Chalk Butterfly: Part One (First Time Erotic Romance) (11 page)

“You know I’m dating someone, Eli,”
Elizabeth retorted, Alexander and Daniel seemingly invisible as she
glared at Elijah.

“Elijah,” Daniel said quietly.

“I don’t know these people,” Alexander
squeaked.

“I slipped!” Elijah said, throwing his hands
up in the air.

“He kissed me, Alex, over a toilet! How
romantic!”

“I’ve never talked to her before in my
life,” Alexander told Daniel. “Crazy people, breaking into
bathrooms…”

“Well, you didn’t have to slap me,” Elijah
said.

“What is the world coming to, really?”
Daniel asked, nudging Alexander gently with his shoulder.

“I’m out of here,” Elizabeth said. Her eyes
caught Alexander’s mortified visage. “And have a lovely evening,
Alex. Sorry about all this. And it was nice to… um… storm past you,
Daniel.”

With that she exited the apartment, Elijah
trailing after.

“Sorry,” Elijah said to Alexander, stopping
at the door. “I swear I slipped on the bath mat.”

“And fell lips first?” Alexander asked.
Daniel let out a little snort and the look of confusion on his face
melted away into a small smile.

“Yeah…well…” Elijah grumbled. “I better go,
she’s my ride.” He gave Daniel a short nod and fled the scene.

“Well,” Daniel said, greatly amused. “Nice
to meet your friends.”

“Ex-friends,” Alexander said, looking at a
spot on the floor as if it held the mysteries of the universe.

“Do I want to know why they were hiding in
the bathroom?” Daniel asked, seeing Alexander stiffen a bit.
Alexander raised his head, his eyes wide and pleading. “Okay, well,
I’ll be careful in there, make sure there’s no one hiding in the
tub ready to clonk me over the head or something, and then we’ll
head out. Sound good to you?”

At that point, anything that involved
getting out of the apartment sounded pretty good to Alexander. He
felt entirely too warm and the urge to rip his mittens off was so
very tempting.

Alexander nodded at Daniel and found that
highly interesting spot on the floor again. He nearly jumped out of
his skin when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

“Is something wrong?” Daniel asked, unaware
of how his closeness sent shivers all up and down Alexander’s
back.

The interesting spot on the floor became an
interesting spot on the wall, and then Daniel’s hand. Alexander
watched the long fingers press in against his jacket.

“I’m a little nervous,” Alexander found
himself saying. The hand on his shoulder tightened.

“Nervous?”

“Um…” He could feel the fingers press in,
could feel the heat of Daniel’s hand. Embarrassingly enough, the
contact made him feel a bit woozy. “Maybe more embarrassed.”

“The whole purpose of having friends is
based around the idea that they will embarrass you as much as
humanly possible,” Daniel said, pulling back.

Alexander immediately missed the warmth of
Daniel’s hand, but felt immensely glad he could think clearly
again. Well, nearly.

“I seem to take care of that myself,
usually,” Alexander replied, meeting Daniel’s gaze once more.

“Then we have something in common. I can’t
go a day without being embarrassingly late to work,” Daniel said.
Alexander smiled despite the churning feelings in his belly. “If
you can do without me for a second or two, I think I’ll step into
the bathroom for a moment.”

“Oh, of course,” Alexander murmured, but
Daniel didn’t turn, or move backward.

He stepped forward again and gently brushed
his knuckles across Alexander’s cheek. “The only thing you should
be nervous about is my driving. My friend Owen says I’m worse than
a cabby.”

Alexander leaned into the touch, allowing
Daniel to lift his chin up a bit.

“Okay?”

Maybe Daniel had asked him a question;
Alexander hadn’t a clue as he was a little lost at the moment. Just
the slightest of touches drove Alexander to distraction.

Had he really been so starved for even the
slightest of touches? He hadn’t even really thought about it,
Daniel touching him. The man was no longer a stranger to Alexander,
but still not someone Alexander knew well by any means, and he was
usually so uncomfortable with physical closeness.

