by Anyta Sunday
Benny took another sip of tea, this time looking between Heath and him with the same question Will wanted answered in his eye:
What are they to each other?
“This is a great place,” Will said, forcing himself to think of the double bed he’d glimpsed under stacks of boxes in the spare room and not the guy giving him electrical buzzes every few seconds. “I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay with you.”
“Sure thing. We need to clean the room up a bit though—will tomorrow be okay to move in?”
11 Lies
On the trip back to the Wallaces’ for dinner, Will’s phone rang. He looked at Heath out the corner of his eye and watched his posture stiffen as he answered. “Hey Eric.”
“Did you get it?” Eric said in a rush.
“Get what?”
“The department newsletter.”
“No, why?”
“Scroll down the bottom to upcoming events and you’ll understand.”
Heath now wore a visible scowl, knuckles whitening on the wheel.
Will swallowed back a chuckle. “Or you could just tell me, darlin’.”
“Darling? Did I miss something? Oh, wait a sec. I get it. Should I just play along?”
“Yes, darlin’. Whatever you say.”
“Haha. Okay, but I want the details tomorrow. Anyway, the newsletter, there’s an end of semester party in June.”
“Sounds riveting.”
“Ha, yeah, but wait, it’ll be a little interesting for sure. Looks like Candice has a date set to reveal the mystery of the canvas.”
Will jumped in his seat. “A date?”
Heath jerked the Commodore around a bend, tires squealing.
“Yeah. Friday the 15th of June,” Eric said, “So we’d better get cracking if we want to figure it out before then.”
“Yes. Yes we should.”
“So, you all set with a place to crash tonight? Offer of my bed is still there if you need it.”
“Oh. Well I’ve got a place to live as of tomorrow, but tonight—”
The car swerved to the side and came to a halt. Heath snatched the phone from his grasp. “Tonight he’ll be staying with me. Bye now.” He hung up, and they both stared at the phone for a few moments. Without looking at him, Heath handed him back the phone, restarted the car, and drove.
Heath said nothing after that. Barely even looked at him except once when they got inside and Vicky asked them how there afternoon was. “Very much unfinished,” Heath had replied and stalked into the kitchen to help set the table.
Vicky was her usual chatterbox self, asking him all sorts of questions about his thesis and how he was in general, but she kept picking at her meal, her usual healthy appetite gone. She didn’t look upset or anything though, more . . . nervous. He could tell by the way she’d frown and tease her lip with her teeth in the silences.
Heath noticed too. “What’s up, Mum?” he asked when she did it again.
“Your dad,” she said after a pause, “he wants us to meet.” Her frown briefly disappeared and out came a small smile.
But it was far too brief.
“What could he want? Do you know?”
“No idea. He wants to tell me in person, too.”
“He’s coming down in a week.”
“Yeah, Monday evening. He told me.”
Vicky swirled her fork through her mashed potatoes. “It was hard to make him out—did he sound gruff to you? Maybe a bit . . . choked up?”
Heath shook his head. “Nah.” But the way he ducked his chin to his chest and avoided her eyes made Will think differently.
Behind him came a scratching at the sliding door. Will twisted to see Murky on his hind legs pawing at the door. Jesus. The dog was huge. Sure, there was glass between them, but a couple of good head butts and the dog could get in.
He leaned away from Murky, standing up and collecting his dishes, moving them—him—to the safety of the dishwasher.
A soft chuckle came from behind. Heath cornered him between the bench and the opened dishwasher as he bent to stack his plate. When he stood up, he was a hair’s breath away.
“Mum?” he called out. “I’m going to take Murky out.” Then to him, he added, “And, Will, you’re coming with me. We have unfinished business.”
He looked toward the dog and shook his head. “We can finish it later.”
Heath pursed his lips and straightened out of his crouch. Then bracing a hand on his shoulder, he leaned to his ear. “Actually, that wasn’t a request. Grab a jacket, shoes.”
Outside, Heath had Murky on a leash, but Will felt he may as well have been wearing one as well. Really. He did exactly what the guy wanted him to.
