Mike grinned, showing he wasn’t fazed. “All right, princess. We’ll move to the bedroom next.”
“Next? Are you kidding? I can’t even move.”
“You’ll move.” He reached a hand down for Taylor to take. With a slight smile, Taylor closed his hand over Mike’s and allowed himself to be lifted off the couch. “Bed. Unless you’d like the dining room table?”
He shook his head quickly. “No. No. The bed.”
“Good choice.” And he swatted Taylor’s bare ass.
Chapter Four
When Mike woke up the next morning he was alone in the bed. He glanced bleary-eyed at the digital clock on the nightstand next to the bed. It was barely after seven. He wondered briefly where Taylor had gone, but then sort of remembered him saying something about the breakfast shift at the restaurant where he worked as a short-order cook.
With a groan, Mike lay on his back and crossed his arm over his eyes. Well, hell. He hadn’t really meant to fuck his new roommate. Or had he? He knew he was attracted to Taylor when he rented the room to him. Probably somewhere in his lust-filled mind he had always thought of this possibility.
And really. Was that bad? They were two consenting adults. Mike was attracted to cute little twinks like Taylor and clearly Taylor liked ugly mugs like his. The only potential bad thing was if they had to have some sort of relationship talk. That idea made his stomach turn.
He wasn’t completely opposed to having a relationship but he sure as hell didn’t want to get into talking about it. Hell, no.
Maybe it was a good thing, after all, that Taylor had left already. Mike would be prepared next time he saw Taylor to just go straight to sex to distract any “where are we going?” type talks.
He didn’t have to go into work until that evening, so he rolled to his side to go back to sleep.
A few hours later, Mike got up and went into the bathroom to take a shower. He spotted a prescription pill bottle on Taylor’s new over the toilet shelf unit. Being a narcotics officer had made him pretty nosy so without giving it a lot of thought, Mike picked up the bottle to see what Taylor was taking.
Mike frowned as he read Lithium on the bottle. He knew what that was for. Bipolar disorder. He had no idea Taylor had it and he couldn’t help wondering why Taylor hadn’t thought to disclose it. Maybe Taylor thought it was none of his business. Maybe. But he was familiar enough with bipolar to know that those who suffered from it could become suicidal or manic. He would have liked to know what to expect from his new roommate.
Not to mention the guy he just spent a lot of the time fucking the day before.
He put the bottle back and turned on the shower. Even after his shower was done Mike still wasn’t sure if he should bring it up with Taylor or not. Probably Taylor would view it as an invasion of his privacy which Mike acknowledged it was. Sort of. After all Taylor had left the bottle out in the open.
Mike got dressed and turned on his laptop computer so he could check on a few details of some cases he was working on before going into the precinct. He’d been sitting there reading casework and drinking coffee for a couple of hours when someone knocked on his door.
He stood and stretched and made his way to the door. He was more than a little surprised to see Archie standing there.
“What do you want?” Mike blurted out without much thought. His experience with Taylor’s best friend had not always been positive. He was aware Archie viewed him with some hostility and perhaps a bit of superiority, too. It had always bugged him because he found Archie hot. Now, he just found the punk annoying since he found Taylor way hotter.
Archie rolled his eyes. “What do you think I want? I’m here to see your roommate.”
“Well, he’s not home.”
“Oh.” Archie frowned. “Okay. I guess I’ll come back later.”
Mike nodded and started to close the door in Archie’s face, wanting to get back to his reading, but then he stopped. He wasn’t even sure why since he was sure Archie would tell him to mind his own fucking business.
“Can I ask you something about Taylor?”
Archie looked at him as though he was deciding whether to agree or attack Mike. Finally he shrugged and stepped inside the apartment. “Okay.”
Now that Archie was looking at him expectantly, Mike felt uncomfortable. Which was stupid. He didn’t let anyone make him feel awkward. “What’s up with those stuffed animals?” he asked.
Not exactly the question he had planned on asking, but hell, now that he asked, he was curious as to why a grown man had a bed full of sparkly, colorful stuffed creatures.
Archie’s jaw visibly tightened and for a few seconds Mike figured the kid wasn’t going to answer. “Have you asked him?”
“Well, no. Not exactly. He just said they made him happy.”
Archie nodded. “Yeah, they do. Most of them came from his mother. She used to get them for him from different places she visited when he was little. He’s always loved sea creatures. Anyway, they remind him of his mother.”
“Oh. So, is she dead?”
“Yes,” Archie said, looking like he thought Mike was a big idiot. “She killed herself when he was twelve.”
“Shit.” Mike was getting a serious headache. “Did she have bipolar, too?”
Archie inhaled sharply. “He told you?”
“No, not exactly.”
“What exactly, Mike?”
He shrugged, feeling a bit like an ass. “I just, you know, saw his medication. His lithium. I figured.”
“You mean you snooped.”
“No!”
Archie snorted. “I shouldn’t even be talking to you about this shit. You want to know this stuff, you ask Tay. But that reminds me.”
“What?” Mike asked warily.
“I swear to God if you hurt him, I’ll make you sorry.”
