S.W.A.T. Fic, RPS: "Touch And Go", R, Colin Farrell/Josh Charles
Title: TOUCH AND GO
Fandom: S.W.A.T. rps
Author:
bionic
Rating: R
Pairing: Colin Farrell (Jim Street)/Josh Charles (T.J. McCabe)
Summary: See Colin. See Colin buy boots. See Colin & Josh making out.
Notes: Thanks toendless_fever for late night sessions of Colin-love and neurosis, and thanks to inthevast for posting her piece of SWAT love.
Colin was a busy man. Colin was a busy man with expensive rock-climbing boots to buy and a cell phone that wouldn’t stop ringing that he was dutifully trying to ignore. It was hard getting out to buy things nowadays without a disguise, and the beanie he had pulled over his head as a last minute plan was making his scalp incredibly hot in the heat of summer. Itchy as hell, too, but the suffering was worth it. That and a pair of very dark, big sunglasses were hiding his celebrity mug.
“Boots,” he muttered to himself, taking one final drag off his cigarette before grinding it into the sidewalk with his trusty heel. He faced the wooden doors of Gino’s, but for a classy sounding name, it was really just a run-of-the-mill shoe store. It didn’t attract a lot of attention, tucked into a corner between two low-key and modest coffeehouses. He had tabs there the size of Mt. Olympus, but he always paid them off.
The bell over the door chimed softly as it swung shut behind him, and a young woman in a smart suit with a bright smile greeted him as soon as he stepped inside. Her nametag read “Leslie” in bright pink block letters.
“Welcome to Gino’s. May I help you, sir?”
She must have been new – Colin had never seen her before. Her bubbly personality was completely out of place with the laid-back interior of the shop, and her long, lacquered nails practically screamed bloodthirsty socialite of the recently unemployed. He wondered how and why she was selling shoes. It didn’t seem like her calling.
“Ah, yeah,” Colin cleared his throat and ducked his head, trying to sidestep her advances. “I’m just looking around.” He stepped around and patted her shoulder, heading straight back for the wall that displayed rugged and outdoors shoes.
“My name’s Leslie, if you need anything!” called Leslie in her ringing voice, and Colin inwardly cringed at the impending headache that was going to inevitably set up shop in his brain.
“Boots, boots, boots.” He knew he was chanting, but he was tired. He had bags under his eyes the size of Texas and all he wanted now was just a pair of boots. Simple, plain, something that would last. He had plans to go hiking and rock-climbing the following week and his last pair were battered beyond recognition.
The soft ringing of the bell sounded again, and Colin mentally crossed his fingers, hoping no one had followed him in and really, really hoping it wasn’t a rabid fan. He had run into some before, and even though they were loyal beyond their duty, they were scary.
“Hello, welcome to Gino’s! Can I help you?” Leslie’s voice, and Colin was glad he was further away this time, and partially hidden behind aisles of shoes.
A low murmuring followed Leslie’s accosting, and Colin breathed a sigh of relief. No fangirls today, thankfully. Just as he was mulling over his good luck, a glaring spectacle caught his eye. Colin made his way to the far left of the wall, zeroing in on a maddeningly rugged and handsome pair of hiking boots.
“Baby,” picking up one boot, he tested its sturdiness by pulling on the laces first, then pulling the sides apart to see how snug they were and how much they would give, and finally checking the sole. They were thankfully, perfect, and the right size as well. Clearly, this was fate.
He tied the laces of both boots together and slung them over his shoulder. He was beginning to turn and head down an aisle for the register when a solid shoulder bumped into his.
Colin glanced up, about to apologize, and did a double take. “Josh?”
“Small world, isn’t it?” Josh Charles said and smiled, all gleaming white teeth and genuinely happy to see him. “How’s it going?”
Colin laughed and shook his head incredulously. “It’s good, good. Didn’t think I’d run into ya’ here, though.” He wanted to slug the man on the arm, show of camaraderie, but he wasn’t sure they were close enough for it. If it were someone like Samuel, he probably would’ve been allowed and done it without a second thought. Josh was just a good friend, but not a pal or buddy.
