Page 29 of Hack
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
"We leave Saturday morning at nine," Archer told Carter as he set his phone down. "I've got to book a motel. You mind sharing a room or you want your own?"
"We can share, unless you snore something horrible." Carter glanced over at him from where he was doing dishes.
They'd enjoyed dinner together, talking about their time in the FBI and CIA, comparing stories and discussing what they would change if they had the chance. It was nice to sit with someone who could relate to working for the government. While they worked in different areas, he found they both hated a lot of the same things about the way each agency was run.
"I haven't been told I snore, but I haven't slept in the same room with someone in quite a long time." Archer shrugged. "You can let me know and we'll split up if it's bad."
"You aren't worried about me snoring?" Carter teased.
"Nah, you were out like a light when I left you the other night and hardly made a sound. I think I'm safe. I booked a flight back for Monday morning. That okay with you?"
"Yeah, I just need to let my team know I won't be in. Most of them are going to take it easy this weekend after our big project on Friday night anyway." He wiped his hands on a towel, then came over to the table. "You want to watch a movie? I'm trying to distract myself from all the files I have yet to go through. If I don't do something, I'm going to end up turning on the computer."
Archer shrugged. "Why not? What you got in mind?"
"I have no idea. I couldn't tell you what is good. " Carter headed to his den. It was a small room in the back of the house with a couch and a couple of chairs. He had a large TV mounted on the wall across from the couch. "Let me pull up Netflix and we can find something." He turned everything on, turned off the light, and sat down at one end of the couch.
Archer sat down on the other end of the couch, deciding the view would be better since the chairs sat to the far side of the TV. "I'm good with anything, so you pick."
Carter skimmed through the options. "You a Motley Crue fan?"
"Hell ya." Archer nodded to the TV. "I forgot this was out."
"Then you're okay if we watch it?"
"I might have some eighties flashbacks, but if you can deal with them, we're good." Archer was surprised they shared a love for eighties metal. Well, he wasn't sure it was a love, but no one who didn't enjoy metal would bother watching a show about the band.
"I saw them in concert four times. Couldn't get enough."
"I saw them twice. Great concerts." Archer agreed as Carter hit play. He stretched his legs out, relaxing. It hadn't been long since he'd watched a movie. A lot of nights, stuck in a motel, he'd pull something up and watch it, but he couldn't remember the last time he'd sat down with anyone and watched something. He didn't date, so there really hadn't been anyone around in his life to enjoy things with. The people he did fuck were few and far between, and they were never more than quick sex. They never spent the whole night.
They were about twenty minutes into the show when he noticed Carter reaching up and rubbing his shoulder. He ignored it at first, but as it kept happening, he wondered if Carter was getting another headache. "Shoulder still tight?" he asked.
"Yeah, a bit. I don't know if it will ever be perfect." Carter rolled his shoulder. "It'll take a few days to ease."
"Why don't you sit on the floor in front of me. I can work it while we watch?" He hated seeing him in pain, especially when he had the knowledge to help ease it.
"You sure?" Carter asked.
"No point in you being in pain. I'll just work your shoulders. It won't be as in-depth as last night, but it should help." He reached out and pushed the coffee table that was in front of the couch forward, making room for Carter to come sit on the floor in front of the couch.
"I'm not about to turn down another massage. You all but took that headache away last night."
"I just worked a few pressure points to ease the muscles." Archer spread his legs apart so Carter could lean back against the couch between them.
Once he was settled, Carter pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. "You ever decide to give up being a private investigator, you'd have a great career in massage."
As he moved his hands to Carter's shoulders, he smiled. "I don't mind doing it from time to time, but I wouldn't make a career out of it. Helping when someone is suffering is good for me, but I'd get bored too quickly doing it all the time. I need something that keeps my mind working." He focused on the area that had been so tight the night before.
Carter let his head hang forward as they sat in silence, watching the movie.
Archer half focused on the movie, but his attention was more on Carter, again, looking at his pale skin, noticing the arch of his shoulders, the curve of his neck, the straightness of his spine. He moved his fingers and palms over him, reminding himself repeatedly that this was to help Carter, and not for his own enjoyment. Still, he did enjoy it. He missed touching someone, even more than that, he missed being touched. He didn't like picking up one-night-stands on the road, and when he did, he always hated it after. The sex was good, it did what it was meant to and gave him the release he needed, but it was things like this, alone in the darkness, his hands exploring the top half of Carter's back, that he realized how much more satisfying touching someone he knew was.
His cock stirred, but he ignored it, allowing it to harden. Carter was facing away from him, so he had nothing to be ashamed about. Not that he would be ashamed, but he really didn't want to have to explain why he was rock hard while massaging Carter's shoulders. The last thing he wanted was Carter to be uncomfortable because as much as he was doing this for his own enjoyment, he was doing it even more because he really wanted to help relieve Carter's pain.
"My neck, right there." Carter groaned.
