Page 15 of Finding Alfred
Fuck. I was crazy horny. I took a long, hot bath and then jacked off in bed thinking about what we’d done in my little secret place in the backyard. Did I owe him anything else? Well, I had promised to try and get to know him, and while dinner had felt that way a little, unpacking felt like it was about him getting to know me. In fact, everything he’d been doing since Eddy decided to move here felt that way. He kept insinuating himself into my life at every turn. And now I was letting him.
I closed my eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep. I had work in the morning and there were still a million things to do.
And the texts started up again, right on time.
Remy dropped into the seat beside me in the break room, so I tucked my phone away. He was one of the programmers who led some of the games that Eddy wasn’t creating. As Queen Gaming expanded, more games were coming from others, and Remy was one of the best. “Alfred, how’s it going?”
“Fine.” I wasn’t great with conversation with anyone outside of security and internal IT, but I could be polite, and I actually welcomed the distraction. “You?”
“I’m good.” He scrubbed a hand through his short, dark hair. “This move has been some shit, though.”
“Found anywhere to live yet?”
“No. I’m staying in town still.” He was one of the guys crashing at Pints ‘N Pool. “There aren’t a lot of apartments in Foggy Basin, you know? I might have to go to the next town over, but that’s such a drive.”
“I’ll give you my real estate agent. But honestly, it was one of the locals who found my place for me before it even went on the market. Evelyn. You should hook up with her.”
“That’d be cool. Thanks. How’s everything treating you? Moved in yet?”
The thought of yesterday’s unboxing and un-pantsing with Jackie felt suffocating. Especially with the date afterward, and all the expectations that were building. In hindsight, I should have put him off for that. At the same time, I had enjoyed it. Enjoyed his company. And kicked myself for not asking him in, because he was so hot. “Uh…” So much for distraction. Damn, I wanted Jackie in bed, whether we ended up in a relationship or not.
“That look on your face. What’s going on?”
I wondered what my face must have looked like. How did I explain it? “It’s just. This guy…”
“You have a boyfriend already? Shouldn’t surprise me. You’re a nice guy, not to mention good-looking.”
“Not exactly a boyfriend, but thanks.” My cheeks heated as I denied it. “I mean, we like each other well enough, but he’s a bit much. And I don’t know…” With Remy’s soft encouragement, I spilled most of the story, sans hook-up details.
“You know, Alfred. If you’re just humoring him, that’s not kind.”
“I’m not humoring him. He just… Actually, I think I like Jackie too much. Only, I’m already feeling trapped here and starting something with him is making that feeling worse.”
“Wow. Maybe you should talk to Eddy. He pushed all this on us quickly. No one’s had a second to adjust.”
I huffed and poured another cup of coffee. I never wanted to upset Eddy and not because he was the boss. It was more because he was my friend and deserved to be happy here with Brock. The rest of us though…“Maybe.”
“Well, I hope you get it worked out. In the meantime, hook me up with this Evelyn.”
“She’s like eighty years old, dude.”
He tossed a napkin at me. “I didn’t mean it like that,dude.”
Based on all the facts and logically thinking it through, I needed to have another date with Jackie, but he’d stopped asking me. Maybe he was waiting for me to initiate. Maybe he thought he had to slow down, and why did I respect that? I didn’t know, but I needed to dig into whatever was between us, so I was determined to ask him out. When I stopped by his place on my way home from work, he was sitting on his front porch with his feet up on the railing. “Hey, Jackie.” I waved as I walked up.
Like a gentleman, he stood and stepped closer, giving me a peck on the lips. “Hey, Al. What’s up?”
“Does something have to be up? Maybe I just came to see you. To hang out.” I hoped he didn’t think that was code for sex,because even though I wanted to push that with him, I didn’t think we were ready for more.
“Not at all. Let’s hang out. Want a drink?” He held up his bottle of beer.
“Sure.”
“I have wine, too.”
“Beer is fine.”
“Great. Sit, I’ll be right back.”
