Everyone
needs a dog to adore him, not a cat to ignore him.
“I…well…I suppose I should
call the cops…shouldn’t I?” Bart stares at Rail, frowning. “That is…if that’s
what…”
It takes Rail a minute to
figure out where that sentence was going. Then he chuckles. “Personally I’d
rather you didn’t. I sort of like my freedom.”
“But if I don’t you’ll
keep right on doing it.”
Rail nods. “Probably. I’m
good at it and it doesn’t hurt anyone. Not really. I don’t take what can’t be
replaced.”
Bart’s eyebrows shoot up
in disbelief. “If you’d taken my computer you’d have had a lot of information
about me you could have used.”
“If stuff like that’s on
it you’re being stupid, but I never do anything with the data on computers or
laptops. I just wipe the hard drives before selling them. I’m a thief, not a
crook.”
Bart looks at him,
muttering, “Fine distinction.”
By
now they’ve gravitated from standing by the counter to sitting at the table.
Rail’s still got the frozen peas held to his jaw until he realizes the bag is
dripping so he drops it on the table. I lap up the last of the food and go to
sit by my master. Not that he notices, he’s got his eyes on Bart again, looking
like a lovesick puppy, excuse the obvious metaphor.
Bart
starts tapping his fingers on the table which is annoying so I growl softly. He
glances at me for a second then gnaws on a thumbnail instead, obviously
thinking hard. Then he looks dead on at Rail.
“What would it take to
make you stop?”
“A job? A real one?” He
bites his lip, starts to look away from Bart then changes his mind. “Someone
who gave a damn.”
Bart
goes back to chewing on his thumbnail while rapping his knuckles on the table.
I’m about to growl again but Rail takes care of the problem by putting his hand
over Bart’s. Bart drops his eyes to their hands then lifts them to scan Rail’s
face. Oh boy, here it comes. Hell they’ve known each other for a day. I drop
down, putting my head on my paws. Humans, honestly.
“So
if I said I gave a damn then you’d quit,” Bart says hesitantly.
“Maybe, if it was for the
right reasons and you didn’t just say because you’re some sort of do-gooder, if
you get my drift.”
“Would the right reasons
be that, stupid as it sounds, I think I’m…that I’m beginning to…well you know.”
Bart turns bright red, pulling his hand away from Rail’s.
Rail starts to reach for
Bart’s hand again then stops, smiling just a bit. “It doesn’t sound stupid.”
“It doesn’t?” Bart’s face
lights up.
“Nope. Sounds like how I’m
feeling maybe.”
“You do?”
‘Yeah, sort of, I think. I
don’t know cause I’ve never felt this way, well not since I had a crush on my
seventh-grade math teacher.”
“You too? It was my
ninth-grade science teacher and it scared the heck out of me because he was a
man.”
“Whoa. You didn’t know you
were gay until then?”
Bart nods. “I mean, maybe
but not really. I knew I didn’t…I wasn’t all that interested in the girls in my
classes except as friends, and the guys, well how could I be interested when
they pretty much shut me out because I was a real nerd, or made fun of me. But
Mr. James, he was like nice and treated me well and damn he was handsome. So,
yeah I think that’s when I finally began to see that I was interested in men.”
Rail leans back in his
chair now, looking at Bart. “So what was your first time?”
I
woof, looking up at them. I so do not want to hear tales of their sexual
exploits. Guess I was lucky on that because Bart shakes his head and clams up
even though Rail keeps pushing. It finally dawns on my master that he’s not
going to get an answer. Then he smiles to himself, grabbing Bart’s hands before
he realizes what’s happening.
“There hasn’t been a first
time has there?”
Bart sighs deeply. “No,”
he whispers.
“Well damn, I’m in ‘like’
with a virgin.” Rail squeezes Bart’s hands. “Not that that’s a bad thing at
all.”
“I’m pitiful,” Bart says
morosely.
“No, not at all. You’ve
just never found someone you wanted to be your first.”
“Maybe not.” There’s a
long hesitation then Bart says all in a rush. “Until now.”
So
Rail does the only thing possible while I bury my eyes under my paws so I don’t
have to watch. He leans in until he’s nose to nose with Bart, cups his chin in
one hand, and kisses him.
I love it!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great excerpt. I so enjoy reading these as I can add new reads to my gotta have list through the authors.
Thanks for a great post!