Salubrious part eight

Charlie still was feeling insecure and uncomfortable about these turn of events. Sure, he had flirted with same-sex attraction before but this was beyond that. He couldn’t process anything about these last few interactions with Allan that destroyed his sense of security.

He decided to halfway shutdown, texting Allan back only:

Cool. Thanks bro, see you tomorrow night. I’ll be there at 6

He got an instant reply:

Did I make you uncomfortable again? You can be honest

Charlie cursed as he and Pim got ready for their job of the day. Why did Allan have to be so direct? It was tying his stomach in tighter and tighter knots.

He texted back:

No. You’re okay. Don’t sweat it. You’re great as is man

As they left, he saw Allan running toward him.

“What the eff…” Charlie said under his breath. “I’ll catch up,” he said to Pim, who eyed Allan coming over in a hurry toward Charlie.

“Okay!” Pim acknowledged to Charlie, walking off to his car.

“What’s up man? We’re about to leave,” Charlie called out to Allan as coolly as possible.

Suddenly, he was caught up in a sudden flurry of an unexpected embrace. It was rough, quick and snug. Allan’s long arms tightly wound around Charlie’s round frame like a tea cozy.

Charlie’s breath hitched. He couldn’t feel his legs. He felt weightless yet crushed by this sudden rush of adrenaline and endorphins running through his veins.

He was pinned against the smily face door frame and Allan’s possessive body, pressed against him at every angle.

“Um, what are you.. doing?” Charlie said breathlessly.

“Thank you for saying that,” Allan leaned in closer to the others face. Charlie inched back, feeling the heat rush from his face to his lower body.

“Saying what? I-I can’t breathe…”

Allan fixed Charlie’s hat, smoothing out Charlie’s hair by neatly pulling it over his ear in the process. He felt immobile as Allan did something so intimate without thinking.

“Your hat look crooked. Sorry.”

Their faces got closer. Charlie couldn’t help it. “What did I say exactly? I appreciate the energy here but it’s making me feel like I’m being attacked a little by your enthusiasm,” Charlie joked.

Allan giggled, “You said that I was great as is. You really mean it?”

Charlie shuddered as Allan’s leg got a little too close to Charlie’s lower regions, pressing against that sensitive area unintentionally.

“Dude your leg…” he eyed it and Allan stood back, looking embarrassed.

“Oh shit. I’m so sorry. Man, I am so dumb. I’ll talk to you later. Okay?” Allan apologized.

Charlie got his bearings back, feeling warm all over. “That was nice,” he blurted out.

“Uh, yeah. It was.”

“Okay, well that’s that. I’ll see you tomorrow. Talk to you tonight,” Charlie said robotically but inside he was a chaotic mess.

Charlie felt himself grin again, slowly.

Allan noticed, “Your smile always looks like it’s reflecting too late on your perceived happiness. Like your body’s timer goes off too late once your brain processes the response of being happy.”

Charlie scratched his head. “Huh?”

“I like that. I like that about you. That’s all,” Allan clarified.

“I don’t get it. But thanks.”

“Okay, well, bye?” Allan questioned, looking at Charlie in a mirror-fashion, they both had a look of waiting for something but they weren’t sure for what.

“I like that you just ran up to hug me. It was sweet,” Charlie said quickly. He started to briskly walk away, waving to Allan.

“You’re sweet!” Allan yelled.

Charlie laughed nervously, “What a sweet guy…”

He said it to himself as he looked at Pim, trying to keep his composure.

Pim noticed the interaction and Charlie’s reaction was priceless.

“You wanna play spin the bottle with him later?” Pim asked cheekily.

“Shut up.”

There was a pause.

“Maybe,” was the relent.