Page 110 of Rules to Love By

Eli grinned. “That’s a start, then.”

“Okay.” Marcus moved, as if released from his strange stasis by his simple agreement to Eli’s suggestion. He found the ladder, which he had to jump to reach the bottom rung and then spider climb the wall to get his feet up to it, but after that, the climb was easy. Once he reached the bottom landing, he hurried the rest of the way to the top, the stairs creaking and moving more under his weight than made him comfortable. He resolved to get a better look at their moorings in the light of day.

At the top, Eli had unlatched a tall window, which he held open. “After you.”

Marcus ducked inside.

The room was generous, filling easily two-thirds of the building’s attic space. A half-open door at the far end revealed a toilet, and Marcus guessed the rest of the attic beyond that door was taken up by the bathroom.

A bed had been tucked into the peak at the front, its tall headboard and footboard touching the sloped ceiling. A curtain, hung on a slightly crooked rod, was half-open, revealing the bed’s tidy quilted comforter and stack of pillows.

“Nice nest.”

Eli grinned at him. “It really is.”

“So.” Marcus liked the place. It was clean, carefully curated, with the bedroom furniture at one end, the bathroom at the other, and a living space with seating, plus a television and small appliances arranged on a table in the middle. “Everything a guy needs to relax, not starve, dehydrate or become under-caffeinated.”

“It’s not terrible.”

Marcus snapped his focus to Eli. “Why am I here?”

“Why did you come up?”

“You told me to.”

“And you did as you were told.”

Biting his lip, Marcus nodded. “Again.”

“Feeling any better for it?”

He should answer that fairly. Once more, he glanced at the bed, then back to Eli. “A bit, yeah.”

“Well, then.” Eli took a casual step closer. “I guess that’s why you’re here.”

Marcus answered with a not-so-casual step. “So what happens next?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure.”

“But you’re the one who knows about this stuff.”

“This stuff being?” To Marcus’s relief, Eli closed the remaining distance, though they still didn’t touch.

“The rules and shit. You know about the rules, right? So you know what comes next.”

Eli studied him for what felt like an eternity. “Marcus, I know rules to have sex by. The rest, the dating rules? I don’t know them any better than you do.”

“So, what do we do? Make them up?”

“Negotiate?”

Marcus shrugged. “We could try kissing.”

Eli’s grin brought sunshine to the dim room. “Probably a good first step.”

His hands were warm on Marcus’s face, steady and firm, comforting in a way Marcus wasn’t used to touch being a comfort. Not that anyone had ever hurt him that way, but after so many years using it as a way to numb his anxieties, touch usually left him cold.

Not so Eli’s hands on his skin.

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