by KD Ellis
“No,” Matti said, louder and with more feeling than he’d expected, intended. “I don’t want you to go.” Now that was just a plain stupid thing to say to a complete stranger. “I only… I…” He stopped, knowing how foolish he sounded, feeling his cheeks flare and the skin on his face tighten.
“Are you all right?” the man asked.
Matti took a step away as the stranger came closer, and now they were both in the light.
Tall, was Matti’s first thought. Very tall with wide shoulders and thick hair and the most startled look on his face Matti had seen outside a comic book. No, not startled. Shocked and a little dazed. "I think maybe I should be asking you if you’re okay," he said. He wasn’t quite sure how he managed to get the words out in the right order, his mind was whizzing so fast. Tall and right-looking and something else he had no intention of thinking about.
He might not be thinking about it but his blood was pulsing under his skin—he’d swear he could feel it.
“I…” It was the man’s turn to stammer, but he didn’t take his eyes from Matti’s. “I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. A big truck. One that’s going very fast and landed right on my head.”
“Trucks don’t hit you on the head, they smack into you. Falling aeroplanes or meteors hit you on the head.”
“And you’d know this because?” The man smiled and Matti wasn’t sure if he was going to be sick for all the wrong reasons.
“’Cause a meteor just smacked me on the head?” Matti couldn’t look away or breathe properly. Yeah, breathing properly—deep and slow—that was a good idea. It might stop him talking stupid crap to a perfect stranger for a start. "That bitch hurt and now I feel like I have my skin on inside out."
“I…” The man put out a hand, not quite touching Matti but looking like he wanted to. “This is…”
“Yeah, it is,” Matti agreed, knowing just what he meant.
“Is this weird?” the man asked, his face scrunching up like something was hurting but in a good way.
“Weirdest thing I’ve ever known.” There really wasn’t anywhere else Matti wanted to look, anyone else he wanted to look at. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to stop the crazy talk.
The man took a deep breath, holding it as he stared at Matti. Then he gave a curt nod, and held his hand out properly. “Jamie. I’m Jamie or my name’s Jamie or something.”
“You think your name’s Jamie?”
“No, pretty sure it’s Jamie. I’m Jamie, who are you?”
“Matti. My name’s Matti and…” He grasped Jamie’s hand and lost the ability to speak. Jamie’s hand sat so perfectly in his, it seemed to mould itself to his palm, skin flushing and fusing and tingling as their hands settled together. And when did he think such crap? He guessed it was better than saying it out loud.
He looked up, his breathing still not working right, and Jamie didn’t look much better than he felt. Jamie’s pupils had dilated to ridiculous proportions, his face was flushed and there was a sheen of sweat across his forehead. He was trying to say something but he didn’t seem to be having any more success at forming a coherent sentence than Matti.
“I… You…” Jamie said, clutching Matti’s hand tighter.
“Yeah,” Matti agreed again, nodding furiously, although he knew it made no sense.
For the longest moment they stood like that, at the edge of the balcony, palms pressed tight in what looked like a handshake that had become frozen in time, with the rest of the world forgotten. They were so still they could have been a photograph, a moment captured forever.
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About the Author
KD Ellis is a professional cat wrangler by day, and an author by night. She moved from a small town to an even smaller village to live with her husband and wife and their two children. She loves reading—anything with men loving men. She writes queer romance in between working her two jobs and cuddling her pets—all six of them, which confuses the turtle.
KD Ellis loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website details and author profile page at https://www.pride-publishing.com