“Tanning?”
“No, came out to talk to you in private. My parents and two sisters are inside, and if I had to grovel I didn’t want witnesses.”
“You were prepared to grovel? Really?”
“Yes.” Dom had no shame in admitting that. Deep down, he knew that getting to know Trey would have been worth it.
“Damn, I should have made you work harder for my forgiveness. I take it back. I’m mad at you again.”
“Liar.”
Trey laugh-snorted. “Can I ask you something personal?”
“I guess so.”
“Why does it matter so much to you that I didn’t tell you I’d never done anal before?”
Darkness slithered in Dom’s gut, and he clenched the arm of the lounge chair. The hot summer air was suddenly stifling. “Look, I’m not some romantic idiot who thinks first times should be flowers and rainbows and champagne. I mean, you knew what you wanted.”
“But?”
He couldn’t even find humor in the innuendo. “No buts. Like I said, I could have hurt you by accident and I just . . . I don’t ever want to hurt someone like that.”
Trey was silent for so long that Dom braced for an epically personal follow-up question that he’d probably not answer.
“So do you have a computer at your parents’ house?” Trey asked.
Dom blinked at the rosebushes. “Um, no. It’s at the apartment. I’m staying one more night and going home tomorrow. Why?”
“FaceTime.”
“There’s an app for that, you know.”
“Yeah, but the screen’s bigger on a laptop, and I really want to jam with you again.”
“I’d like that.” Dom’s tension bled away now that the topic of sex was over. “I’d also love to hear you play one of your original songs.”
“I could do that.”
“Call me back tonight?”
“I can’t, I work until two in the morning.”
Dom shoved away a pang of disappointment. “I’ll set my alarm and get back up.”
“Really? Won’t we disturb your family?”
“The basement is soundproofed. They did that ages ago when I said I was serious about music. It kept me from driving everyone crazy at all hours.”
“Smart parents.”
“Very smart.”
“Okay, it’s a date then. Two thirty?”
“Yeah. It’s a date. See you, Trey.”
“See ya.”
