Page 14 of Full Service

I looked at him properly for the first time. Rather than the expensive Armani suit, he was wearing a simple t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms. They still looked expensive though.

“Nah, you’ll mess up your clothes,” I said through my last mouthful of pasta. “And it’s an expensive car to mess up.”

“Think I don’t know that?” Hywel said. I realised I’d pissed him off.

“Take this then,” I said. “220 grit sandpaper. Swipe side to side along here-” I pointed at the flattest part of the front panel “- and make sure you’re not encroaching on the bonnet - I want to flatten that out before we even think about repainting it.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Hywel said with a smile. It was hard not to like this version of him. But I did a bloody good job.

I tidied up the garage as Hywel sanded away, humming to himself. I didn’t know what to make of our newfound situation. Did I still hate him? Did he still look down on me like he did so many years ago? The first I knew was no longer true. I might never like the man, but hating him took up too much effort. He was an inconvenience, and he wasn’t the worst person in the world.

And the second part? I didn’t know how much he was the same person as he was years ago. He had been kind to my face back then too. How did I know he wouldn’t be exactly the same now?

Once I’d finished tidying up my stuff and checked the clock — was it really almost 8 o’clock? I tapped him on the shoulder, and he jumped. “That’s enough for one night,” I said. I physically forced myself to continue. “I appreciate the help.”

Hywel held out a hand for me to help him up. I took it. It felt like an electric current passed through our clasped hands as Ipulled him up and I could see in his eyes that he felt the same way.

And there was our other problem. He was fucking gorgeous. I might not be able to hold on to my hate from ten years ago, but I could hold on to the lust. No matter how hard I tried to get rid of it. And that was another reason to be unhappy with our situation. I didn’t like the man, but God knew I wanted to get in his pants. Just as much as I had ten years ago. When I was sixteen, I might have imagined the older successful businessman holding me down and making sweet love to me. Now though? I wanted to be in control, to make him submit, to have him on all fours and pull his head back with the fancy Armani tie around his neck.

It was with those thoughts in mind that I locked up and followed him up the stairs to the flat, where my mood abruptly dissipated. “Didn’t have much work to do, did you?” I spat.

Obviously, he had found time in the day to clean more than just the kitchen. Every surface shone, and every crooked rug on the wooden floor had been straightened out. I could hear the washing machine rumbling away in the corner.

“For fuck’s sake, you don’t have to do this!” I said.

Hywel looked at me like I’d just spoken German. “Do what?” he asked.

“Make me feel like absolute shit by cleaning up my mess!” I stormed to the fridge and pulled out a beer. Lo-and-behold, he’d even cleaned and organised the meagre contents of my fridge. I pulled off the cap with my teeth.

“…sorry. Wasn’t meant to make you feel like shit. I looked out of the window and thought you looked busy, so I…” Hywel stopped. “No, I’m going for honesty. I’ve been stressed with…work stuff. And when I get stressed, I clean up. Sorry if I overstepped any boundaries.”

I knew he was being reasonable, but that didn’t make things any easier. “Fine,” I said. “Just…you didn’t go in my room, did you?”

“God, no. I don’t care about what I can’t see. I just can’t work in any kind of mess. And If I was imposing on you, I wanted to prove I wasn’t just a lazy housemate. I don’t like being an imposition.”

“Well, you are,” I said. His face fell but then I smiled. “But if it gets me a clean house, I’ll live with it. Beer?”

“I’d kill for one,” Hywel said. I grabbed another one and pulled the cap off with my teeth again. I noticed him wince. He might not be as bad as I thought but he was still a bit of a snob. I handed him the beer. I shed my overalls and threw them into the washing basket. When I turned back to Hywel, I thought he might be looking at my arms. But then he looked away, and I wondered if he’d imagined it.

“Mind if I play on the PS4?” I asked him. I hated to ask in my own home, and a day before I’d have just done it whether he liked it or not.

“Sure.” I walked over to the sofa. Hywel followed me and sat down as I turned on the PlayStation. I pulled out one controller from the drawer, hesitated and then pulled out a second.

“Do you playCOD?” I asked.

“Not since the firstBlack Ops, I think,” Hywel said. “I was never very good and then when I started Uni I gave up on all that stuff.”

“Come on then,” I said. “Let me whoop your arse at this.”

And I did. It was a slaughter for our first couple of games, without Hywel getting a single kill in on me. The excitement got to me a couple of times and I’d grab his arm in victory before pulling away.

We moved on to a game ofZombies,so that we could play together. Hywel was just as terrible but being on the same teamnow meant I could at least revive him and help him not be so fucking terrible. We lasted a few waves before we succumbed.

“Fuck’s sake, that’s why I stopped playing.” Hywel looked so dejected that I reached out to hold his hand as if on autopilot.

“Plenty of time to improve,” I said. It might have been the first earnest thing I had said to him. Hywel’s eyes drifted down to the hand I was holding and then back up to look at me. We looked into each other’s eyes for what felt like forever until I snapped out of it. “Right, bedtime for me,” I said. “Busy day tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Course.” Hywel looked almost disappointed, and I knew I had to get out of there before I did something stupid.

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