“Are you actually threatening me?” Mike scoffed. “You? Come on.”
“Laugh all you want, Mike. I have a boyfriend with big bulging muscles now and I have no problem sending him to kick your ass.”
“I don’t intend to hurt Taylor,” Mike said after a few second. “But I’m not afraid of you or your boyfriend. Now, I’ve got work to finish before I have to leave, so if we’re through with this little exchange, can you get out?”
Archie went to the door and looked back. “See you around, Mike.”
****
When Taylor came home the apartment was empty, so he guessed that meant Mike had to leave for work. Probably just as well. He wasn’t sure he was ready for the next day after mind- blowing sex talk. He’d been kind of glad he had the early breakfast shift and then classes after.
Now he had a bitch of a headache and it wasn’t helping his mood whatsoever. He planned to meditate. It usually helped his head and calmed his mood. So, after he took his meds, he went into his room and shut the door.
He chose rain water for his meditation, and he pushed the button on the CD player and then sat on the floor, legs crossed, and closed his eyes.
When he reemerged from meditation, Taylor quickly noted an hour had passed and his headache was almost non-existent. He still felt melancholy though.
Taylor went to the living room and turned on the television. A little mindless entertainment might help. He was about an hour into some Lifetime movie when his cell phone sprung to life playing Twilight Zone music. Archie, of course, as that was his special ring.
“Hey, gorgeous.”
“Right back at you. You home yet?” Archie asked.
“Yeah, got home a couple of hours ago.”
There was a pause, and then Archie sighed. “Listen, I called to tell you I came by earlier when Mike was still home.”
“Okay.”
“I thought you should know he was snooping into your stuff and he found the lithium. So, you know, he figured out you‘re bipolar.”
Taylor leaned his head on the back of the couch. “Oh.”
“You decided not to tell him?”
“No.
It’s not exactly a conversation starter. I guess he’s gonna ask me about it though.”
Archie snorted. “I definitely got that impression. Are you okay with that?”
“It is what it is. I can’t change it by wishing it away and anyway I’m pretty stable.”
“I know. You want me to be there when you talk to him?”
Tay laughed. “Nah, I don’t need a bodyguard. What’s he gonna do? Kick me out? He could. And so what? I’ll find someplace else to live.”
“You like him though. I mean you had sex with him, Tay,” Archie said. “I know you like him.”
“I do. But I can’t force him to feel the same way.” Taylor shrugged. “It’ll be okay, Archie. I’ll tell you about it later.”
“You better. Bye.”
“Bye.”
If Mike did freak out over his bipolar he wouldn’t be the first guy to do so. Not long after his diagnosis he’d had a guy he liked call him a psycho he never wanted to see again. That was fine with Taylor. He’d been a lousy lay anyway.
Still, Archie was right. He really liked Mike and hoped maybe this could be the start of something for them. Something close to a real relationship. Of course, he didn’t even know if Mike was looking for something like that. All of this could be one gigantic mistake.
He’d been dozing on the couch when the door of the apartment opened. Taylor rubbed his eyes and struggled to sit up. Mike stood just inside the apartment looking a little apprehensive. He held a small plastic bag in one hand and a large thermos in the other.
“Hi,” Taylor said, then he cleared his throat.
Mike nodded. “Hi.” He moved off toward the kitchen, setting his thermos in the sink and then he came back to where Taylor sat. “I guess you talked to Archie.”
“I did. Want to sit down?”
“Okay.”
He expected Mike to sit in the chair, putting distance between them, so he was a little surprised when instead he plopped down next to Taylor. He pushed the plastic bag into Taylor’s hands. “This—this is for you.” Mike turned a little red, which was kind of strange. He didn’t seem the sort of guy to blush.
Taylor stared down at the bag. “For me? You got me a present?”
“Well, it’s no big deal.” Mike rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen, I found your lithium, but I wanted you to know I wasn’t really snooping. It was just sitting there on that shelving thing you put in the bathroom. Maybe I shouldn’t have looked. I think it’s probably the cop in me.”
“It’s okay, Mike. I would have had to tell you about it eventually anyway. If you and I—well if anything was really going to happen between us.” Taylor continued to stare at the plastic bag. “The thing is, I’m sure you think I was being deceptive or something, but I wasn’t.”
“No, no. I don’t think that.”
Taylor met his gaze. “You do a little, don’t you?”
“Maybe a small part of me,” Mike acknowledged. “But I thought about it and I’m not sure I would have given you that information had I been in your shoes. I don’t really know that much about bipolar, Taylor, but you seem really together for the most part. More than a lot of people I know.”
“I take my meds, I see my doctor. I do what I need to do. But sometimes, I’m not going to lie, it’s hard.”
Mike clasped his hands together and stared at them. “Have you ever—I know your mother—”
“Tried to kill myself?” At Mike’s reluctant nod, Taylor blew out a breath. “When I was a teen, yeah, but I wasn’t stable then, and it’s been years since I’ve had those thoughts.”
“Okay.”
Taylor smiled a little. “Have I scared you off?”
“I don’t think I know everything I’d like to know, but no you haven’t scared me off.”
