Page 28 of Dance This Song With Me?

"I'm going to shower," Emi said, sliding his legs out from under the covers and standing up. I took advantage and had a good perv at his very fine ass as he headed for his ensuite. Right at the door, Emi turned back and caught me watching. He winked cheekily and sauntered out of the room, leaving me sprawled in his bed, exhausted but excited to see where this would lead.

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The little cafe was as good as Emi had led me to believe.

When we entered, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee hung in the air, and I inhaled a delicious lungful of it. There was a metallic grinding coming from the far end of the counter, followed by some hissing, as the coffee machine worked hard to satisfy the steady stream of customers coming in. The server walked past us where we stood in line, carrying a plate of pastries, the sugary scent making my mouth water. My stomach rumbled as it finally woke up.

"This was a good idea. I didn't realize how hungry I am."

"Well, you used up a lot of energy last night, parce."

"Shut up!" I jabbed him playfully in the ribs.

The line moved forward. Emi pushed me forward too, moving in close behind me, his hot breath on my ear and his hands running over my waist, simultaneously playful yet suggestive; it made a part of me sit up and take notice.

"Not here, Emi," I whispered.

"Why not, mi amor? "

"You're making me go hard. I don't want people to think..."

"Think what, Lucas? That we sleep together? You think the people in here will judge us for that?"

My gaze swept over the room. At a table in the corner, two young women were holding hands and leaning across the table towards each other. Beside the floor to ceiling windows, a table for four had three men and one woman seated together, two of the men with their shoulders pressed up against each other as they laughed at something someone had said. I saw the way one of the men looked at the other, the expression soft and obviously besotted.

In fact, most of the couples in the cafe did appear to be from the LGBTQ+ community and the few that didn't obviously look that way, well they might still have been, of course.

"Point taken. I guess you come here often, right?, since it's only just down the road from where you live."

"Yep. My local." We moved to the head of the queue and gave our orders. Deciding to sit inside because it was cool and blustery with the remnants of a southerly change that had passed through during the night, we found a table next to the floor-to-ceiling glass window looking onto the footpath where a surprising number of people were out and about despite the weather. A short while later, our breakfast arrived and all conversation ceased until we'd recharged.

"Mmm, that feels better," Emi pushed his empty coffee mug away and reached for my hand. "What would you like to do today, Lucas? See a movie? Visit the Art Gallery? Go to the zoo? Whatever you like. I don't care... I'm just happy to be with you."

"I'd like to get to know you better," I replied. "How about we do something where we can talk... so, not the movies..."

The zoo seemed ideal for a get-to-know-you first date. Although we'd spent a few afternoons chatting over a beer, we hadn't gone deeper with our conversations. Emi was fun and we got along great, but I needed to know if we had enough in common for a serious relationship before I lost my heart entirely. Although, if I was honest about it, it might already be a bit late to worry about that.

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The zoo was a hoot.

Emi was in a crazy mood. When the tiger prowled up to the glass viewing window, Emi wound his sweater round his neck like a ruff, and facing me, pretended to be rubbing up against the creature.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm pretending to be its mate," he said, pulling what I think he thought were tigerly faces.

"You're not. Tigers don't have manes, that's what you've got. If anything, you're a lion."

He puffed out his chest. "Ah, King of the Jungle," he crowed, "or the savannah, or wherever they live." A noisy bunch of people entered the viewing area.

Emi looked around. Dropping his voice, he added, with a waggle of his eyebrows, "King of the bedroom!"

"Idiot!" I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the enclosure, glancing behind us in case anyone had heard, but everyone was crowded around the window staring at the animals. Emi's other arm slipped around me, settling comfortably onto my waist, like it had always belonged there.

"Come on, let's go see the whales. Did you know the blue whale has a penis that's up to three metres in length?"

"I'm pretty sure there isn't a blue whale at this zoo," I told him.