“Okay, so you’re serious, we’re actually doing this?”
The note of skepticism on Riley’s face would have been
laughable, if Dez didn’t already feel so bad about all the time they hadn’t
been spending together.
“I turned off both our phones and threw them in the drawer. Popcorn
is popped, with extra butter, just the way you like it. I warned the guys not
to stop by, and all three locks are on the door. Hell, I even hung that do
not disturb sign we stole from the motel on the back of it to drive the
point home, just in case anyone got a wild hair and decided to pop in. The
afternoon is ours and I’m yours for every millisecond of it.”
When Riley narrowed his eyes at him, Dez wondered what the hell
he could have possibly forgot.
“The computers are turned off?”
“Yup.”
“And your notebook is put away?”
“Locked in the same drawer as the phones.”
Riley looked all around, scrutinizing every corner.
“My guitars are in the music room, all of them. I’m serious,
Riley, no distractions, we’re gonna watch movies and veg.”
“And no movies about music either,” Riley grumbled.
“Nope, I’ve got Hotel Transylvania loaded up, and the sequels
in a pile beside the machine. When we’re done with those, I’ve got the Ice Age
movies lined up. We are one hundred percent completely good to go.”
“One hundred percent, huh?” Riley said, sprawling against
the arm of the couch. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”
“I bet you will,” Dez replied, dropping onto the cushion
beside him and hitting play, while Riley dug into the popcorn.
“Ohh nice, you really went all out with the butter.”
“Against my better judgement, yeah, I did, but don’t blame me
when your next cholesterol check is off the charts and your doc puts you on
meds and orders you to change your diet.
“Duly noted, now how about sharing how you managed to get it
so perfect when every time I make a bag it chars in the center?”
“Simple,” Dez remarked, leaning across him for a handful. “I
pause it halfway through the popping to shake the bag so the heat gets distributed
better.”
“Seriously?”
“Yup.”
“Damn. I’ll remember that,” Riley replied, snorting at the
dismayed look on the janitors face when it was revealed the clogged toilet was
the result of bigfoot with a stomach ache.
“Oh man, I feel that,” Riley muttered as the janitor let out
a cry and stared forlornly at his plunger. “I don’t know how the fuck he does
it, but every god damned time James is over here he manages to clog the one in
the hall.”
Snickering, Dez watched Frankenstein’s rear end back up
behind the mummy, letting out a green tinged fart cloud the witches were forced
to suck up with bellows and fire into the fireplace flames. Toad stools actually
made of toads, bride of Frankenstein griping about the travel arrangements,
they were laughing and pressed together less than fifteen minutes into the
movie’s opening.
“Okay, I so want a pet bat,” Riley muttered, as pouty bat
face dominated the screen.
“And what happens when Lady Luna Lily decides it would make
good pouncing practice?”
“Uh, yeah, that could be a problem.”
“Could always find you a stuffed one?”
“So Zakk and Damien can laugh their asses off the minute I carry
it onto the RV?”
“You could always leave it here,” Dez offered. “Though in
fairness, you kinda deserve the shade they’d throw your way, considering the
whole Daffy incident.”
“Oh my god, I did not mean to set the damned vest on fire.”
“I don’t know man, was awfully suspicious that it happened
when you were the only one in the RV.”
“She so did.”
“Shit, I wish something would eat mine.”
Laughing, Dez enjoyed the freak out of the human when he
realized the monsters were real, the spinning ping-pong ball of energy bouncing
around the room. There was this moment though, when Frankenhomie, otherwise
known as Jonathan the human, made eye contact with Mavis and the whole eye
swirling, zoned in on one another, fireworks thing happened and Dez couldn’t
resist pulling Riley around to face him.
“That’s how I felt, when I saw you,” Dez murmured, pulling
him in for a kiss. “Wanted to choke the life outta you for making me think
about music again, but I wanted to kiss you too, shove you against the wall, make
out until you couldn’t remember what you were trying to ask me.”
“Like this,” Riley growled, pinning Dez to the back of the
couch, tongue invading his mouth until the sounds of the movie melted away. Riley’s
hair, crushed in his fists, was as soft as feathers, his body molded against
Dez’s, the taste of butter and salt on his lips. Riley sighed, finally easing
away and turning back to the movie.
“Oh ick ick ick!” Dez muttered, cringing about as much as
Dracula was at Jonathan trying to get the contact out of his eyes.
Fingers away from the eyeballs. Enough!
Dez had to agree with Drac on that.
“It’s not that bad,” Riley remarked, laughing at the scrunched-up
look Dez knew was still on his face.
“I’ll take your word for it and continue to refrain from
being anywhere near you when you’re taking yours out at night.”
“Coward.”
“Just call me KFC.”
What’s the alternative, staying at home and never seeing what’s
out there?
Jonathan’s words reminded Dez of the conversations he and
Winter had been having lately, about the way his friend was thinking about taking
off, seeing the things in the journal he kept, all magazine cut outs and lists of
obscure destinations.
“Now that should be a ride,” Riley declared, startling Dez
out of his thoughts. “I’d stand in line all day to get on something like that.”
“I’d be right there with you,” Dez remarked, staring the flying
tables, Drac and Jonathan chasing each other around the dining room, surfing and
shoving one another until they crashed.
“Someday, I wanna be big enough where we can rent out a
whole park for a couple hours, just so we can enjoy the place,” Riley muttered as
the mood of the movie changed again.
“We tour with Wild Child and we could do that easily.”
“If. No one’s agreed on anything yet. Wild Child hasn’t even
chosen their new bassist, they’ve run into the same issue we had trying to find
a singer, only none of them have been lucky enough to wander into a dish room
and find a miracle.”
Just hearing that, Dez felt his face heat up. “Wouldn’t say
I was a miracle.”
“To us you were,” Riley said, pulling him into a kiss.
When their eyes met, Dez felt fireworks all over again, and
he shivered as Riley’s breath ghosted along the skin behind his ear.
“To me, you always will be,” Riley whispered. “Always.”
Tattered Angel on Amazon and Kindle Select
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