hand. Equal measures of cleanliness were applied to the bathroom. Carl looked around the room quite happy with what he had accomplished, then filled the hot pink bathtub with lavender bubble bath and climbed in.
When the water got cold and Carl felt relaxed enough to sleep he dried off and fell into bed, he didn’t even have the energy to put on underwear and didn’t much care. It was five in the morning and all he wanted was a few hours of undisturbed sleep.
THREE
The taste of Carl lingered on Landon’s lips the entire night. His dreams ravishing his brain with visions of a half-naked Carl gripping tight to his chest, the sound of his breathing becoming rushed and anxious as their lips locked passionately together.
When he finally fell asleep, it was short lived as his own strangled moans woke him from a nightmare. He scrubbed his hands over his face, distraught by the image of his head bobbing between Michael’s thighs. The recollection of Michael panting and calling out his name, holding him in place while he came in his mouth, sent him running to the washroom and heaving into the toilet again.
Stepping into the bar a few hours later, Landon was relieved to see Chase and Mikala sitting at a table with paperwork scattered over the surface, arguing as usual.
“Chase you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, back the fuck off,” Mikala snipped.
“Am I interrupting anything important?” Landon asked, holding his hand on the back of the chair directly across from the pair.
“Yes please,” Mikala said, tucking papers into a folder with a scowl.
Landon pulled out the chair, twisting it around in the air and then straddled it, his eyes glancing from Chase to Mikala and back again, neither seemed pleased with the other.
“Should I be scared?”
“You’re safe,” Chase assured him. “Our dear sweet ray of sunshine here, won’t take a little friendly advice is all.”
“What kind of advice is that?” Landon risked asking.
“It’s not up for discussion,” Mikala snapped. “I don’t need both of you filling my head with fucked up notions.”
Carl came to the table and set a coffee before each of them and met Landon’s eyes. “Morning,” Carl said, directing the greeting to Landon alone, totally catching him off guard.
“Good morning, thanks for the coffee,” Landon said, sheepishly testing the waters. “Get any sleep?”
“I managed to get a few hours,” Carl said, walking to Mikala’s side and handing her a glass of orange juice. “Here you go honey, freshly made just for you.”
Mikala took a sip and spit it back into the glass, to the horror of the men surrounding her. “Carlton, are you trying to fucking kill me? Did you use fucking rotten oranges?” Mikala yelled, as she bolted to the washroom.
“What the fuck,” Carl said. “I can do no right around that woman lately, those were fresh oranges I used, they came from my refrigerator. I only bought them a few days ago at the farmers market. You can’t get any fresher without picking them from the tree.”
“Don’t let her get to you, Carl,” Chase told him, gathering the papers from the table and standing. “She’s going to be better in no time.”
“You think she’s got that flu that’s been going around?” Landon asked.
“I think it’s a bit more serious than that.” Chase smiled. “Nothing life threatening though, she’ll be fine once she sees a doctor.”
Mikala harrumphed as she rejoined them at the table. “Read my lips Chase Dean,” Mikala pointed to her mouth. “I’m not going to the doctor. I have a stomach bug, a simple virus that will be gone in a day or two.”
“I think,” Chase started, until he saw the look on her face that warned him, the next words out of his mouth would be his last.
“Shut it!” she yelled. “No one cares what you think, am I right?” She looked at Carl and Landon who quickly shook their heads, they knew better than to disagree with Moody