My Type of Socializing | ✓

Chapter 21

"What were you talking about?" Assad asked as Adam opened the door to his bedroom. The two had gone down to his place on Sunday, and Assad had stayed with him up until Wednesday, leaving to head upstairs to do his homework or head out to campus, but he came back to Adam's like it was home base.

Today, he had come in and had caught Adam talking to someone from Donga comics through a webcam, so he had slipped into Adam's bedroom, not wanting to disturb them.

"The art theft case," Adam said, unbuttoning the ugly sweater he had on before joining Assad by the edge of the bed. "They looked over what you helped me to mail to them on Friday."

"And?" Assad asked, pushing Adam to say more.

The older man smiled a bit. "They said they had my back, and they would help me file a report. They also said that it would be great if I kept forwarding evidence to them."

Assad let out a sigh of relief before resting his back on the bed and staring up at the bulb hanging from the ceiling. "That's great."

Adam hummed in agreement, lying down too. He kicked off his slippers and pulled his legs up, turning to the side so that he could look at Assad properly.

"I'm so relieved. I got worried when they didn't contact me on Monday or Tuesday," he said, letting out a sigh before reaching out to touch Assad's face. "They had board meetings about it. Fine, I expected that, but I'm glad they came to the decision that they did."

Assad closed his eyes and opened them again after a few seconds. "Do you have anything to eat?" he asked, making Adam laugh. Normally, Assad would fix something up for himself when he hung over at Adam's place, but the man's working desk was in the sitting room and the sitting room was right next to the kitchenette. He hadn't wanted to bother them with the background sound of water, a chopping board and moving plates.

"I think I have pancake mix left," Adam said, reaching under Assad's shirt to play with the hairs on his chest. The younger man took a deep breath, and Adam forced himself to remain put and not withdraw because of shyness. They'd had sex. All the juvenile embarrassment should be gone now.

"I think I'm going to make pancakes," Assad said, sitting up and letting Adam's hand fall out of his shirt. "Do you want any?"

"Sure," Adam said, and Assad nodded getting up from his bed.

"When we're done eating, we can do laundry," Assad said, making Adam's lips twist up in a smile as he remembered where they'd had their first proper discussion—in the apartment's laundromat.

"Sure," Adam said as the younger man walked over to the door.

"Do you have assignments to do?" Adam asked, watching as Assad rolled his eyes at him.

"You're not my mum," he said with a playful chuckle, "but yeah, I finished them on campus so don't worry," Assad said, making a waving motion over his head before slipping out of the room. Adam kept smiling at where the man once stood before letting out a sigh and pulling a pillow to cover his face.

His face was burning, and he asked himself what exactly had he been trying to pull when he snuck his hand under the man's shirt?

He gulped, remembering the feel of the man's toned chest and stomach.

He really, really, loved Assad, and he wasn't sure what to do with himself.

When Assad was done making pancakes, he called for Adam. The two ate while they talked. Assad mostly spoke about difficult professors and his friends, while Adam talked about his work life and the commissions he was doing.