“Maybe that’s because Joey and Harvey live here. They’re my next door neighbours and are the ones that asked me to look into your, um, situation with Alex.”
“Yeah, we visited Joey once, so that must be it.” Pen chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, frowning slightly. “Neither one of them spoke more than two words to me whenever we were together. I think ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye’ was the extent of the conversation.”
“Do you think maybe that could be because of Alex? Joey mentioned that they never really knew your name, only that Alex said it was P. It might be he warned them not to talk with you too much.”
Pen shrugged and waited for the engine to turn off. The seatbelt retracted automatically once the engine was off, which made him smile again. He stood on the sidewalk until Ryan reached his side and walked with him into the building.
It was immediately apparent that this building had been gutted and completely remodelled. The plain brick façade didn’t match the elegant wood of the foyer. Pen remembered being here now. Unless he was mistaken, the twin elevators were located to the right of the reception desk, the doors camouflaged by wood panelling that matched the rest of the walls. He remembered that he’d thought it very clever. The blues and greens were also very lovely against the dark wood and cream accents.
The interior of Ryan’s apartment made Pen smile. It was so empty. There were no pictures on the walls, and very little on the shelves, except for some books and movie discs. The couch and chair were bare of throws or pillows. He looked carefully, but couldn’t find any sign of a computer or even a hand screen anywhere. It was a little disconcerting. Pen always thought he was the only one that didn’t have those technologies cluttering up every surface. Nowadays, people displayed their technology and hid their books away, if they even had any.
“Obviously this is the living room. Joey and Harvey live right on the other side of this wall,” he told her, gesturing towards the left. “Right here is the kitchen. I love that there’s a shuttered window between the kitchen and living room. Over there is the hall for the rest of the apartment. First door on the left is a guest room, first on the right is the laundry room. Second door on the left is the master bedroom, second on the right is the bathroom. At the end of the hall is a large storage area.”
“It’s nice. The living room and kitchen are really a great size.” The lack of any kind of decorating made the rooms seem twice as big as they were.
“Yeah, all the rooms are really huge. The bathroom could be half its current size and still be considered big. You want something to drink? I have wine, beer, juice, soda and some cold water in the fridge.”
Pen turned and caught the way Ryan was looking at him. It was a struggle to keep his expression smooth as he realized that look asinterest. Not ‘I’m interested in what you have to say’ but ‘I’m interested in finding out what you look like naked’. His heart began to beat a little quicker and he moved towards the window to put some space between them.
“Water for now. I’ll save the wine for dinner.”
He sat down in the chair while Ryan got the water. The couch looked comfortable, but he didn’t want to take the chance of Ryan sitting next to him. That might prove to be too much for Pen to handle. Now that the idea of having a crush on the man was in his mind, it was difficult to get rid of it. If they were in close proximity to each other, he might give away his feelings and that would prove embarrassing, no matter the look he got earlier.
Ryan moved with easy and confident grace. Pen watched him as he went about getting them both drinks and felt jealous. Had Pen ever been able to move so easily with his head held high? Try as he might, he couldn’t recall a time where he wasn’t aware that he needed caution when interacting with people, even the members of his family. Except for his father when he was a child. That had changed as well.
As though reading his thoughts, Ryan asked the question when he arrived with the drinks. “Does your father live here in Rutherford as well?”
“No. My father is dead. He died a little over two years ago.”
“Died?” Ryan leaned forward in surprise at the news. “It’s strange to hear of a nightwalker dying. How did that happen?”
“He tried to break the binding. It was horrible. I-I was there, and saw everything. Do you know how a nightwalker dies, when they break the binding?” He waited to see just what Ryan knew about it. There weren’t any reports of that kind of thing happened. Pen had researched after it happened, and again while working on his report on daywalkers for class.
“No, I haven’t a clue. Can you tell me?”
“Almost as soon as his fangs broke the skin on his victim’s neck, he pulled back and started screaming. The sound was just, well, inhuman. I think the easiest way to describe what happened next would be to say it is what you might imagine if a nightwalker walked out into the midday sun. There was smoke coming from his mouth, nose, ears, and even his eyes. The smell was so strong it nearly burned my nose.
“Everyone around was screaming and running, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Dad’s skin began to blacken and smoulder, and almost before I realized it, he collapsed in on himself and fell to the ground, nothing but a pile of dust.
“Dad had invited me to meet him in a favourite restaurant of ours and that’s where it happened. He wanted to die, and he wanted to have witnesses around. I went through his apartment so many times afterwards, trying to find some clue about why. There was nothing to find, though. I sold everything and have tried to forget.”
“I’m so sorry, Pen. I wish…”
His hand reached out to wipe away the single tear that spilled from the gorgeous green eyes. The skin of the pale cheek was so soft beneath his fingers, satin smooth. The few male cheeks he’d touched before weren’t so smooth and soft. It fascinated Ryan so much that he gently touched the rest of the face, tracing from the forehead, down the temple to the jaw and chin. Pen’s lips parted as his breathing sped up and Ryan took the opportunity to touch those as well, ghosting over the sensual fullness.
Though he wanted to push his fingers into the blond hair, the impulse was curbed by the arrival of their dinner. Ryan blinked and pulled back quickly, surprised by his actions, before hurrying to answer the door. What had come over him? It felt like he was taking advantage of a young man who didn’t need any more complications in his life.
Glancing back quickly to see Pen, he noticed the features of the delicate face were pale and drawn. To give him time to compose himself, Ryan bade Pen stay in the living room to relax while he set the table and dished up the food. Candles would be nice, but that might be a bit much right now.
He was learning so much about himself. Until seeing Pen again, he’d thought that dinner with a woman meant wine, roses, and candles, while dinner with a man was just food, beer and sports on the television. That wasn’t the case tonight. Ryan wanted to give Pen everything, all the romance and attention he had in him. It was strange and disconcerting. It felt right.