Page 26 of Viking Ink

Chewing on my pencil, I let my thoughts drift and as they did I started thinking about Simon. Specifically, about this morning, when I’d caught him coming out of the shower dressed in only his towel. I could see all the ink he wore like a suit, and I’d thought I might swoon when I saw how low his towel hung on his hips. Simon had winked when he’d caught me staring, and I’d been pretty sure I was going to combust into flames with how hard I’d blushed.

I wiggled my hips against the rug, dragging my cock against the soft fabric of my sweatpants. Between the sensation of my cock rubbing against the floor and my pants and the steady movements of my hand as I coloured, my mind became floaty and calm. I didn’t even notice the door opening, or Simon’s voice, until he was crouched down in front of me.

I looked up and smiled. He had his hair down and it fell about his face like a lion’s mane. He kind of reminded me of the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz, soft and cuddly, but I just knew Simon was brave when he needed to be.

“Rough day?” he asked as he crouched down in front of me, looking at my drawings.

“Eeh.” I waggled my hand. “Better now. The colouring helped.” My fuzzy thoughts cleared, and I sat up pulling my sweatshirt down, hoping it hid my embarrassing erection.

Simon smiled softly. “That’s good. Why don’t you go wash up, and I’ll set the table. I picked us up some fish and chips from the Battery. If you don’t hurry, I might eat your piece of fish.”

I jumped up, pointing a finger at Simon. “You do, and you’ll find ants in your bed.”

“I’d like to see you try, baby bear.”

“I can be sneaky if I want. Besides, I’m sure if I asked Mitch, he would be more than happy to help.” I darted towards the bathroom, laughing at the scowl on Simon’s face.

“Why do I feel like the universe is conspiring to get me? You and my baby brother being thick as thieves? The end of the world is close, I can feel it,” Simon muttered as he disappeared into the kitchen.

I splashed cold water on my cheeks and washed my hands. Thankfully, my hard on had taken a rain check, but it was getting more and more difficult to hide how Simon affected me.

“Did you drown in there, baby bear? Simon yelled. “Your fish is looking awfully tempting!”

I sped through drying my hands and ran down the hall. Of course, Simon frowned as I slid into the kitchen, narrowly missing the table.

Simon looked up as I dropped into my seat. “I think there needs to be a no running in the house rule.”

My jaw dropped open. “Seriously, you threaten to eat my fish and then say ‘no running in the house.’” I dropped my voice to mimic Simon’s deeper baritone.

As I dug into my fish, I heard Simon muttering. I couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like if I was his boy, I’d have lots of rules to follow. I couldn’t let that slide. I had to know what he meant.

“What did you say, Simon? I didn’t quite catch that.” I crunched on some of the crunchy chip ends. They were my favourite—not soggy from the vinegar.

“Nothing. Eat your chips. You didn’t eat all your lunch, I noticed.” That was another of those things Simon did for me that I just loved. Each morning I worked, he made up fun lunches for me, unless we were meeting up at the café—but it also meant he noticed when I skipped meals.

Some might assume that because of my past I would see this as Simon being controlling, but it was as far from the toxic over-control of my father as it could be. I saw it as Simon actually caring about my wellbeing, and the little things he did always made my day better.

Waiting to finish my mouthful, I said, “Firstly, you’re avoiding my question. Secondly, I didn’t mean to skip, but we had three walk-in patients all needing to see Doc right away. It was a mess of a day, really.”

“Hmm, that sounds rough. I’m sure that contributed to Doc’s mood,” Simon said, still avoiding my previous question.

Cutting my fish, I nodded. “It took a whole pack of chocolate biscuits to make him stop scowling at patients, especially the new hairdresser. He looked like thunder when he saw Peregrine had made an appointment.”

“Doc is a strange man, that is for certain,” Simon mumbled.

“He is, and no stranger than you. You still won’t tell me what you said before.”

“Drop it, Rhys. It was a silly offhand remark that doesn’t bear repeating.”

I narrowed my eyes, letting out a soft huff, and picked at my chips. If he really didn’t want to tell me what he’d said, I could take a hint, but it really had sounded like If I were his boy.

I’d read enough on the blogs Mitch had shown me to already think that maybe Simon was a Daddy, which both excited and terrified me. I’d never had a boyfriend, let alone a Daddy.

But no, Simon wouldn’t be interested in me that way. I was just seeing things that weren’t there. There was no point in pushing further and making things more embarrassing for the both of us.

Suddenly, I wasn’t feeling very hungry anymore. I pushed my plate away and got up and grabbed a glass of juice.

“I’m going to tidy my stuff up.” I moved slowly into the living room, feeling disappointed and foolish. I’d pushed and Simon had gotten cross. It was my own fault. I picked my drawings up and put them in the basket along with my pencils.

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