Not One for Weddings

Chris

"Looks like

someone

had a fun weekend," my student teacher offered me by way of greeting as I came into the classroom.

Instinctively, I covered my neck with my hand. Julian had left me with more than a few hickeys, but they were mostly out of sight with some strategically placed clothing. Or so I'd thought.

"Good morning to you too, Rachel," I muttered.

"Uh-uh, you're not getting away with it that easily. Let me see."

Knowing how tenacious she was, I relented with a defeated sigh and removed my hand. She examined the bite with all the eagerness of a child on Christmas morning. She moved the collar of my shirt to the side, revealing a small series of matching purple spots.

"Wow, he really did some damage, huh? I have to admit, Chris, I'm a little jealous. Here I am, a university student, with the sex life of menopausal housewife. And you come waltzing in here on a Monday morning covered in hickeys. Life can be so unfair," she lamented dramatically.

"Rachel, I'd like to remind you that we are in an elementary school."

"Oh, come off it, Chris. The kids aren't even allowed inside the building until nine. Now spill it."

"You know, when I agreed to a student teacher, I was told I'd be getting a quiet, polite, professional young lady. I knew her at one time, and she

did

look remarkably like you. Do you happen to know where she may be so I can throw you back into the gutter you crawled out of?"

"Chris, you're twenty-six, not sixty-two! Heck, I know sixty-two-year-olds who are less uptight. And believe me, they'd be bragging at the top of their lungs if they were spotted with

one

of those," she gestured towards my neck. "Let alone a whole collection of them."

I sat down at my desk and took out a stack of papers to grade. Of course, that did nothing to deter her enthusiasm.

"You know what I think? I think you have more of those little guys

all over

you, not just on your neck."

My cheeks reddened, betraying me. "Don't you have anything better to do than pester me? It's barely 8:30 and I'm already being interrogated. I haven't even had coffee yet. Do you want coffee? I'm going to get coffee."

"

Chris

," she whined. "Come on! You don't even

like

the coffee in the teacher's lounge!"

"That's because it tastes like sweaty socks. But that doesn't mean I want to get away from you any less."

She tried a different tactic. "You want to talk about it, I know you do. You don't come back from that without a tale to tell. And don't bother trying to feed me a story, because you talk big, but your eyes are hopeless liars."

"Good God, but you're stubborn," I muttered. Her eyes lit up at the sign of my surrender, but she made no comment. I snorted at her. "Now you're quiet. Yes, I met someone."

"Is that where you were Friday? Over at C.C Attle's looking for a

someone

?"

I had to smirk at her mention of the gay bar. "No, I was at my friend's wedding, like I told you I would be. Do you have selective hearing?"

"Yes. Now continue."

"I met him at the wedding. He's Samantha's - the bride's - cousin. That's it, there's your story. Happy now?"

She groaned. "Fine. Fine! Keep Mr. Mystery Man to yourself. I'll just take my uninteresting, lonely ass to this corner right over here and grade papers for you like a good student teacher should. I bet he's ugly."

I laughed at her shenanigans. "Good, thank you. And please, he's not ugly; I have better taste than you give me credit for."

"Was that a 'he's not' I heard? As in, present tense? Not past tense?"

"You definitely have selective hearing. And if you must know, yes, that was a purposefully chosen set of words. We've agreed to go out with each other. Will that keep you entertained for a bit while I do some actual work over here?"

"No, but nice try." She was back at full force with just the slightest amount of encouragement. "What's his name, then? What does he look like? What does he do?"

"What have I done? He is a veterinarian, he has wavy black hair, and his name is Julian."

"Ooh, Julian," she mused over his name. "He's a vet? Of course he is. That sounds exactly like the kind of guy for you. What'd you two do? I mean, aside from the obvious. of course," she waved towards my neck. "Do you have a scarf or something to cover those? I can already hear Mr. Holley's bitching. You know, he got on my case the other day for wearing a tank top without covering my shoulders?"

"Rachel, please try to get a handle on yourself. I don't care how miserable your sex life is. We're at work, and we've yet to accomplish a single thing."

"I'm just excited for you, Chris. You're the best guy I know."

The school bell rang them, bringing a sharp end to our discussion.

"I need Ms. Bell back now Rachel, okay?"

