by David Connor
“You’re going to have a lot of pictures of me,” he said on a lengthy yawn, stretching his long, beefy body.
“Nothing wrong with that.” I crawled over it to kiss him. “See.”
Patrick looked at the drawing. The bed looks bigger in this one.” He smiled.
“Big enough for three. That’s what they looked like in my vision, a really quick version. I’m going to sit and do them justice someday soon. I’m just happy I remember their faces, now. You and Jefferson have similar eyes. Calvin’s smile is shy at first, but once he’s comfortable, look out. It’ll knock you off your feet.”
“You’re dressed.” Patrick touched my soft, fleece pants.
“Yeah.” I was half-dressed, just those and a bowtie. “As fun as this has been, when it was just me and my brain in the locker room, I remembered I was at Cost-Mart.”
“Should I remember I’m at Cost-Mart, too?” Patrick pulled the blanket up over his hard cock.
“Hmm.” I started stroking it. “In a few minutes.” Then, an idea came. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”
Patrick barked a quick laugh when I returned with my feather duster.
“A promise is a promise.”
“I was just about to remind you,” he claimed.
His expression went from one of goofy play to one of squirmy, grunting, lustfulness, when I teased his cock with my tongue and teeth, all the while working the duster under his chin and around his ears. Trailing the feathery softness up and down his naked body made him writhe in ecstasy. When I tickled him under his balls and the place between his legs where the curve of his ass began, his willpower was obviously tested, but not for long.
Patrick finished quickly, which was my plan. When he fired his climax against my throat, he covered his mouth, to partially silence his sounds of pleasure.
“And here I thought snow days couldn’t get any better,” he exclaimed once the spasms in his dick had subsided.
“Being a grownup has its advantages.”
We shared his cum with a kiss. Then, I sent him off to the shower. While he bathed, I set up a patio table down front, with a flat sheet we hadn’t put on the bed, two battery operated candles from Christmas clearance, a pair of champagne flutes from the kitchen section, two red tinsel hearts out in the Valentine’s Day display, the proper corresponding letters to put inside them from Arts and Crafts, and napkins, a pot of coffee, and bagels from the employee lounge.
“Where you at?” Patrick called out from the back of the store.
“By the big window.”
He was back in his clothes.
“Underwear?” I asked.
“The boxers were dry. The long johns are a lost cause for now. You?”
“Commando,” I whispered. I had put on my T-shirt.
“Mmm. If we’re still snowed in, I might make you prove it.”
I nodded toward the window. “We’re not going anywhere anytime soon. So…” I pulled out his chair for him. “Let’s enjoy a romantic breakfast. I’ll owe Carrie for the stemware. I rinsed them in hot water while watching your silhouette behind the shower curtain.” One single-size bottle of orange juice from the vending machine filled both glasses about halfway up. “I hope that’s okay.”
“You can watch me anytime, anywhere, in any state of dress.” Patrick nearly upended our spread when he leaned across the table to kiss me. “This table is shit.”
“Not my department.” I’d always wanted to say that. “Leave a review on the website.” I protected everything as I kissed him back. “A toast.” Glass in hand, I said, “Here’s to more nights like tonight.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
We started a game of Yahtzee I’d grabbed from the shelf in the employee lounge. “I love this game. They must break it out back there during downtime.” Rattling the dice in the cup took me back, a good memory. “It’s a very snow day thing to play for me. Shell and I would spend hours on the floor in the dining room under the table.”
“I don’t think we’ll fit,” Patrick said.
“No.”
“We should make it interesting, though. A little wager. Strip Yahtzee?”
“We just got dressed.”
“Hmm. I know. How about a kiss every time a number comes up?”
I smiled. “Any number?”
“Any number at all.”
Many kisses followed. As for keeping score, the Yahtzee gods were definitely in my favor. “Yahtzee!” It was my second one in our first round. “Bonus me a hundred p—”
We both turned toward the flash at the same time.
“Jefferson?” Patrick asked. “Or just a bulb? I hope the power isn’t about to go out.”
