That doesn’t feel right. It feels cheap. Like he’s lying. But I accept it, because if he’s going to lie to me, then he doesn’t want to talk about it. Or he doesn’t want to upset me. So yeah, I let it go.
We finish our wine. Aliko pays the bill, even after I offer to pay or split it. We head out, back onto the street that looks busier than earlier, even though it’s nearly eleven. We walk back toward the hotel but never go around the corner to reach the front doors.
“Thank you for tonight. It was nice,” I say.
There’s a frown on Aliko’s face, one I don’t quite understand. Something is going on with him, but he won’t open up about it. It’s not my place to dig into his personal stuff, so I don’t ask.
“Are you coming back to my room?” he asks.
I can’t help but smile. “Do you want me to?”
“Yes,” he says honestly.
So easy to be honest about that, but not about anything more than face-value.
Got it.
“I’ll be there in ten.”
His gaze dips to my lips like he’s thinking of kissing me, but he turns away instead. He rounds the corner and I glance at my watch, so I know when I need to head after him.
Because I will head after him.
Every single time he asks me to.
We lay naked in the bed, both content after two rounds of mind-blowing sex, Aliko’s tentacle wrapped around my cock as usual. I shouldn’t be surprised that it’s always so good… but I am surprised that it’s just always so damn good.
“What about this one?” Aliko asks, showing me the tablet in his hand.
I take it and scroll through the photos. “It’s nice.”
“There’s a but.”
“It doesn’t feel like you.”
“Isn’t that what decorating is for?”
“Well, yeah. To some extent. There are too many windows, and the rooms are too small.”
I offer it back.
“Too many windows?” he asks.
“You don’t come across as a guy who likes to let the bright light in.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, I guess I’m not. But I can buy curtains.”
I hold his gaze. “If you like the house, buy it.”
“I don’t like the house.”
Now I laugh. “You need to look closer to the ocean,” I comment. “Maybe not right on it, because that’ll be millions—though, if you want to spend that, be my guest. I’m just saying that you can get something close to the beach and it doesn’t have to be absurdly expensive.”
He offers me the tablet back again. I take it with an eye roll and add some filters to help him find a house.
“You want a pool?” I ask.
“If it’s saltwater.”
