Chet Watakeekul

I watched Vincent as he worked, as he smiled and chatted with customers, as he laughed with coworkers. Maybe it took him so long to find a job for a reason - and not just because of his family. Maybe this job and this place needed him and he needed them and they just had to wait until they were aligned.

When it was his lunch break, he brought us both a waldorf chicken bagel sandwich. The turkey bagel sandwich was still my favorite, but since I came to eat here so often, we had to switch up the menu.

"What time do you get off work tonight?" I asked.

"Ten," he said. He sipped on his lemonade before he took another bite of his sandwich.

"Do you have homework you still need to get done?"

He nodded. "I'll just do it later either when I get home or first thing in the morning."

He looked at his phone and then went back to eating. "How was soccer practice?" he asked.

"Good," I said. "Robert got his third write up. Hopefully, he'll keep his mouth shut now. Or I wouldn't mind if he got kicked off the team."

"Third?"

"Yeah. The first was when he said something to me. The second time was when he talked crap to Mateo and today during practice, he called Devon the 'n' word. The coach flipped out on that one."

Vincent shook his head. "I hope he gets kicked off the team." He looked at his phone again.

"Are you expecting a call or something?" I asked him.

"I texted my grandma yesterday. She hasn't responded yet. Dean responded to my text though."

He flipped through his phone and then handed it to me. I sifted through their conversation. Vincent gave him an update on work, school and me and Dean told him how he was repairing the motorcycles faster than he thought, but didn't want to tell the person who hired him just to spite him. I handed the phone back to Vincent. "Are you worried about your grandma?"

He nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Maybe you should text Aiden then and see if he knows anything."

"Okay." He put his bagel sandwich down to type on his phone. When he was done, he set his phone done and finished his bagel sandwich. He walked me back outside when his lunch break was over.

People - mostly students - walked by us on the sidewalk. The air was starting to warm. I hoped that meant spring was on its way. Vincent gave me a chaste kiss goodbye and I started on my way when his phone beeped indicating he had a message.

I turned back to him. He had his phone out and was looking at the message.

"Is it Aiden?" I asked.

He nodded. "He says he is out of town on a business trip. Grandma isn't answering his texts either, but dad says she is okay. But dad also says to come home a day early from the trip and come to the house. Aiden says he'll go to the house first thing when he gets back tomorrow and let me know."

"Okay," I said.

"I really should get back to work," he said, but he leaned in and gave me one last kiss before he went back inside.

I went home and sat at our new folding table while I did my homework. When I was done, I moved to the couch and stared at the blank wall. It would be great if there was a t.v. there. That should probably be our next big purchase and then after that we could get some sort of gaming console. Our laptops weren't great enough to handle most games. After spending some time staring at the wall wishing we had a t.v., I got up and cleaned. I gathered up the laundry. Now that Vincent was busy with school and work, he had a tendency to leave his dirty clothes on the floor instead of putting them in the laundry basket. I took the now full laundry basket down to the main floor to the communal laundry room and started the laundry.

On my way back up to the apartment, I stopped at Alex's and Mateo's. It took a few minutes and when Mateo opened the door, his shirt and hair were disheveled. His lips were slightly swollen.

"What?" he asked in a grumpy tone.

"Did I interrupt something?" I asked. But I knew I had. I knew that look.

"Stop smirking," he said. "What do you want?"

"Can I borrow your vacuum and broom?"

Instead of inviting me in, he shut the door in my face. A few moments later, the door opened back up and he shoved the vacuum and broom into my hands. "Don't bring them back until tomorrow," he said and shut the door again without waiting for me to say goodbye.

I went back up to the apartment. I spent the next thirty minutes vacuuming and sweeping. I even swept off the tiny balcony. I went back down to the laundry room and moved the clothes from the washers to the dryers. I went back up to the apartment and washed the dishes from that morning. I wiped down the counters and then cleaned the bathroom. When the time came, I retrieved our clothes and put them away. When all that was done, I sat on the couch and watched soccer games on my phone. I sat sideways so my legs were sprawled out over the cushions.

Vincent got home shortly after ten. He came to me where I sat on the loveseat. He collapsed on top of my legs and hugged me around the waist while he said into my stomach, "I'm so tired."

I stroked his hair until I realized that position couldn't have been comfortable for him. "Sit up," I said gently. He sat up maneuvering between my legs, but I took his shoulders and turned him. I pulled him into me so his back was against my chest. My legs were on either side of him. I sat up straighter so I was taller than him in his slouched position. I began to massage his shoulders. He moaned and leaned into me more.

This went on for several more minutes until he said, "I should be massaging you more than you me."

His hands came around my legs and lifted them so they were wrapped around his waist and now over his legs. While I massaged his shoulders and neck his fingers kneaded one calf before moving onto the next. Then he had a hand on each of my legs. His hands traveled up over my knees until he was kneading my thighs. It quickly changed from massaging my thighs to just touching them, running his hands up and down them, squeezing them. He turned his head to look at me. I closed the distance and kissed him.

He pulled away from me and stared into my eyes a moment before he said, "I should take a shower."

"What about homework?"

He scowled at me. I smiled and ran my thumb along his lower lip. His expression softened.

"I'll do it in the morning," he said.

"Okay," I said.

He kissed me again before he got up and went to shower. While he was in the shower, I got ready for bed. I might have sneaked a peek or two when I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and washing my face. Vincent didn't seem to mind me peeking behind the shower curtain though. I picked up his dirty clothes on my way out of the bathroom and put them in the laundry basket. I got him a clean pair of boxers and set them in the bathroom for him.

I made sure the front door and the sliding glass door to the balcony were locked. I turned off the lights in the living room and kitchen. I closed the blinds in the bedroom and took off my clothes leaving only my boxers. I went to bed, but sprawled out over the covers instead of underneath them.

Vincent came into the room shortly after. He stretched out over the covers on his side and looked at me. I turned to face him and traced his jaw with my fingers. "How tired are you?" I asked.

He kissed me with fire, tongue and passion. I returned the heated kiss. My fingers lingered on his jaw while his hand rubbed down my thigh.

I pulled away from the kiss. "Can we try something different tonight?" I asked.

"What?"

I maneuvered on my side until my head was near his crotch and his near mine.

"This," I said and glanced at him.

He didn't answer with words. His hands gripped my waist and pulled me closer to him. His fingers slid over the curves of my backside as he took off my boxers. I didn't need anymore encouragement as I slid his boxers down to his knees.

I froze as he licked me. Tingles ran all along my nerves. I grabbed the flesh of his butt and squeezed. His tongue stopped it's movements momentarily as I licked him.

We licked each other as the fire consumed us. He took me into his mouth and I froze again. A small moan escaped me as his mouth worked me. And then I took him into my mouth. I sucked and licked and took in as much of him as I could as he did the same to me. A moan sounded from the back of his throat and it enflamed me.

He gripped me tighter and his cum squirted inside my mouth. I swallowed it all and licked what remained on him as he moaned. His tongue caressed me inside his mouth and a burst of ecstasy shot through me. I climaxed. He swallowed all of my cum and licked me one last time before his mouth left me.

I sat up and stared at him for a moment as he fixed his boxers and slid underneath the covers. I pulled my boxers up and slid in next to him.

I gently traced his eyebrows with my fingers and his eyes drooped heavily.

"My love," I said next to his ear.

"My heart," he whispered as his eyes closed and he fell asleep.