“We have a generator.” I couldn’t stop looking out at the storm. “Is there a car way over by the McDonald’s sign?”
The burger joint was right next door, to the far-left side of the store.
“I only see ours,” Patrick said. “I barely see them. Everything is starting to look the same.”
“Hmm.” The small trees in the concrete dividers were hidden under a blanket of white. No one would even know they were there, or that the parking lot had lines, or was, in fact, a parking lot. Even the cart corral was almost impossible to find. “There.”
A pair of headlights went quickly on and off.
“Someone is out there.” I reached for my hat and coat. Patrick gathered up his outdoor gear as well. “There are a couple of shovels between the two doors. Wilbur is going to insist on joining us.” I clicked his leash to his collar. We’d be venturing quite a distance from the storefront this time. I figured he might not want to be that far away from me. “I’m nervous about losing him out there. He’s not used to the parking lot, not under a foot and a half of snow, and he’s pretty small. Help me keep hold of him?”
“Of course.”
Patrick didn’t balk at my anxiety, yet another reason I loved him.
We cleared away what had accumulated just outside the second door, then Patrick made a path, a few steps at a time, while Wilbur and I followed. With Wilbur cradled in my arms, our gait slow, the step, together, step, together motion had me feeling like royalty, or maybe as if I was walking down the aisle to get married. “It’s going to take forever to dig all the way to the car.” I held my little buddy tighter. “Whadda ya say we just go for it.”
“You’re the boss.”
“Mmm. Everything you say makes me want you more.” I took off at a sprint, high knees and short leaps.
“Oomph.”
The sound I’d heard behind me wasn’t good. I looked. “You okay?”
Patrick had taken a header. “I’m good.”
That meant I could laugh. “Come on.” I also offered a hand.
By the time we got to the car, he looked like a cross between Yukon Cornelius from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Bumble the abominable snowman from the same story.
“No one else was here when I pulled in,” I said.
“Same,” Patrick told me. “Just you.”
The roof and hood of the third car were under about a foot of snow. The windshield far less. It had obviously been cleaned several times, and now just had a coating. I knocked on the driver side window, also clear. I was certain someone was in the car, despite the fact they were trying to hide.
Chapter 6
“Hey.” I rapped on the driver’s side window again. “You’ll freeze. Do you need help?”
The door opened slightly. “I’ll be fine. Thanks.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked the person bundled up inside the red hatchback from another decade.
“Just…um…you know.”
“You want to come inside? There’s heat in there. You should come inside.”
“Inside the store?” The kid pulled his hat down over his forehead. It didn’t stay there long. In the time it took for him to consider my invitation, the sheer volume of his afro made it slowly creep back up. “Nah. I’m good.”
I passed W
ilbur over to Patrick, “Come on,” and offered my hand. The boy was way too skinny to be out in such freezing temperatures. “It’s okay. I’m allowed to be here,” I said. “Technically, I’m at work. And though we’ve already no doubt broken a couple of rules, I’m pretty sure my boss won’t fire me for letting you come in to get warm.”
“Wait. Are you Goose?”
I got a slightly better look, as a head and one shoulder came out into the night. “I am.”
“And that’s Wilbur?” The boy pointed to him, there in Patrick’s arms.
“It is.”
He got out and shut the door, unless the gust of wind that had come up shut it for him. “I work here, too. I’m Carrie.” Even taller than Patrick, Carrie towered over me by nearly a foot. “I can’t believe I’m getting to meet Wilbur!” Carrie reached past me to pet him.
“It’s nice to meet you, too.” I offered my hand again, but then decided a hug would be better.
“You’re probably wondering why I don’t look or sound like a Carrie.” Excitement had quickly turned into something else.
“I can’t really get a good sense of what you look like, to be honest, not beyond yarn, fleece, more yarn, quilted nylon, and whatever your gloves are made of.” I did consider apologizing for the pronouns I’d been using in my head, though. “Come on. Let’s go in. Lead the way, Patrick. He fell down on the way out.” I gently nudged Carrie in the ribs. With the layers she wore, I doubted she felt it. “Don’t trip over him if he does it again.”
