Page 39 of Two for Joy

“Looked to me like you enjoyed it.”

“The worst film I’ve ever seen.”

“And… I’ve been thinking about getting a dog.”

The conversation not-really about Toby was still fresh in his mind. Romeo needed to be certain when Chad said dog, he actually meant dog.

“With floppy ears, a waggy tail, and a shrill bark?”

Chad scrunched his nose. “Yeah … that kinda dog.”

“Just checking. I think that’s a great idea.”

****

Chad talked about him as if he were a drug, some addiction he couldn’t end, but it was the opposite way around. Romeo was still buzzing days after Chad’s visit, he found himself smiling for no reason whatsoever.

His mind didn’t stutter on the past, or stew in the present, it went to the future.

His fantasy future.

It started with him standing in front of Chad’s apartment door, waiting for him to open up. He was wearing his orange jumpsuit, heaving for breath. Impatience grew and he thumped the door again.

“I’m coming!” Chad shouted, making Romeo smile. Not yet you’re not, he thought.

The door opened, Chad’s eyes bugged from his head, and Romeo struggled to hold back his laugh. Chad in his detective suit, all smart and ordered, and looking completely incorruptible. Romeo would win Chad over, and the detective would have no choice but to look the other way.

“What the fuck?”

“I said I’d get out…”

“How?”

Romeo blinked. Trust Chad’s detective mind to stall Romeo’s sex dream.

He didn’t know how, the how wasn’t important. Not in that moment.

“I just did.”

“But ho—”

Romeo put his mouth on Chad’s to shut him up and stop him from destroying his fantasy. Chad didn’t kiss back, but he didn’t push Romeo away either. His eyes slid shut, his lips parted, accepting the kiss, but not returning it. Romeo pushed forward with his chest, trying to get Chad back into his apartment, over the threshold of the doorway so he wasn’t so exposed in the corridor. Chad didn’t move, he stood firm, not letting Romeo inside.

Romeo breathed against Chad’s lips. “Let me in.”

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.”

Romeo leaned back in time to see Chad’s face scrunch. “I can’t… I need to call the police. You need to be locked up. This is wrong.”

“But it always felt right.”

Chad pushed Romeo’s chest, but it was weak, unsure, a case of him reacting how he thought he should rather than how he wanted to.

“Didn’t it?” Romeo pressed.

Chad stopped pushing against him. “Yes, we did.”

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