Taylor opened the plastic bag and peered inside at a small stuffed seahorse. It was a rainbow of colors. His smile widened as he removed it from the bag. “Wow, this is so cool.”
Mike blushed again. “Well, Archie told me about your…your creatures. And I was just walking by a store.” He shrugged.
“Thanks. I love it.”
“So, what do you say to us, I don’t know, going on a real date? Where we actually talk before we get to sex.”
“I’d like that,” Taylor said. “But can we still do sex after?”
“Hell yeah.”
Chapter Five
Mike guessed Taylor probably expected some kind of fancy restaurant. The kind of place Taylor would probably work as a chef someday himself. But Mike wasn’t exactly a fancy guy, so he chose a pizza parlor he’d been to a number of times. About the only thing they served there was pizza and beer. His kind of place. But if Taylor was not impressed he didn’t show it.
“This pizza is good,” Taylor said after carefully chewing and swallowing several bites.
“Not exactly fine dining.”
Taylor smiled. He really liked Taylor’s smile. It was sweet and sexy and the same time. “I don’t need fancy. I just wanted to go out with you.”
“Yeah. Uh.” He took a sip of his beer. A bottle. He hadn’t bothered with a glass. Mike wasn’t exactly the wine and dine kind of guy either. Guys like Taylor were generally out of his league, but he also found them hot as hell.
“You know you don’t have to try so hard,” Taylor said. He took a sip of his own beer, which was from a glass, of course. “You’ve already taken me to bed and I already agreed to sleep with you again. You have nothing to be nervous about.”
“I’ve never really been out with nice guys before.”
“No?”
Mike shook his head. “Never really done the relationship thing at all. I may suck at it, you know. I mean I had a girlfriend in high school before I gave up pretending, but as far as real adult relationship? My partner at the precinct is about it.”
“I assume you don’t mean sexually with your partner.”
Mike snorted. “Definitely not.”
“Well, I’ve been out with a lot of assholes of various sizes and degrees. I’m pretty sure I can handle a relationship phobe.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t go that far. Okay, maybe I would. But, anyway, thanks for giving me a chance.”
“You are my first cop though.” Taylor waggled his eyebrows. “Not my first guy with a tattoo.”
“Yet you thought I was a Neanderthal.”
Taylor blushed. “The other guy didn’t leave the best impression. And yeah, sorry, that was judgmental of me.”
Mike shrugged. “We all come with our preconceived notions.”
“Did you always want to be a cop?”
“Pretty much. I used to watch old Kojak reruns on TV when I was a kid.”
“Oh God, you aren’t going to shave your head are you?’
“No, but I do like lollipops.”
Taylor laughed and Mike found himself wanting to make him laugh more. There was almost a musical quality to it. And holy shit, he was becoming a sap. If the guys at the precinct only knew.
“How about you? You always wanted to be a chef?”
“For a while,” Taylor said. “Before I was twelve I think I changed career futures like a hundred times. Secret agent, Batman, a model, an actor, a guy who skims the pool.”
Mike laughed. “I see.”
“I had to settle for something and I loved to create in the kitchen. It’s taking forever though.” Taylor sighed. “And then once I get a job in a restaurant as a sous chef then I have to start paying back all my loans.”
“Maybe you’ll get your own show on the Food Network someday.”
“I wish.” Taylor finished his beer. “That was good, thanks.”
“It was. It’s nice to learn a little about each other anyway, huh?”
Mike paid the bill and drove them back to their apartment. He closed and locked the door, and turned to Taylor.
Taylor bit his lip. “You want me to move out?”
“What?”
“I just, well, if we’re going to be boyfrie
nds or whatever, maybe living together so soon might be kind of weird. Most people wait to live together.” Taylor turned scarlet. “Or am I assuming a bunch of things again?”
“You are assuming I’d want to you to move out. Look, so we started things a little differently. Backwards, whatever. We can do what we want, we’re adults.”
“And if it doesn’t work out between us?”
“You’re not much of an optimist, are you, Taylor?”
He laughed. “Sometimes I am. I guess I’m just a little nervous.”
“Taylor, I like you a lot. A lot. I think the feeling is mutual, isn’t it?”
Taylor nodded, smiling.
“So, we’ve skipped a few steps. No big deal.”
“Right. No big deal.” Taylor exhaled.
Mike smiled. “Let’s take things slow and not worry about the future. It’s going to be whatever it’s going to be regardless of our worrying. We’re both guys. No reason to do a lot of talking and stuff, is there?”
Taylor shook his head. His tongue darted out to lick his lips. “Probably not.”
“And I have a good feeling about it anyway.”
“You do?”
“Yep.”
“Slow?”
“Yeah.” Mike said. “Like how about we work on that sex?’
Taylor raised an eyebrow. “That’s your idea of slow, huh? I think I can go slow, then.”
Mike walked up to him, pushed him against the wall, and kissed him until they were both breathless. “Stop talking and get stripping. Or I might have to cuff you.”
“Yes, Officer.” Taylor smirked, then winked, and headed into Mike’s room, pulling off his shirt.
The End
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Other Books by Shawn Lane:
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