"Yes, Mr. Haze," she humored me.

"Good morning," I greeted the students filing into the classroom.

"Mr. Haze, what happened to your neck," Sadie, a little girl, gasped. From behind me I could hear Rachel's attempt to stifle her laughter.

"I was playing with my friend a little too hard over the weekend and got a few marks. But they're not bothering me, so don't worry. Now go put your inside shoes on."

A giggle erupted from behind me. "Why's Ms. Bell laughing," Sadie asked.

"Because she's thinking about the gutter she came from again. Now go change your shoes."

*****

At lunch time I noticed there was a voice message waiting for me on my phone - from Julian. I wanted to listen to it, but with Rachel around, I knew it was too risky. She'd already given me a raised eyebrow when my phone buzzed in my desk during class. After school ended we stayed later to go over her performance (even with all the crap she gave me, she was an excellent help) and to prepare for the next day. It wasn't until 4:30 when I got home that I was able to listen to the message.

" -shit. Hey, Chris. It's me - Julian. Which you already know if you decided to listen to this, so there's really no point in me telling you this. Um, I was wondering if you'd want to go out tomorrow night? Just text me when you get this, or if you want to talk, you can call me around 5:30. See you."

His nervousness was evident and endearing. I was of half a mind to call him back as soon as I'd heard the message, but decided against it - I didn't want to interrupt him at work. I took a shower to pass the time. Unfortunately, there's only so much a shower can offer by way of entertainment. I tried to focus on a book I'd been reading, but the black squiggles that normally formed words couldn't hold my attention for more than a paragraph or two. When 5:30 finally came around I felt as if I'd been waiting around for a week rather than an hour; I called him as soon as the hour struck. It rang for too long, and I was sure I was going to be directed to leave a message when Julian's voice came through.

"Chris?"

"Hey, Julian."

"It's 5:30,"

he mused.

"You said 5:30 was fine, didn't you?"

"I did. Honestly, I wasn't expecting you to call. Especially not so soon."

Soon?

"Did you not want me to call?"

"Of course I wanted you to call. But I didn't think you would."

"Well, I'm glad to see you have so much faith in me," I teased him.

"Don't be a pain, you know what I meant. Now talk to me."

"Talk to you? About what?"

"Anything. I like to hear your voice."

I'd never known what it meant to melt at someone's words before, but that's just what happened when Julian said that to me. Without thinking, I began to babble.

"This morning I woke to find myself covered in deep purple splotches thanks to you. I wouldn't have minded so much, except my student teacher, Rachel, has been giving me shit for it all day and keeps asking about you. And that's just for the ones on my neck. I can't imagine what she'd say if she saw the rest of my body."

"I know we haven't really discussed this, but I may as well let you know now that I don't share very well with others."

"Maybe I should bring you in to class for a few hours and teach you how. The kids are getting really good at it."

"Yeah, whatever. So, what do you say about going out tomorrow?"

"That sounds great. Where were you thinking?"

"We can go out for dinner. Do you like Pad Thai?"

"I do. What time?"

"I get out of work at five. Does 5:30 work for you?"

"Okay. Where's this place at?"

"What if I pick you up?"

"Even better. Car pool and save the world and blah blah blah."

"I was more interested in making out with you in the parking lot, but whatever gets you into the car works."

"You want to make out with me in a parking lot?"

"Babe, I can't think of a place I

wouldn't

want to make out with you."

"If you hightail your ass over here we can test that."

"Considering we've made out in front of your building, in the elevator, in the hallway, and in your apartment, I can't think of a place needed to fulfill that wish."

"That still leaves the lobby."

"I don't know how I feel about you fondling my ass in plain view of all the tenants of your building."

"You're right, we'd probably make every woman in sight cry because you're gay and they can never have you."

I could almost hear him rolling his eyes.

"You're so considerate."

"Aren't I?"

"Of course; I don't go out with just anyone, you know."

"Just men that blow you in a coat closet at a wedding, then?"

"Only and exclusively. They also have to be a first grade teacher, have dirty blonde hair, eyes the color of caramel, and be named Chris Haze."

"In that case, I know just the man for you."

"You're going to have to let him down easy for me, then. I really like the guy I'm seeing right now."

He made me smile. "I'll tell him you're taken."

