Saving Grapes - Madeline Kirby Page 0,25
you up so much – to rattle you. See – look – you’re blushing!”
“I’m not shy!”
“It’s okay, I think it’s cute when you get flustered and bothered,” Ben grinned.
“I am a grown man. I can talk about, well, you know.”
“Sex.”
“I do not have sexual hang-ups.”
“I didn’t say you did. You’re just not comfortable talking about it, and you blush when I do.”
“Well, I’m sorry if I’m not as laid back and casual about that kind of thing as your generation is.” Thom stabbed at his lettuce with his fork.
“My generation? There’s what, a ten year difference between us? You’re old enough to be my big brother, but not my father. Don’t act like you’re an old man.”
Thom glared at his salad and stabbed some more.
“Thom,” Ben reached over and took the fork from Thom’s hand, linking their fingers together. “Thom, I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
Thom huffed and looked at their hands, resting together on the table.
“Really. There’s nothing wrong with being a little shy, as long as you can still open up about what you want. And in case it hasn’t sunk in, I’ll say it again. I think you’re charming, and cute…”
“I’m not cute!”
“Okay, okay. Handsome? Sexy? Can I say that?”
“I don’t know about sexy. Or handsome, either,” Thom said, feeling himself blush again, which embarrassed him even more.
“Your face is so red,” Ben scooted forward in his chair, leaning over the table to kiss Thom’s cheek and whisper in his ear. “Are you turning red everywhere?”
Thom ducked his head, “Geez, Ben.”
“Can I see?”
“Are you… you are! You’re trying to make me blush!”
“Maybe,” Ben chuckled. “So, can I? See?”
“You’re terrible! You’re – what’s the word? Incorrigible!”
“Incorrigible?!”
“It means—”
“I know what it means, thank you very much. It just sounds like something an old lady would say. How about, relentless?”
“Relentless?”
“Yeah, as in, if you think Ross is relentless, wait until you see me trying to get into your pants.”
Thom finally met Ben’s eyes.
“Also, it would be nice if you tried to get into mine without me pissing you off first. I don’t want to have to go out with Ross again.”
“I don’t want you to go out with Ross again either,” Thom admitted. He realized he’d said the right thing when Ben smiled, dimple and all.
“Excellent. So I won’t go out with Ross. We’ll both try to get into each other’s pants on a regular and frequent basis, and you can keep on blushing as long as I can call you cute.”
“Not cute,” Thom said, barely loud enough for Ben to hear.
“Okay, then,” Ben said, releasing Thom’s hand and going back to eating his dinner. “I won’t call you cute if you can look me in the eye and tell me exactly what you want to do tonight, in specific detail, after we go to bed.”
“Well—”
“In the same bed,” Ben specified.
“Um…”
“So. Fucking. Cute.”
The next Saturday morning, Thom was in the laundry room, moving a load of jeans into the dryer when he heard Ben coming down the stairs.
“Thom? You down here?”
“In the laundry room,” he called out.
Ben stuck his head in the door, “I’m going to head into town to check out that homebrew shop. You wanna come?”
“If you don’t need me, I’ve got a lot of chores to get done. I’ll come next time, okay?”
“Sure. I’ll be back by lunchtime.” Ben stepped into the room to give Thom a quick kiss before jogging back up the stairs. Thom admired the view as long as it lasted, then turned back to start the dryer. He knew he had a goofy grin on his face, but he didn’t care. There was no one here to see it.
Moments like that, when Ben kissed him as if it were the most natural thing in the world, made him feel like maybe this could become something real. In the week since their first night together Ben had teased him, flirted with him, pursued him, and made Thom feel like… like… he had no comparison. No one had ever made him feel like this before. But Ben hadn’t mentioned anything more about staying around, so maybe he had realized Thom was right, and that he probably would lose interest and move on eventually.
Thom’s grin faltered. That must be it. Ben was having a good time; that was all. Thom needed to remember this was for now, not forever. A little part of him had hoped Ben would put up more of an argument. But maybe this was better. He might have let Ben