Page 67 of Offside

I just didn’t want to find the ripple or blur this time. I didn’t want to fall asleep and wake up in my own bed, no Sam in sight, and still dying from the decay in my chest alone.

It was fear that kept me awake long enough to hear Sam snoring, but I was glad it did. It gave me a few hours to connect a few dots that were left.

The bed sheets were Metal’s, and I was now very familiar with Sam’s dick, so I was certain those matched. I'd heard his speech pattern in Sam, and they even laughed the same, but something was still missing.

I wasn’t sure what that was, but I didn’t figure it out before Sam woke up.

“Carry me?” Sam asked groggily, fully dressed now, and lifting his arms to me from where he sat on his bed.

“Of course, baby,” I teased, bending over to scoop him up and hold him against my chest.

It was a fair trade–I was prying his ass from the bed to get back to my apartment. I wanted to lie on my decidedly more comfortable couch and watch movies with him on my only off day–how I liked spending my off days with him before, just over the phone.

Sam settled against me, half asleep on my shoulder as I grabbed his shoes and started making my way to my place. I’d never seen myself as the type to actually baby someone like this, but it felt right with Sam–if he never wanted to walk again, then he wouldn’t.

“Halt!” Ash called out–his annoying voice as identifiable as a fingerprint these days. “I’ve waited several hours, but I require information from my friend–”

“He’s sleeping–”

“He’s right there–”

“He has his own mouth,” Sam grumbled, tiredly lifting his head to look back at Ash. “I promise I’ll come over and see you later, Ash–”

“No, Ash can come over later,” I corrected, my spine stiffening in the not-fun way again.

It made no sense, and I knew that. Ash was very happily getting married in a few months, and Sam wasn’t attracted to Ash at all, but my newly possessive bone didn’t like how…codependent they were.

“Look, Lando,” Ash sighed patronizingly. “It’s in your best interest to get with the program quickly. I have put in effort to make exactly one friend in the last twenty-three years, and you’re carrying him around like a purse right now.”

“And?” I asked, kissing Sam’s tired face like I was leaving a quick tag on him. “How is that my problem–”

“Did you not learn to share your toys in preschool?” he asked, cocking an annoying eyebrow at me. “We can share Sammy, but you’ve been playing with him for hours, and now it’s my turn–”

“And he’s not a toy,” Sam cut in, worming himself out of my hold and back onto his own feet.

Fucking Ash.

“Ash, I’ll see you later–I’m like half asleep and exhausted–”

“And you’ve involved me in too much of this story to go all closed-door romance on me now,” Ash argued, crossing his arms over his chest and staring down at my Sammy.

“Here, I’ll write you a full novel of how many different sounds I can make Sam make,” I huffed, scooping Sam back up against me and moving past the wall Ash thought he was.

“I’ll even sign it!” I called out, waving at him as I pushed open my door.

Sam just groaned, burying his head in my neck as I kicked my own door shut–locking it because Ash knew no boundaries.

“Hey, look–another noise to catalogue,” I joked, kissing Sam’s face before gently setting him down on my couch.

“You know you’ll have to actually share me, right?” he asked, pulling at the blanket folded in the corner to cover him–I kept my apartment way colder than he did.

Maybe I was a vampire…

That bite mark on his neck sure wasn’t doing me any favors.

“Starting tomorrow,” I muttered, grabbing a drink for Sam quickly. “He’s had a month with you, and I just got you back, so I get a day.”

“I spent the whole month blubbering like a baby and complaining about him doing my laundry for me,” he grumbled, thanking me for the drink before making room for me to lie down next to him.