13. Seth
Seth
“—and then he got hard, Lou!” I shriek into the phone. “Kaden got hard while I gave him a back rub.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! He told me!”
“He told you?”
“Well, no, but I saw it, and then I asked him and he said that it was a biological reaction or whatever. So, yeah, he admitted it. He got hard!”
“Seth,” Lou says, always the voice of reason that I usually don’t want to hear. And especially not now.
Damnit! Can’t I have this one fucking moment?
Even if it was just a stupid biological reaction—we’ve all had those.
Like when I popped a boner during an episode of The Great British Baking Show when someone was making a spotted dick—pretty weird name for a pudding, if you ask me—and all I heard was “dick, dick, dick”.
I was a gay teenager, of course I got a stiffy.
But Kaden’s straight. And I was touching him. Just let me have it, goddamnit!
“Seth,” Lou says again.
“I don’t wanna hear it. I’m saving that moment to my spank-bank and you’re not taking that from me.”
“Yeah, I’m a little concerned about the ethics in that.”
I sigh loudly. “Then forget I said it, and let me worry about the ethics, because I have none.” Apparently.
Lou chuckles. “Drama queen.”
“Takes one to know one.”
She just laughs that clucking laugh that makes her eyes crinkle and her nose scrunch. Some days I miss her so much, I don’t know what to do with myself.
I walk into my bathroom, removing the eye pads and putting the phone on speaker before I wash my face.
“Did you find my present, by the way?” she asks.
I dab my face dry with a towel. “What present?”
“I left you a little something-something behind the coffee machine.”
“What?” I put the eye pads back into their case, and rush into the kitchen. I basically throw the eye pads into the fridge before I pull out the coffee maker and find a small plastic bag. When I turn it over in my hand, my eyes grow huge. No fucking way!
“Lou,” I say, voice low. “What have you done?”
“Have you ever tried?”
“Have I ever tried Molly? No, but apparently you have. Been holding out on me, bitch?”
“Yes. Now listen, do it at home, Seth,” she says. “Maybe bring Kaden. Or someone. And don’t do too many at once.”
I like to organize my clothes by color, but sometimes I don’t think about it when I’ve done laundry and then I have to fix it another day. ‘That’s future Seth’s problem’ kind of thinking.
Well, future Seth just stumbled upon the box I picked up at Andrew’s.
So now I’ve been staring at it for a while.
Debating whether I should open it or not.
Thinking back on when I packed it, scribbled Anal toys on it in hope it would scare off Andrew before I shoved it in the far back of our shared storage.
Now I wish it were full of anal toys, then my spiked pulse would be for a whole different reason.
But it’s not. It’s my own personal hell.
I scratch my eyebrow, drag a finger across my lips, and then shove it in darkest corner of the closet, and slam the door shut.
Forget about it!
Set the whole thing of fire, and forget about it.
When I get to the studio the next day, Kaden’s with a customer. Completely in the zone. No wonder his back and neck are killing him, if it was only up to him, he’d never even take a break.
He’s wearing black gloves and a black face mask. The sleeves of his Henley are pushed up, and the ink on his forearms are in deep contrast to his pale skin.
There’s a tattoo on the inside of his wrist that I did on him one drunken night a couple of years ago.
Just the word ‘reverse’. And then he did the Uno reverse-card on the inside of my left bicep.
I don’t even remember whose idea it was to get wasted and tattoo each other and if Kit knew, he’d probably fire us both.
I loved being his apprentice. Learning from him and watching his strong, veiny hands create the most delicate lines was like observing the epitome of art.
Kaden pauses, wipes some ink off and then whips his head my way. And there’s my Achilles heel—his eyes.
Fuck me!
I need to bury this crush, it’s getting out of hand again, and my self-control is slipping by the day. I wouldn’t be surprised if I found myself on my knees in the next couple of months, confessing my undying love for him.
This needs to stop.
Right the fuck now!