FREE⇡RIDE⇣HOME [Elevator Hitch || COTAG]

I need a drink...

I'm aggressively munching on the cupcakes from earlier. My coworker is sitting on the couch next to me, reading a book. He pronounces some of his favourite phrases out loud from time to time.

I'm bored.

I lean in to him, so I can read the text too, from the book that I've determined is a romance, based on the sentences he read to me.

"drooped over his victim's face, and the drops of water burnt into her cheeks, as they fell down. "The sea is quiet, so you can make noise." He bit on her painfully swollen lips, and left more empathetic bruises on her breasts, with a mild–"

I turn away immediately, with my face already covered by my hands. I chose the worst possible fragment to read. "What are you reading..." It's a rhetoric question.

"Erotica."

Okay, well, if I were reading that and someone asked me about it, I would've never been honest about it. Even if it's not pornography, it's still quite embarrassing.

"Do you want to read with me?"

"What?! No!"

He frowns.

"...The literary part of it is okay," I give in.

He closes his book, and throws it aside. "Erotica isn't as dirty as you'd expect."

"No, I understand that, but... it makes me uncomfortable."

"Why?" He climbs onto me, and I just let him, for no reason in particular. "Does it make you uncomfortable when I do this?"

He gently presses his hand on my ribcage, and caresses the area that shields my heart, while maintaining eye contact. I can't breathe, but not because he's squeezing my chest, but because I feel anxious.

He strokes a long line with his finger from my thigh to my shin, and lifts my leg up, before kissing my ankle, or, actually the fabric of my sock. At this point, I'm desperately trying to wiggle away, but he's pinning me down by my torso. "Erm, a little bit–"

"Think of me, instead of yourself."

I keep my breath in, and look into his eyes, unsure of this whole situation. It's true that I'm thinking way more about how I look to him, instead of how he looks to me.

I feel my heartbeat echoing through me. He's starting to fiddle with my collar, trying to reach my collarbones...

I push him away. "Okay, enough. This is too much..."

He pulls me upwards, and sits up himself, before quietly whispering in my ear: "we'll continue tonight, I suppose..."

His voice makes me shiver. I swiftly slam my legs shut, and distance myself from him. "Okay– I mean sure– I mean whatever..."

I cover my face and groan. "I need a drink..."

"Water?"

"Beer."

He shudders, in a good way. "Can I have some with you?"

"You're seriously asking for permission? You have no choice!" I drag him to the kitchen with me.

He puts a box on the table, and takes a beer out of it. "One crate. No more."

I nod, and before he's even opened his own bottle, I've already gulped down half of mine. "Listen. I have to call my landlord tomorrow. Will you drive me to my apartment again, so I can get the rest of my stuff?"

"Yeah, sure," he yawns, and takes a tiny sip of his beer. "Do you want to go to the waterfront tomorrow, too?"

"Eh? Oh, sure."

"Then we'll eat something in the local restaurant~ then we'll take a stroll along the beach~" he rambles on and on.

His first beer already has him in shambles. "Hey, do want to go to work after work with me... I mean my apartment..?"

"I live here, dumbass."

"Really? That's amazing~" he embraces me and squeezes me tightly. "I'm so happy~"

"Put me down and let me drink, will you?" I scorn.

He laughs, and opens his second beer bottle. "Sure! I'll let you," he says, and backs away from me. "You know you remind me of an owl, kind of?"

"How come?" I ask.

"'Cause owl always love you~"

I shake my head in discomfort, unsure what to respond with. "Wow, amazing," I say, with the most monotone voice known to mankind.

He's already drunk. It's concerning. "How bad of a lightweight are you?"

"Hmm... bad." He rests his head on my shoulder.

I want to shake him off, but seeing him vulnerable like this makes me feel a specific kind of sympathy towards him. "If you're tired, go to bed."

"Nooo~ I want to drink with you..." the second after he's finished that sentence, his loud, raspy snore deafens me. I still don't push him off, though.

"Sleep well, kiddo," I whisper, and pat his head. Then, I continue gulping down alcohol like it's coffee.

It's gotten dark outside. Should we go to bed too?

Okay. I shouldn't get drunk, for the sake of avoiding a hungover.

I lift him up by the armpits, and carry his heavy body over to the bedroom, with lots of trouble, especially because the alcohol is getting into my muscles.

As I try to turn around, so I can lay my coworker down on the sheets, I somehow walk into the bed frame and tumble over on the mattress, waking him up. "Oh, sorry, my bad..."

"It's alright." He's still grinning.

He crawls off of me, and pulls me under the sheets with him. By under, I mean that we're completely covered up, to the point that it's difficult to breathe.

I don't even have the time to comment on this, because he's already pressed my face against his chest.

He's exploring every possible space on my legs, before finally settling below my thighs, and falling asleep, with me returning the hug.

I pray he doesn't feel sick from the alcohol tomorrow.

✂