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 Oh God, he groaned.  Don t even go there. He laughed and shook his head.  So, were you curious
about women?
 Nah, I was just fucking with you. I rinsed the needle and dipped it again.  Did your folks ever get
their head around the fact that you re gay?
He sighed.  My mom has come a long way. She s still not happy about it, but she s more or less
gotten over it. As for Dad, well, he s getting there. Slowly.
 I guess that s a good thing, I said quietly. Luke s parents had flipped their lids when he came out. It
was just as well he d already moved in with me at that point, because they d have thrown him out if he still
lived at home. Watching him go through that had made me count my blessings that my parents had
accepted me from day one. Granted they had my history as an epic fuck-up to put things in perspective.
They may not have hoped for a gay son, but they were probably just glad to be sitting at the kitchen table
listening to me say  Mom, Dad, I m gay rather than finding more drug paraphernalia in my bedroom or
picking me up at the police station again.
Luke flinched as the needle crept into that sensitive territory around the back of his arm.
 Sorry, I said.  This part won t take long.
 Thank God for that, he muttered.  So. Anyway. My parents are coming around slowly. I never
thought they would.
www.samhainpublishing.com 61
L.A. Witt
 I wondered about that myself. I paused, carefully shading the narrow feathers of the angel s wing
tips.  Glad to hear it, though.
 Funny what time can do to people, I guess.
I looked up and wasn t at all surprised he was looking right back at me. I chewed the inside of my
cheek.  Yeah. I guess it is.
Time changed people, that much was clear. But how much? Enough?
It didn t matter. We d gone down this road too many times before, and we just couldn t do it again. I
couldn t do it again.
Not even if I wanted to.
Which I didn t.
Neither of us spoke as I finished shading the last of the tattoo. Fortunately, I was almost done, so the
awkward silence didn t last long. Before I knew it, we were done.
With the tattoo bandaged and money settled up, we looked at each other.
Panic and relief tingled at my nerve endings, opposite reactions converging at the base of my spine.
It was over. The tattoo was done. Once he walked out that door, our paths had no reason to ever cross
again. Unless, of course, he wanted me to add the years of A.J. s birth and death. And maybe he would.
Maybe he kept those as an ace up his sleeve. A reason for us to breathe the same air at some undetermined
tomorrow. A reason for me to touch him.
At least for now, he kept that card close to his chest.
 I guess, he said, avoiding my eyes,  this is it. I, um&  He gestured at his arm.  Thanks. It looks
great.
 It ll look better in a week or so. I cleared my throat.  Just, you know, take care of it.
He nodded.  I will. He extended a hand.  Thanks again.
I hesitated, then extended my own hand, pretending the platonic handshake didn t light fuses all up
and down the length of my spine. I cleared my throat.  No problem.
He released my hand and turned to go, but made it only a couple of steps before he stopped. He faced
me again. Rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, he looked at the floor as he whispered,  Listen, I& 
I watched him. Waited. My heart thundered faster and faster with each silent second that ticked by.
Faster still when our eyes met.
 Fuck, he whispered, dropping his gaze again.  I can t& all I can&  He made a frustrated gesture.
Then he looked me in the eye and blurted out,  There s a lot I want to say right now, but all I can think is
how badly I really, really want to kiss you.
No. No. We can t do this. Say no, say no.
I didn t realize I d moistened my lips until his eyes flicked down, and by then it was too late to stop
myself.
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A.J. s Angel
He moved closer to me, and only the shaking in my knees prevented me from taking a step back. We
couldn t, we shouldn t, but my mouth watered nonetheless. I hated myself for wanting this, but want it I
did.
Chewing my lower lip, I made the next move, inching closer to him. For a long moment, we were
still, just looking at each other. Holding my breath, I dropped my gaze and watched my own hand reach
across the divide toward his waist, my heart thundering in my ears as my fingers found his shirt, then the
subtle warmth of proximity, and finally the heat of his body. I let my hand rest there, still staring in
disbelief at this contact that I had created. We d gone there. I d gone there.
Seb, don t.
He touched my face and, with the faintest hint of pressure, raised my chin so I looked him in the eye.
When he put his other hand on my waist, I almost collapsed under the weight of his featherlight touch. I
watched him run the tip of his tongue along the inside of his lower lip and my mouth watered as I imagined
him doing the same to my lip, just as he d done a million times before.
 Are you sure about this? he whispered.
 No. My hand moved to his back, pulling him closer.
 Neither am I. The words vibrated against my skin.
I put my free hand on his face, the hiss of my fingertips across stubble just barely audible over the
sound of our slow, uneven breaths.
We were so close, breathing each other, his mouth not quite touching mine, but he made no move to
close the distance that remained. My hand went from his face to the back of his neck, but still the gap
remained between us, and he made no move to close it.
He was waiting for me.
Letting me cross this line.
He was waiting on the other side, but I had to take this step.
Seb. Don t.
Ignoring that little voice, I slid my hand from his neck into his hair and drew him into a kiss. My lips
touched his, and he pulled me closer, running the pad of his thumb across my cheekbone. We moved in
slow motion. My senses savored every taste and breath of him, my fingertips exploring the rough texture of
his jaw as my tongue explored the soft warmth of his mouth.
This wasn t the desperation with which we d kissed at Wilde s. It wasn t the kind of passionate,
violent kiss that gave us an excuse to get lost and forget to think. Though he overwhelmed my senses,
everything happened slowly enough to let rational thought catch up. To remember what happened last time
we gave in like this.
I pulled back slightly, and his lips released mine.
I sighed.  What are we doing?
www.samhainpublishing.com 63
L.A. Witt
 Kissing, I think.
Our eyes met, and we both laughed nervously.
Then I whispered,  I m serious. What are& what is this?
He shook his head slowly.  I don t know. I really don t.
We were quiet for a long moment. I didn t know whether to take the wise, sensible route and talk this
over, or just pull him to me and kiss him again. I knew which way I wanted to go, but not which way I
should.
Forcing myself not to look at his eyes or his lips, I pulled away. I reached back to rub the back of my
neck, just to give my hand something to do that wasn t touching him.
 What was it you wanted to say? I nodded toward the empty chair and workstation where our [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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