There was a momentary pause before he spoke; his voice sounded uncertain and nervous, like in the voicemail.

"Hey, Chris?"

"Yes?"

"Are you doing anything tonight?"

His tentative question made my blood race. "I don't know, am I?"

"I mean, only if you want to be."

"That depends. What is it I would be doing?"

"How about eating? I can cook."

"Do you want to come over? I'd have to go get food from the grocery store, though, if you're okay with that."

"Why don't you come over here to my place instead, then? I have food. In fact, I can get started right now and we can eat when you get here."

"Sure. Where do you live?"

He gave me his address and we quickly exchanged farewells. I threw on a t-shirt and jeans then basically ran out the door. Try as I may to deny it to myself, I was ridiculously excited to see him.

As I drove, I wondered about what his place would look like. According to the address he gave me, he had a condo. I was curious of what it would look like, how he decorated it; would it be all sleek and modern? Somehow, I didn't see that fitting with what I knew of Julian. But neither could I imagine him having a very antiquated style.

I arrived to find a nice, tasteful building. It wasn't ostentatiously decorated, but it was obviously carefully taken care of. Best of all, I saw a familiar black-haired man standing in front of it, hands in his pockets, periodically scanning his surroundings. I hastily parked and made my way to him.

"Waiting for someone," I called to him.

He smiled at hearing my voice before his eyes landed upon me. "I am. If I'd known he was such a slow driver, though, I might've waited inside."

"It's those pesky stop signs and road lights. For some inexplicable reason, the universe doesn't cater to my will."

He brought me into his arms and gave me a short, sweet kiss.

"Let's go inside, I don't want the food to burn."

"You still have the food on the heat? You deserve to have it burn."

He took my hand as he guided me inside. "Be careful what you wish for - you're eating that food, too."

"Not if it's burnt, I'm not."

"Calm down, it's on low. I just wanted the greens to wilt."

We had a quiet ride up, with Julian's thumb making circles over the back of my hand.

"Welcome," he dramatically opened the door for me.

The smell of garlic and ginger wafted over me; whatever he was making smelled good. I took a look around the space; it was

comfortable

. There wasn't a definitive theme like you'd see in a magazine, but it was quintessentially Julian. He had music softly playing around us.

"Go ahead and sit at the table, I'll serve. What do you want to drink?"

"Anything's good for me."

"Coke's fine, then?"

I grinned at his attempts to be accommodating. "Coke's perfect."

"Don't laugh at me, I'm being a good host."

"I don't need a good host; I need a kiss."

He gave me a simpering look. "Oh, I think I can do that, too."

He came up to me, putting his hands on my lower back, and pressed me to him. I brought a hand up to his face and pushed a lock of hair out of his eyes, then captured his lips with mine. A sigh escaped him as I did, his breath washing over me like a fog. I took his lower lip between my teeth and bit down on it, pulling back as I did. I let it go and backed my head up to check Julian's expression - his eyes were dark and narrowed on me.

"I'd rather have you for dinner," he stated lowly.

"That wouldn't make me a very good guest, considering all the work you put into making food."

"Believe me, Chris, it would make you the best guest I've ever had. The food isn't going to grow legs and run away."

"I wouldn't want to ruin your appetite..," I trailed off, kissing along his jawline.

"Is stir-fry really more interesting to you right now?"

"That's what you made? It smells good."

He groaned. "I can't believe I'm vying for your attention against

food

. I'm not cooking for you anymore."

"Look at it this way: if we eat now, that leaves us the rest of the night free."

"I'm going to hold you to that," he muttered with a kiss on my cheek. I watched his ass as he got out plates and cutlery.

"Jules, you can hold me to whatever the hell you want."

He gave me a deliberating look, then turned back to serve food. I went up behind him and put my fingers through the loops on his jeans, resting my head on his neck.

"Can I help you," he smirked at me.

"Am I bothering you like this?"

"Not at all. However, it'll be awfully hard to put the food on the table with you hanging off of me like a koala."

I made a face. "I'm not sure how much I like being referred to as a koala."

"What would you like to be referred to as, then?"

"Your Lord and Savior Christopher Haze, the Epitome of Handsomeness, Master of all that is Manly, and Most Attractive Person to Ever Exist."

He shoved me off his shoulder and went to set everything on the table.