Circumstances hadn’t allowed for much playing around on set, but Colin was still comfortable around him to the point of being able to share a few beers over a couple of crude jokes. They had lacked the bonding time, but Colin thought he would make it up someday.
“Look nice.” Josh pointed at the boots draped over Colin’s shoulder, which Colin had almost forgotten about.
“Yeah! They are, actually, very fuckin’ nice. Rock-climbing,” said Colin by way of explanation, and Josh nodded once, mouth opening in understanding.
“Ah. Well, such a manly sport.”
Amused, Colin chuckled, eyebrows drawing together on his expressive face. “Why’d you say that?”
Josh shrugged and raised his hand, then dropped it. “Sorry, sorry. Wasn’t thinking before speaking.”
Colin eyed him suspiciously. “O-kay. Are you questioning my masculinity?”
“No, nah. I – ”
“’Cause I think you are.”
“Never,” Josh said, grinning through his teeth. Colin laughed, quite loudly, and glanced around to make sure he hadn’t startled Leslie. Leslie, who was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s the damn lady when you need one?” he asked.
Josh clamped a firm hand on his free shoulder reassuringly. “I wouldn’t worry about her, she stepped next door to get a cup of coffee and two espressos.”
Colin blinked. “’ats a lot of caffeine.”
Josh’s shoulders rose slightly under his blue tee shirt, and Colin couldn’t help but stare at Josh’s nipples that had suddenly hardened underneath the thin shirt (no doubt caused by the cold air conditioning). It was really, really thin, Colin realized. Just a thought, and looking didn’t mean he was interested. Colin looked at a lot of stuff, but that didn’t mean he wanted to experience all of it.
“I used our celebrity status to get espressos, so what?” Josh joked, except he wasn’t really joking. “Actually, I just used yours. I had a feeling she didn’t know who I was.” He said and grinned sheepishly.
Colin cuffed him on the arm and smiled. “Come off it. Everybody knows the Josh-man.” He had this sudden, full-body urge to – do something. Touching his good friend was not really a good option, but neither was hastily saying goodbye and hurrying to the cash register, only to stand there and wait for who knew how long before Leslie returned.
“I can’t believe she would leave the store unattended like that. She could get fucking robbed.”
“I told her we’d hold down the fort,” Josh said, apparently ready for anything these days. He was advancing. One small step at a time, as if he didn’t want to startle him.
Colin was already pretty fucking startled. Josh’s behavior was very peculiar. There was something other here, something else he wasn’t catching and wasn’t sure he wanted to catch. Josh was acting extremely odd.
And Colin couldn’t stop glancing down at Josh’s chest.
It was a really nice blue shirt. Accentuated his slim figure, strong biceps, and nice shoulders. Colin wanted a blue shirt like that.
When he raised his gaze to Josh’s face again, Josh had one eyebrow cocked in amusement. “Like the shirt?”
“Love the shirt,” Colin conceded, slightly at a loss for what to do. He was never at a loss, and when he was on those extra rare occasions, it had never meant anything good. Suddenly looking Josh in the eye was a rather hard task to accomplish without fidgeting.
Josh held up his hands. “If I make you nervous – ”
“You don’t make me nervous – ”
“Then I’ll stop.”
“Stop – what?”
“This.”
Colin frowned, knowing it wasn’t a particularly attractive expression. “This is…what? What is this?”
Smiling, Josh glanced at the floor and back up again, an uncertain look on his face. The smile nevertheless stayed on his lips. “Shameless flirting. But I think you didn’t realize that, until I told you just now. You’re not obligated to return the gesture or reciprocate in any way. You didn’t actually know what you were participating in before.”
“Ah…huh.” The words were penetrating, but Colin wasn’t feeling anything besides a slight, pleasant shock. “I should flirt back to be a good sport and all.” He said, lips forming a teasing grin. Flirting should not have felt so effortless, especially with Josh, but it was. He seemed to be feeling awfully courageous.