Bit pathetic, actually, but he had very little fight in him. He liked it a little too much.
“So,” Will said, a half-step behind Heath and three behind Murky, their outlines dark in the night except for the spots when they walked under lampposts. “You lied to your mom.”
“What? No, I didn’t.”
Murky suddenly snapped around facing them, ears perked up and alert. Will stumbled back a few feet, but not far enough to be out of Heath’s reach. The guy cuffed his wrist and urged him closer. “It’s okay.” Trusting him not to run when he let him go, Heath bent down and petted Murky’s ears. “You’re just a curious wee thing, aren’t you? You’re not going to hurt Will. No, of course you won’t. You just want a chance to slobber over him, don’t you? Well”—he cupped a hand at the dogs ear and whispered something.
Murky cocked his head, and when Heath stood again, he tugged at the leash, demanding to be walked to the neighbor’s hedge, where he peed.
“I didn’t lie,” Heath said. “I mean, to me Dad didn’t sound choked up at all.
“But,” he ran a hand through his hair, “Well, he did sound sort of nervous. But I couldn’t see how that information would be helpful at all. Better to just wait until Monday to see what he wants.”
Will nodded, eyes glued to the silhouette of Murky in the headlights of a car coming over the hill.
“But since we are on the topic of lying—”
Murky barked and Will jerked with it.
“Murky, calm down, boy.” To Will, Heath explained. “There’s another dog up there, that’s all. We can cross the street if you like.”
Crap. Yes, cross the street! Brilliant idea. “Sure. I mean,”—he shrugged—“ whatever.”
Heath crossed over. “You don’t have to watch him the entire time, you know.”
Huh? He peeled his gaze off Murky to Heath’s shadowed face—his smirk somehow managing to glow out of him. “It’s just—I like knowing where he is. Just in case.”
Heath stopped walking, resting against a tall, green painted fence with bits of foliage peeking between the cracks. He let Murky’s leash lengthen. “I want to know what happened. Why are you afraid of dogs?”
“It’s just—it’s an irrational fear.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Talk to me about it.”
Will watched Murky sniff out bushes. “Well, when I was a kid, my sister and I went biking.”
“Oh good, you can ride a bike.” He quickly shut himself up. “Sorry, bad timing. Continue.”
“Yes, I can ride a bike. I can ride lot of things, actually.”
Heath blinked at that. At the same time, Will just heard how his words must have sounded and laughed at himself. “Bikes, motorbikes, horses, I meant. But that, too. Should I continue with my story, or have we”—he gulped—“have we moved on?”
Heath cleared his voice but didn’t step back. “I think maybe we have, but I’d like you to tell me about this later. For now though”—Heath curled a finger under Will’s chin—“let’s get back to that other discussion.”
“What other discussion?”
“The one about lying.”
What? Huh? That didn’t sound right.
“Because I think it’s my turn to accuse you of lying.”
“I don’t know wh
at you’re talking about.”
Murky paced back to them, but instead of watching the dog’s every move, he was watching Heath’s. The way the blossom-scented breeze pushed against Heath’s thin jacket, enough to hint at the fit contours beneath; the way Heath’s hand dropped from Will’s chin, down his throat, to settle its warm weight on his shoulder; and more than anything else, the way his eyes bored into him.
“What are you trying to do, Will?” he asked. His voice was smooth and calm and yet it didn’t stop him from shivering at them.
Just as he was about to break the silence that extended between them, Heath stopped him with a finger against Will’s lips. Will’s suddenly very dry lips.
“Save your ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about’. I know all this stuff you’re saying about Eric is made up. You don’t mean it.”
Right. He didn’t. “But I do!”
Heath’s jaw twitched and he came a half-step closer. “Stop lying, you don’t. I see the way you look at me, I know you want me, Will. Don’t fool yourself. This stuff about Eric is just trying to make me jealous.”
He opened his mouth to argue but was cut off.
