Chapter 5-3
1108 Words
“Tell me something.”
Sean blinked open his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He’d fallen asleep. Or at least he thought he had, but wasn’t sure for how long.
After their first f**k, about a half an hour or so later, Andy had made good on his promise—or threat, whatever it was—and had given Sean quite the blow job. He’d come so hard down Andy’s throat, he was pretty sure he’d lost brain cells.
He’d returned the favor shortly after that. Then he’d zonked out. Until now.
“What time is it?”
Long pause. “Looks like one-fifteen.”
“No wonder I’m hungry. We never ate those burgers.” He laughed as his stomach growled at the reminder.
Andy snorted. “We can get up and reheat them. Tell me something.”
“About what?” Sean sat up and turned on the bedside lamp.
“I don’t know. Anything. Something about you, Sean. We’ve been partners for months. Now we’re, well, what we are. And I don’t know a lot about you.”
“I’m bisexual.”
“No kidding,” he said dryly.
Sean thought about it. “What about you? Have you been with women and guys?”
Andy shrugged. “Mostly guys.”
“But there was a woman?”
“Or two. Yeah. I went with a girl in high school and part of college. After we broke up, I got involved with a couple of guys.”
“At the same time?”
“Uh-huh.” Andy smiled. “What can I say? Experimenting and young. None of the three of us wanted any commitment. It was strictly a physical thing. That went on for a couple of years. Drinking and—”
“Carousing.”
Andy laughed. “Pretty much. I was going to the Police Academy then. I kept the physical stuff under wraps because none of the three of us were out and proud.”
“Were they in the Academy, too?”
Andy sat up, propping himself against the headboard. “Nah. Nothing like that. This is, um, well rather a cliché.”
“How so?”
Andy blushed a little. “One of them was the pool boy.” He brushed his hand over his face. “At my parents’ house. He took care of it. The pool, I mean.”
“And other things,” Sean joked.
“The other was just his buddy. I don’t know. We made a date one day, for s*x, not like for dinner or anything, and he showed up with his friend. The next thing I knew, we were all involved, and it became a regular thing for a couple of years.”
“Hmm. What happened to end it?”
“I got too involved in police work, mostly. Had less and less time for them, and when I was there, I was always tired.” Andy held up a hand. “I know. Here I had this threesome going and I’m acting like some lame old man.”
Sean smirked. “You said it.”
Andy grinned. “I ended up doing more watching them then participating. It fizzled from there. Then they moved on from Haydon Cliff. I started seeing Veronica.”
“Veronica?”
“That lasted about a year. But she wanted more. You know, commitment, and I wasn’t…I didn’t want that life. A wife and kids, all that. I don’t think that’s me. Anyway, since her, I’ve pretty much done casual stuff with other guys. Not exactly on the down low, but not exactly out there either. I was glad when Lopez and O’Hara became a thing and a gay relationship became more acceptable in the department.”
“And it’s become more acceptable in the Cliff, too.”
“Exactly. And how did we get on the subject of me anyway? I asked you to tell me something.”
Sean squeezed Andy’s leg. “Let’s go heat up those burgers. We can talk while we eat.”
Andy sighed, but rose from the bed and grabbed his clothes as they headed out of the bedroom. Sean put on his clothes as well.
“Tell me about your family or your upbringing or something. You didn’t grow up here, right?”
“I grew up in Denver. Moved here after high school.”
“Denver, huh? With snow and stuff?”
“Yeah, some. Not like the Tundra, but we had our share.” He grabbed the plates and headed for the microwave.
“What made you come here? I don’t mean California. I mean here.”
“A girl I was seeing at the time had family here, then she moved here and I moved with her.”
“Like lived together?”
“Yeah.” He looked away from Andy’s gaze.
“There’s a story there. What happened?” Andy asked, his voice had gentled.
“Mindy was killed in a car accident. Drunk driver. About six months after we moved here.”
“God, Sean, I’m sorry.”
He nodded. “Getting drunk drivers off the road was why I joined the force originally. I thought about Highway Patrol, but I don’t know, the accident happened here, down by Haydon Cliff City Park, and I just decided to go with the local force. I never imagined then I’d be where I am now.” Sean smiled, encircling the back of Andy’s neck with his hand. “With you.”
“Eating reheated greasy burgers.”
Sean shrugged. “Not so bad. Company’s great, and even reheated, Luke’s burgers are usually pretty good.”
“But wait. Your sister and her family are here. I assumed you were all from the Cliff originally.”
“Funny story, actually. Moira came out to visit me. She loved it so much, she moved here and met her husband in Haydon Cliff.”
He took Andy’s burger and fries out of the micro and handed them to him.
“What were you planning on doing for a living before Mindy died?”
Sean smiled faintly. “I was an artist.”
“Huh?”
“Painter. And a sketch artist. Mostly people. Not even sure now how I thought I’d ever make a living out of it. I was good, though. Really good. Not kidding myself there. And Mindy was very encouraging. But…well…”
Andy became quiet for a moment as he ate his burger.
Sean took his food out of the microwave next, then gestured for them to sit at the dining room table in the apartment’s small dining area.
“You still paint?”
“I haven’t even picked up a sketchbook in years. All that, every part of my life, well, it all kind of changed when Mindy was killed. That’s not who I am anymore.”
“I’m really sorry. That’s sad.”
“Is it? I don’t mean it to be. I’m just…life changes you, right? It all shapes you. You’re not the same guy who played around with the pool boy and his friend either. Circumstances change, and if we don’t change with them, then everything stagnates.”
“You’re pretty smart for a guy not yet forty.” Andy grinned, like he was joking, but at the same time, there was a note of sincerity there. “Still, maybe you’ll want to pick it up again someday. Even just the sketching. I’d love to see it.”
“You would, huh?”
“If you wanted to show me. Got any of the old stuff?”
“Nope,” Sean admitted. “Sketches I threw away or burned them.”
“Sean.”
“I know. I was dramatic when I was young. The paintings I gave away or sold. I was in a lot of pain and wanted nothing to do with any of that then. Do I want to go back to it? I don’t know, Andy. Like I said, I feel like I’ve moved on.”
“Okay.” Andy smiled. “I get that. I do. Like you said, things change us. And you’re right, by the way.”
“About?”
“Luke’s burgers are good even reheated.”
Sean laughed. He grabbed a napkin and held it toward Andy’s mouth. “You have a little dab of mustard there.” He wiped the corner. “Better.”
Andy finished his burger, then stared at Sean far too intensely. “So. What now?”
“Now?” Sean stood and carried their empty plates to the trash under the sink. He returned to the table and pulled Andy to his feet. “Now…we go back to bed.”
- Writer
