“So...,” Angelosaid.
Dylan opened his eyes. “Hmm? Sorry, I mean...yeah?”
“Are youdrunk?”
Was he? He’d felt pretty sober when he’d come home, but Angelo’s voice did strange things to him. Had done since the very first time.Huh.Perhaps he was drunk onAngelo.
The thought made him chuckle. “I’ve had a few,” he said when he’d composed himself. “I’m not twatted, but if you need financial advice, we should probably talk again in themorning.”
“I didn’t call you to talk aboutthat.”
Relief warred with concern. “No? Well, you can, if you ever need to. I can’t give you professional guidance, but I can be yourfriend.”
“Is that what we are?Friends?”
And then some. But Dylan couldn’t define the pull he felt for Angelo, the ache in his bones when they were apart, and the crazy-hot current when they were together. “We can try. Though I should warn you... apparently I’m not too good at separating friendship from fucking,so...”
“Are you talking about the BFFagain?”
“How did youguess?”
“Because you get all melancholy and shit whenever he comesup.”
“Jealous?”
“Curious,actually.”
“Why?”
“’Cause you fuck like a fella who’s trying to get something out of hissystem.”
“Saysyou.”
Angelo chuckled darkly. “Okay. Let’s not go there, eh? Seems like we’ve both got some ghosts toescape.”
“And friends can help each other out with that,right?”
“Yes. They can have dinner together too... I mean, if you fancyit?”
Dylan fancied more than just dinner, but it seemed a healthy place to start. He arranged to meet Angelo at Giordano’s after closing time the next day, and they exchanged slightly awkward goodbyes. When Angelo had hung up, Dylan stared at his darkened phone screen, like he could see through it to Angelo’s brooding eyes and lose himself in them. They’d set their date for early evening, but Saturday was club night, in Dylan’s nocturnal life, at least. Would Angelo want to go to Lovato’safter?
The possibility excited and horrified Dylan in equal measure. A dirty night out with Angelo set him on fire, but could he watch Angelo fuck someone else? Turn them inside out with his dick while Dylan stepped aside? He had no right to think not, but as he closed his eyes in the hope of at least a few hours sleep, he was sure of nothing but the fact that the prospect of seeing Angelo again, in any capacity, had given him a near permanentboner.
Chapter Six
Angelo casta critical eye over the makeshift picnic he’d cobbled together and regretted being so honest with the first woman he’d spoken to at Stratford Citizens Advice Bureau. If he hadn’t made that damn phone call, then Dylan wouldn’t know that he didn’t have a pot to piss in, and perhaps Angelo could’ve found a way to take him on a realdate.
Date. Right. You think he’s gonna stick around when the best you can offer him is a fucking cheesesandwich?
A knock at the door interrupted whatever despairing cynicism was coming next. Angelo took a deep breath and untied his apron before approaching the locked deli doors like they were the only thing between him and an unexploded bomb. The prospect of seeing Dylan had kept him upright through a brutal Saturday lunchtime, but now he was here, Angelo’s efforts to make the walk across town worthwhile seemed prettypathetic.
The temptation to hide in the freezer was strong, but his phone rang in his hand before he could duck away from the front door.Dylan.Angelo answered the call with a swipe of his thumb. “Hold up. I’mcoming.”
“Comequicker.”
“Brat.”
“Only foryou.”
