Heart, Body & Soul (MxM)

Chapter Eight

Riyaan's face opens like an O. He is also laughing at what just happened!

He sits up. His body turns hot against his skin. Is Ivan testing him for something? His emotions are also hard for him to articulate - he cannot tell if he is elated or disappointed. There is no denying that he enjoys Ivan's presence, and conversations with him particularly a little too much - and may have had a few scenarios in his head with Ivan of their gradually falling in love. But this - this wasn't in any of those scenarios.

But what about his ex or that pending partner?

He reads the text again.

Riyaan: for real?

Ivan: Real what

Riyaan: you're offering yourself up like that?

Ivan: Does it matter?

***

'Good morning,' Ivan says after opening the door for him. Unlike the other days, he waits for Riyaan outside the car, leaning against it.

'Morning,'

The air inside the car is a little tense, especially because Riyaan will open his mouth at any moment while he is thinking back to the chat they had the night before. He still hasn't replied to Ivan.

Ivan seems a lot calmer as if they hadn't talked about sex just the night before. As if he doesn't know what Riyaan is thinking right now. That must be a part of his charm. He also smells a different today - softer and fresher. He would definitely drink that scent if he were in the desert on a hot day.

'Sleep well?'

'Is the offer still up?' Riyaan blurts out only to hear that Ivan is asking whether he slept well at the same time. The longer he holds it, the longer he will suffer.

Is the offer still up? Is. the. Offer. Still. up? Seriously?

'What offer?'

Ivan looks at him with confusion and what it looks like genuine curiosity.

'Yesterday's chat?' He inhales the scent quietly to calm himself. He hates how his brain did a quick replay of the day before to ensure the chat actually happened.

Ivan is still looking at his confusion with a face that is close to saying that he has no idea what he is talking about. Riyaan is taking a step back. What if someone else sent that message?

'You said something.'

'I did?' Ivan asks his temple skin creases. Anyone would miss it if they blinked at the wrong moment - but Riyaan didn't so he sees that little hint of smile and playfulness in Ivan's lips.

'Oh my god, you're just fucking with me!' He groans in pure frustration.

'I still don't know what you talking about?'

'You do. You said we can do ..something rather than Tinder hook-up '

'That we can fuck?'

'That's unfair. You cannot say the word and still sound classy.'

'Well, the offer is still up if you want it,' Ivan says in a gruff voice, bringing his two fingers to his mouth, and smoking a non-existent cigarette. Is that supposed to sound like a low-quality villain in a classic movie? It makes him laugh, and any thought of his saying 'no' to sex with Ivan - even for what Kris warns him against - has become 'yes' now.

'I want it.' Riyaan tries for a not-so-desperate voice.

'Okay, noted.'

'When?' Wrong move. Too desperate. Riyaan knows as he is speaking it.