“Thanks for your concern,” Patrick said.
“You’re welcome. Give me my dog.”
When Patrick passed Wilbur, his puffy jacket made a swishy sound.
“This is Patrick. He’s my…” After only three steps, I stopped. I stopped and stood there, even though the wind was howling, and the snow was stinging every bit of exposed skin on my person, especially my cheeks.
“Your what?” Patrick asked.
“You’re the man I love. My boyfriend.”
“Yes!” Patrick leapt into the air with his fist raised, then did a touchdown dance when he landed, his knees flapping, his butt shaking, like Miley twerking at the VMAs back in the day. “That’s the answer I was hoping for.” He offered a kiss I’d been hoping for, one that gave me a chill, and also warmed me up. “Now, let’s get Carrie indoors.”
Our foursome went as far as the big red mats just outside the front entrance. Wilbur got a kick out of the three of us stomping to get the snow off our pant legs there. Patrick and I took off our outermost layers. There was a coatrack in the corner for employees to hang stuff, and a radiator good for drying gloves. Carrie was slower and seemed quite shy. The slouch, head down, with eyes cast at the floor, it all reminded me of my posture in certain situations.
“I bought some stuff tonight,” I said, once we’d made it to the warmer side of the sliding doors.
She looked at me.
“I’m running up a small tab. I see you’re on the schedule tomorrow and Monday. Store’s closed tomorrow.”
“It is?”
“Yeah,” I told her.
“Oh. My phone is dead.” She touched the pants pocket at the side of the knee, finally down to just jeans and a red sweater.
“You can charge it in the break room.”
She nodded. “So, I probably look more like a Charlie than a Carrie, huh?”
I just smiled and poured a third cup of coffee. “Do you like coffee?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Let me run and get you a blanket. You have to be freezing.”
Carrie was partway through a story by the time I got back up front from my locker. I wasn’t the only one who found Patrick easy to talk to, apparently. “My parents kicked me out. I’ve been sleeping in my car a few nights now.”
“I never saw you out there,” I said.
“I usually park farther out back. I was afraid I’d get stuck. That ship has sailed. I’m never getting out of here.”
“We’ll get you out.” I handed over the fleece throw I’d gotten.
“To go where?” Carrie asked.
“We’ll figure that out, too. Why did your parents kick you out?”
Carrie looked at Patrick. He nodded.
“Short answer? Because I’m not the son they want. I’m the daughter they don’t. I feel like I am. I know I am. Patrick figured it out. He’s easy to talk to.”
“Yes.”
“They just won’t let me be who I am, so I left. I took a chance on you two. What’s the worst thing you could do, throw me back outside in the cold?”
Sadly, there were lots of worse things people could and have done in similar situations. The way Carrie tensed, it was as if she suddenly remembered that. “I’m sorry you didn’t get what you need at home,” I said. “You’re here now, so sit down…or run around. Take a lap or two around Auto Parts. Do whatever you want.”
“I know,” Patrick said. “Why don’t you change into something warm and cozy? Anything you want. I’ll pick up the tab. You can run it through your register whenever the store opens.”
“With the employee discount,” I added.
“I’m okay.” Carrie wrapped herself in the blanket I’d offered.
“The three of us are soaking wet. We should all change. Pajama party!” I trilled. “New pajamas. What’s more fun than new pajamas?” My dorkiness made Carrie smile. “Come on.”
“I can’t let you buy me clothes.”
“Why not?” Patrick asked. “It’s a very strange, very mystical night. A snow day. A snow night, which means we can be and do anything we want. Goose and I were superheroes earlier.”
“Yup.” I bobbed my head up and down. “I tripped on my Batman costume, cracked my head, and went back to the 1860s to visit my ghost friends.”
Carrie jumped when I gasped.
“He does that a lot,” Patrick told her.
