by H L Day
I made a huffing sound. "Erm... the pink elephant. You were quite happy to stand on my doorstep holding that."
"That was an elephant, not a..."
It was for that reason that Dominic opened the door to find the two of us tussling over a pineapple. I took the opportunity to grab it from Indy's grasp and shove it into Dom's arms instead. "Here. Take your pineapple."
He smiled. "Thanks. I'll give it to Tristan. He's already checked with me three times that you'd definitely bring one.” His gaze slid over to the man next to me. He shifted the pineapple into the crook of his left elbow so he could hold out his other hand. "Hi, I'm Dominic. Pleased to meet you. I know we sort of met, but I was under strict instructions then to treat you like you had leprosy."
Indy laughed, taking his hand and shaking it enthusiastically. "Understandable." He turned to me. "I thought you said Dominic wasn't nice. He seems perfectly welcoming to me."
"Erm..." I pushed past Dominic, taking the liberty of inviting myself inside as a means of bringing the unwelcome conversation my boyfriend had kindly dropped me in, to an end. The planned dinner together as a foursome had waited a few weeks while Dom and Tristan moved in together. It was still an apartment, but it was much roomier than Dom's previous one had been. I gave the room a quick scan as Dom took our coats. "I like it. Very nice."
Tristan appeared from the kitchen, wearing an apron over his suit. Dom carried out the necessary introductions before Tristan disappeared back into the kitchen.
I inclined my head toward the closed kitchen door. "Is he cooking?"
Dom exhaled. "Allegedly. So brace yourself."
I pulled a face. "That's brave of you. Have you checked all the ingredients?"
He laughed. "You must be joking. Ever since the..." He held up both hands to do finger quotes. "...incident, he's been obsessed with every single thing I eat. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm just forced to watch while the rest of you have dinner."
Indy came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his head on my shoulder. "Maybe that's what the pineapple's for... your dinner. Cool lizard, by the way."
Dom rolled his eyes. "Tell Tristan that. He'll love you forever. The lizard gets more quality time with him than I do. I'm surprised he hasn't started taking it to the gym with him yet. I keep hoping the novelty will wear off, but it hasn't so far."
We made small talk for the next few minutes until Dom led us to the table that had been laid in preparation for dinner. It was nice to see Indy getting on so well with Dom. But then, I hadn't met anyone yet he didn't get on with. He'd had Gabrielle wrapped around his little finger within two minutes of meeting her. I'd been more nervous about meeting his friends, especially not knowing how much he'd shared about our early relationship and the way I'd treated Indy. It had been fine though. Either Indy hadn't shared that much or they'd been warned to be on their best behavior because they couldn't have been friendlier.
Tristan—minus the apron—deposited a plate of steaming food on the placemat in front of me. I leaned forward and sniffed. "Smells good. What is it?"
Tristan waved an arm in a flourish. "Pasta cacio e pepe."
I exchanged glances with Indy, just in case he hadn't previously disclosed a hidden ability to speak fluent Italian. When he shrugged, I came to the conclusion that Italian wasn't in his skillset. With all four plates on the table, I picked up my fork, ready to dig into whatever it was that came with the pasta.
"Wait! Don't eat yet. I've forgotten something."
We all froze at Tristan's command, watching in bemusement as he dashed from the room. Looking to Dom for clarification didn't help; he seemed just as mystified as we were. Then it was a case of waiting patiently until he returned. When he did, he deposited a large, colorful cylindrical object next to his boyfriend's placemat as if it were an extra knife Dom would need to use to eat his dinner. Except, of course, it wasn't, it was a... no, I had no idea.
Dominic buried his face in his hands. "Tristan, we've been over this. I do not need an epi-pen two centimeters away from me every time I eat. The next room would have been absolutely fine."
Tristan's expression turned deadly serious. "Better safe than sorry." He turned his head, including both myself and Indy in his next comment. "I'm fully trained now. I made sure of it."
