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It’s about five steps from the bathroom to the living room, but Eddie still manages to catch Steve unawares. At least, he assumes he has, because he’s pretty sure Steve wouldn’t be doing…whatever the hell he’s doing if he knew Eddie was watching.
But Eddie does watch, arms crossed, leaning against the kitchen counter, as Steve slips his keys down the back of the couch, followed by his wallet on the other side. Then he takes off his jacket, balls it up, and stuffs it under the coffee table.
It’s like he’s setting up a bizarre treasure hunt, that’s the only way Eddie can explain it; Eddie’s about to say something along the lines of Having fun? or maybe What’s my prize if I find everything? when Steve takes off his watch and slips it under the couch. That’s when Eddie decides not to say anything, see where this goes. If Steve wants to play whatever game this is, Eddie’s more than curious enough to let him.
Moments before Eddie pushes away from the kitchen counter, Steve flings himself onto the couch, crosses his legs, then uncrosses them. He grabs the beer can on the coffee table as Eddie sits beside him, taking a too-casual sip.
“Hey,” he says.
Eddie tries not to smile and says, “Hey.” There’s no mention of Steve’s hidden belongings, so Eddie picks up the VCR remote and hits play.
As the movie goes on, Eddie forgets about whatever little game Steve was playing, hiding his shit around the trailer, but he’s not thinking about what’s happening on the TV either. His mind is filled with Steve Steve Steve and how badly he wants to kiss him. Right there, on the hinge of his jaw, or, no— The spot on his neck, the freckle just east of his Adam’s apple. His lips tingle at the thought. He presses them together and tells himself he’s just going to look at Steve—the slope of his nose, the freckles that draw his eye over Steve’s skin like connect the dots—a moment longer and then he’ll watch the movie.
But then Steve turns, catching Eddie’s eye, and he doesn’t look away. Steve’s gaze dips a moment—did he just look at Eddie’s mouth?—and he chews on his lip. “Eddie?”
“Yeah?”
Steve shifts, leaning closer; Eddie’s pulse skips a beat. Then Steve clears his throat and says, “Can I get another beer?”
“Uh, yeah, sure.”
“Thanks,” Steve murmurs.
Eddie watches as Steve stands, goes around to the kitchen. Yellow light spills out of the fridge, silhouetting Steve’s hunched figure. “You want one?” he calls out without turning back.
On the TV screen a mall cop robot antagonizes teen retail workers; Eddie sighs and says, “Yeah, thanks, man.”
A cold can of beer lands in his lap and the couch dips as Steve settles beside him again. Their beers open with syncopated whooshes, and then there’s silence. Steve sits there, brow furrowed, arms folded over his stomach when he’s not sipping his beer. He seems pissed off or maybe disappointed. Eddie doesn’t say anything. If Steve wants to talk, he will. Okay, sometimes he needs—and wants—a nudge, but Eddie doesn’t think this is one of those times.
So, he chugs his beer, lets out a loud belch, which at least earns him a laugh from Steve, and watches the movie.
A girl’s head is exploded by the robot’s laser beam. “That was awesome,” Eddie says around the lip of his beer can.
Steve shakes his head and says, “You’re messed up,” but he’s smiling so Eddie thinks he might like that about him.
“I meant the effects.”
Steve rolls his eyes, still smiling; he folds his arms over his stomach and his fingers brush Eddie’s arm. Warmth spreads through Eddie and he leans into the touch a little.
When the movie finishes, Steve shifts forward on the couch, but he doesn’t stand. He turns halfway, to look back at Eddie and says, “I’m going to head home.”
“Okay.”
“Yeah.” Steve nods and, bracing his hands on his thighs, stands. The VHS he brought from Family Video remains in the VCR and, when he doesn’t ask for it, Eddie figures he’s forgotten. But then Steve doesn’t touch the cassette Eddie had given him when he got here and he leaves his sunglasses where they’re sitting on the coffee table.
And Eddie finally remembers the weird little game, or whatever it was, from earlier, and he wonders if this is part of it. He still hasn’t figured it out. Or maybe Steve is having some kind of breakdown. Eddie wouldn’t blame him.
