Well, I guess I’d better get going if you’re heading out. Shame.” He drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “I quite fancied playing your guitar again. Got some ideas for a new tune.”
Alasdair reached out and pinned Cosmo’s hand to the table. “You know you can always stay here.”
“Nah, you’re all right. I’ve gotta get back into Wycombe for one, anyway. Band practice. Are there any buses going from here?”
“That’s not what I meant. Not stay for the day. I want you to stay indefinitely. It’ll be good for you. It’s quiet, and you can concentrate. I can help give you a bit of structure in your life. Make sure you work rather than scrounge off the system.”
“Excuse me?” Cosmo pulled back his hand. “Did you just ask me to move in with you?”
“That’s right. I think you need someone like me to keep you in line.”
“Well, that’s incredibly romantic,” Cosmo muttered. Not that he cared about all that mushy stuff, really, but he’d always figured by the time someone wanted him to move in, there might be a little more affection involved in the offer. And that he might have known them for longer than a week, and yeah, been in love. So sue him, he was a romantic after all. Still, Alasdair was a sexy bugger, and his house kicked some serious arse.
“Look, I’m not saying no, but what’s in this deal for you? A handy arse to fuck? Am I going to have to put out for my room and board? Coz I’ve never seen myself as the kept-boy type, I’ve got to say.”
“Sex would be part of the deal, obviously.”
“Well, yes, obviously .” Either Alasdair was oblivious to sarcasm, or he only heard what he wanted to hear, because he carried on earnestly.
“I’ve thought it all through. You get the run of this place while I’m at work. I’ll give you a bit of pocket money to make up for losing the benefits, and I’ll even get the pool done up for you. There’ll be a discipline structure, and I’ll have certain rules about your behaviour, which I’ll expect you to follow or suffer the consequences, but other than that, you’ll be free to do as you wish.”
Cosmo’s jaw almost hit the floor. “Pocket money? Discipline? Rules? Jesus, have you heard yourself? You think you can buy the right to order me about? Who the fuck do you think you are? Some kind of father figure?”
“If you want me to be. I think you need one.” Alasdair shrugged, but his expression was pained, filling Cosmo with a kind of grim satisfaction to see a dent in that impervious confidence.
“What? And you’re going to mould me into your vision of the perfect man? Turn me into your whore? Yeah, no thanks, Granddad. I think I’d rather go chance turning tricks on the high street.”
“Now you’re just being a brat.”
Cosmo leapt to his feet. “No, now I’m just being me. You’re the arrogant prick here. I’m perfectly happy with my life the way it is, thank you very much. I don’t care how hot you are in bed; I don’t need some posh git who’s too used to getting his own way ordering me around all the time.”
Alasdair’s nostrils flared, but he refused to rise to Cosmo’s jibes. Probably a good thing. The man could flatten him with one well-aimed fist. Still, the presumption of it all. Leaving aside the fact that Cosmo could quite happily live in a house like this rather than his present situation, and the sex had been amazing, there was no way he’d put a man he’d just met in control of his life.
“Fine. You need some time to think things through. I can see that. I don’t expect an answer straight away.”
“I’m not going to change my mind.”
But Alasdair just carried on as if he hadn’t even heard him. “I’ll drop you back home and give you a couple of weeks to consider my offer. If you want to get in contact in the meantime, I’m just a phone call away.”
“What for? A lecture about the evils of dole-scrounging?”
“Don’t be like that.”
Cosmo wanted to hit the
Alasdair reached out and pinned Cosmo’s hand to the table. “You know you can always stay here.”
“Nah, you’re all right. I’ve gotta get back into Wycombe for one, anyway. Band practice. Are there any buses going from here?”
“That’s not what I meant. Not stay for the day. I want you to stay indefinitely. It’ll be good for you. It’s quiet, and you can concentrate. I can help give you a bit of structure in your life. Make sure you work rather than scrounge off the system.”
“Excuse me?” Cosmo pulled back his hand. “Did you just ask me to move in with you?”
“That’s right. I think you need someone like me to keep you in line.”
“Well, that’s incredibly romantic,” Cosmo muttered. Not that he cared about all that mushy stuff, really, but he’d always figured by the time someone wanted him to move in, there might be a little more affection involved in the offer. And that he might have known them for longer than a week, and yeah, been in love. So sue him, he was a romantic after all. Still, Alasdair was a sexy bugger, and his house kicked some serious arse.
“Look, I’m not saying no, but what’s in this deal for you? A handy arse to fuck? Am I going to have to put out for my room and board? Coz I’ve never seen myself as the kept-boy type, I’ve got to say.”
“Sex would be part of the deal, obviously.”
“Well, yes, obviously .” Either Alasdair was oblivious to sarcasm, or he only heard what he wanted to hear, because he carried on earnestly.
“I’ve thought it all through. You get the run of this place while I’m at work. I’ll give you a bit of pocket money to make up for losing the benefits, and I’ll even get the pool done up for you. There’ll be a discipline structure, and I’ll have certain rules about your behaviour, which I’ll expect you to follow or suffer the consequences, but other than that, you’ll be free to do as you wish.”
Cosmo’s jaw almost hit the floor. “Pocket money? Discipline? Rules? Jesus, have you heard yourself? You think you can buy the right to order me about? Who the fuck do you think you are? Some kind of father figure?”
“If you want me to be. I think you need one.” Alasdair shrugged, but his expression was pained, filling Cosmo with a kind of grim satisfaction to see a dent in that impervious confidence.
“What? And you’re going to mould me into your vision of the perfect man? Turn me into your whore? Yeah, no thanks, Granddad. I think I’d rather go chance turning tricks on the high street.”
“Now you’re just being a brat.”
Cosmo leapt to his feet. “No, now I’m just being me. You’re the arrogant prick here. I’m perfectly happy with my life the way it is, thank you very much. I don’t care how hot you are in bed; I don’t need some posh git who’s too used to getting his own way ordering me around all the time.”
Alasdair’s nostrils flared, but he refused to rise to Cosmo’s jibes. Probably a good thing. The man could flatten him with one well-aimed fist. Still, the presumption of it all. Leaving aside the fact that Cosmo could quite happily live in a house like this rather than his present situation, and the sex had been amazing, there was no way he’d put a man he’d just met in control of his life.
“Fine. You need some time to think things through. I can see that. I don’t expect an answer straight away.”
“I’m not going to change my mind.”
But Alasdair just carried on as if he hadn’t even heard him. “I’ll drop you back home and give you a couple of weeks to consider my offer. If you want to get in contact in the meantime, I’m just a phone call away.”
“What for? A lecture about the evils of dole-scrounging?”
“Don’t be like that.”
Cosmo wanted to hit the
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