“There’s a Wonder Woman costume back there. Not to be presumptuous. You might be into someone else entirely,” I said. “It’s seventy percent off, if you want to try it on, we can even make it feel like you’re flying.”
Carrie smiled again. It took a moment or two, and she didn’t fully show it, but it was there.
“Sorry.” I rolled my eyes. “Sometimes, I get very excited about things.”
“Were these the same ghosts from when you were on TV last fall?” She looked up at me.
“Same ones, yes.”
“That is really cool!”
“So, you don’t think I’m crazy?” I asked.
“No way, Goose. I believe in ghosts.”
“I hope you still believe in people, too,” Patrick said.
“The people here at the store have been great. My supervisor writes ‘Carrie’ on the schedule. He let me write Carrie on my locker, even though my nametag and all the official paperwork still says Charles, Charles Porter. Someday…” Carrie said.
“Yeah. Someday. Are you financially able to start the process? Insurance? That sort of thing? Am I too nosy?”
Carrie spoke softly, but said she appreciated being able to talk about her feelings. “My parents shut it down hard. Every time I try, there are threats and yelling. It’s nice to have a discussion.” She shivered.
“Okay. That’s it!” I tried to sound authoritative. “Get into your pajamas.” I gently turned her toward Women’s Apparel. “Patrick and I will grab something for ourselves. We got music, plus TV we can watch over in Electronics, and a couple more games in the breakroom. There’s microwave popcorn, Pop Tarts, cookies, chips, all sorts of stuff to eat and drink in there, too. And if we want something we can’t find in the fridge or pantry, we’ll keep a running tab. There’s even a mattress you can sleep on after we jam a bit.”
“Jam?” Carrie asked.
“I don’t know any cool words.” I looked to Patrick, who raised his hands in the air.
“I’m a pharmacist and a Civil War reenactor. I’m nerdier than he is.”
Carrie smiled again. �
�I think you’re both funny.”
“Let’s do this, then!”
“Don’t forget socks,” Patrick said. “I saw some nice, fluffy ones over with the Valentine’s Day stuff. Someone must think warm feet are romantic.”
“Who doesn’t?”
And we were off. I chose a pair of fleece lounge pants with dogs on them, a plain blue long-sleeved T-shirt, and two pairs of boot socks in the same shade from Men’s Underwear. Patrick went with a plaid flannel pajama set in various shades of gray. We left Carrie the locker room, opting to change in the storage area where the Halloween costumes and my boxer briefs were.
“I’m glad Jefferson pointed out Carrie’s car,” I said, slipping into them and my cozy new duds. “I’m not sure I would have ever noticed it way over there on the side, not without the flashing streetlamp.”
“It’s so sad, on a night like this, she’s got nowhere to be.”
“Well, she does now.” I handed Patrick the socks I’d gotten for him. “It’s even more romantic if our warm feet match,” I told him.
He put them to his cheek. “Snuggly. Like you.” He put his cheek to me, and then his lips.
“There’s a rainbow unicorn in the toy department I want to grab for Carrie on the way back,” I said afterward. “Let’s make her feel less like she found shelter and more like…more loved and cared for.”
“You got it.”
It came as no surprise my Patrick would be onboard.
I fixed up the mattress with the sheets from my locker and a second clean blanket, figuring Patrick and I could cuddle on the breakroom couch under the one we’d fucked on. The unicorn looked adorable on the pillow I’d be purchasing from Linens. Faced toward the locker room, I wanted it to be the first thing Carrie saw the moment she came out. Was I doing enough? I hoped so, as the smell of microwave popcorn started to fill the air. I’d put Patrick in charge of that.
Carrie was waiting for us up front, with the stuffed toy cradled in her arms, when Patrick and I came out of the kitchenette. She’d chosen pink camo pants with a pink shirt featuring bright red cardinals, and pink socks with red hearts. Slouching again, with her arms and the unicorn hiding most of her upper body, it wasn’t difficult to figure out she wasn’t yet totally comfortable in her new look.