"How does Sir Cocky Over-Confidence sit with you?"

We sat down. "The 'sir' was a nice touch. I'm not overly fond of the rest of it."

"You know," he said after a moment, "you're one of the only people to call me by a nickname."

I guess that explains the weird looks

. "Do you mind it?"

"I don't mind it, no," he hedged.

"But you don't like it," I finished

He shrugged. "I'm just not used to it."

I was growing exasperated by his nonchalance. "Julian, just tell me how you feel about it. If you want me to call you only by your given name, I can do that. But don't skirt around me like this."

He set his fork down and looked at me. "Okay. Now, normally, I probably would mind someone giving me a nickname. It's not something I'm accustomed to, and I don't like it when people make assumptions. But with you...it's different. I'll be honest, what we're doing here, feels completely opposite to what I know. Maybe it's too soon for me to be talking like that, but there you go. I was being truthful when I said I don't mind you using a nickname on me. When you do it makes me feel good, like I've done something right to deserve it."

I reached my hand out to his. "Well, I can't say that's what I was expecting."

He gave me a lopsided grin. "Me either."

"I'll take it, then, that I can call you by any sobriquet I choose?"

"I'd like to say yes, but I can already hear you abusing that in some way or other."

With the tension broken, we continued eating. "Don't you trust me," I feigned insult.

"I trust

you

. It's that little gleam you get in your eyes that I don't trust."

"It's your fault," I accused him.

"My fault? How is it my fault?"

"You're too easy to tease. It's adorable."

He stabbed a piece of chicken. "That's the second time you've called me adorable, now. This had better not become a thing with you."

"See," I laughed. "You do things like that and then expect me not to tease you. And don't forget that I know you're ticklish."

He glared at me. "I'm going to find a your weakness one day, Haze, and you'd better believe that I will expolit it to the fullest once I have."

"Very scary," I goaded him.

I let Julian stew while we finished eating. When we were done, he looked a bit too contemplative for my taste. I stood up and went around the table to him, giving his neck a kiss when I got to him.

"You're going to need to grovel a bit more before you're forgiven," he murmured.

"I didn't know I had to be forgiven for anything."

"Well, you do."

I gave him a kiss beneath his ear. "You're adorable when you're angry," I whispered.

This time, he laughed too. "I shouldn't have said anything. If I hadn't told you it bothered me, you never would have dragged it out so much."

"You're right, I wouldn't have. And now you only have your lack of foresight to blame."

"Oh, no, I'm still holding you fully accountable."

"Let me help you clean up and then you can take your frustrations out on me," I suggested innocently.

He got up and began to gather our plates. "I don't know, that sounds like I'm playing right into your hands. I feel like I'm supposed to let you sweat for a bit or something."

"We're not going to be one of

those

couples, are we?"

"Maybe. Sex as a weapon sounds pretty effective."

I took the dishes out of his hands and put them aside. I pulled him to me by the pockets of his jeans, and claimed his lips before he had a chance to object. He was immediately responsive to my suit, forgetting his earlier gripe. By the time I pulled away we were both flushed and breathing heavier than usual.

He sighed. "I suppose it

would

be effective - if I could find it in me to resist you."

We cleaned up quickly, me wearing a satisfied smirk the entire time, Julian in a perpetual state of rolling his eyes. Every time we passed each other we exchanged small, teasing touches followed by a coy smile. When we'd finished, I was ready to rip his clothes off.

"I haven't seen your bedroom yet," I hinted.

"You're so subtle," he chuckled.

"Subtlety is overrated. Now don't you go on being all prudish, because I know for a fact that you're not so completely unaffected by me."

"I'd never claim to be unaffected by you, babe."

He took my hand and lead me through the large space through a double-door - his bedroom. A glass wall ran the far end of the room, showing the darkening city outside. Julian noticed me looking at it.

"I can close the curtains, if it makes you feel more comfortable," he offered.

"Would anyone be able to see us?"

"No, of course not. Look across - can you see into those people's windows?"

"No." I tried to look more confident than I felt, but I didn't fool him - as was made evident by his amused smile.

"I suppose it's nice to know you're not an exhibitionist. Not that you'd have the chance to be, because no one can see us up here."

"Fine. But if someone ends up with a good view of my ass, you're going to have to answer to them."