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“Ahhh, but that’s the secret! It’s not in spite of a mobile. It’s because I don’t have one. I’m not interested in any job that wants a CV and waiting three weeks to hear back and going to a job interview to see if I’m suitable. And I don’t want to work for anyone who thinks that crap’s necessary. That means I end up finding people who actually meet in person. Who want to know the human that’s working for them.”
“You just wander up to strangers and say: hey, let’s be boss-friend-employees for the next few months. By the way, do you have a spare bed?”
“There’s more out there than you think. Owners who actually connect with people in real life, rather than through a screen.”
“I see,” said Luca, teasingly. “So you’ll stay in their beds. But when it comes to me, you tried to wander off into a storm? Interesting.”
Artair laughed. “It’s different when you’re working for someone. It doesn’t feel as much of an imposition.”
“Have you stayed in touch with any of them?”
“Some. It’s how I met Sandy. Well, her girlfriend, Hua, at least.”
Luca sat up sharply, thinking back to all the conversations he’d had with Sandy over the last month. All those times where she’d deliberately teased him with details of her love life, only to kill the line at the last moment. “Wait, you’ve met Sandy in person? When? Where? How?”
Artair raised an eyebrow. “You know she’s just a normal woman, right? Skin and hair and stuff. She’s not the Loch Ness monster.”
“Yeah, but she’s also the only other person I’ve spoken to in a month! So stop being coy and tell me everything.”
“There’s not that much to tell. I was busking on the streets of Seattle one winter and Hua saw me. She asked if I wanted to play a gig at her bar, I said yes, and the rest is history.”
“Oh my god! And what does Sandy look like. I’m thinking trucker lesbian realness. With a full mullet and a cigarette behind the ear?”
Artair laughed. “That’s more Hua than Sandy. H is a nineties grunge girl. A true Seattle music lover. But Sandy is... not what you’d expect, based on her voice.”
“Oh, come on. That’s not much of a picture to work with!”
Artair shrugged, giving that same infuriating grin.
Luca snorted and nuzzled into his warmth. As the scent of virile man enveloped him, Luca dwelled on the story—at how Artair’s whole life had shifted based on one chance encounter on a Seattle street.
Even with Luca’s own ability to strike up conversations with strangers—to conduct interviews on the most personal topics—he couldn’t imagine just turning up in a new city like that. With no phone, no contacts, no plan, nowhere to stay, and just adapting. To base your entire well-being on making friends and trusting that people will do right by you.
It was so impressive. And so unlike what most people would consider normal.
Artair rested his forehead against Luca’s own. “You don’t think it’s weird? The whole wandering thing?”
“God no,” said Luca, curious why Artair cared what he thought. “It’s incredible that you can do that. That you’re actually doing it, rather than just talking about it.” Luca poked at Artair’s ribs, already returning to their usual padding with the amount Luca was feeding him. “But maybe don’t starve yourself in future?”
“I don’t know. It’s worked out pretty well for me?”
On their fifth day together, the rain rushed over Luca’s face, cascading down his ample bronze curves. The soap bubbles moved over mountains and valleys, washing all the way down to the field at his feet.
Naked, Luca had his own tantalizing combination of rough and gentle. Smooth golden skin covered in thick black hair. Biceps and glutes hardened by the gym but made luscious by his body’s tendency toward winter hibernation.
Thick was the best word to describe him.
Thick and juicy.
The endless storm bore witness to his stocky beauty, framed by the gray afternoon and the hundreds of miles of undulating wilderness.
But as beautiful as the view was, Luca’s eyes were closed. Because his mind was elsewhere. Knowing that it wasn’t just birds watching him bathe, but someone of flesh and blood and coursing with longing. Someone fascinated and captivated and unable to take their eyes off him.
Luca moved sensually under the open-air shower. Ensuring that the rain trickled over the most alluring parts of his body. Ensuring that his captivated audience was witnessing a naïve and innocent nymph, with just enough sparkle in their smile to show how much they wished to learn.
And soon, he was joined by his teacher.
Luca laughed at how the rain made Artair’s hair flat, covering his eyes like an auburn mask. Artair played up the moment, walking like a naked zombie from the tower, arms extended and growling under his breath.
