Between them they finish the bottle of wine
before dinner, and DeMar opens a second while Josh sets out plates
piled high with spaghetti. Dinner is a quiet affair, both men
relaxing from the alcohol. Josh feels like he’s holding his breath
in anticipation, waiting for something to go wrong, but DeMar
laughs in all the right places, putting his unease to rest.
After dinner they retreat to the living room
where DeMar snuggles up close to Josh on the couch. Whenever Josh
grins at him, DeMar winks, and his hands have a seductive habit of
trailing along Josh’s arm or leg or back throughout the
evening.
It’s well after midnight by the time they
make it upstairs, Josh leaning heavily against DeMar. But at the
landing he stops where the hall divides—to the right is the door to
his ow