Then why did this feel so right?

***

Alexander adjusted his seat belt in the car,
careful with his hands on the buckle.

They sat at a stoplight, the streetlamps
casting soft shadows across Daniel’s face. Alexander couldn’t
resist watching the man. Besides, he knew it was polite to look at
someone when they were talking. Yes, that’s why he watched Daniel
so keenly.

“My family traveled a lot when I was
younger,” Daniel told Alexander. “And I was fine with that. We were
nomads, adventurers, I thought. It’s funny, being in one place now
seems like the odd thing.”

“I’ve only ever lived in three places,”
Alexander said. Daniel looked at him to go on. Alexander turned his
head toward the window, but kept talking. “My mum and I lived in
London until I was thirteen. We had the tiniest little house and my
grandmum and cousins lived next door. All the family in one
spot.”

“Why did you move?”

Alexander watched the traffic shift.

“People change,” Alexander said. “Sometimes
you have to move on.”

Daniel stopped at another light and turned
to Alexander. “Do you miss it?”

“Yeah,” Alexander said softly. “Even the
fog.”

“But you’d never go back?”

“Maybe someday, but…” Alexander trailed off.
“I’ve got some sort of a life here. I’m all settled and things are
comfortable.”

“But life is all about adventures, finding
new things, isn’t it?” Daniel asked as much to himself as to
Alexander. He’d stopped seeking out any sort of change years
ago.

“I’m afraid I’m one of those boring types
who don’t quite fancy adventures,” Alexander admitted. He wasn’t
sure if that was true; he’d never really gotten the chance to find
out, and he felt near certain he never would.

“Well,” Daniel said, shifting the car into
drive, “you’re still young. I bet you’ve got an adventure or two
left in you.”

Alexander smiled, turning to watch Daniel’s
profile.

“So, you moved to Massachusetts then?”

“Yes, we lived very near to Boston. I was
home schooled. My mum was… well, she’s very protective of me. I was
a fragile child, I suppose.”

Daniel caught Alexander’s eyes, finding some
of the same sadness in them as he saw the first time they’d met on
the subway.

“And then the big move to the city?”
Alexander nodded. “Sounds like an adventure to me,” Daniel
said.

Alexander smiled and looked back out the
window and up at the stars he couldn’t see, but knew were there
nevertheless. “I suppose,” he said, pressing his mittened hands
gently to the glass. He smiled at the slight sting in his fingers;
maybe this would turn out all right. “So, I suppose you’ve been
everywhere?”

Daniel snickered and shot a glance at
Alexander who gazed intently out the window. “What makes you say
that?”

“You can’t answer a question with a
question,” Alexander said a bit cheekily, turning to find Daniel
watching him. “I should know. It drives everyone I know crazy.”

Daniel seemed to consider this for a moment,
and tipped his head toward Alexander. “I’ve been most everywhere,
it’s true.”

“And what's your favorite place in all of
everywhere?” Alexander asked.

Daniel found himself in a place he hadn’t
been in awhile; utterly and absolutely charmed. A feeling of
anticipation and a strong sense of a future with this bright young
man surged through him. He couldn’t stop the grin that overtook his
face even if he’d wanted to.

Sometimes people just click. They snap right
into place, Daniel knew this. He’d had rare moments in his life
when this had happened, when he’d known in no uncertain terms that
he’d met someone he’d always care for, always find fascinating and
beautiful.

“So?”

“I’m thinking,” Daniel said. Alexander let
out a short giggle, inspiring one in Daniel as well.

Yes, Alexander was definitely one of those
people.

“Idaho,” Daniel finally said, pulling his
car into a large parking ramp. They'd reached their destination,
but neither really wished to leave the car.

“Idaho?”

“Everyone always questions that.” Daniel
chuckled, parking the vehicle, but leaving it on, letting the
engine’s hum fill their silences.