“Or,” Josh said, taking those three steps that separated them, and wrapped his fingers around Colin’s wrist. Colin waited for him to finish and for his own mind to catch up as it was still stuck in apparently bewildered fascination, and he was almost positive he might’ve been gaping, just a little. But no more words were exchanged as Josh pulled him around the corner of an aisle, until they faced a white door. Colin glanced at the brown sign with white lettering that clearly spelled “STORAGE.”
“You are one crazy son of a – ” but Colin’s words were cut short, Josh’s mouth replacing them, his tongue immediately slipping through the press of lips to drag across the seam of Colin’s until they parted.
The storage room was hot and moldy, stuffy like a closet on a very hot, very humid summer day. There was the lack of a cooling vent so the air conditioning never reached the small space, making for a drastic change from the store temperature itself and making things, as far as feel of flesh, very enticing.
Slightly flushed, even now, Colin dragged his lips across Josh’s, feeling stubble rub across his own chin, the friction different and, he could admit it, very erotic. Colin grabbed Josh by the arms and pushed him against a shelf, hearing the distant clattering of box-tops, shoes and his own boots slung over his shoulder falling to the floor but not caring, focused on kissing until he was bruised from the exertion.
Surprised it felt good, and surprised he wanted more.
He just went with it now. He trusted Josh because Josh seemed to know what to do. He didn’t think he’d be making up for lost time in this exact fashion, but he wasn’t going to question a good thing. An incredibly good thing to feel Josh pinned to the wall, by him, by Colin’s hands and knees and chest, and it was different in the hardness of muscle and flesh, but it felt too good to care.
Sweat beaded Josh’s brow and forehead when Colin pulled away from his mouth, and Colin took a moment to look at the huge pupils, the red mouth that looked like it had been smeared with lipstick and hastily wiped off.
He was waiting for a cue from Josh, but it never came, and when the stillness stretched too long and their breathing too shallow, Colin took a breath and slowly leaned in, hands still pinning Josh’s wrists to the wall. There was a moment where Colin’s lips and nose hovered around Josh’s neck before he gently, tentatively licked his way up to Josh’s jaw, following the dips and curves of Josh’s neck with his tongue for a couple of excruciatingly slow licks, tasting soap underneath the tang of clean sweat. He kissed his way up Josh’s chin, hoping kissing chins were okay and not too embarrassing, until he reached his lips, and then kissed those, too.
The body against his was now shaking and Colin could feel the tiny tremors resonate on his own skin. He mouthed the damp jaw-line until his tongue reached Josh’s ear and he bit the lobe tenderly, a rush of sensation starting from his stomach and flaming in his chest when Josh’s broken voice shook as he moaned.
“I thought I was the expert, here,” Josh said and moved his wrists from under Colin’s hands, pressing his palms to Colin’s side. Colin could feel Josh’s fingers splayed through his shirt and fought down the urge to squirm. Not out of discomfort, but he found he was more nervous when hands were on him, when he had in a sense given up some of his control.
“I’m a fast learner,” Colin drawled, dimly aware that his accent sounded thicker, fuller. He was conscious of Josh looking at his mouth and the hands slowly inching down to the waistband of his jeans, lingering at the front, fingers skating over the button, but he was unable to move to do anything about it.
“This okay?” Josh asked, sensing the slight change in Colin’s muscles. They had tensed up somewhat, but Colin was hoping he could play it off. He was about to reassure him that everything was fine when he heard a high-pitched voice, muffled slightly by the door.
“Mr. Charles?” The voice called. Leslie, of course, with her excellent timing.
Sighing, Josh glanced heavenward while his hands dropped from Colin’s waist to fall limp at his sides. Colin leaned against the wall, hands on either side of Josh’s head. Breath evening out, he took a moment to compose himself before stepping back and rearranging his clothes so he looked slightly less debauched.
There was a simple solution to this. It wouldn’t look suspicious if they were only looking at inventory. It was the storage/backroom, after all, and he had been searching for shoes. Colin raised his finger to his mouth and Josh nodded, taking the hint to play by ear.
Colin turned the knob and the door swung open soundlessly, but Leslie still caught them as she turned, her head peaking out from around an aisle of running shoes. Her nose crinkled up in confusion.
“What are you doing in there?”
