My Girl (4 page)

Seth laughed. "Damn, do you have all of G.A.'s books?"
Nicky smirked. "If I don't have them in print I have them on my laptop. Did you read the one with the vampire and the—"
"Whoa, whoa," Seth said as he held up his hand to stop him. Nicky arched his eyebrow at Seth. "I haven't read them all yet. Don't spoil it for me. I'd prefer to read them first without knowing what happens."
Nicky pouted, sticking his lower lip out. "Does that mean I can't try some of the sex scenes out on you?"
Seth opened his mouth for a moment then snapped it shut. He frowned and opened his mouth again. "Do I look stupid? Consider me your guinea pig."
"I'd rather consider you my lover." Nicky held his breath as he waited for Seth's reply. It was almost instantaneous. Seth's facial features softened, matching the twinkle in his chocolate-brown eyes and the smile on his lips.
"I'd like that." CHAPTER 7

Seth was fascinated as he watched Nicky paint another layer of pink on his fingernails. He seemed almost too good at it for a man who had pretended to be a woman for only a couple of months.

Nicky glanced over his shoulder at Seth and shook his head. "No, I have other colors. Why? Don't you like pink?"

Seth blinked. "Uh, I've never really thought about it before. It was just never an issue."
"You might want to think about it then." Nicky chuckled and reached for a black lidded box sitting on the bed next to him. He handed it to Seth. "These are all the colors I have. If there's one in there you like more, just say so. It's easy enough to change nail colors."
Seth couldn't believe he was actually going through a box of nail polish looking for a color he might like. Of course, the fire engine red was nice. He held it out to Nicky. "How about this one?"
Nicky took the bottle and tilted it back to read the small label on the bottom of the bottle. "Salsa Red," he said, "hmmm, not bad. I think I might have an outfit or two to go with this."
Seth leaned back against the headboard and folded his hands behind his head as he watched Nicky clean the pink polish off his nails and begin applying the red. "Nicky, do you have any idea how fucking weird this is for me?"
Nicky snorted. "Try living it. You at least still get to be a man, while I can't leave my bedroom unless I'm dressed as a girl. And you should see some of the looks I get when I walk down the street. Marla swore to me that a B-cup would make me less noticeable. She lied."
"It's not the tits, babe, it's the ass." Seth chuckled at the astonished look on Nicky's face. "Oh, come on, you have to know your ass is perfection. It doesn't matter what sex you are, everyone is going to notice."
"I'm a guy!"
"Okay, then you're a guy with a great ass."
Seth laughed as he caught the pillow Nicky threw at him. "Sorry, babe, but it's the truth. You could be wearing a gunny sack and people are still going to notice that great ass of yours. If you were hoping to get away from it by being a girl, you failed. It's what drove me crazy before I even knew who you were."
"Yeah?"
Seth smirked when he saw Nicky's face flush. "The day I met you I saw that perfect little ass. It was the first thing I noticed about you. Hell, I ran home after that and jerked off the minute my door was closed. I didn't even make into my bedroom."
Seth loved the grin that crossed Nicky's lips. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Seth grinned back at Nicky, watching his face flush as he dipped his head and went back to painting his nails Salsa Red. "So, what kind of outfits do you have that match red? Anything you can wear out in public?"
Nicky's head snapped up. "You want to go out in public with me?"
Seth shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why wouldn't I?"
"Seth, I'm dressed as a girl."
"So? It just means people won't look at me funny when I hold your hand or kiss you," Seth explained. "We'll go window shopping, out to dinner. We'll just be a guy and a girl out on a date."
Nicky's eyebrows furrowed as he seemed to be thinking the idea over, then a mischievous smile lit up his face. "Do you think we could pull it off?"
"You fooled me into thinking you were a girl for nearly two weeks," Seth said. "I'm pretty sure you could fool most people as long as they don't look too closely."
Nicky's face fell a little. "I told you I was sorry about that."
Seth scooted forward to wrap his arms around Nicky's waist, pulling the man back against him. He nuzzled the side of Nicky's neck. "I know, babe, and I understand. I told you that. I wasn't trying to bring it up again. I just wanted to point out that most people will see you as a woman if you dress and behave as a woman."
"But you'll know I'm a man, right?"
"I have no doubt that you're a man, Nicky," Seth chuckled. "My man."
Nicky's head fell back against Seth's shoulder. Seth growled at the silky expanse of skin exposed on Nicky's neck. Seth loved the soft curves and rounded angles on Nicky's body. Every glorious inch made Seth's cock harder than a rock.
