“And he wasn’t interested.”
“Not in me.”
The hurt in Mark’s expression made Walker want to hunt Lukas down and kill him for every moment of hurt he’d inflicted on Mark.
“He was blind,” Walker declared, entangling his fingers with Mark’s. Both of them had greasy fingers but he didn’t care, and it didn’t seem to bother Mark, who sighed.
“He wasn’t the right man. I knew it, but my heart still wanted him.”
“I’m sorry.”
Mark looked at their enjoined hands and then at Walker. “For the first time in a very long time I can say it doesn’t matter.”
“I’m not a rebound fuck, am I?” Walker needed more than that.
“You’d have to have something to rebound from,” Mark said ruefully. “Lukas was just an unrequited love. You’ve shown me I can have more than that.”
Walker brought their hands to his mouth and brushed a kiss over Mark’s knuckles. “Thank you for letting me.”
Mark seemed about to respond but was interrupted by a ringtone. He frowned. “It’s the office. I don’t usually get calls at the weekend. Sorry, I need my hand back.” Walker let go reluctantly and Mark got up to get his phone from the counter. He connected with a brusque, “Mark Peterson.”
Walker couldn’t contain the grin on his face as he watched Mark make an appointment. Mark obviously knew the person he was talking to because they got into a discussion about a baseball game. Walker switched off at that point, just content to watch him. Every so often, Mark would look over, mouth “I’m sorry,” and get back into his conversation.
“Gotta go, Moose. Yeah, yeah, that fella. See you Wednesday at ten. No, Wednesday, not Thursday. Definitely Wednesday. Bye. Bye.”
Mark disconnected with a shake of his head. “He’s going to be here on Thursday.”
“Is that Moose from the bar?”
“Yeah. He’s a lovely guy, but his head is always somewhere else. I’d better keep Thursday free too.”
Mark tapped at his phone for a few minutes, then put it down on the counter. He’d taken one step toward Walker when it rang again. “Oh, what the hell?” Grabbing it, he said, “Mark Peterson. No, I’m sorry, I’m not free then. Is there—?” He held out the phone and grimaced at Walker. “I guess he didn’t want another time. Ice cream?”
“What flavor? Was it Moose?”
“No, I don’t know who it was. Cookie dough or salted caramel?”
“Cookie Dough.” The cell phone vibrated across the countertop. “Wow, you’re popular today.”
“I swear no one calls me,” Mark protested. “Mark Peterson?” He frowned and disconnected the call. “It must be kids. No one answered this time.”
“Turn it off.”
“I’ve switched it to the answering service. Now, where was I?”
“Ice cream,” Walker said hopefully.
“You got it. Cookie dough, yes?”
Mark ducked his head as he opened the freezer and pulled out two large pots of ice-cream.
Walker gaped at the catering size ice-cream pots in Mark’s hands. “Jesus, have you got an addiction or something?”
“I’m busted. Si gets them for me when he’s ordering.” Mark grinned at him. “I really like ice cream.”
“I’m not complaining. Bring ’em over here.”
Walker’s mouth watered as Mark opened the lids. He might have had an addiction problem of his own, but he wasn’t going to admit it just yet.
They ate ice cream until Mark declared he couldn’t eat any more. Walker thought about it for a moment and nodded regretfully. He couldn’t be greedy…greedier.
“Movie?”
“Bathroom, then movie.”
Walker heaved himself off the seat and headed in the direction of the small bathroom. Business taken care of, he found Mark waiting for him.
“What do you want to watch?”
Flopping down on the couch, Walker eyed the two choices. “Horror or horror?”
“It’s pretty much all I’ve got,” Mark said cheerfully.
“I’ve not watched either of them. You choose.”
Walker wasn’t a fan of the horror genre, but he wasn’t going to admit the only ones he’d seen he spent most of it hiding behind cushions.
“This one it is.”
Mark put on the DVD and sat on the couch. Walker looked at him, wanting to hold him, but hesitant to ask the question. But Mark nestled up to him and then they were wrapped around each other, Walker’s cheek pressed against the top of Mark’s fuzzy buzz-cut. Mark didn’t seem to mind that Walker was the one cuddling him.
The movie wasn’t that bad, and if Walker closed his eyes at the gory parts, Mark didn’t see it. In truth, Walker spent most of the movie processing the fact he had a man in his arms.
He was knocked from his train of thought by Mark’s sigh. “You okay?”
“More than okay. It’s been a long time since I did this.”
“You’re my first. In pretty much everything,” Walker admitted.
“Not even a girl or two?”
Walker knew Mark was teasing, but he answered him seriously. “No. I knew I was gay. I didn’t think it was fair to lead them on.”
Mark raised his head to look at him. “Even though it would have made your life easier at home?”
“Yeah, but then my parents would have expected me to marry one of them, and that’s the last thing I wanted. Anyway, I knew I was gonna enlist. I didn’t want to do that with a wife and kids.”
Mark settled back down again, his hair tickling Walker’s chin. “Nor me, at least at the beginning. I missed having someone to come back to after a while.”
“I resigned myself to the fact I’d never find anyone, at least while I was in service.” It had been hard, especially as he’d seen his friends settle and start families.
“You wouldn’t be the first guy to settle down after leaving though,” Mark said.
Walker sighed and held Mark closer against him. “I never expected to find anyone I wanted to settle down with. It’s easier just to forget about relationships and focus on your career. I meant what I said. Mom and Dad would never accept a man at the dinner table. What could I offer someone?”
Mark raised his head again as a woman let out a bloodcurdling shriek on the TV. Walker was glad to turn his gaze away from her gory murder and focus it on Mark.
“What could you offer someone? What could you, a six foot five muscled Adonis with the penchant for submission offer someone like me?” Mark wriggled until he was sitting up, facing Walker and completely ignoring the movie. “Let me see.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “One, you’re very handsome. Two, you’re the sweetest guy I’ve ever met.” He ignored Walker’s grimace. “Three, you gave me your virginity. That should have been higher up the list. Four, you haven’t tried to dominate me. Five, you gave up your only free weekend to fly thousands of miles to see if I’d be interested.”
“Some would say that’s a crazy thing to do,” Walker mumbled.