"If you can catch Daniel, you can keep him," I said. Sure he had a nice body. He was also a little too willing to give away the farm to someone he didn't remember all for the custody of a living, breathing, canine cocktail table. So it isn't a very nice description of Louie, but it looked like he'd been cut off below the knees. My grandmother bought a dining table at an auction once, beautiful maple with a few water stains on it which was why it went for a song. One of the legs was wonky, so she let my then fourteen year old father get a saw and try to even things up. In the end, the table was maybe twenty-four inches high and the only way anyone could sit at it to eat was if they were on the floor. How did he do refinishing it? Let's just say that the water stains are still there, but Grandma has always loved the table.
"Oh come on, wouldn't you like to tap it just once?" he asked. He put the key in the ignition but didn't turn the engine over.
"That would be a no." I heard enough stories from Grady about his glory days in the fraternity and all of his special brothers to not want to ever be near anyone who was dedicated to a pair of Greek letters. Especially the ones about Daniel. If the stories were true, he had a penicillin resistance for a reason. Yes, a lot of things can change in a decade, give or take, but I wasn't in the market for someone with that kind of mileage, at least not unless I had a medical certificate from his doctor. "He looked like he'd been rode hard and put away wet."
"And in a good way, girl. God, that sounds like fun. I can't wait until Chris is off the graveyard shift," Vic said, sighing. "I love it when he-"
"If you love me like you say you do, you won't give me any details." My upper lip twitched in a poor Elvis impression.
"Is that because we're gay?"
"Oh, please. You know so much better than that. I don't like public displays of affection and I don't like getting the second hand knowledge of them either. What happens in the bedroom should stay in the bedroom."
"What about what happens in the living room or the kitchen? There are some spectacular things that happen in the bathroom," he said. He even winked.Grady and I hadn't been all that creative. Then again, I have always had body issues. Lights on during sex was adventurous enough for me, and only after strenuous dieting for a few weeks, lots of exercise, and a bath where everything that could possibly need to be groomed was. Even then I restricted it to candlelight because everything looks better in the warm glow candlelight. Right?
There were a couple of guys before Grady, but there's only so much maneuvering you can do on a dorm twin bed when you're worried the roommate is due home soon. In those cases, the lights were always out because nothing, and I mean nothing, looks good in florescent lighting.
"What do you think about the dog?" I asked. "I've never owned a dog." I'd never so much as owned Sea Monkeys, so the prospect of being responsible for a dog was a bit daunting, especially one who had such big teeth.
"He's a pushover. Anyone who breaks in might get licked to death," Vic said. "But he's cute and seems like he's got some manners.""He would be good company."
"Sure if you like the silent type. And he might prevent you from getting attached to rebound guy."
"I'm not worried about rebound guy, I never was good at sports of any kind, much less basketball," I said.
"You know what I mean. I'd hate to see you wind up with someone who makes Grady look like Prince Charming just because you got lonely," Vic said.
"That's why I have you." I leaned across the center console and kissed Vic on the cheek. "You'll keep me on the straight and narrow."
Vic raised an eyebrow at me.
"You know what I mean," I said. "Let's go to the beauty supply store and see if they got in any new polish colors. Then we can do a modified mani-pedi at my house."
"Do you still have the old Rock Hudson movie on your DVR? He is my favorite."
"Mine, too."
Just as Vic turned the key in the ignition, there was a knock on my window.
Daniel.
I powered down my window. "Yes?"
"Name your price," he said.
"Excuse me?"
"Sorry to startled you," he said.
I shook my head and attempted to look casual. Startled? Me? Of course. But never let them see you sweat.
"Name your price. For rent. What would you be willing to pay?" Daniel leaned so far into the car I thought he was going to climb in through the window.
"Why are you desperate?" I asked. And more to the point, why didn't you take a shower or at least brush your teeth before you met with me this morning?
"I just want to get it rented."
Right.
"Is this a candid camera show or one of those old TV game shows?" Vic asked. "Cause this is sounding like a set up to me."
"Come back in and I'll tell you straight," he said.
"Tell us here," I said. If this was going to be hinky, no way did I want to get stuck with no way out.
"Fine." He took a deep breath and said, "Louie is the heir to my ex-wife's estate and I have to house him and he can't live with me, not right now."
"Right. We'll be going," I said. "Cute house. Good luck renting it. Come on, Kato, drive."
"Sure thing, Green Hornet," Vic said.
~~~
tbc
word count: 1029
No comments:
Post a Comment