Page 114 of Lamb

I spent my time alone, idling away in his room or in my corner, too scared to venture past the invisible tape I had drawn for myself. Waiting for Lamb to return had become my only task.

“Want a refill?” A young voice cut through my solitude.

I looked up at the bright-eyed prospect. His head was a mop of shaggy brown curls, with large doe eyes the same warm, mousy colour. I did not recognise him, but he wore a prospecting jacket, stiff from the press with a fresh coat of black, a colour that would fade with wear and exposure to the sun the longer his tenure lasted.

“Name’s Roland.” The kid smiled, no older than eighteen or nineteen.

I gave him a long, steady look, adjusting my glasses to address him. “You should not go round telling everybody your name.”

He smirked, propping one arm on the bar, leaning close enough to whisper, “Who says it’s my real name?”

A smile flashed across my lips. “I do,” I retorted, seeing straight past the young man’s poor façade.

“Doesn’t matter.” He shrugged, retreating to his side of the bar. “I’ll have a road name soon enough. Something cool like lightning or Quicksilver, like the superhero.”

I frowned.

“You don’t know Quicksilver? Don’t tell me you’re a DC girl. Can’t be having that. Marvel all the way.”

“You are speaking a different language.” I chuckled. “Besides, I do not think that is how road names work. You do not get to pick.”

“’Course it is.” He smirked, puffing out his chest, flashing waggling fingers towards me. “Hunter, Wolf, Ripper—” he began ticking off his sworn big brothers’ names with his fingers and thumbs. “Everyone’s got such cool names.”

“Even Lamb?”

“Wolf in sheep’s clothing, right?” he retorted, quick as a whip. “But they couldn’t have two Wolfs, so he became Lamb instead.” Before taking a breath of air, he added, “Haven’t had much of a chance to interact with him. People say he’s off looking for something, but I heard he’s like a genuine genius.”

He found what he was looking for.

I thought to the man who had slept beside me the last month. I could see the way he would come across, and how people would come to that conclusion regarding his name. I had heard many different rumours about how Lamb’s road name came to be; some more mild, and others wildly creative. Never had I heard Lamb himself say anything on the matter, however.

I had been trying so hard to distance myself from him from the second we’d met that I had not spent a moment to ask the question myself.

“He likes to think so,” I responded, realising Roland was waiting.

He began to speak some more, but I had already checked out of the conversation, my eyes drawn to the water in my glass, my lemon fragmenting into pieces, left to sit for far too long. I wondered what I knew about Lamb. The facts that I had, I could count on a single hand, and the realisation made me feel a little … empty?

Lamb knew nearly all there was to know about me, even beyond the information I had divulged. The mental file I had on him would not even be a full page thick.

The thought dragged me back into my seclusive silence, and after half a dozen neglected questions, Roland took his cue to busy himself farther down the bar.

I continued to wait.

Lamb did not return until midnight, his footsteps light on the wooden floor as he traversed the space towards the bed. It dipped as he sat on the edge, and I waited, listening to his shoelaces pulling loose, the zip of his jeans, and the soft thump of his shirt and jacket being folded and placed neatly on top of the dresser.

He tucked himself behind me, chasing away the cold of the bed with his warmth, folding in over my back and sides.

His hand snaked around my waist, his nose pressing into the slope of my neck. The small hairs on my skin tickled from his breath.

“What did you do today?” Lamb grumbled, the noise vibrating down my spine.

I relaxed into his familiar and comforting shape. He adjusted himself, pulling back on my hips, taking my minimal weight onto his. His hard length pressed against the top curve of my arse, and my body purred.

“Nothing.” I stared across the room, my hands extended across the wide bed, my fingers blurred between darkness and my limited vision.

“Hmm,” Lamb rumbled, and the noise made me shift against him, energy stirring inside.

“Babe.” Lamb nipped at the nape of my neck. “If you keep moving, I’m not going to be able to leave you alone, and even though I’m fucking exhausted, I’ll fuck you till I pass out.”

---