Cold Touch

Chapter Four

     Ashkii had told himself to try his best to forget about what had happened at the bar with Giovanni. It's been two weeks, and there hasn't been a day that's passed that he hasn't thought about it. At least, he managed not to look at Giovanni in the face, but that was mostly over shame more than anything else. He couldn't help that he found the thought of Giovanni sucking him off attractive, but he felt embarrassed—Very embarrassed. He touched himself to the thought, and maybe he'd browsed the gay version of porn hub every now and again just to have a better thought of what it would look like. The guilt weighed on him so much he could barely even talk to Giovanni through texting, and slowly they had drifted apart, and it worried Ashkii, so he reached out, proposing they meet up, and hang out. He couldn't lose Giovanni's friendship, regardless of whatever fucked up nonsense he thought about when rubbing one out in the shower.

     Ashkii kept looking at his phone as five in the evening approached. He'd agreed on that time with Giovanni, and the bartender had informed him that he was on his way. He would be at Ashkii's place at any moment now. Ashkii lived in a basement apartment just off-campus. It was cheap for its size—a bit run down, but he was also allowed to use the backyard, and the internet came with rent—and hopefully, it could fully load the movie he was planning to stream when Giovanni got there.

     He sat on the second-hand sofa he'd bought off the landlord, staring into his apartment as he waited. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous. Maybe it was because it'll be the first time Giovanni would be at his place, or maybe he simply didn't trust himself enough to act right around the bartender. He pushed that doubt to the back of his mind and waited patiently. When he heard a knock on the door, he scrambled to his feet and hurried towards the door. When he opened it, it revealed Giovanni, staring down at him with a hint of a smile.

     "It's like a 15-minute drive from my place, that's not bad," the man said as he kicked off his shoes. Ashkii noticed that Giovani was wearing color—which was surprising to him because he hadn't seen him in many contexts outside the bar where he wore black on black. Giovani was in a round blue sweater vest he wore over a white long-sleeved top. He was wearing washed off jeans,

     "Hey," the man said, stretching out his hand to reveal a bag dangling from a strap. "I brought some things if that's okay. Your shirt's in it too."

     "Thanks..." Ashkii trailed, taking the bag before stepping aside from the door. Giovanni walked in, and Ashkii's eyes followed the man, watching how he paused to take in the whole apartment before heading over to the sofa and taking a sit.

"It's a nice place," Giovanni said. "It's big."

"Yeah, it is," Ashkii said, closing the front door before wandering over to the kitchen counters that oversaw the living room. He emptied the bag, taking out the pack of beer and the white wine Giovanni had brought along. There was also a deck of cards and a couple of chocolate bars. Ashkii didn't know how to play any card game to save his life, so he might have to disappoint Giovanni on that one.

     "Oh, is this the movie you wanted us to watch?" Giovanni asked, making Ashkii look over at the screen.

     "Yeah," he said, swallowing a bit as screen grabs of the lost in space movie came up on the screen. "If you're not a fan of stuff like this, we can watch something else." They were probably going to be drinking and talking and not paying much attention, either way, so Ashkii wasn't picky about the movie. It would be background noise, regardless.

     "Nah, it's fine. It looks interesting. Benny likes stuff like this," Giovanni said with a little smile.

     "Who's Benny?" Ashkii's voice came up a little too loud, making Giovanni look up at him with a raised brow.