“Eh, we were trying to find some shoes. Like these,” Colin indicated the ones he had thankfully remembered to pick up from off the floor and swung them over his shoulder.
Leslie eyed them suspiciously for a split second, but then her cheery face reappeared, and the light in her eyes clearly indicated that she was remembering who this was.
“I could’ve gotten those for you, Mr. Farrell. You didn’t have to go through all the trouble, I know how the storage room is a complete mess.” She said and her eyes crinkled from her huge smile. Colin could hear Josh shift behind him.
Colin raised his hand in reassuring gesture. “No problem, Leslie. Don’t worry about it.”
“Oh!” She glanced at Josh, “I have your coffees up front, by the way. Why don’t you bring these to the register and I’ll ring you up.”
~*~
His cell phone was ringing again. He stepped off the curb and stopped in front of his car, fishing in his pocket for the keys.
“’Lo?” He snapped.
“Hey,” Josh sounded amused.
Colin paused, fingers on the keys. “Didn’t know you had my number.”
“Jeremy gave it to me. You’re speed dial, number 6.”
“Who are the other five before me?” Colin asked and smirked, enjoying the comfortable banter that they seemed to be passing. He could definitely call Josh a pal now. Samuel had nothing on him and what they shared.
“People who are more important than you,” Josh said and a car horn blared in the background. He was already in downtown traffic by the sound of it.
Colin laughed and got in the car, throwing the bag from Gino’s in the backseat and slamming his door shut. He sat quietly with his ear pressed to the cell.
“Calling to wish you good luck on that rock-climbing excursion.” Josh’s voice sounded tiny now and static fuzzed the line.
“Hey, thanks,” Colin said, pleasantly surprised for the second time in one day.
“But I heard getting up is really hard.”
Colin laughed and slid the key in the ignition, hitting the steering wheel with his hand. “Son of a bitch,” he checked his back mirror, turned on his signal. “I’m gonna ignore the deliberate innuendo there.”
end.
Well that was fun. It got a little snarky there, and I apologize, because Josh Charles will always remain Danny from Sports Night. Heh.
Fandom: S.W.A.T. rps
Author:
bionicRating: R
Pairing: Colin Farrell (Jim Street)/Josh Charles (T.J. McCabe)
Summary: See Colin. See Colin buy boots. See Colin & Josh making out.
Notes: Thanks to
endless_fever for late night sessions of Colin-love and neurosis, and thanks to inthevast for posting her piece of SWAT love.Colin was a busy man. Colin was a busy man with expensive rock-climbing boots to buy and a cell phone that wouldn’t stop ringing that he was dutifully trying to ignore. It was hard getting out to buy things nowadays without a disguise, and the beanie he had pulled over his head as a last minute plan was making his scalp incredibly hot in the heat of summer. Itchy as hell, too, but the suffering was worth it. That and a pair of very dark, big sunglasses were hiding his celebrity mug.
“Boots,” he muttered to himself, taking one final drag off his cigarette before grinding it into the sidewalk with his trusty heel. He faced the wooden doors of Gino’s, but for a classy sounding name, it was really just a run-of-the-mill shoe store. It didn’t attract a lot of attention, tucked into a corner between two low-key and modest coffeehouses. He had tabs there the size of Mt. Olympus, but he always paid them off.
The bell over the door chimed softly as it swung shut behind him, and a young woman in a smart suit with a bright smile greeted him as soon as he stepped inside. Her nametag read “Leslie” in bright pink block letters.
“Welcome to Gino’s. May I help you, sir?”
She must have been new – Colin had never seen her before. Her bubbly personality was completely out of place with the laid-back interior of the shop, and her long, lacquered nails practically screamed bloodthirsty socialite of the recently unemployed. He wondered how and why she was selling shoes. It didn’t seem like her calling.
“Ah, yeah,” Colin cleared his throat and ducked his head, trying to sidestep her advances. “I’m just looking around.” He stepped around and patted her shoulder, heading straight back for the wall that displayed rugged and outdoors shoes.
“My name’s Leslie, if you need anything!” called Leslie in her ringing voice, and Colin inwardly cringed at the impending headache that was going to inevitably set up shop in his brain.