"Do you think we know each other well enough for you to say that, Seth?" Nicky whispered. Seth could hear the uncertainty in Nicky's voice, the hesitation. “It's only been a couple of weeks."
"Probably not, but I'm going to say it anyway," Seth murmured against Nicky's neck. "I don't care how long we've known each other, Nicky. I know how I feel when I'm with you and I know how I feel when I'm without you."
Seth grabbed Nicky's chin and tilted his face so he could look into his eyes. "I'm happy when I'm with you. Without you is like death. I might not feel that way if I'd never met you but I did and I do. So, deal with it."
"You're crazy." Nicky laughed.
"But I'm right and you know it."
"It just seems all so unreal," Nicky said. "What if we spend more time together and figure out we really don't like each other? Great sex can't sustain us forever. Eventually we need to face real life."
"Nicky, great sex is…" Seth snickered, "well, great, but I'd still want to be with you even if we didn't have sex. There's more to you than just your ability to suck a golf ball through a hundred feet of garden hose or your great ass, although it is a great ass. You're kind and giving, funny. You're also damn smart. And I just generally like being around you."
"And you know that after we've spent only a few nights together?"
"Time is relative, Nicky, a few nights or a few years. There's no difference. I know how I feel." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Besides, you have great taste in reading material."
"Oh I see." Nicky laughed. "You're just after me for my books."
Seth flipped Nicky over onto his stomach and leaned down to sink his teeth into the man's pert little ass. "Are you kidding?" he growled. "I'm after you for this ass."
Nicky swatted him away. "You can have my ass later. You promised me window shopping and dinner, remember?"
Seth groaned in protest as he rolled off of Nicky and flopped down beside him. "Fine," he said in a put upon voice. "Go put on your prettiest dress and I'll take you out."
Nicky smacked his arm then crawled off the bed. Seth grabbed his arm and gave Nicky a look of mock astonishment. "What? Was it something I said?"
Nicky wagged a finger at him. The other hand was planted on Nicky's hip as his indignation showed through. "One of these days, Mr. Leighton, you're going to forget I'm a man and then I'll have to show you that I'm just as good at giving as I am at receiving."
Seth chuckled. He didn't see that as a threat. He actually looked forward to Nicky taking his ass. "Promise?"
"Grrr," Nicky growled as he tossed his hands up in the air and walked into the bathroom.
Seth laughed and rolled to sit up. He hated upsetting Nicky but he loved watching him have a fit. The man was just too damn sexy for his own good, or was that Seth's own good? It didn't matter really, both aroused him.
He was pretty certain he'd been hard since the moment he spotted Nicky picking up a box on the day he moved in. Since the night several days ago when Seth pulled his head out of his ass and begged Nicky's forgiveness, they'd barely been apart.
Of course, during that time, Nicky tried to dress as a man as much as possible. This would be Seth's big test, going out in public with Nicky dressed as a woman. Nicky worried that Seth would forget he only masqueraded as a woman. Seth worried that he wouldn't be able to forget that Nicky was a man.
"Nicky," Seth called out as he pulled his jeans on, "is there somewhere special you'd like to eat or do you just want to find what we find?"
Nicky stuck his head out the bathroom door. Seth could see that he'd already started applying his makeup. "I'd actually just like to find what we find. Maybe we can walk down by the town square and along the river?"
"Cool," Seth replied. "There's a lot of little market stands down that way. We can do a little shopping and check everything out, listen to some music, and maybe have dinner in the square? Sound like a plan?"
"Works for me," Nicky said as he went back into the bathroom.
"Then remember to wear something you can walk in. Jeans would be fine, right? You can still look like a girl if you were jeans, can't you?"
"You tell me." Nicky walked out of the bathroom and over to his dresser. He pulled out a pair of faded denim jeans. Seth could feel the hairs on the back of his neck start to stand up as he watched Nicky shimmy into them.
Nicky zipped and buttoned his jeans before he pulled a red ribbed tank top on over his head and the fake bra he wore. He added a simple button down lightweight denim shirt over his tank top. He finished the ensemble with leather sandals that showed off his red painted toenails and small gold hoop earrings in his ears.
He raised his hands out to his side and turned in a circle. "Well, how do I look?"
"Fucking hot!" Seth growled.
