“Well, this was unexpected,” Tristan grumbled. “And disgusting.”
He grimaced as he peered out the rain-covered windows. The storm had begun around six that morning with booming thunder and crackling lightning. Tristan had even heard some hail bouncing off the glass panes. Now it was eight o’clock, and according to the perky reporter, the dismal weather was forecast to last all day and into the night.
“Sure, go ahead, smile when you give us the doom-and-gloom report. You get to stay inside all day and look at it from a computer.” Tristan finished his green juice, noting he was running low. That put him in an even fouler mood because he’d have to go shopping and carry grocery bags in the rain.
Yawning, Sean shuffled out of the bathroom. “Crap. It’s raining?” He stretched his arms over his head, exposing his flat stomach and more, as his boxers slipped past the jut of his hip bones. Tristan blinked and silently cursed as his dick perked up. His brain might know it would be a bad idea for them to hook up, but his body was doing aCome on, man. Look at that. You know you want him. He’s perfect.
“Uh, yeah. Since early this morning. You must be a really sound sleeper.”
Tristan himself wasn’t, except for the night Sean had crawled into his bed. Even the nights he’d gone to Peter’s flat, he’d often left after several fruitless hours of tossing and turning. But waking up with Sean, feeling refreshed and not worn out by a restless, nightmare-filled sleep, was still something he hadn’t been able to figure out.
“I guess. But this sucks.”
Sean passed him on his way to the coffeemaker, and every hair on Tristan’s body stood on end as his nerves fired. Before he made a fool of himself and started sniffing after Sean like a dog in heat, he quickly shifted, putting a good foot and a half between them. As Sean poured his coffee, Tristan tried to think of something else besides the dark trail of hair disappearing below Sean’s waistband.
“I can’t sing outside when it’s pouring rain.” His full mouth pulled down in a charming but childish pout, reminding Tristan again that Sean was almost ten years younger and they were two totally different people. Sean wasn’t his type—he didn’t have a type.
Until now, apparently.
Because for some reason, his hibernating libido had picked this time to wake up and decide that it wanted Sean, and his imagination took off like a herd of wildebeests galloping down the Serengeti.
Him pounding into Sean…Sean moving over him…kissing him…sucking him…
Fuck. Get a grip.
His hands trembled only slightly as he washed his coffee cup.
“You could look for a job in a restaurant so that on days like this you won’t lose any money.”
Despondent, Sean slouched over his mug. “I guess.”
He felt bad for the guy. It had to be a kick in the balls to have such a high yesterday and then today have your dreams squashed like a bug on the floor. “Well, if you’re not doing anything else, you can come with me to look at apartments.”
Puzzled, Sean raised his head. “You-you want me? To come with you? Why?”
Why the hell indeed?
“Why not? Like you said, you have nothing else to do.”
Sean’s brows rose, his eyes dubious. “I don’t know…”
“Besides, I need to go food shopping, and you can help me carry the bags.”
Sean muttered, “Oh, brother,” but not before Tristan caught the hint of a smile on his lips.
* * *
“God, that was an ugly apartment.” In the back seat of the Uber, Sean held a copy of the specs and pursed his lips as if he’d inhaled raw sewage. “Bad enough it was a walk-up, but that hideous popcorn ceiling was peeling, and the appliances were from the seventies.”
Discouraged, Tristan checked his phone. “Well, the next place says renovated and all new appliances. Plus, the price is right. So maybe that one will be a winner.”
Looking out the rain-streaked window, Sean shrugged. “Maybe.”
And when he walked inside the place, it was as nice in person as it had been advertised. Fresh white paint covered the walls, and the floors were wide plank in that neutral gray color he preferred. Of course it was small, but after all the places he’d seen, Tristan had resigned himself to living in a space where he might trip over himself. He’d been paid very well while in London and basically hoarded his money. That, along with his pension and the money he’d gotten from the sale of his grandparents’ upstate property, gave him a nice cushion to be choosy with where he wanted to live. Everything about the apartment was perfect.
Except the location.
Sean looked out the window. “Wherearewe even?”