“Boots, boots, boots.” He knew he was chanting, but he was tired. He had bags under his eyes the size of Texas and all he wanted now was just a pair of boots. Simple, plain, something that would last. He had plans to go hiking and rock-climbing the following week and his last pair were battered beyond recognition.
The soft ringing of the bell sounded again, and Colin mentally crossed his fingers, hoping no one had followed him in and really, really hoping it wasn’t a rabid fan. He had run into some before, and even though they were loyal beyond their duty, they were scary.
“Hello, welcome to Gino’s! Can I help you?” Leslie’s voice, and Colin was glad he was further away this time, and partially hidden behind aisles of shoes.
A low murmuring followed Leslie’s accosting, and Colin breathed a sigh of relief. No fangirls today, thankfully. Just as he was mulling over his good luck, a glaring spectacle caught his eye. Colin made his way to the far left of the wall, zeroing in on a maddeningly rugged and handsome pair of hiking boots.
“Baby,” picking up one boot, he tested its sturdiness by pulling on the laces first, then pulling the sides apart to see how snug they were and how much they would give, and finally checking the sole. They were thankfully, perfect, and the right size as well. Clearly, this was fate.
He tied the laces of both boots together and slung them over his shoulder. He was beginning to turn and head down an aisle for the register when a solid shoulder bumped into his.
Colin glanced up, about to apologize, and did a double take. “Josh?”
“Small world, isn’t it?” Josh Charles said and smiled, all gleaming white teeth and genuinely happy to see him. “How’s it going?”
Colin laughed and shook his head incredulously. “It’s good, good. Didn’t think I’d run into ya’ here, though.” He wanted to slug the man on the arm, show of camaraderie, but he wasn’t sure they were close enough for it. If it were someone like Samuel, he probably would’ve been allowed and done it without a second thought. Josh was just a good friend, but not a pal or buddy.
Circumstances hadn’t allowed for much playing around on set, but Colin was still comfortable around him to the point of being able to share a few beers over a couple of crude jokes. They had lacked the bonding time, but Colin thought he would make it up someday.
“Look nice.” Josh pointed at the boots draped over Colin’s shoulder, which Colin had almost forgotten about.
“Yeah! They are, actually, very fuckin’ nice. Rock-climbing,” said Colin by way of explanation, and Josh nodded once, mouth opening in understanding.
“Ah. Well, such a manly sport.”
Amused, Colin chuckled, eyebrows drawing together on his expressive face. “Why’d you say that?”
Josh shrugged and raised his hand, then dropped it. “Sorry, sorry. Wasn’t thinking before speaking.”
Colin eyed him suspiciously. “O-kay. Are you questioning my masculinity?”
“No, nah. I – ”
“’Cause I think you are.”
“Never,” Josh said, grinning through his teeth. Colin laughed, quite loudly, and glanced around to make sure he hadn’t startled Leslie. Leslie, who was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s the damn lady when you need one?” he asked.
Josh clamped a firm hand on his free shoulder reassuringly. “I wouldn’t worry about her, she stepped next door to get a cup of coffee and two espressos.”
Colin blinked. “’ats a lot of caffeine.”
Josh’s shoulders rose slightly under his blue tee shirt, and Colin couldn’t help but stare at Josh’s nipples that had suddenly hardened underneath the thin shirt (no doubt caused by the cold air conditioning). It was really, really thin, Colin realized. Just a thought, and looking didn’t mean he was interested. Colin looked at a lot of stuff, but that didn’t mean he wanted to experience all of it.
“I used our celebrity status to get espressos, so what?” Josh joked, except he wasn’t really joking. “Actually, I just used yours. I had a feeling she didn’t know who I was.” He said and grinned sheepishly.
Colin cuffed him on the arm and smiled. “Come off it. Everybody knows the Josh-man.” He had this sudden, full-body urge to – do something. Touching his good friend was not really a good option, but neither was hastily saying goodbye and hurrying to the cash register, only to stand there and wait for who knew how long before Leslie returned.
“I can’t believe she would leave the store unattended like that. She could get fucking robbed.”
