Shelly's words replayed in my mind all day. I must've been extremely distracted because Elian yelled my name.
"What?" I looked over at the other end of the couch.
Elian stared at me with furrowed brows. "Where are you?"
"I'm right here."
"Physically, sure. But mentally, you seem a million miles away."
I crawled down to his end of the couch and settled beside him. "Is this better?"
"Always." He put his arm around me and gave me a few brief kisses. "But I want to know what's going on with you."
"Shelly asked me to come back to Seattle with her. Stay there. Maybe even move there."
He stayed perfectly still, his eyes focused on the television. "Is that something you want to do?" His voice was calm and even. A little too calm.
"I don't know." I wanted to gauge his reaction, so I added, "Maybe."
"That's great, then." He nodded, pressing his lips together.
This was getting me nowhere. I needed to be more direct. "Do you think what we have is serious?"
He finally looked at me, surprised by the question. His eyes scanning my face. "I'd say falling in love with someone is pretty serious."
"No, I mean, like, lasting. As in what happens when you go home?"
"Oh," he said. His eyes drifted off to stare at the ugly fishing landscape on the wall. "I don't really have a solid plan for that."
"How about a shaky one?"
"I kinda thought, maybe I'd ask you to come with me. See where this goes." He gestured between us.
I perked up, readjusting to sit on my legs. "You want me to go to Chicago with you?"
He shrugged. "It's just a thought I've had."
"That's a big step, don't you think?"
"You talk about how much you hate this place all the time. I figured you'd be glad to get out. Live somewhere that you could actually experience gay culture outside of books and movies. But if you want to do that in Seattle, I'd understand."
"I don't want to live in Seattle, Elian."
The corners of his mouth quirked up. He nodded. "Okay."
"But I also don't know if I want to live in Chicago, either."
"It's a great place. I think you'd love it." He brushed his fingers through my hair. "You practically live here with me. What's the difference if it's here in this house, or there in my apartment?"
"The difference is that here I'm not dependent on you. I actually have things to do. Responsibilities. A job. If I went with you, you'd be all I had. You'd see how clingy I am and you'd get annoyed with me."
Elian smirked. "Babe, I already know how clingy you are."
I huffed. "You think that. But we don't really spend that much time together. I work eight hours a day, six days a week. If I didn't have that I'd probably never leave you alone."
"If that's what you're worried about, you could find a job there. Maybe even make some friends who actually live in the same zip code as you." Elian twisted around to face me, sitting cross-legged. He gripped my hands in his, staring into my eyes. "Just promise you'll consider it."
I nodded. "I will."
"Honestly, if you think about it, me asking you to move in with me after a month of dating is way more clingy than anything you've ever done."
"You have a point." I said. "Maybe I should take that into consideration. I wouldn't want you to get all obsessed with me."
Elian narrowed his eyes at me. Then he pounced, pushing me back against the cushions. He hovered over me with a wry grin. "You're so hilarious."
"How about we table the moving talk for now?" I asked, lifting my legs to encircle his waist. "There's so many more things we could be doing."
"Do tell."
"Well, it requires you to kiss me here." I pointed to my lips.
"I can do that." He leaned in to brush his lips against mine, being torturously brief about it.
"Maybe one here." I pointed to my neck.
He grinned and obliged, kissing a line from my jaw to my collarbone. "How about here?" He asked, tapping the middle of my chest.
"My thoughts exactly." I said, dropping my legs to let him move. "You catch on quick."
Elian pushed my shirt up to kiss my chest. I took the opportunity to remove it, tossing it over the back of the couch. His lips dotted a trail down my abdomen.
"I think here—" he brushed his fingers across the skin between my naval and the waist of my shorts "—would be a suitable spot."
"You're a mind reader."
He laughed and kissed the spot, then dragged his lips sideways along my waistline to my hip, where he placed another soft kiss.
He looked up to meet my eyes. "You know, this next spot is kind of important, but I'm afraid there's just too many clothes in the way."
"Damn." I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. "I guess you'll just have to do something about that, won't you?"
He laughed. "It would be my pleasure."
"Actually, I think the pleasure will be all mine."
He gripped his fingers into my waistband, his lips forming a devilish smirk. "I'm sure you'll think of some way to return the favor."