Boys Gone Wild: The Charmer

Nothin’ like Spring Break to heat the libido, is there?

“The Charmer”
(Willa Okati)

“You don’t take no for an answer, do you?”

“Nope.” Mitch slid into the ladder-back chair opposite Collin, the object of three days’ worth of affectionate chasing, and propped his elbows on the dark wooden table. “It’s my last night in town, last night of Spring Break in this seaside watering hole. What could it hurt to try one more time?”

Collin looked at Mitch over the silver rims of his glasses. Without frames and lenses in the way his eyes were a surprisingly clear gray. His cheeks, smooth and pale, were dusted with golden freckles. When he spoke, his voice was deeper than one would think, husky and mellifluous. “You’re hoping the third time’s the charm, aren’t you?”

“Did you know you have a dimple? It gives you away when you’re amused but trying to pretend you’re not.”

“I think I hear a puzzle calling me.” Collin waved the Sudoku book he’d been absorbed in at Mitch.

“So do I. You’re a mystery and I can’t resist one of those.” Mitch propped his chin on his hands and gave Collin his best winsome look, one of the most serious weapons in his arsenal. “Which brings us back to pushing my luck. Since this is the first time you’ve said more than ’sorry, not interested’, we should celebrate. Can I buy you a drink?”

“I have one.”

“It’s empty.” Mitch poked the smooth side of Collin’s glass.

“Not so.” Collin rolled a quarter-inch of amber lager around the bottom. “I’d have thought you were a glass-half-full kind of guy.”

“Not exactly.” Mitch took the glass from Collin and tilted it back, draining the last drops. “I’m a ‘glass completely full’ sort of man. I’m also a fix-it type. They go hand-in-hand.”

Collin shook his head. Mitch could see the reluctant smile teasing at his lips, producing that tantalizing small dimple in his cheek. “You’re a man with a hell of a lot of nerve, is what you are.”

“Also true.” Mitch tilted the glass at Collin. “Can I?”

Collin ran the pad of his forefinger around a ring of condensation left on the table. He drew his lip between his teeth.

Mitch could see Collin wavering and pushed his luck just a little further. “One beer.”

“Lager. And you’re paying.”

“Gladly.”

***

“You know, you really are gorgeous when you smile.”

Collin coughed on a mouthful of lager. Mitch laughed and drank in slow swallows, surprised at how flavorful and rich the lager tasted. He’d stuck to old familiar brand names the first few nights in town. His loss.

“You did that on purpose.” Collin tucked his Sudoku book, pocket-sized, into the jacket hanging on the back of his chair. The lightweight black Henley he wore hugged his chest when he turned from the waist, revealing slim sides and showing off defined arms. “Tell me something.”

Mitch saluted him with his glass of lager. “Go for it.”

“What brought you to town?”

“The road traveled through it.” Mitch made wave-shaped motions in the air.

Collin frowned. His glasses slid down his nose. Mitch, unable to resist, pushed them back up. Collin blinked at him. “Thanks.” His mouth opened, closed, and opened again. “What made you stick around?”

“Easy.” Mitch took a chance and laid his hand atop Collin’s, his touch light but — he hoped — enticing Collin with the promise of more. “You.”

Collin’s cheeks pinked. “It’s that easy for you?”

“Why should it be hard?” Mitch asked, honestly puzzled.

“So you do this often?”

“Sometimes, if it feels right.” Mitch idly rubbed the back of Collin’s hand to keep him distracted enough to be honest. “If all you have is one night, why waste the one night? Look around. The fire in the hearth doesn’t last. The beer you’re drinking is going to be gone soon. But you enjoy both of them, right?”

Collin warily inclined his head.

“So enjoy me. And let me enjoy you.” Mitch feathered his way up Collin’s arm, pushing the heavy knit of his sweater out of the way as he went. He stopped with his finger on the crook of Collin’s elbow. “It’s the simple pleasures, friend.” Mitch stroked Collin’s arm. Collin didn’t stop him. “I’m sure you like me more than you think you’re letting on. As sure as I am that I want to go to bed with you tonight more than I want to take another breath alone.”

Collin’s eyes widened. He gulped his lager. “That was frank.”

“Why waste any more time? If you weren’t interested, you’d have popped me one when I came out with a line like that.” Mitch bumped his fist against the point of his chin. “Right here. In the kisser. To the moon.”

Collin swallowed a neat sip of lager, failing to hide his grin. When Collin lowered the glass and drew his tongue over his lips to lick away the foam, he missed a spot just by the left corner of his mouth. “What are you looking at?”

“Your…” Mitch gestured to the corner of his mouth.

Collin licked the opposite side. “Here?”

“No, the–here, let me.” Mitch reached across the table and thumbed away the foam before Collin could react. He wanted to linger, to palm the side of Collin’s face and see if his skin was as smooth and fine as it seemed.

He restrained himself to licking the tiny drop of foam off his thumb.

At the same time, he hooked his foot around Collin’s ankle, daring him to react. Caught between one challenge and the other, Collin hesitated. Mitch took the advantage and ran with it. “If you don’t want to do this, for real, tell me I’m a rude, bad man and send me away.”

Collin shook his head. “You’re something, all right.”

“I’m lots of things. Most of them good. And you’re not stopping me.”

Collin drew the tip of his pink tongue over his lip. “Not yet. Ask me again. Ask me if I’m interested in what you’re offering.”

Mitch caught Collin by the ankle and held him still. “Are you?”

“Ask me properly and find out.” Collin stroked Mitch’s arm, almost shy. Adorable when he blushed, wasn’t he?

“Spend the night with me,” Mitch said. “Just one night before I move on, but we can make it a night to remember.”

“Okay.” Collin said it in so soft a voice Mitch almost thought he hadn’t heard; would have doubted it if he hadn’t been watching Collin’s lips and seen them move. “Yes.”

Despite the awkward angle and the table between them, Mitch was a master when it came to finding a good angle for kissing. He ran his tongue along Collin’s lips, tasting salt from the peanuts and the bitterness of the lager, coaxing him open. When Collin caught Mitch’s upper lip and sucked, Mitch slid his tongue inside, stroking it over Collin’s. He brought his free hand up to palm the other side of Collin’s face and hold him still, keeping him still enough to be explored.

Collin’s lips were swollen and shiny when Mitch let him go, but only far enough to press their foreheads together and catch their breath. “I guess this is where I ask, ‘your place or mine’?”

“Mine’s a hostel.”

Collin’s laugh was cracked. “Lucky for both of us I have someplace better.”

Mitch grabbed Collin by the hand and hauled him to his feet. “So what are we waiting for?”

Written by Willa Okati

Possesses an abundance of crazy ideas, writes constantly, and drinks an insane amount of coffee. Grooves to the beat of a different marching band and loves coming up with fun, quirky heroes and tales with unusual twists. You can find Willa at http://www.willaokati.com or on twitter as "willaokati". She'd love to see you there!
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Tags: boys gone wild, Willa Okati