Nicky rolled his eyes. "Seth!" His hands landed on his hips as he glared across the room at Seth. "Do I look enough like a girl to pass?"
"You look beautiful, just like a woman should. I'm just excited by the fact that I really know what's under all that makeup and false accessories." Seth walked over to stand in front of Nicky. He stroked his hands through Nicky's long wavy hair. "I can't wait to get home and peel you out of all of this."
Nicky chuckled. "You say the nicest things."
The grin that crossed Seth's face seemed to startle Nicky. His breathing hitched, his eyes widened. Seth frowned, concern racing through him. "Nicky, did I say something wrong?"
"Wha—" Nicky's eyes darted up to his. 'Oh, no, I was just thinking about how weird this is going to be. Back home there were certain areas of town where you might get away with the occasional hand holding or a quick kiss but certainly nothing like what happens between a man and a woman." Nicky shrugged. "If I can really pull off pretending to be a woman, no one will look at us cross eyed if we hold hands and kiss. We can do almost anything we want and no one will harass us because they will think we're a man and a woman instead of two men."
"Do you want to stay home?"
"No." Nicky chuckled a little. "It will just be different, I guess."
"Nicky, it's not right. You and I both know that. We should be able to do whatever we want whether a guy and a girl or two guys or even two girls. It's just the way it is. Maybe with time that will change but for right now…"
"I know. I just—" Nicky shook his head, a sad little frown making his lips turn down.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'd hold hands with you no matter where we were or how we looked." Seth stroked his hand down the side of Nicky's face. "And I don't care what anyone says about it."
Nicky's lips turned up. "Yeah, it does. Thank you."
"Then, are you ready to go?"
"Probably not, but let's do it anyway. I've been cooped up in this apartment so long I'm starting to go crazy. Pretty soon I'm going to start relating to Mrs. Ferguson."
"Oh, well, we can't have that." Seth laughed. "The old bat is a witch." Seth took Nicky's hand and started walking toward the front door.
"Actually, I think she's just lonely and believe me, I understand that."
"Seriously? The woman has never said a kind word to me since the day I moved in."
"Have you said a nice word to her?"
Seth paused at the front door and stared down at Nicky. Every encounter he ever had with the old woman who lived downstairs flashed through his mind. Seth winced a little as he realized he probably hadn't been that neighborly.
"Uh huh, that's what I thought," Nicky said as he locked the door and walked on ahead of Seth down the hallway. "Try being nice and see where that gets you. Some people are crabby because they are lonely and feel like the world has left them behind."
Seth felt like the world's biggest heel. He'd tried once to be nice to Mrs. Ferguson when he first moved in and been chewed out. That had firmed up his opinion of the woman in his mind and he never tried again. The chasm between them was probably his fault.
Maybe he hadn't looked beyond her natural reaction with strangers to what the older woman might be going through in her own life. He generally tried to stay away from people with sour dispositions. They were depressing. But maybe Mrs. Ferguson had a reason.
"Maybe we could get her some flowers or something while we're out?" Seth wasn't above trying to win someone over with bribery. He wasn't stupid.
"Nothing cut," Nicky said. "Have you seen Mrs. Ferguson's balcony? She has like a million potted plants out there. She wouldn't like cut flowers. A potted plant, however—"
Seth chuckled, shaking his head. "You amaze me, Nicky. I never even looked at Mrs. Ferguson's balcony let alone noticed that she preferred potted plants. How do you do it?"
"Observation, my dear Watson, observation." CHAPTER 8

Nicky was having the time of his life. It had been ages since he'd been out on a real date and he never went on one like this one. Seth wanted to romance him. He could see it in the way Seth held his hand and kept all of his attention centered on him.

He got nervous the moment Seth grabbed him around the waist and started waltzing him around the cobblestone square. He worried that someone might say something about two men dancing together in public, especially when Seth dipped him backward then swung him up into a deep passionate kiss.

Nicky felt his face flush when he looked around after the kiss but no one said a word except for the applause they received at the end of the dance. After that, Nicky felt a little more comfortable. They might be able to pull this charade off after all.

They found a stand that served Greek Gyros and bought lunch, finding a cement bench near the fountain to sit on and eat. Nicky grinned at Seth as he finished his food. He felt light, carefree. He couldn't remember enjoying himself more.