Page 34 of The Chemist

“And would you have asked?”

“Probably not.”

“Okay, now that that’s cleared up, shove a butt.” Zero huffed, tapping a less pissed-off version of the angry wasp on the shoulder. Diesel slid over on his bed—but just barely enough to fit a bite-sized twink and perhaps his touch-up bag.

There was something fun and exciting about Diesel’s need to challenge everything. He never just did what he was told and always did things the hardest way possible. It was as if he needed to remind people that he had an opinion as well and that his views mattered.

Fine. Have it your way.

Deciding to teach the boy a lesson, Zero flopped down on the bed next to Diesel, his ass half sitting on the side of Diesel’s thigh while his shoulder pressed firmly against his chest.

“Well, this is cozy.” Zero leaned in toward Diesel and inhaled his scent. “Mmm, you smell good too. Like angry douche meets horse-hung stoner.”

He let out a chuckle when Diesel shoved him in his arm with the hand that wasn’t trapped under his body.

“Okay, okay. Geeze. You can’t even compliment a guy anymore these days.” The stubborn hornet shifted under his body. “Here, hold this.” Zero passed Diesel the bowl of chips and chilled cans of beer.

“You really came prepared,” Diesel noted in that sarcastic tone of his.

“Yeah, well, I figured this might take a while.” Shifting, he pressed his body further into Diesel’s, not totally disliking the feel of their bodies pressed up against each other’s.

Diesel’s body was lean—not gym muscle lean, but rather, keeping active lean. Without Diesel’s sweater on, it was much easier to feel the contours of his body pressed up against him. He could definitely understand why people would like to see him dancing onstage.

Settling down but still refusing to move over on the bed, Diesel looked over Zero’s shoulder at the laptop he was holding.

“Let’s get this over with, washed-up CK model,” Diesel huffed out.

“CK model? It’s because of my cut obliques, right? They would look killer in aCalvin Kleinunderwear ad.” Was it odd that he kind of liked the half-ass compliment he got from the guy?

Zero was poked in his side by the annoyed young wasp.

“Hey, I work hard for these cum gutters. You should see me when I’m in my bulking stage at the gym. I’m a total beast.”

Zero was proud of his body and all the hard work he put into it. He hated to admit it, but it was easier to pull scams when you were good-looking and in shape. People liked that you weregiving them attention and just wanted to do whatever it was that you asked of them.

That was a sad truth about our society as a whole. If you were good-looking, the world was your oyster. Take a look at salespeople and bartenders. The good-looking ones always made much higher sales and received better tips.

Feeling Diesel’s breath on the back of his neck, his body began to tingle.

This was nice. This closeness and somewhat intimate connection. Plus, it wasn’t so bad verbally sparing with the angry little ray of sunshine currently squirming under his weight. Diesel adjusted himself, sinking his back into the man’s side and positioning the laptop so that they could both view the screen properly.

Zero could only imagine what they looked like. Two grown-ass men, both over six feet, pressed up against each other, balancing a laptop, beers and chips on a bed made for a daddy and two twinks at best.

“So, what do we got?” Diesel asked, appearing to have accepted his fate as Zero’s captive body pillow for the night.

Opening a folder, he pulled up some old video footage from last week and began going through some of Dr. Baasch's daily activities. There wasn’t much there, and Zero had already analyzed the footage, but hey, there was nothing wrong with a second pair of eyes taking a look. Plus, that wasn’t the purpose of this little impromptu “hang out and chill” session.

Sliding his finger across the laptop, Zero tried to ignore the warm breath gently blowing against his neck.

God, how long had it been since he cuddled up with someone? Probably ten years?

Not since he caught his ex-girlfriend shacking up with the neighbor down the hall. That had been one fucked-up encounter. He nearly tossed the asshole over the balcony butthought better of it at the last minute. His ass was too sexy to go to prison.

Ever since that bitch cut out his heart, he’d been anti-love and feelings ever since.

Still, it was nice to feel another warm body pressed up against his own. Even if it did belong to a selfish prick who only ever thought about himself.

As they worked through the footage, Diesel asked questions and provided some thoughts that were actually worth taking a look into. It was interesting to see how the man looked at things from a totally different perspective. He seemed to always want to know why things were occurring.

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