Philo [MXM] [BOOK 2] ✓

CHAPTER 22: OTHER WOMAN

Dew isn't sure what he dreams about, but he does know that when he wakes up, it's to the sound of his ringtone.

Ring ring ring.

Dew rolls over, and comes face to face with a ceiling. He sits up, and glances around the room, wondering where the ringing is coming from, because his phone isn't on the bed beside him like it usually is.

Ring ring ring.

Dew finally finds it on the floor beside the bed, and leans over the side to grab it. He recognizes vaguely that he's in pain, but chooses not to acknowledge it until he's fully awake. He presses the green button, then puts the device on speaker.

"Dew?" A voice asks from the other end, a voice that Dew is far too groggy to recognize. He climbs back onto the bed and grunts, lying flat on his back.

"Dew, are you there?"

"Yes," he answers, and his voice is raspy.

"Hey, it's 2:30, I was wondering if you're still coming in today?"

Dew rubs his eyes, trying to process what's happening right now. Almost like a reflex, he's immediately making excuses.

"Oh, yeah, sorry—uh, I can't come in. I... have scoliosis."

"Oh, wow, okay," the voice says, unsure, then, "well I...hope you feel better. Will you be in tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Yeah, bye."

"Bye."

Dew hangs up, then zones out at the covers for a few more minutes. After a while, he starts to look around the room. He stares at the black bedspread and the grey walls, as well as the black carpeted floor. It hits him, then, that this isn't his room.

He's not in his room? Why in the world is he not in his room? The only other bedroom in the condo is Rowan's, and—yeah, this is Rowan's room, and his bed. It smells just like him. Why is Dew—

Dew shoots up to a sitting position, pulse jumping as it hits him. All the memories from last night, he... he and Rowan...

Dew tries to move, and the pain that shoots up his spine affirms it.

He fucked Rowan.

Dew... Dew fucked Rowan.

Dew quite literally can't breathe, as he presses a hand up to his chest. His... his bare chest.

Dew pulls up the covers, and catches sight of his unclothed lower half. Dew covers his mouth with both hands, as the truth really sets in. He had sex with Rowan, and... and Rowan is clearly at work, because it's 2:30 pm and...

Dew falls back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes. Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.

Dew stays on the bed for several minutes as he processes this information, before finally working up the courage to attempt to function. He carefully moves his legs over the side of the bed, and stands up. Yeah, his ass hurts, and it's really drilling in the memories. He's... he's wanted this so long. He has wanted to fuck Rowan for so fucking long, and he finally did. It was supposed to make him feel better. He figured that if he did it once then he'd get it out of his system, and Rowan wouldn't plague his mind anymore. Maybe he'd finally stop being the only thing that Dew can draw, that Dew can think about. Maybe Dew will stop seeing the man in his dreams, and every time he closes his eyes.

However... the only thing on Dew's mind, even as he pulls his pants on and throws his shirt over his head, sticking his arms through the holes, is doing it again. Is doing it over and over and over again until he can't move anymore.