“You do cry. Big fat crocodile tears.” Ozzie smirked at Derrick.
“I wanna see him cry,” Tuesday pleaded as he squeezed Ozzie. “Please, baby.”
“I…” Ozzie lifted his head, peeking up into Tuesday’s big eyes, and he knew he was helpless to resist. “Yeah, of course. We will go to the party. Together.”
“Really?” Tuesday squealed. He grabbed Ozzie and turned him around, pressing a deep kiss to his lips. “Oh, baby!”
Ozzie melted into the kiss despite the heat filling his cheeks. He kissed Tuesday back and let himself get caught up in the moment.
At least until Derrick’s voice broke the spell.
“Well, uh, I can see that I’m intruding here.” Derrick cleared his throat. “You two look really cute together, though. Like, wow. Just ready for new Facebook pics.”
“Thanks.” Ozzie chuckled, and he knew his face was as red as the hideous shirt Derrick had brought him. “I, uh, I appreciate that.”
Derrick pulled Ozzie into a big hug. “Oh, and you’re definitely bringing him to the party.” He grinned. “That is not a question. It’s a command.”
“Okay, okay.” Ozzie hugged Derrick back. “We’ll both be there and ready to party.”
“Hey!” Derrick grinned. “You taking him to your lil’ company party?”
“Oh?” Tuesday practically vibrated. “There’sanotherparty?”
“Uh, yes, but, well.” Ozzie flinched, fighting the rising urge to slug Derrick. “I hadn’t gotten around to asking him?—”
“Yes!” Tuesday exclaimed. “The answer is always going to be yes.”
“All the more reason for me to get out of your hair!” Derrick smiled sweetly. “It was really nice to meet you, Tuesday. I’m sure I’ll see more of you very soon.”
Tuesday wiggled his fingers in a little wave. “Nice to meet you too, darling.”
“Can’t wait to tell everybody you’re gonna have a plus one!” Derrick gushed, heading to the front door. “This is gonna be great. They’re so not gonna believe me?—”
“Bye, asshole.” Ozzie snorted, rolling his eyes as Derrick left. “See ya!” He let out a sigh, his mind reeling at the sudden turn of events. “Guess we got some parties to go to.”
“Which meansshopping!” Tuesday bounced excitedly and then looked down. “Yeah, definitely shopping. Because this is not a party outfit. Like, at all. And we have two parties to go to. Two!”
“Yeah, yeah, parties. Woo.” Ozzie waved his hands in mock excitement. “People. So much woo.”
“Come on.” Tuesday pouted. “They’re gonna be parties. With me. Which automatically makes them ten times more awesome.”
“Yeah? You think so?”
“Yeah, duh.” Tuesday grinned and cradled Ozzie’s face, kissing him sweetly. “Plus, shopping! We get to go shopping. For clothes. And oh, shoes!” He giggled. “It’s gonna be great, baby. Let’s go right now! Please, pleasey, please!”
Ozzie made a face, but it was impossible not to get sucked into Tuesday’s infectious excitement. “Okay. Fine.”
“Yeah?”
“We’ll go shopping.”
five
After a quick email to his supervisor explaining that he was not feeling well and wouldn’t be able to finish his shift, Ozzie locked his front door and led Tuesday outside. He let Tuesday borrow another pair of pants and a jacket, though the pants were so loose they threatened to drop right off Tuesday’s slim hips.
He tried not to stare too hard.
Ozzie walked Tuesday out to his car, a blue 1970 Volkswagen Beetle. “Hop in.”