Dominic lifted his head, giving every impression that he was doing his best to remember that there were more people there than just the two of them. "We'll talk about it later." He reached out, moving the epi-pen from beneath his right elbow to the center of the table, Tristan's gaze following the movement closely, a slight frown on his face.
I couldn't resist it. "Maybe we should jab him anyway. You know, a preventative dose."
Indy stifled a laugh while Tristan nodded. "That's not a bad idea."
Dominic crossed his arms, his expression stony. "Try it and see how far you get, and let me know which testicle you can manage without so I can concentrate on removing that one."
Tristan smiled amiably. "Not exactly dinnertime conversation, sweetheart. You can threaten my testicles later when we're alone."
Dom raised his glass in the direction of his boyfriend. "Here's to your testicles, while you've still got them both."
Indy raised his glass. "To Tristan's testicles!"
Grinning at him, I followed suit, repeating his toast.
Tristan apparently didn't feel like toasting his own testicles and chose to stay silent.
Keen to change the subject, Dominic raised the one topic of conversation I'd much rather have steered clear of. "What's the story with your parents now?" He waved a hand between me and Indy in case there was any doubt what he was referring to.
I sighed. "Well, they're talking to me again, but they're still not happy. We had a dinner with both sets of parents there." And what a fun night that had been. My parents had barely said two words to Indy. It was a good job he was thick-skinned and didn't take it personally. "They had a lovely time bonding over their good-for-nothing children. They'll probably start holidaying together. Only we won't be invited."
Dominic pulled a face at my not so cheery news and I went back to eating my pasta. Whatever it was, it tasted good. Tristan might not be big in the sensitivity department but he obviously knew how to cook. Going by Indy's already half-empty plate, he liked it too.
Indy shrugged out of his jacket, hanging it behind him on the chair. I took a moment to enjoy the view of his bare muscular arms in the sleeveless T-shirt he wore. He winked at me. "They'll come around eventually, once they realize we're in it for the long haul. Speaking of which, Dominic, maybe you can have a word with your friend here because I've suggested to him that all this back and forth isn't good for us and that maybe it would save us a lot of time and energy if we moved in together."
Dominic's eyebrows rose. "Oh, really? He kept that one quiet."
I shot a glare in Indy's direction. "You suggested it this morning and I said we'd talk about it after dinner. You know I'm going to say yes anyway."
He grinned. "Are you?"
I returned his smile. "Yeah, later though. Unless I change my mind."
Indy stretched his arms behind his head. "Good to know. I—"
Whatever words he'd been going to say were lost when he was suddenly yanked out of his chair by Tristan. Before I could even think about protesting, Tristan had already backed him to the external door of the apartment, opened it, pushed him out and closed it in his face. Lost for words, I looked to Dominic for help.
He grabbed his boyfriend by the arm, dragging him toward the kitchen with a thunderous expression on his face. "One minute, Paul. I'll sort it. Don't worry." They disappeared into the other room, the door closing behind them. I was left looking between the kitchen door and the one Indy had just been ejected from, wondering if dinner etiquette dictated that it wasn't polite to let someone back in who'd been thrown out by the host. Not that it was exactly polite for hosts to throw their guests out in the first place when they were innocent of any w
rongdoing. Deciding I better wait, I went to the kitchen door, pressing my ear against it so I could eavesdrop.
"What the hell are you doing? You can't throw guests out halfway through the meal. He didn't do anything." That was Dom, fury present in his voice.
"I had my reasons."
"Well, you better start sharing them because right now you look like you've completely lost it."
"Didn't you see?"
"See what?"
"I can't have one in the house! You know that."
"One what?" Dom was getting more and more exasperated. Not that I blamed him.
"His arm."
"What about his arm?"
Something clicked into place, something Dom had once told me in confidence that I'd assumed was wild exaggeration. Only now, it seemed it hadn't been at all.
I opened the kitchen door, both heads turning my way. "Sorry to interrupt your domestic spat, but in the interests of getting my boyfriend back inside before he gives up and goes home, I feel I've got to step in." I directed my focus toward Dom. "I think the issue is the spider tattoo Indy's got on his arm."