“And I am. I’m so fucking jealous, it’s killing me. So, I’m going to ask you just once. Are you really into Eric, or is what I think true, and every time you say you like Eric, you actually mean you like me?”
Well. That was unexpected. He hauled in a breath to steady his nerves, but his face must have said everything for him.
“Thought so.” Heath captured his lips into a kiss, snaking his free arm around Will and drawing him closer. The light kiss deepened with a swipe of Heath’s tongue on his bottom lip, asking to be let in. And Will responded, ratcheting up the intensity by stepping flush into Heath’s hard body. Oh good God, this was exactly where he wanted to be.
“Say it, Will. Please,” Heath said when they broke for air.
Will brushed his lips over the bump of Heath’s nose, feeling how perfectly smooth it was. “Say what? You’re the most confusing guy I’ve ever met?”
“Not that.”
He kissed the spot again. “Hey, if you want me not to lie to you anymore, then you’re getting the truth. Now where was I? Confusing. Yes.”—He brushed his lips—“And hot and cold”—Another kiss—“and rather cocky.”
“You done yet?”
“Kissing? Nope.” He laid one under Heath’s ear on his throat. “And you’re a pain in the ass.”
He felt the rumble of Heath’s chuckle on his chest. “Not yet, I’m not.” Heath turned the tables, holding back Will’s head by grabbing his hair and nibbling kisses at his neck.
Toward the starry sky, Will laughed. “Damn right not yet. I have a three week rule, remember?”
There was a small none-too-pleased groan before Heath smoothed out his hair and looked at him. “Say it now.” And he didn’t need to add a please—Will could see that in his eyes.
“Yes,” he said, “everything you said was true.”
He felt Heath relax into him. After one last kiss, he pulled back a fraction, a smug grin on his face.
“Huh,” Heath said, breath whispering against his cheek. “You don’t seem to mind Murky now, do you?” The grin widened as Will glanced toward the dog sitting at their feet watching them. “Guess maybe I just found you a cure.”
Kissing him senseless? Hell, if Heath wanted to do that every time he had to be around Murky, then it was a cure indeed. He’d love the dog. They’d be BFF’s and everything. In fact, maybe he’d make him a permanent fixture at his side.
Murky stood up, tail wagging, and Will felt the instinctive urge to flinch.
Well maybe not a permanent fixture.
But everything in moderation, right?
They walked back to Heath’s place with the occasional stop to kiss, ridiculous smiles on their faces.
Once Murky was back in his kennel, and he and Heath had washed up, they went to the hut. Will didn’t bother with being shy around the bed. They’d broken that ice the night before. He took off his shoes and jumped on.
Heath looked at him from the end of the bed, a glint in his eye. “You look good there.”
Will stretched himself; head sinking into the pillows, legs sprawled toward the end corners. “I feel pretty good in here, too.”
Heath adjusted himself. “Gah. Three weeks? Are you sure?”
Sure? Nothing when it came to Heath was sure. Instead of answering, he smirked. “I have a few questions for you, Heath Wallace.”
Heath switched on the bedside lamp and turned off the main light, drowning them in an apricot glow. “Shoot.”
“Why’d you say you weren’t attracted to me?”
“Right to the three-pointer. When did I ever say that?”
He raised one eyebrow, and Heath sighed, slipping onto the bed next to him.
“Fine. I was upset that night, I was hurting and I lashed out any way I could, even though it wasn’t true.” Heath, on his side, leaned in so they were nose-to-nose.
“Okay,” Will said, “but I fished again this morning and you said ‘right’ to me not being your type.”
“So? I lied—not a first between us now, is it?” His grin faded as he added: “I’m very attracted to you, Will. Have been right from the beginning. I checked you out at the airport even before realizing you were the guy I was there to bring back.” Heath gently pinched Will’s chin between thumb and forefinger. “Straight guys would check you out. As you well know, you’re stunning.”
“Stunning, eh? I’m liking you more and more.”
“Good. Also, when you tripped over your suitcase—”
Will groaned. He’d forgotten that show of clumsiness. Just thinking about it was enough to make him blush again.