The cool night air flows into the trailer when Eddie opens the door for Steve, giving an exaggerated wave of his arm. That gets half a laugh from Steve, which is better than a full laugh from anyone else, and a soft smile.
“I’ll, um… I’ll see you later,” Steve says, stepping outside. He holds the door open with a shoulder, looking at Eddie. The light above the door catches the highlights in his hair, sparkles in his eyes.
“Yeah,” Eddie says, folding his hands behind his back, “whenever you want.”
Steve blinks, and then he turns away with a little wave.
Eddie lets the door close, but he hangs back, watching through the window as Steve walks to the car, makes a show of patting himself down, then turns back around, heading for the trailer.
Eddie shakes his head, muttering, “What the hell is he doing?”
There’s a knock at the door and Eddie ducks down. He holds back a laugh, deciding he’s going to play his own little game, getting on all fours and crawling over to the kitchen. The linoleum is cold through the holes in his jeans; he pushes himself to his feet, then walks back to the door, opening it again.
“Forget something?” Eddie asks, all innocence.
“Yeah, I can’t find my keys.”
“Huh. Guess you’d better come in.” Eddie opens the door, standing aside to let Steve pass. “Want a hand looking for them?”
“Uh, sure.”
Eddie could go straight for where he saw Steve stash the keys earlier but he doesn’t. Instead, he pretends to look for them on the kitchen counter, by the television, on the card table he and Wayne use for a dining table. But, of course, they’re not there.
“Oh, here they are,” Steve says, standing by the couch, holding up his keys. “Must’ve fallen out of my pocket.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I have my keys so I’ll…” Steve gestures back over his shoulder.
“Uh-huh.” Eddie doesn’t mention the wallet, but he can’t stop from smiling.
Steve gives him a strange look, but he doesn’t say anything as he leaves.
Once again, Eddie watches as Steve walks to his car, pats himself down, and turns around to come back to the trailer. Eddie stays by the door, opening it the moment Steve knocks. “Forget something else?”
“Yeah, I can’t find my wallet. Pretty stupid, huh?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
They go through the whole pretense of looking for the wallet, like they did with the keys. This time, Eddie finds it where Steve had stuffed it down the back of the couch. He holds it out to Steve but, when Steve reaches for it, pulls it back. “Pretty funny you left your wallet and your keys here.”
“They probably both fell out at the same time.”
“On different sides of the couch?”
Steve shrugs. “Weird, huh?”
“Hm.” Eddie still can’t quite figure out what’s going on, except maybe Steve doesn’t want to go home. But Eddie can’t figure why he doesn’t just say so. Unless he... Maybe he feels the same? Eddie wonders sometimes, but can never be sure. Keeps talking himself out of it. There’s still a bunch of his stuff here, though, so Eddie hands over the wallet, deciding to be patient.
This time, Eddie doesn’t watch Steve, but goes around and picks up all the other stuff Steve left behind—he folds his jacket, setting his sunglasses, the VHS he brought over and the cassette Eddie gave him on top—and waits inside the door.
Steve startles when Eddie throws open the door before Steve knocks.
“Figured I’d save us the trouble of looking for the rest of this stuff.” Eddie holds out the pile to Steve.
“How did you…”
“I saw you hiding it all when I came back from the bathroom.”
A flush creeps along Steve’s jaw and he rubs the back of his neck. “Must’ve looked pretty stupid, huh?”
“Not stupid, no.” Eddie shrugs. “A little confusing, though.”
Steve huffs. He runs a hand through his hair and says, “It was dumb, I don’t know why I did it.”
“If you wanted to keep hanging out, you only had to say. I wasn’t kicking you out, or anything.”
“I know, I just…” Steve presses his lips together. He looks at Eddie, like he’s trying to make a decision, and then he nods and says, “Sometimes if I go back to a girl’s place after a date, I’ll leave something behind so I have an excuse to go back later. It’s usually pretty obvious, I mean the girls always see through. But it’s just kind of a game or… I’m trying to be cute, or something.”
“Since when do you have to try to be cute?”
