Whatever the reason for it, Ryan was grateful.
The smell got stronger and more appetising as they walked down the short hallway and into the kitchen. Ryan’s stomach grumbled in appreciation, making Matt laugh.
“Is it ready yet?” Ryan turned his best puppy-dog eyes Matt’s way as he settled in place at the breakfast bar.
Matt checked his watch. “Just about.”
“Thank God. Not sure I can wait any longer. What’re we having?”
“Pulled pork with mashed potato and mixed green veg.” He grinned as Ryan moaned and rubbed his belly. Pulled pork was his absolute favourite. “I did it in the slow cooker this morning.”
“I do like a man who plans ahead.”
Matt laughed. “Well, you’ll like me even more later, then.” He winked, and warmth filled Ryan’s chest.
Running into Matt and spilling his coffee had been the best accident Ryan had ever had. His belly growled again. “Food first, though.”
“Yeah, food first.”
“Shit.” Matt stopped and ran a hand through his hair. “No condoms.”
“Really?” Ryan stood with his hands on his hips, staring incredulously at Matt, who appeared like he was trying not to laugh. “I thought you said you’d planned ahead?”
“I did. I remembered we’d run out and popped in Boots on the way home. Had to face a young girl on the till, who looked all of eighteen, while armed with condoms and lube. It was red faces all around.” He leant against the bedroom doorframe. They’d made it that far.
Ryan felt his lips twitch at the thought, but for some reason, he was still irritated. “Fat fucking use they are down in my flat. I suppose you want me to go and get them?”
Matt cocked his head to one side, regarding Ryan curiously. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just can’t be arsed to walk all the way down to my flat when it was you who left the bloody things there in the first place.”
“It’s one flight of stairs, not ten, for fuck’s sake.” Matt took a step closer and cupped Ryan’s jaw with both hands, forcing Ryan to keep eye contact. “It’s not like you to get pissed off so easily.” He stroked his thumbs along Ryan’s cheekbones, soothing the edges of his anger. “Tell me.”
Ryan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “It’s Dominic.”
Matt stiffened and stopped his thumbs doing their lazy sweep over Ryan’s skin. “That arsehole who kissed you last April?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s not hassling you again, is he?”
Ryan smiled when Matt started up his stroking again and enjoyed the sensation for a couple of seconds before answering. “No. Not me.”
Matt’s hands dropped to Ryan’s shoulders, and he gave them a squeeze. “Ry, tell me what happened.”
Opening his eyes, Ryan caught the worried expression on Matt’s face, and it made the rest easy. “Let’s go sit down.” He led Matt back into the living room, all thoughts of sex forgotten. Matt had been right, this had been eating at him all day, more so since he’d left work.
When they were both comfortable on the sofa, Ryan took Matt’s hand in his, idly playing with his fingers. “When I walked into the break room to get a coffee this afternoon, I saw Dominic in there with one of the new guys who’d just started.” He glanced up and found Matt watching him.
“And?”
“I didn’t think anything of it at first. The new guy, Charlie, I think his name is, well, he bent down to get something out of the bottom of the fridge, and then Dominic casually stood back against the wall, staring at his arse. I mean, this kid looks young. I think he might have come here straight from doing his A-levels, and there’s Dom, leering at him like the creeper he is.”
“Then what happened?”
This bit was the part that bothered Ryan. “Dom started asking Charlie what he was doing tonight. Whether he was going out, who with, and where. He mentioned the names of at least two gay bars, telling Charlie that was where he was going later. I mean, he didn’t come right out and say it, but it was pretty obvious he was fishing to see if Charlie was interested or not. All the while he was talking, he seemed to edge a little bit closer to him.”
“And what did Charlie do?”
“That was the worst bit. He sort of stood there, frozen. Milk carton in one hand, chocolate bar in the other, and face getting steadily redder. It didn’t look like the first time it’d happened. I wasn’t intentionally being quiet, but neither of them seemed to notice I was there. Charlie had his gaze glued to the inside of the fridge, and Dom was still staring at his arse. I never felt threatened when Dom used to go on about me going out with him. Annoyed, yes, but never scared. Maybe that was my age because watching him with Charlie made me really fucking uneasy.”
