Page 22 of Check Me Out

“I like this colour on the walls,” he said. “It’s bright without being garish.Oh. I’m sorry. How rude to make comments on your flat.”

“Well, it won’t be like yours.”

He shrugged. “I live at my parents’ house, remember? I don’t even have a place of my own. And they downsized to a smaller house in Essex when I first went to Uni. So, it’s not like they’ve got a lot of space for a fully grown son to be hanging around. I’ve already asked Tamara if she has any contacts in Kingsmere to look for a flat of my own. I’d love something like this.”

He was kidding, right? But I took another look for myself. The room was painted a warm, dusky pink, and I had furniture that was old but comfy. I had some of Lina’s digital prints on the walls—she was a bloody talented graphic artist—and Mrs G had made me a rag rug for the living room floor. Where I now stood, a drip of lemonade trailing down my thigh, inside my trousers.

“I’ve really got to get changed,” I started to say.

“I’ll put the kettle on,” Marcus said in the same breath.

“We keep doing that,” I said.

He nodded, still smiling. “We think the same way on a lot of things.”

I began wriggling out of the YBB tunic. “This is the first thing to go straight in the—”

“Washing machine,” Marcus interrupted quickly, maybe guessing I was in the mood to fling the whole thing out of the bloody window. He glanced into my tiny kitchen. “If you hand me the rest of your clothes, I’ll set off a wash. Looks like you have the same model as my parents, just tell me where the detergent is.”

I stared at him, his baby-blues full of concern and his jaw set with domestic determination. How helpful; how kind. How bloody gorgeous. My pulse was picking up again, this close to him.Alonewith him. Sodden and humiliated, sure, but somehow happier with Marcus’ company than with anyone before. It made me feel dizzy; reckless. Did I dare take things further? The day had been such a weird one, surely my quota of bad luck was near empty by now.

I stood in the middle of my living room floor, a small pool of stickiness under my shoes, took a deep breath, and peeled off my shirt as well.

“Oh. I-I thought you’d strip off in the bathroom or bedroom,” Marcus said, and cleared his throat. “Oh.” His cheeks were that lovely pink again.

“Are you complaining?”

“Not for one single second,” he said in a lower, huskier register. “Please feel free.”

I threw the wet shirt towards him and he caught it, never taking his eyes off me. I bent and toed off my boots, yanked off my socks which fell on the floor with a squelch. Then I wriggled my trousers down my legs.

Marcus sucked in a breath.

“Here,” I said, passing them over as well. I put my hands on the waistband of my briefs, and paused. They weren’t very damp at all. My trousers had soaked up the worst of it all. I could stop right now if I chose.

His eyes went so big he looked like a Disney cartoon.

“Not silk, then,” he said softly. There was a definite thread of disappointment there.

“Not on a first date, sweetheart,” I said cheekily. “If that’s what this is.”

“It’d better be,” he said.

Oh, joy!I pushed the briefs down as well and stepped out of the fabric, stark bollock naked.

“Oh.Oh. Wow,” he gasped.

“Is that a good gasp?” I said, then added quickly, “This only needs to be casual fun, Marcus.”

His gaze was fixed on my nakedness. “I-I’m not sure.”

No?My heart plummeted. This was the worst mortification of all. Where was a useful crotch-covering cushion when you needed one? “I’m so sorry! I mean, you should report me for harassment. To hell with it, just drop all that wet stuff and make your escape while you can. Look, I can—”

“Pips? Shut the fuck up,” he said crisply. I didn’t think I’d ever heard him swear so decisively before and I was shocked into unfamiliar speechlessness. He dropped the damp clothes onto my sofa—his hands were shaking a bit—and took a few steps forward. Then he put his hands on my shoulders, leaned in, and kissed me. Hard, with lots of tongue.

When we broke for air, I was panting alot, and I didn’t need to look down to know my excited dick was reaching for the stars.

“So,” he said breathlessly. “Now you can report me for harassment too.”

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