“Do they?” Alexander had a shy smile on his
face, his covered hands pressed to his cheeks.

“I suppose they would, if anyone had ever
asked me,” Daniel replied. “I’m just assuming.”

“You’re crazy,” Alexander said softly. “Why
Idaho?”

“Well, I think I’ll need some time with
that,” Daniel said. “I’ve only just decided it’s my favorite
place.”

“But, maybe if you give it too much thought
you’ll decide you like somewhere else better, like London or
Toronto.”

“Very similar, those places to Idaho,”
Daniel said dryly, leaning across the console on an elbow. “This
car here is ranking up near the top with astonishing speed.”

Alexander blushed then, something he’d gone
without doing in almost fifteen minutes. A new world record,
perhaps.

“You could drive the car to Idaho,”
Alexander suggested.

“Heaven,” Daniel said, settling back into
his own seat. “So…”

Alexander wasn’t quite adept at picking up
on subtle conversation devices, so he just stared at Daniel, hands
to his cheeks.

“Dinner, I guess,” Daniel finally said,
turning the key down in the ignition. The car’s engine hummed to a
stop. “All set?”

Alexander nodded, a tad afraid that any
jarring movement would break the spell of the lovely night he was
having. Regardless, he knew they’d have one hell of a dinner
conversation when he took his mittens off, that was for sure.

***

Alexander should have known that with his
luck the evening wouldn’t turn out as planned. It was somewhat
discouraging, as his only expectations for the night out involved
extreme forms of embarrassment.

But this exceeded all expectations.

“I am very sorry, sir,” the hostess at
the restaurant told Daniel, her mouth in a straight, firm line.
“
Roberto’s
is a black tie
establishment.”

Alexander had never felt so embarrassed in
his entire twenty four years of living. He should have known,
Daniel had told him they’d be dining in Park Place. What had he
been thinking with the sweater?

Daniel sighed, giving the hostess a
desperate look, but she wasn’t budging. If Alexander felt terrible,
then Daniel felt doubly terrible. He’d known of the restaurant
policies, had even dressed in a smart suit himself, but he’d been
so caught up with Alexander that he hadn’t noticed the young man’s
attire.

Which was a complete mistruth, to be
sure.

Daniel had noticed. He’d spent an entire car
ride sneaking furtive glances at Alexander’s well cut trousers,
slightly scuffed black shoes and the small crescent of soft skin
peaking out from the very bottom of the green turtleneck
sweater.

For some reason it hadn’t exactly dawned on
him that Alexander’s clothes weren’t appropriate. In fact, they
looked far more than merely appropriate to Daniel.

He frowned hard, and turned to Alexander.
“We can go somewhere else.”

“No… we… you had plans,” Alexander said
miserably. “You made reservations. I can’t believe I mucked this
up. I’m so sorry.” Alexander shifted uneasily, feeling his hands
clench painfully inside his mittens. He couldn’t imagine what
Daniel must think of him, such an unrefined, naïve boy who’d never
been much of anywhere.

“It doesn’t matter,” Daniel said. “It’s not
about the restaurant, Alexander. It’s never been about the
restaurant.”

But Alexander wasn’t hearing it.

“I can go home and change,” Alexander
offered, biting at his lip. “I just… don’t think I have a tie, but
I could call Eli, and he could…maybe... Or Elizabeth, perhaps…”

Alexander babbled to the floor and Daniel
felt extremely guilty.

“You really want to eat here?” Daniel asked,
stepping in closer. He settled a warm hand on the side of
Alexander’s neck.

Even through the thick fabric, Alexander
could feel the heat, could feel it radiating off Daniel in
waves.

‘Well, that was the plan,’ Alexander
thought, not daring to look up. ‘You take me to dinner, we have an
uncomfortable evening and I royally fuck everything up at dessert.
But not before we even get in the restaurant,’ he mentally berated
himself.