Dom looked as if he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He spun around and poked Tristan in the ribs. "You threw a guest out because he's got a picture of a spider on him."
Tristan shrugged. "It's very realistic."
I took a deep breath. "Okay. Can he come back in if he keeps his jacket on?"
Dom nodded. "Yes, of course. I'm so sorry."
I waited for Tristan to agree but he was busy staring into space and thinking aloud. "Why would he get something like that? There's plenty of cute things in the world. He could have had a cat." He visibly brightened. "Or a lizard. He could get them to change it to a lizard. There's a TV program, Tattoo Fixers. Have you seen it? They can do amazing things."
I shook my head, backing out of the room and giving up on getting agreement from him. It was best to put the plan into action and take it from there. I grabbed Indy's jacket off the chair and opened the door.
He sat on the floor leaning against the opposite wall. He lifted his head at the sound of the door opening. "Hey, babe. What did I do? Did I use my knife and fork wrong?"
I crouched in front of him, grasping his arm and turning it over so the spider was in clear sight. "No, it's this little guy that's the problem. Either we can go home and return to some semblance of sanity. Or, we can go back in and finish eating but you're going to have to keep your jacket on. What do you think? I'm fine with either option."
Indy eased himself to a standing position, holding out his hand for the jacket. "I'm not going anywhere until I discover what's happening with the pineapple."
Epilogue
"IS THAT WHO I THINK it is?"
I glanced over in the direction Indy's arm was indicating. I don't know who I'd expected to see—a celebrity maybe. That's probably why I didn't recognize the tall figure at first. Stupid really, given how familiar he was. But then, he should have been; I'd lived with him for a year before the man next to me, who was virtually vibrating with excitement as if seeing him was a good thing, had slept with him and put paid to the relationship.
I grabbed Indy's arm, attempting to get him to stop pointing and pull him into a nearby shop. I didn't care what the shop sold. I just wanted to be out of sight before Stephen noticed us. Moving him was like trying to shift a block of concrete though. I should definitely have invested in the protein shakes. Indy continued to smile over in Stephen's direction. "Let's say hello. That'll be fun."
"Fun!" I pulled harder, putting all my weight into it but he dug his heels in. "You have a really twisted idea of what constitutes fun." There was only one thing for it. I was going to have to abandon Indy altogether and make a run for it. It was a save-yourself scenario if ever I'd seen one.
"Paul, is that you?"
Fuck! Too late. I glared at Indy, but he was still too busy smiling at Stephen to notice. At least focusing on him meant valuable seconds where I didn't have to look at the man who'd left the friend he'd been talking to and was coming our way. I kept my gaze fixed on Indy's eyebrow piercing right up until the last moment when Stephen stood directly in front of me. Short of blanking him, or putting on a French accent and pretending it was a case of mistaken identity, I didn't have a lot of choices left at that point, apart from acknowledging him.
The last time I'd seen Stephen was the day I'd turned up to collect my things with Dominic in tow. It wasn't a pleasant memory. On that day, I'd spent the whole time pretending he was invisible while he followed me around making excuses for what he'd done. Actually, not excuses. Now I knew they'd been blatant lies. I steeled myself and turned to face him.
Seeing him in front of me with a smile on his face after three years was disconcerting, to say the least. I forced myself to meet his gaze: blue eyes that at one time I'd almost drowned in. Now, all I could think was that they weren't green. They didn't sparkle. They didn't have little creases at the corner from laughing so much. Or an eyebrow piercing. I mustered all my acting skill, which wasn't much. "Stephen! No, it can't be you, surely?"
His brow creased. "Yeah, it's me. You were staring right at me. Don't say you didn't recognize me?"
I made a noise, which was hopefully noncommittal enough that he could put any interpretation on it that he wanted to.
His eyes flicked over to Indy, giving him only the briefest of glances before focusing his attention back on me. "How are you—"
"Seriously?" I winced at Indy's interjection, knowing precisely what had gotten him so riled. "Don't tell me that you don't remember me?"
