Impress Me Not: Neon Underground

Chapter 18

He could barely remember what happened the night before. His throbbing head wouldn't even let him try. All he wanted to do was sleep, but his body had other plans. It forced him out of his bed to the bathroom connected to his room. His eyes were barely open before a wave of nausea turned into singing to a porcelain god.

How much did he drink? That question alone triggered another wave of vomit to eject out of him. The only comfort he had was the fact that he was home. George and Devon probably made sure of that. They weren't allowed to drink when they were working, so one or the other would always offer him a drive home. It was the only time he typically drank.

He was deeply regretting it now.

After it was over, he somehow managed to walk back to his room. Melvin grabbed some clothes before heading towards the backdoor. Aspirin might have been a good idea first, but he needed a smoke above all else. It wasn't practical, but that was how his mind worked.

The backyard wasn't fancy. Melvin liked to fill it with plants. It made the air feel good against his face, even in the summer. It was his perfect outdoor retreat. Melvin didn't normally have many guests at his home. He liked his privacy, and the plants helped with that, as it hid him from any prying neighbors.

The tobacco in his lungs helped with a bit of his headache. He coughed a bit of course, but as soon as he got it in him, he felt more relaxed. The memories of the night before were slowly coming back to him. It was fun at least. There weren't many nights that he had that much fun.

Now he just had to figure out what he was going to do with the pretty boy that kept bumping into him everywhere. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't been thinking about him all week. Those green eyes of his were artwork, especially as he went through all of those emotions that Melvin loved to beat out of him during the rare sessions in his private rooms.

He might have been good on his word to not let him into his club, but that didn't mean his thoughts were going to be free of him. It kept him entertained through the mundane parts of the day, and business.

That probably wasn't a good sign.

A knock on his back door almost startled him. Melvin turned to see just the man he was thinking of in the doorway.

"I brought food," Mateo held up a bag from one of the fast-food places near the neighborhood.

"You could have just left, you know," Melvin said, offering him a chair. "It's not like anything happened last night that would make you want to come back."

"You're grouchy when you're hungover," Mateo muttered, sitting down and handing him the bag. "Did you even get some medicine? I didn't hear you move around the house at all."

"This is my aspirin," Melvin held up the cigarette. On a normal day that he was hungover, he would just stay in his backyard smoking all morning until he had the energy to get up and get something to eat.

"Why do you smoke?" The pretty boy wrinkled his nose. "You know that stuff ages you, right?"

"It also can kill you," Melvin took another drag. "But it makes sense that you would bring looks up first."

"Well, that's the first sign that something is bad for you," Mateo was cute when he was trying to defend himself. "The skin is the largest organ in your body, after all. If what you're ingesting is causing your skin to look bad, then it's easy to say that it's not helping the rest of the body."

"I'm impressed you managed to make it seem like a meaningful statement," Melvin said, grabbing the food and munching on it. He could feel himself start to feel better already. "It's a shame you ruined your chances with Anton. You would have fit right in with my family."