Hardwood - K.M. Neuhold Page 0,59

to do it just to be on the safe side. It couldn’t hurt, right?”

“It could definitely hurt,” he says with a chuckle.

I wince, imagining having hot wax put into my ass crack and then the hair ripped out. “Okay, fair point.”

“Also, word to the wise, never use any lube that’s labeled as warming. It will feel like a red-hot poker up your ass,” he advises with a chuckle.

I burst out laughing right along with him. “Good to know. Thank you.”

“No problem.” He pats me on the shoulder.

We finish up our lunch and get back to work. The afternoon goes by just as slowly as the morning had, but eventually five o’clock hits, and we’re able to call it a day.

“Do you have any weekend plans?” I ask as we drive back to the office so I can get my own car.

“Nope,” Ollie answers.

“Are you seriously not dating? Or are you just tired of all of us giving you a hard time?”

He shakes his head and doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, pretending like driving the familiar road requires all of his attention. “I needed a break,” he finally answers as we near the office.

“All because of that loser who tried to kiss Daniel?” I ask skeptically. Ollie’s dated plenty of assholes over the years; it’s hard to believe one handsy dude was all it took to make him throw in the towel.

“Nah, fuck that guy,” he says, but doesn’t give any further explanation. I take the hint, letting the topic go for now. “I hope your date goes well,” he says once we park.

“Thanks. Have a good night.”

I can’t get home fast enough. Every stoplight along my way is a device of pure torture.

As soon as I’m in the door, I head straight for the master bathroom, stripping my clothes off along the way and tossing them into the hamper as I pass it.

I start the shower and while I wait for the water to heat up, I grab a fresh razor and consider how difficult it would be to attempt a quick shave just to thin out my ass hair a little. It’s hard to tell how much hair I even have back there, honestly. Is it an excessive amount? An idea occurs to me. I leave the shower running and go into my bedroom to grab my phone, which I had tossed onto the bed when I passed it a minute ago. I pull up the camera app and lean over. Holding the phone behind me, I attempt to get a picture. The flash goes off, and I check to see if I got the picture.

Nope, just my ass cheek. I try again, spreading my legs farther apart and leaning over even more. The second picture is just as bad as the first.

“Dammit,” I mutter, finally climbing onto the bed so I can really get a good spread going.

The third picture is a success, a nice shot of my asshole filling the screen of my phone. I tilt my head as I study it. I wouldn’t have expected it, but it’s surprisingly hot to be looking at a picture of my own hole. And yes, there’s hair, but it doesn’t seem all that excessive. And if it was that difficult to get a picture, I can’t imagine it’ll be all that easy to shave either, so it’ll have to do for now. I can ask Watson his opinion on the issue tonight, and if he’s anti-ass hair, I can make an appointment to get waxed.

With that out of the way, I finally hop into the shower. I take extra care to make sure every nook and cranny is squeaky clean, daydreaming about how tonight might go, and studiously avoiding my growing erection.

Once I’m finished, I dry off and get dressed. I resist the urge to put on my trusty baseball cap, instead opting to look a little nicer tonight. I run a comb through my hair and grab a pair of nice jeans. Since it’s getting cold out, I put on a long sleeve shirt and do a quick once over in the mirror before heading out to pick up Watson.

Watson

“What do you think?” I ask Fermata, holding up a pink bowtie and a blue bowtie for him to choose from. He sniffs the blue one, and I nod. “Good call. Blue it is.”

I put it on, keeping an eye on my phone, half expecting Ev to call last minute and tell me something came up. It’s