Gabe

Eloise fills my arms perfectly. All the tension in my body vanishes, and I sink into the couch.

It’s like this is the moment I’ve been waiting for twenty years.

“I grew up,” I say, answering her question.

She laughs, it’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard in my apartment. Her body jiggles on my lap. My dick twitches, but I ignore it.

I could fuck Eloise all day and night, but right now I want to enjoy this moment.

The moment she said she’s mine.

“That’s not an answer,” she says, starting to giggle. She playfully pushes against my chest.

“What you want to know?”

“Everything.”

It’s probably fair enough, but I can’t ruin this moment by telling her everything.

“Fine, you ask a question, I’ll answer it.” I press my lips against hers, and cup the back of her head. She whimpers, and I pull away before I end up fucking her.

“Start with the last time I saw you. Why did you move away? You said your parents split, but why was your sister crying all the time in my sister’s class, saying your mom was sick?”

I suddenly feel heavy again, but I’m going to have to tell her. Once she knows, the past can go back where it belongs, in the past.

“In seventh grade, my mom got cancer. My father was a trucker, so it was hard. Real hard. Neither of them dealt with it very well. We ended up moving to Pittsburgh to live with my mother’s sister.”

Eloise smoothes my hair, she’s frowning and her eyes are watery. She doesn’t say anything, and I continue.

“After my mom died, we barely saw my father anymore. My aunt always said he was working on a long run, but my sister and I both knew he was drinking somewhere. Anywhere and everywhere. My father dealt with the grief by drowning himself in booze. So my aunt ended up being the adult responsible for raising us.”

A tear escapes Eloise’s eye, and weaves a crooked path down her cheek.

I wipe the tear away with my thumb. Pulling her head to mine, I nuzzle against her. “You poor little things. How did you cope?”

These are things I never talk about, and my throat is tight.

“I drew a lot. And started getting in lots of fights. By the time I started high school, I had a reputation and no one messed with me. At least no one my own age. So I started hanging with the older kids. A group of them let me in with them, and I started hanging with them.”

“I’m going to assume they weren’t the nerdy kids.”

I laugh through my nose, and say, “Not exactly.”

Frowning, she asks, “What was your aunt like?”

“She’s a nice lady.”

“Do you still see her?”

It’s the inquisition. Why did I ever say I’d answer all her questions? I should’ve given her three questions, max.

“I go down for Thanksgiving and sometimes Christmas. My sister’s still in Pittsburgh. She’s married with a couple of kids, so I visit them.”

Eloise tilts her head, her cheeks twitching and a half smile. “That’s nice of you.”

“What? You think I don’t want a relationship with my family?”

“Do you ever see your dad?”

“No. And if I did, I’d beat the shit out of him.”

Her eyebrows knit together, and her face freezes.

“I wouldn’t really hit him. I’d just really like to, for abandoning us when we’d already lost one parent.”

She smiles again, the softness returning to her face. I kiss her, and Eloise shifts her body so that she’s straddling my lap. In this position, I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep my dick under control.

It hardens against her, and I grind it into her.

Eloise pulls away laughing, and says, “Not yet, you still haven’t told me about all these pictures on your body.”

She swings her leg over mine, and sits beside me. She angles herself toward me, and traces the pattern of roses on my chest.

“Roses were my mom’s favorite,” I volunteer.

She runs her fingertips lower, and asks, “Did she like skulls too?”

“No, the skulls are all me.”

“And the rest of the stuff, is that you?”

“Mostly.”

“I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the ones on your back, but I haven’t had much chance to see your front.” She shifts her eyes down. “And I didn’t see your legs until now. Why so many?”

“The stuff on my thighs was me practicing when I was first learning.”

“Get out.”

“How else could I learn? Would you want to be my guinea pig?”

“No, but that’s because I don’t want any tattoos.”

Fuck, I’d love to decorate her. Her skin is as smooth and clear as porcelain, begging to be drawn on. I’d color her in lilies and lilacs.

“Not even one little one?”

Eloise laughs, and says, “No. not even one little itty bitty tiny one.”

“Not a little daisy on your hip?”

“Nope.”

We both laugh.

“Any more questions before I rip your clothes off?”

“Didn’t you already do that today?”

“That was hours ago.” I run my hand up her thigh.

She playfully slaps my hand away and asks, “Why did you come back to Rochester?”

“To open my own place. My mother had a life insurance policy, and I got some money when I turned twenty-five. I wanted my own parlor, but when Jack took me on as an apprentice, I promised him I’d never open a rival shop in Pittsburgh. Rochester seemed to make sense.”

“Do you have any family here?”

“No.”

“So why come back? You could’ve gone somewhere warm and more exciting.”

I turn my body to face her, and rest my arm on the back of the couch.

“Because you were here.”

Her cheeks redden, she shifts her eyes around. “You did not.”

“I did. You’re the only person from grade school I ever cared about, or ever wanted to see again.”

“What do you mean?”

I shake my head and purse my lips, not believing I’m about to admit this to her.

“When we lived in Rochester, life was good. My mom was the best mom. But I didn’t have many friends at school.”

“I remember you having lots of friends. You were always with Jason Miller, and Tom Hillary and that red-headed guy. What was his name?”

“Davey McFadden.”

“Yeah, him. You had friends.”

“No, I had guys I hung around with. I didn’t have people I liked. There was only one person I ever liked in our elementary school. You.”

As I expected, Eloise blushes. I’m not going to tell her the anger I had for her when I left. Or how I ripped up every drawing I’d ever made of her.

“I didn’t realize.”

“Don’t worry, I’m teasing. I didn’t move back here to find you. But I’m glad I did.”

“You were just saying that stuff?”

I shrug, wondering what the real truth is. Why did I move back to Rochester? Because my early childhood here was so good? Because I feel closer to my mother here? But this place is the reason it all went so wrong. How much did Eloise have to do with my decision?

My eyes run up Eloise’s body, for a fleeting moment I feel the anger and pain I felt when I left our school at the end of seventh grade. When my eyes reach hers, everything inside of me settles, and I feel the same lack of tension I’d felt when she first got here.

Only this time, I’m not even going to try to control my dick.