Matt reached over and twined their fingers together. “What happened next?”
“I asked Dominic what he was doing skulking around in the break room when the weekly conference call was about to start. He cursed and was out of there in a flash.”
Matt’s lips curved up into a smile. “Did you make that up?”
“No, there’s one every Friday at three o’clock. Clearly he had other things on his mind.”
“Did you say anything to Charlie?”
Ryan ducked his head. “No. I should have done, I know I should, but I didn’t know what to say. So I hesitated and he kind of smiled a little, then quickly left.” God, he should have taken Charlie to one side and made sure he was all right. “Shit. I messed up, didn’t I?”
Matt made a face—a cross between a frown and a wince. “I don’t mean to make you feel worse because it’s obviously been bothering you, but maybe, yeah.”
Ryan let his head fall back onto the cushions behind him. “Fuck.”
Matt squeezed his thigh, reassuringly. “Hey, it’s not the end of the world. You can still do something on Monday.”
“You think I should tell HR what I saw?”
“Is Dominic Charlie’s immediate supervisor?”
Ryan nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
“So you can’t go that route. Maybe you should have a quiet word with Charlie first. If he’s as young as you say he is, then this might be his first job. You need to make sure he understands that Dominic’s behaviour isn’t appropriate and he doesn’t have to put up with it.”
“Shit.” Ryan rubbed his temples, the beginning of a headache forming. “Things are going to get really fucking messy if I report Dom.”
Matt gave his fingers a squeeze. “I know. But can you imagine how Charlie must feel? If no one steps up and tells him otherwise, he might think it’s perfectly acceptable behaviour. What if that was your brother getting harassed at work?”
Ryan’s brother was six foot two and built, but he knew that wasn’t the point Matt was trying to make. God, he felt shitty all over again for not saying anything at the time. “I’m such a useless wanker.”
“No, you’re not.” Matt pulled him into a hug and held him tight. “But you do need to do something about it on Monday. I can almost guarantee Charlie isn’t the only one he’s doing it to, and you can’t let that shit carry on.”
“Yeah, I know.” Ryan buried his head on Matt’s shoulder and relaxed for maybe the first time since he’d seen them in the break room. “I’ll talk to Charlie first thing on Monday.”
“Good.”
Ryan pulled into the car park behind his building on Monday night and turned the engine off. Thank fuck the day was finally over. It had been shit from start to finish, and he’d never been so glad to leave the damn place.
He didn’t bother going to his own flat, heading straight up the second flight of stairs and knocking on Matt’s door instead.
Matt opened it almost immediately. “Well?”
“It was a shit-show. Dominic accused me of harassing him when we worked on the same team, said I was bitter from his rejections and was just trying to get back at him for turning me down.”
“Fucking hell. What a dick
.”
“Yep.” Ryan shrugged out of his coat and shoes and followed Matt into the kitchen. “Got any beer? I could really do with one.”
Matt fetched one out of the fridge and handed it over. “There you go.” He leant in and kissed Ryan softly on the lips before taking the stool next to him.
“Thanks.”
“So did anyone believe him?”
Ryan shook his head, mid-swallow. “Nope. When I spoke to Charlie, it turns out the other new start was having a similar problem with Dominic. After I told them I’d be happy to tell HR what I’d witnessed, they were keen to file a complaint.”
“That’s good, right?”
“Well it’s still under investigation, but I didn’t see Dom for the rest of the afternoon. I suspect he got sent home. He was stupid enough to leave a couple of suggestive Post-its on Charlie’s work—which Charlie kept.”
Matt grinned. “Oh shit.”
“Yep.” Ryan swivelled on the stool so he was facing Matt fully. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For making me do the right thing.”
