Move the Stars (Something in the Way 3)

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m visiting my girlfriend in 5C, and she needs some repairs.”

“Right.” He scratched his graying chest hair. “I have her requests. I’ll get to ’em when I can.”

He started to close the door on me, but I caught it. “I’ve done a lot of it the past few days, but she needs her radiator replaced among other things. Handle it by next week, or I’ll report you to the Attorney General’s office right before I bring the fire department by for an inspection.”

“Who the hell are you? Do you sign my paychecks?” he asked. “I’ll get to it when I get to it.”

“It’s not an empty threat.” I had no problem calling for back-up however I needed to. I’d once wanted to serve the public. There were other men out there like me and I could find them. “I’ll get the landlord on the phone right now if we need to bring him into it.”

He shook his head. “Fine. Next week. That all?”

I held the door open and added, “That’s my girlfriend down there and her roommate. Lake tells me anything I don’t want to hear, and I’ll come back for a less friendly visit. No firemen. Just you and me.”

He raised a hand. “I have no idea what you’re getting at, but I got no business with those girls. Only doing my job.”

I released the door and went back to Lake’s apartment. I didn’t like the situation, but I had to trust Lake and Val were smart enough to know what they were doing. They’d lived in New York for years after all, and Val didn’t strike me as the type to take shit.

When I walked into the kitchen, the girls were talking about Val’s ex, some guy with what sounded like a chick’s name. It didn’t appear that Lake and I would be getting the alone time I’d planned on. “I’m going to hop in the shower,” I said, giving Lake a look that made her stand and follow me into the bathroom.

“She broke up with her boyfriend,” Lake said.

I stripped off my shirt and flipped on the water. “I heard. What does that mean for me?”

“She needs me.” Lake gave me a reproachful look. “She’s sad.”

“I’m sad.” I pulled her into my arms as the mirror steamed over. “I don’t want to share you. It’s our last night together.”

Lake kissed me quickly on the lips. “I just need to listen to her for a bit. Clean up and go wait for me in the bedroom.”

“Don’t be long,” I said, releasing her.

After I showered, I spent the next thirty minutes on Lake’s bed, staring at the ceiling and listening to her clock radio as I fantasized about all the things we were supposed to be doing. When she walked in the bedroom, closing the door lightly behind her, I was already hard. I sat up, reaching for her, pulling her onto the mattress. “Come here.”

“Shh.”

“Why?” I asked.

Her long hair brushed the tops of my forearms. “Val’s right out there.”

I took off her top, laying her back on the bed. “I don’t care.”

“I do. I don’t want her to hear us.”

“Then she should leave.” I opened Lake’s jeans, running my hands over the smoothness of her stomach. She lifted up to get out of her pants but all I saw was the beg of her hips, welcoming me. When I had her stripped from the waist down, I said, “Turn over.”

“Can you be quiet?”

“If I have to be. Can you?”

She reddened, then flipped onto her stomach. With my knees on each side of her, I opened the clasp of her bra to run my hands over her back. My thumbs touched in the middle, over her spine.

“Are you going to give me a massage?” she asked.

“Later, if you want.”

She turned her face, resting her cheek on the pillow. “I’d like to give you one.”

Alice in Chains came on the radio as the DJ introduced “Nutshell.” I gathered Lake’s hair in my hands and moved it aside. “How come?”

“I used to look at you on the construction site and think you worked so hard,” she said. “I wished I could go to your house and make you feel better after.”

“Yeah?” I slid my hands down her sides to grip her waist. I could feel her ribs, and she had a smooth, slight ass. She wasn’t eating enough. “Tell me more about that.”

“When you get back, if you decide to do construction, I’ll give you massages after. I’ll light candles in here and you can tell me where you’re sore. I’ll work on your back until you’re healed. I used to think it was so unfair that you worked your body so hard.”

I lowered my hands, prying her cheeks apart a little. She shivered. Immediately, I thought about taking her this way, pressing into her from behind. This was why I couldn’t be with her that night in the truck. I couldn’t be trusted. I might’ve ruined her that night, and if I hadn’t, I would’ve soon after. One time with her wouldn’t have been enough. I’d only been in New York a few days, and my mind was already running with all the sordid ways I could have her.