Page 30 of Love Punch

I laughed as Arthur got out of bed then gave me a little bum-wiggle as he left. He closed the door behind him, leaving us farther apart than I wanted us to be. But I understood. These feelings were both inevitable and weirdly overwhelming. We’d finally crossed all those boundaries that we had been skirting and it felt…weird. Weird, but good.

The shower switched off five minutes later, leaving me to have a shower of my own, and wrapped a towel around my waist before knocking on Arthur’s door. “Come in,” he said.

I stepped into the room and for a second, I didn’t know where to look. He was bent down, rifling through his underwear drawer—wearing nothing at all. I could feel my cock rising to attention, and I closed my eyes and thought of anything but…anythingbutt…Damn. Once I’d seen Arthur like that, it really wasn’t possible to get it out of my head.

I flinched when I felt a cool hand on my chest. “You okay?” Arthur asked. He was wearing a pair of pink boxer-briefs that hid the goods I’d just had my eyes on.

“All good here, love,” I said weakly. He was just as sexyinhis pants as he was out of them. In fact, he might look even better. Like how no present at Christmas could ever make up for the sheer excitement of ripping open the packaging.

“What are our plans for the day?” Arthur asked, distracting me from the inevitable thoughts.

“Plans?” I echoed dumbly.

“Much as I’d love to spend all day in bed with you, I think your mother would see that as a setback rather than progress from where we were. So, we’ve got to do something.”

“Can’t we just sit in and watch a film?”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “It’s your turn though.”

“And what’s so bad about that?”

“I can’t watch another shitty war film. The last one bored me to tears.”

I clamped one hand over Arthur’s shoulder. “How dare you callSaving Private Ryan‘the last one’ like it’s just some other war film. It. Is. A. Masterpiece.”

“I have an idea,” said Arthur, eyes sparkling with mischief. “As part of your continued journey toward getting better.”

“You just said it’s my turn!”

“Well, I’ll owe you one.” He stuck out his bottom lip. “Trust me?”

How could I say no to his pout? Especially when he was stood in front of me almost naked. “Fine,” I grumbled. “But it better be good.”

“I promise.” He stretched up to peck my nose. “Now go get dressed and meet me in the living room in ten minutes. I’ll find some snacks.”

I did as I was told. When Arthur was involved, that was often the best thing to do.

The living room in my parents’ house was much like many other parts of it: sleek, modern, white, and slightly sterile. I was glad to see Arthur had the foresight to grab a blanket, as the thought of eating the popcorn and chocolate he’d acquired over the white leather sofa was enough to make me panic. The TV was on, showing the title card for the film he’d chosen.

“Rocky? Really I’ve seen it a hundred times.”

“And you still don’t get the point. I want you to watch with fresh eyes.” Arthur patted the sofa, so I sat down next to him with the same gap we’d always kept between us. It felt wrong, though. I reclined and motioned for him to lay back on me. For a second, I worried I was going to be rejected. But then he smiled, moved the bowls to the floor next to us, and rested on my chest. I pulled the blanket over us and started to stroke his hair as he pressed play.

Arthur had been right. Rocky was a film I’d seen hundreds of times, but with him laid up against my chest I felt completely differently about it. I still watched him fight, still felt for him with every setback and winced when he went down in his final fight against Apollo Creed. At least he got back up—I didn’t even get the chance. But then he called out his love’s name, and I understood. He’d lost, but had won. He had a network of supporters around him to help him get better, to give it another go.

“We’re not watching the sequel, you might get ideas,” Arthur joked as I wiped away a subtle tear.

“I’m retired and I’m keeping it that way,” I grumbled. Though the thought of getting one over on Bartosh was very,verytempting, I’d committed to retiring, and it was time to make good on that promise. “Do you want to visit the gym tomorrow?”

“Sounds good to me. There’s some solid eye candy I’ve been missing since we last went.”

I growled. “Who?”

“I knew you were the jealous type.” He laughed. “Kidding. Though I willnotbe stopped from looking. I’m like a vegetarian at a steak restaurant, I can appreciate the chef’s artistry without ordering a dish.”

“So…you won’t be going elsewhere?”

Arthur smiled up at me and shifted around to press a kiss to my chin. “I know we’re moving pretty quick, but when you consider it in the context of it building for three years, I hope it doesn’t freak you out to know I’ve not been able to consider anyone else seriously for at least the last two years.”

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