I couldn't help the dig. "Annoying, isn't it, when people don't remember you that should."
I let out a squawk as Indy elbowed me in the ribs.
Stephen frowned at Indy, his gaze trailing slowly over every inch of him. I reminded myself that it was completely natural to want to punch anyone that looked at my boyfriend that closely. I mean, I wouldn't do it. I was a civilized human being. Plus, there was the fact that the last time I'd punched anyone had been at nursery when they stole my toy, so I was pretty much out of practice.
Scrutiny finished, Stephen shook his head. "Should I remember you?"
Indy smiled. He waved his finger back and forth between the two of us. "Seeing the two of us together doesn't jog any memories?"
Another headshake.
In the interests of speeding things up to the point where I could get the hell out of there, I decided to jump in. "He didn't have any tattoos or piercings then." Still no moment of enlightenment. "Oh, for God's sake! He was the guy that you picked up and fucked in our bed, the one that ended our relationship."
Stephen's eyes widened dramatically, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. "Really? Well, this is awkward."
Indy snorted. "Nah! Not awkward. It's quite funny if you ask me." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Although... you can do something for me. You can confirm to Paul that when you picked me up, you lied and said you were single. In fact, you repeated it about three or four times if I remember rightly. Oh, and while you're at it, you can tell him that we only met the once... that there was no pursuing, no persistence on my part that seduced you into bed."
I shook my head. "He doesn't need to. It doesn't matter." Besides, I could tell from the muscle ticking in his cheek and his rigid body language that it was true. Three years might have gone by, but Stephen still looked like a little boy who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Stephen seemed to gather himself. "I don't understand why the two of you are together. Are you friends?"
A wide smile appeared on Indy's face. "Nope. Lovers. Boyfriends. About to move in together. In love. Tell him you love me, Paul."
I opened my mouth obediently. "I love him."
Stephen's expression said that he didn't really know what to do with that information. His mouth opened before closing it again. He appeared stuck somewhere between asking a hundred questions and making a run for it. In the end, he went for the latter. "
Well, it's been great seeing you... both." His eye twitched as he made a superhuman effort to include Indy. "But my friend's waiting so I have to go." He backed off a couple of steps before spinning around and walking away quickly.
Indy put his arm around me, pulling me against him. "See! I told you it would be fun. Wonder what he's been up to? Maybe we should have asked."
"IS THAT THE LAST BOX?"
Indy nodded, placing the box of his things down on the floor. As I passed the sofa, I noticed something. "Indy?" He appeared next to me, both of us staring down at the matching elephants—apart from the color—sitting side by side. It was sweet to see them together, as if they were an extension of our relationship, which I guess in some strange way they were. Or a symbol of it, at the very least. They'd certainly played their part. "Did you put them there?"
He nodded. "It seemed the right place. Sweet, right? Our elephants have got an elephant friend."
"Sure! Apart from the fact that it leaves us sitting on the floor." Despite my words, I still smiled. He turned me around to face him, looping his arms around my neck and pulling me down for a kiss. I kissed him back, loving the feel of his hard body against mine. His lips left mine to trail down my neck. I turned my head to the side to give him better access, even while the sensible part of my brain told me that sex one minute after moving in together might not be the best choice, especially when both of us had been so busy all day that we hadn't eaten. "We should probably start unpacking the boxes."
Teeth scraped over my skin. "Later."
I pushed him away before my totally crap willpower when it came to him could kick in. I backed away, laughing, knowing that he'd come after me. "No, I need to eat first."
Indy waggled his eyebrows. "You can eat me."
"I was thinking of something with a bit more nutritional value."
"We can order pizza. After."
I gave him a look of reproach. He knew better than that. The diet plan provided by the hospital designed to control his anemia without the need for regular vitamin B12 injections certainly hadn't included pizza. At least now that we were going to be living together, I could keep a closer eye on him and make sure he stuck to eating more healthily. "Let's go out and eat. We can go to that vegetarian restaurant. Then when we come back, we can unpack the boxes."
