Page 28 of The New Place

“How much is it?” Ned asks, backing his ass into Abbot’s palm when he slides his hand up again.

“I didn’t look.” He’s busy, and they have time before the food gets here, and he sucks a kiss into Ned’s neck, kneading his ass. A month was entirely too long, and he’s very done with talking.

8

NED

Ned wakes to the blare of his alarm and the long, warm stretch of Abbot’s body pressed to his.

It’s too cold and too dark and far too early to peel himself out of bed, so he smacks at his phone and then cuddles beneath the blankets, hauling a sleepy Abbot to him.

He wakes again to the weak filter of morning light, sits up, and curses.

“Ned?” Abbot mumbles, and they really kept each other up too late last night if Abbot’s still in bed.

“Fuck.”

“What time is it?”

“I have no idea.” Their watches are in a pile next to the open bottle of lube. Ned scrambles for them and Abbot’s thumps to the ground, all heavy metal with its thick band.

6:54, Ned’s reads, and he shoves back the covers. He has a meeting at nine thirty, in person, at his office, which is two hours away without morning traffic.

He has to go. He has to shower, sex and sweat ripe on his skin.

The water takes as long as always to heat up, and Ned finally forces himself under the spray, dancing in and out of the stream as he shivers through a quick scrub. Rinsing his hair is the worst part, and he gasps, the frigid pour of cold water over his head only easing to a tepid, tentative warmth as he’s finally finished.

His phone is buzzing as he towels off. It’s somewhere. Not here in the bathroom, and he shivers, searching for it.

Abbot finds it first, retrieving it from the nightstand, and Ned fumbles to answer it, sure with his luck it’s Jen and he was supposed to bring Peggy to school this morning.

Steve’s name sits on his screen instead.

He’s calling Ned now? Steve ought to be getting his kids fed and on the bus. “Yeah?” Ned asks, hopping on one foot to pull on his sock over still-damp skin.

Coffee, Abbot mouths and Ned nods and grabs his second sock.

“I talked to Jess,” Steve says. “And she says I’m an idiot for saying anything at all, but she also loves you and Henry, so can you keep this quiet?”

“Keep what?” Sure enough, there’s a squeal of a child’s voice in the background and a dog barks.

Not just any dog. Luna, Steve’s dog, because Steve is calling at this early hour to tell Ned that Jess is mad?

“It’s about Adams,” Steve says.

Oh. Right. Ned tucks the phone under his chin and drags on a pair of boxers. “Hit me.”

“You sitting down?”

No, Ned is yanking clean pants out of his backpack and wishing he had time to run an iron over them. “I’m trying to make it back to Boston in not enough time. Unless you want to cover for me in that meeting with the professors from Education.”

“Those guys? No way. I’ll keep this quick, but listen, you and Henry can’t breathe a word, okay? I’m going to tell you this because I know you have Peggy to think about, and Jess and I are both going to feel like shit if you get screwed over.”

“I’ll bring you coffee for a week if you go,” Ned wheedles. Belt. He needs his belt. It’s still on yesterday’s pants and he pulls at it, trying to free it from the belt loops.

“And you absolutely have to talk to Henry about Newbury, okay?”

“I don’t think he’s interested.”