I shake my head. “No, the bathroom is the other door,” I say, nodding to the right. “This one is . . . “ I trail off. Sebastian doesn’t even know about my pottery studio. I swallow and open the door. It leads into my walk-in closet and then through another doorway to the small workspace.
Jeremy’s eyes widen as he takes it in. “You . . . you do pottery?”
I nod, waiting for him to laugh or tease me, but he doesn’t. He walks over to my shelf, perusing the pieces I finished over Christmas when I was back in Brighton with my siblings.
“Marcus, these are beautiful.” He picks up one of the bowls and holds it up to the light, watching the way the glaze shimmers. “You actually made these?”
I nod again, not trusting myself to speak as Jeremy puts it down and continues to look around in wonder.
“No wonder you had such a hard-on for that pottery exhibit.”
“You have such a way with words.”
He spots my pottery wheel, and I walk up behind him as he sits at it, running his finger over the rough surface. Heturns to look back at me playfully, and I put a finger to his lips.
“If you’re about to ask if we can reenact the scene fromGhost, the answer is absolutely not.”
He pouts. “Aww, why not?”
I shake my head. “Well, one, that scene is messy as fuck, but also? Probably not safe. People get hair and clothing caught in wheels all the time. I don’t think you want your dick anywhere near one.”
Jeremy laughs, his whole body shaking against mine. “Will you at least show me how it works?”
“Sure, baby boy, but not today. Let’s watch a movie.”
He hops up and heads back into my bedroom, sitting down on the bed and taking the remote to turn on Netflix like he’s been here a thousand times.
“What’re we watching?” I ask as I sit down beside him
He gives me a very serious look. “You can’t laugh because it’s one of my favorite movies.” I snicker, and his face falls. “You’re already laughing!”
“I’m sorry,” I say between chuckles, “but when you tell me not to laugh, it makes me want to laugh.” I school my features and take one of his hands. “Tell me.”
“When Harry Met Sally.”
I smile at his blush. “I’m not sure why you think I’d tease you about this. You’re a hopeless romantic, and we both know it.”
He smacks me in the abs, and I grab his wrist and pull him into my chest, kissing him gently. He groans against my mouth and starts to crawl into my lap, but I stop him with a firm grip on his hips.
“Nope. Start doing that and we won’t be watching anything.”
“Fine.” He pouts as he pulls back and snuggles into my side, hitting Play on the remote.
“Why this movie?”
He shrugs. “It feels real. Like, they don’t immediately fall inlove, you know? It’s this journey from acquaintances to best friends to lovers. Plus, the end makes me cry. I just love the scene on New Year’s.”
I’ve seen it before because it’s also one of Charlie’s favorites, but I let him tell me about it like it’s new because I love the way his face lights up. Jeremy obviously spent a lot of time as a kid dissociating with movies and TV shows, so it always feels special to share them with him.
About halfway through, we pause the flick so Jeremy can pee, and when he returns, I have a tray of snacks waiting for him on the bed. He bites the end of a Twizzler, watching me while I wedge a bowl of popcorn between us.
“You must’ve watched a lot of movies as a kid. Charlie liked to watch movies too.” He looks away like he’s hiding something, and I press a finger under his chin to force his eyes back to mine. “What is it?”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not. Tell me.”
“It’s just . . . yeah, I watched movies. There was a time when that’s all I did.”
