Luis laughed as Julien shot him a look. “We’re not watching another spy movie,” Julien said.
“But you liked the last one!” Then to Luis, “He pretends he only likes these pretentious arthouse films, but he kept bringing up Duotrop V for like a week after we watched it.”
“I just found the practical stunts interesting,” Julien said in defense.
“I’d love to watch something,” Luis said, before the bickering could get any further.
They ended up in a secondary living room that had been designed like a theater. A large, crescent shaped couch sat against one wall, with twin cabinets of oddities lining the sides. The room had a dark, patterned wallpaper, and the windows were covered in heavy, cloth curtains to keep all light out
When the overhead lights came on, Luis was able to see some of the items in the cabinets. There were coins, statues, crystals, and at least one dagger on a display inside.
“I like to get paintings or books from places we travel,” Julien said, with a nod to the cabinets, “Karim likes to get trinkets.”
“They’re not trinkets,” Karim grumbled. He’d walked to the sofa to get the remote. “They’re just as much art as your paintings.”
“I know,mon cœur, I didn’t mean it like that,” Julien said, gliding closer until he could drop a kiss on Karim’s cheek.
“It’s cool,” Luis said, browsing the cases. “I’m more of a trinkets person. I have a matchbook collection from places me and Cassie have gone.”
Karim made a gruff sound, but Luis could tell he was pleased by the admission. “Easier to store too, we’re running outof wall space for paintings. Julien might even have to take down some of the naked angels soon.”
“Bite your tongue,” Julien said with a laugh as he took a seat on the couch. “We’ll just make another gallery wall, make more space.”
“You and the gallery walls,” Karim griped.
“Now,” Julien said, ignoring that comment. “What’re we watching?” He grabbed a tablet and unlocked it. “Maybe Luis should choose?” Julien said, offering the tablet up. Luis left the cabinets and came to the couch. They’d each taken an end, so Luis was forced to sit in the middle.
“I mean, I can, but what kind of movie?” Scrolling through the tablet offered a lot of options.
“Romance?” Julien suggested.
Karim made a face. “Action,” he countered.
“Action-romance?” Luis suggested. Karim groaned.
It took another ten minutes to find something with a good plot and some romance that Luis didn’t think would offend too much.
The lights in the room went down as the movie started. Luis settled in and he found, at some point when he hadn’t been paying attention, Karim and Julien had both scooted in closer.
Much closer.As in, their thighs were now definitely brushing his own.
Luis tried to focus on the screen. On his left, Karim had slouched down, making himself comfortable but also almost leaning into Luis. Julien was still keeping some distance, but he could still feel his presence.
The ex-lovers assassin plot on screen started taking shape, but Luis kept getting distracted. Karim would shift or Julien would make a softohsubvocalization about something happening on the screen, and Luis’s heart rate would pick up. His skin would prickle where they were touching.
Thirty minutes later, when Julien’s phone rang, Luis jumped, too tense for the unexpected sound. Julien quickly grabbed for it, apologizing.
“You’re supposed to silence your phone for a movie,” Karim whispered.
Julien let out a belabored sign. “It’s the emergency ring, I have to take this,” Julien got up and slipped out.
Luis watched him go. “Should we pause the movie?”
Karim was already doing so. “Emergency ringtone means it’s something with the site.”
“Again?”
“Yeah. Again,” Karim said, clear annoyance in his voice. “I’m going to have to fire Gerald. Julien doesn’t have the heart to do it, and we can’t keep going on like this.”