Steve’s brows raise and then his lips tilt into a smile. He ducks his head a moment and says, “That’s not… I was just trying to work up my courage.”
“For what?”
“For this,” Steve says and steps forward, cupping Eddie’s face in his hands. There’s more than enough time for Eddie to pull away before Steve leans in, but Eddie doesn’t want to, and so he doesn’t. He meets Steve halfway; Steve’s lips are soft and he still tastes faintly of beer and he’s a really good kisser.
The jacket, the tapes, the sunglasses fall from Eddie’s hands, landing at their feet, his grip loosened to reach for Steve. The clatter of plastic jolts him and he says, “Shit, sorry,” pulling back.
“It’s okay,” Steve says, chasing the kiss, “I can come back for it later,” Eddie’s snort of laughter muffled as their lips meet again.
It’s a really good kiss—hot and deep but sweet, too. Eddie loops his arms around Steve’s neck, threads his fingers in Steve’s hair, pulling a little. Heat shoots through him when Steve moans into the kiss, holds Eddie tighter. He lets Steve walk them backward, vaguely in the direction of the couch, but he forgets about the coffee table.
It hits the back of his knee, the sharp corner digging in, skidding across the floor. Eddie pulls away, and says, “Come on,” taking Steve’s hand and leading him to the couch. He pushes on Steve’s shoulders so he’s sitting, then straddles his thighs.
“Hey,” Steve says, looking up at Eddie with those stupidly pretty and stupidly big, dark eyes of his.
Eddie smiles. “Hey.”
Steve licks his lips, making them shine even more.
Eddie leans in, kissing Steve briefly, softly, then pulls back before Steve can deepen it. There’s something he wants to do. He takes Steve’s chin between his fingers, turning his head to the side.
“What are you—”
Eddie leans in, kissing the hinge of Steve’s jaw. Steve’s breath leaves him in a rush and, when he sucks another in, it’s with a shudder. It comes out again as a sigh when Eddie moves down, kissing the freckle by his Adam’s apple. “I’ve wanted to do that all night,” he says.
Steve huffs. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
The tingling in his lips isn’t satisfied, though, so Eddie pushes down the hem of Steve’s undershirt and kisses the hollow of his throat, Steve’s skin hot and smooth beneath his lips, then trails his mouth up, along his neck, to his chin, the dip between his mouth and chin, then finally his mouth again.
Steve’s eyes are darker and there’s heat in them when Eddie breaks the kiss again. His hands are tight on Eddie’s hips, but they loosen as he slides them down to hook behind Eddie’s knees, pulling him closer.
And Eddie wants to follow where that might go, make out with Steve all night, but he has to say something. So, he ignores the ripple of heat as Steve runs his hands up his thighs to settle back on his hips, and says, “You don’t have to play games with me.”
Steve leans in to press his mouth to Eddie’s neck. “Hm?”
“If you want…” Eddie’s eyes drift closed; electricity shoots through him and it takes all his willpower to move away from Steve’s kisses. He settles his hands on Steve’s shoulders, thumbs brushing Steve’s neck. He sucks in a deep breath and says, “If you want to stay, just stay.” He leans in, their noses touching. “And if you want to kiss me, kiss me.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Steve says.
Eddie bites back a smile. “I meant… You don’t have to hide your shit in my trailer to come back, you know?”
“I know, but…” Steve presses his lips together. “I wasn’t sure if you—” He sighs. “I thought you might want this, too, but there was more at stake with you.”
“So you had to hide more stuff.”
Steve nudges him. “Shut up. You know what I mean.”
“Yeah,” Eddie says, “I do.” Because he’s stopped himself so many times from doing this, wondering if Steve wanted it, but never quite sure enough. “But… From now on, you don’t have to play any games. I want you and…I’m here.” His heart beats hard.
“Okay,” Steve says, smiling. It turns a little flirty and he adds, “Could be fun sometimes, right?”
Eddie rolls his eyes but he’s smiling too. “Only sometimes.”
“Deal,” Steve says, and he kisses Eddie again.
Eddie never did ask about his prize for winning the treasure hunt, but he figures he’s got it anyway.