“I’ll give you guys a ride. Will you be alright here by yourself for a little while?” Sofia asked Alejandro as she stood up. He nodded and she walked into the kitchen to retrieve her purse.
I walked with Mitchell to the front door and waited for Sofia who led the way out of the house. For the first time that I can honestly remember, before all of this happened, Mitchell held my hand firmly in his the entire way to the car.
Sofia sat in the driver’s seat, Mitchell sat next to her, and I sat in the back behind Mitch. I sighed as she turned the car on and put it in drive. I glanced at her bay windows and smiled sadly. Alejandro was standing there with his hands in his pockets watching me leave him again.
He nodded at me and I quickly used my forefinger to draw a heart on the car window before we disappeared from view.
Eight
I was sitting in the living room of the small apartment with Mitchell watching him play a video game. I had my legs tucked underneath me and was leaning on the arm of the couch.
It had been three days and nothing sexual had happened.
Not even an attempt.
While I secretly wondered if it had anything to do with Alejo and me, I honestly was grateful. I didn’t want to have to have sex again just to find out my true feelings for someone.
These last few days of simply just hanging out were more comforting than what I had when I was in Italy. Something about being able to just sit there and talk or play video games, or even just lay next to each other and watch a movie until we both fell asleep, made me feel more wanted than any sexual act could.
It was more intimate than anything I could imagine and I loved it. But I can’t deny the fact that I was starting to get horny.
“Here Babe,” Mitch said, handing me the controller.
I stared at it for a moment.
“Why?” I asked taking it uncertainly.
“Because I wanna watch you play. It’s funny how mad you get so quickly,” he replied with a grin.
I stuck my tongue out at him and sat up. I waited for the game to start and then I was off. I was playing a first person shooter and I wasn’t too bad at it. Of course there were certain parts that would get anyone mad and I yelled out in frustration a few times, causing Mitch to laugh good-naturedly.
I held out the controller after my round was up but he shook his head and leaned back on the couch. I shrugged and went for round two. An hour later, when I finally had enough, I put the controller down and reached for my cigarettes.
Mitch grinned and used his lighter to light my smoke. I inhaled, thanked him, and leaned back on the couch again. I found myself gazing out the window, watching the cars going by wondering what could have been so bad that I had left.
This actually seemed like a pretty good life. We sat there and played until the sun went down; that’s when he announced that he was going to the gas station and that’s when I started to remember what the problem was.
“Beer run?” I asked tightly.
“Yeah. Need anything?” he asked as he slid on his sneakers. I shook my head and he stared at me for a moment before he nodded.
“Give me a kiss,” he said leaning down toward me. I obliged and watched Mitch walk out the front door. Because of where the windows were in the apartment I was able to watch him walk down the block and disappear around the corner.
I sighed.
I hope this doesn’t turn into a shit show, I thought miserably. I was pretty sure that Mitchell, being drunk off whatever he planned to be, was the cause of most of our issues.
I decided to not worry about it as I picked up the controller and went into another online match. I grabbed my cigarettes and lit one during the ten second delay before the game actually started and launched into one of the best games I ever played.
Two more ten minute matches and Mitch finally came home. He set down a large fountain drink in front of me and a new pack of cigarettes before he went to the refrigerator and put a couple of large cans of beer inside.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Yup,” he replied as he sat down to take off his sneakers.
I watched out of the corner of my eye as I opened my straw. He had two other large cans of beer already sitting on the counter and was washing a glass. I stuck my straw into my big Styrofoam cup and sipped, turning my attention away from him just as he popped the first can open.
I couldn’t help but cringe as I heard the sound of the beer emptying into the glass. When he popped open the second can I turned to stare at him. I guess he felt my eyes on him because he smiled as he filled the rest of the glass before drinking what was left in the can and tossing it into the garbage.