Page 5

I nodded, crossing my arms and leaning my shoulder against the wall right next to the door. Ricky’s throat bobbed, his eyes darting to my mouth, then down my front, before he focused on a stain on the floor.

“When’s your shift over?” I asked, gaze roaming over the slope of his neck as I fought the urge to lean in and rub my nose against it.

“I’m closing.”

I chuckled. “Putting in a lot of hours, huh?”

“Yeah.” He gave me a shy grin. “I need the money. I’m, um, saving up to finally get my own place. Or at least move out. I’ll probably need to find somewhere with a roommate.”

My head cocked. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-three.” His eyes met mine, a flush staining his cheeks again. “I know I should’ve moved out already, but I couldn’t afford college and… Um, how about you?”

“I’m twenty-six.” I smiled at him. “Worked here about eight years.”

Some of the embarrassment fled his gaze. “No college?”

“Nah. Not for me.”

He unclenched a little with a laugh. “Yeah, me neither, honestly.”

I grinned at him. “Nothing wrong with that. So, what do you do for fun?”

“Oh.” Ricky blinked. “Um, I like to surf, but I’m not all that good. Just… hanging out, I guess.” He shrugged, chuckling self-consciously. “Not much. I guess I’m a little boring.”

“Not boring.” My voice came out lower than I’d intended. Almost a purr. Once again, Ricky’s eyes darted to my mouth before he quickly looked away. “I don’t do all that much either. Just like to veg out when I’m not working. Play some video games. Drink some beer.”

His eyes brightened. “Awesome. Me too.”

“Maybe we could do it together sometime. Hang out after work.” I tried not to look too creepy and intense as I said it, but the thought of being alone with Ricky…

He swallowed, his blush spreading down to his neck. Even his ears turned pink. It was, without exaggeration, the most adorable thing I’d ever seen.

“Y-yeah, that sounds… That’d be rad.” He sounded a little breathless. My smile widened.

“Sweet.” I straightened up from the wall. “Well, better head back. See you later, Ricky.”

“Yeah, see you… um, see you, Elliot.”

Gah, the sound of my name coming from his mouth was freaking exquisite. I wanted to hear him crying it out in ecstasy. Moaning it. Gasping it while my hand was shoved down his pants.

I let my shoulder brush against his as I walked past and heard his breath catch. I was still grinning when I sauntered back into the kitchen, visions of watching Ricky sip beer in my apartment before I crushed my mouth to his already filling my head.

“What the hell was that?”

I glanced back to see Johnny sitting in the rickety old chair by the door, flipping idly through a magazine. “Huh?”

He gestured at the door. “I could hear you out there. Did you seriously just ask to hang out with a human?”

Jaw clenching, I turned to busy myself at the counter, needlessly rearranging the utensils. “So what if I did?”

Johnny snorted. “You wanna go hang out in the freezer with all the meat too?”

“Yeah, ’cause it’s totally the same thing,” I said sarcastically, crouching to grab more containers from under the counter.

“Just sayin’, it’s weird.” He chuckled and flipped the page in his magazine. “If it was a girl, I might’ve even thought…”

I gritted my teeth harder as I straightened. “Thought what?”