Matt shook his head. “I didn’t do anything. You would have got there on your own in the end.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” He hooked his feet around Matt’s stool and dragged it closer, making Matt almost fall off in the process. “Come here and give me a kiss. I need it after having Dom glare at me all morning.”
“With pleasure.” Matt stood, worked his way between Ryan’s open thighs, and bent to give him a deep, lingering kiss. It left Ryan soothed and turned on, and he grabbed at Matt’s arm when he went to straighten. “No, I need more.”
Matt laughed. “So do I, but I promised Mum we’d go round for tea tonight. She has a surprise for me, apparently.” He cupped Ryan’s jaw and gave him one more kiss that left Ryan breathless and hard. “I promise I’ll make it up to you when we get back.”
“You’d better.” This time, Ryan let Matt back away without trying to stop him. If he wanted his erection to go, then touching Matt in any way was out of the question. Already changed into jeans and a T-shirt, Matt smirked as Ryan adjusted himself. “I’ll go and get out of my work clothes.”
“Don’t be long. The sooner we get over there….”
The sooner we can get back and fuck. Ryan practically jogged towards Matt’s bedroom, Matt’s laughter following him.
Somewhere around the two-month mark in their relationship, Ryan had started to leave the odd bit of clothing at Matt’s. He’d had a toothbrush in Matt’s bathroom from the very beginning, but by the end of three months together, he had shower gel, deodorant, and a drawer full of socks and underwear.
Now he had space in Matt’s wardrobe too. Before opening the door to pick out something to wear, Ryan stopped and took a good look around Matt’s bedroom. Nearly everywhere he looked, evidence of his presence caught his eye. A stray sock hung out of the laundry basket, a book he’d been trying—and failing—to read sat on the bedside table, on what was now Ryan’s side of the bed. One of his hoodies hung on the back of the door, and most telling of all, his favourite soft and worn-in pyjama bottoms sat folded on top of his pillow.
That had to be Matt’s doing. Ryan knew he’d left them in a pile on the floor that morning. Thinking back over the past few weeks, he could count on one hand the nights spent at his own apartment—well, maybe one and a half—but it wasn’t many. He wondered if Matt realised exactly how much time Ryan spent at his flat.
“Are you nearly done in there? I don’t hear any undressing going on?” Matt’s voice was full of amusement. He was used to Ryan spacing out every now and again too.
“Yep, almost.” Ryan grinned at the blatant lie, knowing Matt would be rolling his eyes in the kitchen, and shook off the weird feeling that had crept over him.
Five minutes later Ryan sauntered out into the hall, dressed in dark blue jeans and a white T-shirt.
Matt met him, car keys dangling from one hand. “I hate how you still have a tan.”
Ryan smiled as Matt’s gaze wandered lower. “Don’t lie. I know you love it.”
Backing him up against the wall, Matt pocketed his keys and ran his hands along Ryan’s forearms, where they remained a deep golden brown from the summer sun. “And I hate how good you look in white.” He stroked the inside of Ryan’s elbows with his thumbs, the skin so sensitive there that Ryan shivered.
“Another lie,” he whispered, throat suddenly dry.
Matt shuffled close, his hips pressing into Ryan’s. “It’s not when we have to leave and drive over to my parents’ house for a few hours.” Instead of kissing him like Ryan expected, Matt stepped back and turned towards the door. “Better get going, then.” He glanced back over his shoulder at where Ryan stood, slumped against the wall. “Come on.”
Ryan glared at him. “I hate you too, now.”
Matt laughed, as he opened the door and waited for Ryan to move. “I guess that makes us even.”
They arrived at Matt’s parents’ house in good time, the traffic cooperating for once. His mum, with her sixth sense, opened the front door before they’d even come to a stop. She practically vibrated with excitement.
Ryan hadn’t given much thought to the surprise Matt had mentioned, but now he was curious. “Your mum looks fit to burst.”
Matt glanced over to where she waited on the step, and smiled. “She does, doesn’t she? I haven’t seen her that excited since I told her we were a couple.”