“—well, I thought it was endearing.”
Heath thought it was endearing? Endearing. It held such warmth and sincerity to it. Endearing. Yeah, that word would be one of his all time favorite from now on.
Heath touched the bottom of Will’s smiling lip with his fingertip as if to ask: what’s that for?
“I was totally checking you out, too. You rated quite highly . . . until I saw your car.”
“Sally? What? Can’t you find her faults somewhat endearing, too?”
“Pssht.” Deathtrap was more apt. “The seatbelt has to be hammered in!”
Heath huffed. “Well it won’t be that way much longer. I’ll have to replace it before my next Warrant of Fitness.”
“Don’t sound so devastated.”
Heath grinned. “Maybe I just liked belting you in.”
Put it like that, and Will was starting to like it, too. He slid a free hand over Heath’s waist to trail down his back to the curve of his ass. Pity they were both wearing jeans. “Tell you what,” he said, “if you like it that much, I’ll let you do it anyway. Needed or not.”
Heath arched into Will, pressing his hard-on against his own. The urge to thrust was too overwhelming to ignore and he shifted against Heath, eliciting a moan from him.
“Another question,” Will said, voice huskier now. “That ice-cream thing earlier. Was that you hinting to me? Why didn’t you just say something?”
“Why didn’t you? I think we’re both guilty here. I mean, you went so far as to make up a crush on Eric.” Heath curled his leg over Will’s and swung them so he was on top, pinning him down. “I really didn’t like that. I think I’ll have to make you pay.”
With that, he pinched one of Will’s nipples through his shirt, and used his mouth against the other, teeth sharp and teasing.
Oh holy hell and back again. If that was how he had to pay, he’d wanted to pay more. So much more.
“Believe me, Will,” Heath said, lightly biting his ear. “I wanted to do more than lick your ice-cream earlier.” He paused and sat up, looking down on him. “Hmmm, that sounded sorta creepy, didn’t it?”
It might have been if he’d been thinking clearly. As it was, it turned him on more. Sitting up, Will wrapped his arms aroun
d Heath and kissed him more, slowly maneuvering himself until he had Heath beneath him.
“We really should stop this. And not just because of my three week rule, either.”
“Why, whatever else for?”
Will lay his weight on top of him, linked his hands over Heath’s chest and looked at him.
“What?” Heath repeated.
Should he ask point-blank? Or hint at it?
“Say it, Will.”
Fine. “I don’t want—I mean, I like you—so I don’t want sex to be about escaping other things.”
Heath rolled Will off him and sat up. “It’s true. I’ve done that before. But I shouldn’t have said that last night. Maybe a part of me thought of sex as a way to forget that other stuff, but I made you feel like I was using you, that you didn’t mean anything more. But you would have. You do.” His brow furrowed a second. “Wait a second, your three week rule is total crap! Drunk you was so going to let us do each other last night!”
“Yeah, about that, I wasn’t drunk.” Well, that didn’t help his case. He deflected. “We’re getting off topic here.”
“Oh no-no, this is completely on topic. You weren’t drunk?”
He closed his eyes, feeling Heath draw nearer but not touching him, and then reopened them. “Truth is, you make me want to forget all my rules.”
His honesty was rewarded with Heath’s large, yeah, pretty cocky, smile.
“But knowing what I know now, I think you should get tested before we go any further.”
Heath climbed off the bed and rummaged at his desk. He came back, holding out a piece of paper. “I got tested a few weeks back after . . .”
“After what?”
“After we kissed that first time. I told myself I did it just because I should get it done every now and then even though I always wear protection, you know, just in case. But, well, maybe it’s because I dreamed I could get so close with you.”
Will had never before found a test such a turn on. But this was. Because it meant Heath had liked him a while.
Kneeling on the bed, Will reached out and grabbed a handful of Heath’s t-shirt. “Why the heck didn’t we get to this part sooner?” But he knew the answer: it was the other stuff. The stuff with his mom and brother that kept them apart.