Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 66222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Adam snorted. “No. Jake would think I’m mad if I tried to snuggle him up.”
Good. He didn’t want Adam to hold anyone but him.
“See?” Harry said, confused by his own thoughts. Where was this proprietary feeling coming from? He’d always been good at sharing.
Adam gave him a long, unreadable look. “Harry, if you want me to stop hugging you, just say it.”
“No,” Harry said, grabbing Adam’s tie and playing with it nervously. “Please don’t stop—but as long as you want it, too.”
Adam smiled at him—that soft, slightly crooked smile that he seemed to reserve just for Harry—and said, “I do.”
Harry smiled a little and, looping his arms around Adam’s neck, leaned his cheek against Adam’s shoulder. He sighed happily when Adam’s hard, muscular arms wrapped tightly around him, making him feel warm, safe, and so so good. It was such an addictive feeling.
Harry loosened Adam’s tie, unbuttoned the top button of Adam’s shirt and tucked his face against Adam’s throat, taking deep, greedy breaths. He loved Adam’s scent so much. He wished he could bottle it up and put it on his pillow so he could sleep better. He hummed in pleasure when Adam’s strong fingers massaged his nape and his shoulder blades—they ached a little after his long shift. Sometimes he thought Adam was a telepath, too. Adam always seemed to know what he needed.
“Are you free?” Harry mumbled, nuzzling at Adam’s throat with his eyes closed. “Movie night? Want?” It was a little embarrassing how incoherent he got when they snuggled. Adam seemed to find it amusing and had told Harry he was just touch-starved. Harry wasn’t that sure about it, but either way, it was embarrassing.
Adam sighed. “Sorry, Haz, can’t.”
“Why not?” Harry said, his dreams of spending a blissful couple of hours snuggled up against Adam shattering into a thousand pieces.
“Got a date tonight,” Adam said.
Harry opened his eyes. “A date?” he repeated. “With whom?”
“Someone I met through work,” Adam said, letting his arms fall and stepping away from Harry. “I need to go home and change now or I’ll be late, actually.”
“Oh,” Harry said, suddenly feeling cold. “Don’t let me keep you.”
“See you tomorrow,” Adam said, brushing his lips against Harry’s temple. “Bye, babe.”
“Bye,” Harry said without his usual cheer. He didn’t understand why his mood plummeted.
He returned to his flat an hour later and sat down in front of the TV. Harry normally loved it—he found human technology charmingly old-fashioned if at times frustrating—but this night he couldn’t quite summon interest for anything on the TV.
Sighing, Harry went to the kitchen and got some ice cream out of the freezer. Adam had implied that humans ate ice cream when they felt down and it supposedly helped. Harry grabbed a spoon too, returned to the couch, and dug in.
Half an hour later, the ice cream was gone, but Harry didn’t feel particularly better, just uncomfortably full. Either ice cream worked only on humans, or he had misunderstood Adam. The latter still happened quite often.
Harry picked up the remote and started channel surfing. But nothing could hold his interest, and after an hour, he gave up and decided to go to sleep. He didn’t feel like eating, still full from the ice cream.
The couch felt more uncomfortable than usual, creaking every time he shifted.
Harry wondered whether he should find another, better-paying job so he could afford a better flat, but he loved the coffee shop. Besides, Adam’s office was next to the coffee shop.
The thought of Adam made Harry’s stomach churn uncomfortably and he forced himself to change the direction of his thoughts.
Harry thought of home, of his parents and siblings. He’d been on Earth months already. Without Adam’s presence, Harry couldn’t ignore the loud silence at the back of his mind. He hadn’t known silence could be so loud. Now he understood why his parents had chosen such a distant planet to send him to: there was no doubt that they wanted him to start appreciating his familial links instead of using them to satisfy his curiosity. People tended to take things for granted and value them more after losing them. Being alone in his head was so unsettling. When Adam was with him, it was so much better.
Sighing, Harry flopped onto his stomach. He was terrible at not thinking about Adam. Maybe he should make more friends. The problem was, it turned out Harry wasn’t very good at making human friends. Humans seemed to like him, but they also seemed to find him too odd and socially inept. Harry often either didn’t get human jokes or laughed at inappropriate times, offending the other person. Only Adam seemed to find his social awkwardness endearing rather than offending.
“That’s a whole minute I didn’t think about Adam,” Harry said with another sigh. He really was terribly clingy, wasn’t he?