then shudders as it burns its way through him. “That’ll put hair on your chest.” He sputters a laugh. “My grandad used to say that.”
I chuckle. “Do you like it though?”
He nods. “It’s tasty.” After a second, he sets his glass down. “Tell me something embarrassing that happened to you so I don’t feel so lame.”
“You’re not lame, Salem.”
“Please? Something?”
One memory immediately comes to mind. “It was a threesome.”
Salem’s eyes light up and he makes an O shape with his mouth. “Do tell.”
“I was into this girl in my environmental biology class, but she had a boyfriend. One time she invited me to a party, as friends, and introduced me to her man. Turns out they had talked about her fantasy of being with two guys at once, and figured I’d be down. I was.”
Salem rubs his hands together. “Juicy. Go on.”
“We went back to the boyfriend’s apartment and got into it. We were focused on her, but slowly, I noticed he was subtly touching me, making his curiosity known.” I chuckle. “Man, I haven’t thought about that night in a long time.”
“I’m dying to know what happened.”
“He was fucking his girl and I kissed him. He kissed me back and within a few minutes, I was sucking him off every time he pulled out of her.”
Salem’s eyes go wide. “Wow,” he whispers.
“Things took off from there and next thing I know I was fucking him while she sucked him off. Once his girl figured out what was happening, she lost her mind, and I mean, freaked the fuck out.”
“Oh no.”
“She jumped out of bed and started throwing shit at us and yelling at him that he ruined it again. The ‘again’ part got me because they’d both told me I was the first guy they’d invited to join them.”
“Oooh.”
“Turns out they’d tried inviting women and her man always ended up fucking them even though they had a rule that it was about her and her only. She thought a man was safe because her boyfriend insisted he wasn’t attracted to men at all.”
“Oh my god, then she sees him getting absolutely railed by you and loving it.”
“Yep. ”
“Great story, but I don’t see how that’s embarrassing for you.”
“I wasn’t done yet.”
Salem grins. “Go on.”
“So at that point, I’m looking for my clothes trying to get the fuck out of there, but all the screaming and breaking of shit around the apartment got the attention of neighbors and someone called campus security. They bust in, thinking this poor girl is getting assaulted, only to find the three of us in the bedroom. They’re both still naked, and she’s screaming and throwing pillows and clothes at him, and I’m in the corner, clutching my jeans and shoes.”
Salem cackles. “Holy shit.”
“They hauled all three of us into the living room to explain what was going on. Bonus, one of the security guards was a guy I’d been messing around with for a few weeks at the time. He was less than happy with me.”
Salem takes a drink from his glass, still laughing. “What happened then?”
“Oh, it gets worse.”
“How could it?”
“Everyone starts coming out of their apartments to see what’s going on, and by the time security was positive I wasn’t assaulting anyone and let me leave, well, let’s just say that was a walk of shame it took me months to live down.”
He claps his hands. “Bravo. That’s pretty damn bad.”
“It was. Three weeks later, the dude sees me in a bar and tells me they broke up, shocker, and that he’d love to finish what we started. I declined, but he practically begged to suck me off. I was like, well, a blow job is a blow job, right?”
“Why do I feel like this was a bad idea?”
“Probably because you’re smart.” I sip my whiskey. “I followed him to his car, sat in the passenger seat and let him do his thing. I knew there was no way that was his first or even second blow job. I was close, so close, and then I heard that shrieking voice.”
“Oh no. The girlfriend again?”
“Yep. She’d followed him to the bar because she was suspicious. They had not, in fact, broken up.”
“Damn. Homeboy wanted some of that Indy dick bad.”
Chuckling, I nod. “Apparently. At least this time, I was able to creep away without drawing attention to myself.”
“Hilarious.”
“The next time I saw him, I ran like I stole something.”
Salem is laughing, his pretty eyes filled with light now after the earlier heaviness, and the sight spreads warmth through my chest.
“Thank you for telling me. That was funny.”
“You’re welcome. To be fair, there’s a series of much smaller dramas along the way, but that was the big one.”
“It was a doozy.”
Our food is delivered, and the rest of the night is much easier, our topics ranging from music to movies and shows. As Salem munches on his final french fries, he focuses on my eyes.
“I thought our age difference might make it harder to have things in common outside the sex.”
I nod, sitting back in my chair and sipping on my whiskey. “You were wrong.”
He laughs softly. “Guess so. But what about?—”
“Salem. Enjoy the moment. We’re having fun, right?”
He nods, his smile softer now. “We are.”
I lean across the table. “And we had fun earlier, right?”
“Definitely.”
“And I have a few ideas for dessert, if you’re interested.”
His cheeks flush and he nods rapidly. “Yes.”
“That can be enough for now, don’t you think?”
Salem exhales slowly, nodding. “Yeah, it’s enough.”