Page 146 of Untouchable

Harp is sitting stiffly on the couch, looking like he’s been electrocuted.

“Oh god,” Parker says. “What did Mindy say? I’m sorry—I thought she’d be back later. Sorry if that was like, super awkward.”

"She was fine—it was fine," Harp says. "She was actually really nice to me, all things considered." He gestures at the sheet and Parker just laughs, tumbling down onto the couch beside Harp and leaning into his naked shoulder.

"Sorry about the sheet," Parker says, cuddling in and laying a hand on Harp's stomach.

"Well, I mean," Parker continues, "not sorry sorry because this is pretty cute but... Sorry Mindy caught you in the sheet. You totally said it was my idea right?"

"What? No. I wasn't going to throw you under the bus like that."

Parker hears Harp’s stomach rumbles and suddenly realizes that, though Harp has been doing intense manual labor all day, all Parker has offered him is a little bit of cheese and bread.

“Oh my god,” Parker says. “That’s like—not enough food is it? Like, at all. Oh my god, you must be starving—why didn’t you say something?”

"I'm really fine," Harp says, shifting awkwardly.

Parker knows this is a lie, and while he doesn’t know exactly why Harp seems so uncomfortable right now, Parker at least knows how to handle the situation. After all, he learned it from Harp.

“Well, I’m not,” Parker says, bouncing up off the couch. It’s true, too—as soon as he’s started thinking about it, he realizes he’s starving as well. “I’m ordering food since we can’t go out. And… I’m pretty sure you’d never want to talk to me again if you saw how bad my cooking is when I cook for myself. So you can either get something, too, or just sit there and watch me eat.”

He grabs his phone and returns to the couch, opening up a delivery app.

“Well. Maybe I'd... be hungrier by the time it gets here," Harp says, frowning. "What were you thinking of ordering?"

"Ummmmm... maybe, like, a big-ass burrito or something," Parker says with a smile on his face. "Oh! Or Chinese. Or something fancy like, I don't know, Thai, but you'd have to tell me what to order because I have no idea what's even good."

"A big-ass burrito would be great," Harp says, reaching for another slice of baguette and doing away with half of it in one bite. "You know. In the future. When I'm hungry."

“Right,” Parker says. “When you’re hungry. Which is definitely not now.”

Harp nods solemnly, and Parker wriggles so he’s laying with his head in Harp’s lap, his feet dangling over the arm of the couch, the screen of his phone angled so Harp can see.

“This place is definitely the best. So lardy and cheesy and—everything good, basically. I usually get this, but…. yeah. I dunno. I’m sure it’s all good.”

He holds his phone up to Harp.

"What you get has meat in it?" Harp asks. Parker makes an angelic smile and nods. "Just order two of whatever you usually get. And chips. Where'd you put my wallet? Grab the card out of there and you can punch it into your phone."

“Your wallet?” Parker says, his face suddenly serious. “Er, I didn’t take anything out of your pockets when I put it in the wash—”

Harp’s eyes bug and Parker laughs, elbowing him.

“Oh, come on, I’m not that dumb.” He hops up and fetches Harp’s wallet from the counter, pulling out the credit card. He returns to the couch, sprawling out on Harp again, but pauses as he starts to enter the info. “Are you sure? I can like, give you cash or something.”

"Yeah, I don't want to buy my own boyfriend a burrito. Typical Harp," he says, rolling his eyes. "I'm not a monster—order the damn food."

Harp flexes the leg muscle that Parker's head is resting on, making him bounce and Parker laughs and keeps keying in the number.

“Well,” Parker says, drawing out the word. “In that case…. I’m going to make a slight adjustment to the order.” He angles the phone away from Harp and quickly adds in a few more sides, an appetizer, and a dessert, as well as two horrifyingly sweet sodas. He doesn’t want Harp to go hungry again, and besides, this place is dirt cheap anyway.

“Okay. All done,” he says.

He hops up once more to return the card and ducks into the hallway to switch the laundry over. When he comes back, he snuggles into Harp’s lap once more and looks up at him. “So… wanna watch a movie or something? Your food and your clothing should both be… ready in half an hour.”

* * *

Harp shiftsand strokes a hand through Parker's hair, examining the planes of Parker's face from this novel perspective. It's just as handsome, apparently, upside down as it is right side up. No surprise there.

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