Christ, what could she possibly have for Matt that could top that? Ryan’s bladder took that moment to inform him he needed a piss. He’d been a bag of nervous energy and anxiety all day at work; the amount of coffee he’d drunk seemed to be catching up with him.
They crunched across the gravel driveway to greet her, and Ryan tried not to grimace. The handrails on either side of the door caught his eye, taking his mind off his predicament for a moment. His brother had fitted them and some more around by the back door too.
“Come on in. Your dad’s in the garden; we can go join him in a minute.”
In the past few months, Matt’s dad had made great progress. When Ryan first met him, he’d relied on a walker to help him get around, but now he managed with just a walking stick, sometimes two. He’d never be able to get by without them, but from what Ryan could tell, he was happy with that. Matt agreed, and Ryan knew it was a weight off all their shoulders.
Matt’s mum led the way through the house. As they followed, Ryan grabbed Matt’s arm.
“I need to nip to the loo.” He patted his belly. “Too much bloody coffee.”
“Okay, well you know where it is. Come find us when you’re done.”
Ryan veered off to the loo as Matt and his mum went through to the utility room. The Thomas’s downstairs toilet was about the size of Ryan’s bathroom, well almost, built as part of an extension. Before he got the door closed, a flash of fur darted past him and jumped up into the sink.
“Oscar,” Ryan hissed and pointed to the door. “Out.”
Blue eyes regarded him as though he was the stupidest person to ever live, and Oscar settled down in the sink basin, clearly no intention of going anywhere.
Ryan took a step towards him, ready to scoop him up and toss him out, but Oscar was like lightning, jumping out of the sink and hiding behind the toilet before Ryan even got close. “For fuck’s sake.” His desperately needed a piss, though, and it was either play chase the cat or risk embarrassing himself beyond redemption. With another muttered curse, Ryan closed and locked the door. He pointed a finger at Oscar. “You’re stuck here now. Don’t blame me when you want to leave in about ten seconds. You had your chance.”
With a silent prayer that Oscar wouldn’t scratch his bare dick, Ryan undid his jeans and took aim. Relief was immediate.
Just as he debated whether or not he was done, he felt the tell-tale prick of claws in the back of his thigh followed by the full weight of a Siamese-Bengal scaling his back and settling across his shoulders. “Fucking hell
, Oscar!” He hissed, hunching over and dribbling over the floor.
“Arse.” To top it off, a long stripy tail wafted in front of his face, giving him a lopsided moustache.
After tucking himself back in, Ryan batted the tail away from his mouth and reached up to pluck Oscar from his perch. In his startled effort to get off Ryan’s back without falling, Oscar leapt onto the toilet roll holder, hung on for a second, then with his claws hooked in the paper, dropped gracefully down to the ground. Taking the paper with him.
Ryan stared at him as it pooled on the floor at Oscar’s feet. “Nice.” He bent down to scoop up the paper and was halfway through mopping up the mess he’d made on the floor, when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.
The Thomas’s bathroom had an old-fashioned door with a proper key and keyhole—Ryan had no idea why, though he was sure Matt had told him at some point. Oscar now sat underneath it looking up.
“Don’t you dare.”
Up to his elbows in wet toilet-roll, Ryan watched, helpless, as Oscar jumped up and batted at the key. “Oscar!” It jiggled a bit but stayed put. Obviously not one to give up, Oscar jumped again, and the key clattered to the floor.
Hurriedly dumping the lump of sodden paper in the bin—the last thing he wanted was to block the loo—he heard the tell-tale scratch of metal on wood, and turned around in time to see Oscar batting the key under the door.
Fuck.
“You little bastard. Why?”
Oscar stared back at him, looking all cute and innocent with his big, blue eyes.
Ryan glared at him. “I’m going to change your name to Satan.”
In response, Oscar rolled onto his back, stretched, and yawned.
Maybe I can reach it?
After washing his hands, Ryan got down on all fours and peered under the door. The key was only a few inches away, but the gap under the door was only big enough to fit his fingers under and he couldn’t quite reach it.
Maybe This Time Page 18