Page 13 of Poolside

“Fine. How many days a week?” Tommy rubbed a hand across his forehead. “And do I need one of those tiny little suits you guys wear?”

Chuck laughed again, and it shook his shoulders up and down in a way that looked so silly that Tommy wanted to squeeze his face.

“Whatever suit should be fine. Let’s do six o’clock at the outdoor pool, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”

“It’s a deal,” Tommy said, slapping a hand down on the countertop. “How’d things go with the exterminator?”

“About that,” Chuck started, running a hand through his curls. He lifted a leg and stomped one, two, three, four times in loud, rapid succession. Immediately there was a familiar scratching scuffle under the floor.

“What the fuck happened?”

“The guy showed up, climbed under there, apparently found some holes and boarded them up, collected his two-hundred bucks, and told me I had nothing to worry about.”

“Did you at least get your money back?”

Chuck shrugged. “I don’t want to bother him, you know?”

Tommy stared at him. “Chuck, he told you he was going to do a job and it didn’t get done. You paid him. He should either give you a refund or make it right.”

“It’s whatever, man.” Chuck turned away from him, the muscles of his back bunching and flexing under his shirt as he filled a cup with water.

As if on cue, the scratching under the floor resumed.

Tommy sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face. He’d revisit the conversation later. “What’s for dinner?”

“Beef tacos.” Chuck turned and pointed his spatula at him. Tommy thought he saw something that looked like gratitude in his eyes. “Grab the cheese from the fridge, will you?”

* * *

Ho-ly shit.

They were watching an orgy.

There was an orgy of epic proportions playing out on the TV screen.Damn,he lovedSpartacus. Well, it was a little fucked up, you know, with the gladiators basically being the property of some horny rich people. But damn, it was hot. And it was fiction, right? So it was totally okay to be into it.

Tommy set his empty plate on the coffee table and turned to Chuck. “Do you ever think about how sad it is that we don’t have orgies anymore?” He had to raise his voice over the grunts and groans and slaps of skin on skin.

Chuck didn’t look away from the screen. His lashes glowed like copper wire in the dim light. “People still have orgies.”

Tommy’s mouth dropped. “What? Where are the orgies? I’m single, man. I want the orgies!”

That made Chuck look over at him, his expression unreadable. “You want sex with greased up half-naked dudes?”

“Sure,” Tommy said. “Give me all of it. I can never watch this show without getting turned on.”

“Come on, man,” Chuck protested, shaking his head. His freckled cheeks caught the red on the screen, making it look like he was blushing.Fucking adorable.

Tommy gave Chuck a gentle shove in the shoulder. “Tell me you don’t get hard when you watch this.”

Chuck hesitated. “I mean…”

“Ha!” Tommy let out a loud laugh. “Exactly. It’s hot shit.”

Chuck’s warm, higher-pitched chuckle joined him. “Wait, wait, wait. I’m agreeing with you.” He shifted in his seat so that one of his long, lean legs was bent up under him. “I want to revisit the naked dudes bit.”

Tommy looked back at the screen. Yeah, those dudes were super fucking naked. “What about them?”

“You think they’re hot?”

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