Page 22 of Sass in the Grass

Dixon finally came into the fucking latrines to inspect.

“Masseretti, glad you’re here,” he said as he came into the bathroom quickly and stopping to look into Jovian’s mirror to speak to him. “After I inspect, I’d like to talk to you.”

He wanted to die right there and seep into the sewer under the building or wherever the shit and piss went when people sometimes flushed.

He stood as still as a statue until Dixon left that area to inspect the stalls. Once Dixon was out of sight, however, he leaned over the sink and washed his face from the mud mask.

The insides of him twisted and he wanted to cry. If he could just once be completely cute in front of the man, he might have a chance, but every time he was around Dixon, he was either puking or covered with a substance that looked like puke.

The one time he wasn’t, well, he got lost in the woods and everyone thought he’d gone back to camp. Not once had he made the impression he’d wanted to!

He barely got the bunny-eared headband off before Dixon was back by the sinks, looking them over, and when he came to the one Jovian was currently using, his scowl made him even sexier. “You’re gonna wash that out of there, right?”

Jovian peered down to see his mud mask had left puke-green spots all over the white porcelain. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, of course.”

“Good,” Dixon said before he caught Jovian’s eyes as Jovian leaned his ass against the sink, the bunny ears in a tight fist behind his back. As soon as those icy blue eyes were on him, sure enough, he was shivering with the chills that suddenly broke out all over his body.

“Are you cold?”

“Huh?”

“Your lips are quivering.”

Jovian closed his eyes and could breathe again. “No, I’m…never mind.”

Dixon nodded and his eyes moved to the concrete floor of the place. “I’m sorry about earlier. I misjudged. I could tell you were scared when we saw you.” His eyes met Jovian’s again. “I also know you weren’t listening to a word I said.”

“I tried. I…got distracted.” He thought for a moment, wishing for something he could say that would make Dixon want him, but his head was as tangled as his tongue. Then, something came to him. “I remembered what you said about hunting trails and that’s what scared me so badly!”

“You saw one?”

“I don’t know if it was one of those or a human trail, but yeah, I saw a trail and thought of all the animals that could sniff me out, and…I got scared.”

Dixon smiled a little crookedly as he nodded slightly. “Well, you listened a little. That’s good but running away from something in fear is how many people get lost. Next time, move cautiously and quickly, but keep your wits about you.”

“Seems like I’ve lost a lot of myself since I came here,” he groaned, then regretted it. That wasn’t cute, complaining to a possible sex partner. It wasn’t cute at all.

“Well, maybe they’re parts you won’t miss,” he said as he started to turn and leave the building. “Good job on the latrine, by the way.”

Jovian would crumble to the floor if the thought of sitting on the floor of a public restroom didn’t give him the creeps. “Good job, yeah, good job, Jovian! You’re doing a great job at looking like total shit whenever the man is around!”

He got his things after cleaning out the sink from the mask and headed back to the cabin, meeting Alan on the way. “He’s allyours,” Jovian said in passing, and Alan just stared at him as he continued on his way.

Chapter Eight

OnthephonewithCi, Jovian whined about what all had happened, and once he was finished, Ci said a long, high-pitched,“Ewwwww!”

“I know!”

“You have to share a bathroom? That’s disgusting!”

Out of everything he’d just dropped on her, that was where she’d landed. “Ci, that wasn’t the point.”

“It should be!”

“You use public restrooms when we’re at clubs or restaurants!”

“I don’t live at those places, and when have you even seen me actually sit on a public toilet. That’s right, never. I hold it until I can be sure of how clean the toilets are.”

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