“I told her we’d hold down the fort,” Josh said, apparently ready for anything these days. He was advancing. One small step at a time, as if he didn’t want to startle him.
Colin was already pretty fucking startled. Josh’s behavior was very peculiar. There was something other here, something else he wasn’t catching and wasn’t sure he wanted to catch. Josh was acting extremely odd.
And Colin couldn’t stop glancing down at Josh’s chest.
It was a really nice blue shirt. Accentuated his slim figure, strong biceps, and nice shoulders. Colin wanted a blue shirt like that.
When he raised his gaze to Josh’s face again, Josh had one eyebrow cocked in amusement. “Like the shirt?”
“Love the shirt,” Colin conceded, slightly at a loss for what to do. He was never at a loss, and when he was on those extra rare occasions, it had never meant anything good. Suddenly looking Josh in the eye was a rather hard task to accomplish without fidgeting.
Josh held up his hands. “If I make you nervous – ”
“You don’t make me nervous – ”
“Then I’ll stop.”
“Stop – what?”
“This.”
Colin frowned, knowing it wasn’t a particularly attractive expression. “This is…what? What is this?”
Smiling, Josh glanced at the floor and back up again, an uncertain look on his face. The smile nevertheless stayed on his lips. “Shameless flirting. But I think you didn’t realize that, until I told you just now. You’re not obligated to return the gesture or reciprocate in any way. You didn’t actually know what you were participating in before.”
“Ah…huh.” The words were penetrating, but Colin wasn’t feeling anything besides a slight, pleasant shock. “I should flirt back to be a good sport and all.” He said, lips forming a teasing grin. Flirting should not have felt so effortless, especially with Josh, but it was. He seemed to be feeling awfully courageous.
“Or,” Josh said, taking those three steps that separated them, and wrapped his fingers around Colin’s wrist. Colin waited for him to finish and for his own mind to catch up as it was still stuck in apparently bewildered fascination, and he was almost positive he might’ve been gaping, just a little. But no more words were exchanged as Josh pulled him around the corner of an aisle, until they faced a white door. Colin glanced at the brown sign with white lettering that clearly spelled “STORAGE.”
“You are one crazy son of a – ” but Colin’s words were cut short, Josh’s mouth replacing them, his tongue immediately slipping through the press of lips to drag across the seam of Colin’s until they parted.
The storage room was hot and moldy, stuffy like a closet on a very hot, very humid summer day. There was the lack of a cooling vent so the air conditioning never reached the small space, making for a drastic change from the store temperature itself and making things, as far as feel of flesh, very enticing.
Slightly flushed, even now, Colin dragged his lips across Josh’s, feeling stubble rub across his own chin, the friction different and, he could admit it, very erotic. Colin grabbed Josh by the arms and pushed him against a shelf, hearing the distant clattering of box-tops, shoes and his own boots slung over his shoulder falling to the floor but not caring, focused on kissing until he was bruised from the exertion.
Surprised it felt good, and surprised he wanted more.
He just went with it now. He trusted Josh because Josh seemed to know what to do. He didn’t think he’d be making up for lost time in this exact fashion, but he wasn’t going to question a good thing. An incredibly good thing to feel Josh pinned to the wall, by him, by Colin’s hands and knees and chest, and it was different in the hardness of muscle and flesh, but it felt too good to care.
Sweat beaded Josh’s brow and forehead when Colin pulled away from his mouth, and Colin took a moment to look at the huge pupils, the red mouth that looked like it had been smeared with lipstick and hastily wiped off.
He was waiting for a cue from Josh, but it never came, and when the stillness stretched too long and their breathing too shallow, Colin took a breath and slowly leaned in, hands still pinning Josh’s wrists to the wall. There was a moment where Colin’s lips and nose hovered around Josh’s neck before he gently, tentatively licked his way up to Josh’s jaw, following the dips and curves of Josh’s neck with his tongue for a couple of excruciatingly slow licks, tasting soap underneath the tang of clean sweat. He kissed his way up Josh’s chin, hoping kissing chins were okay and not too embarrassing, until he reached his lips, and then kissed those, too.
The body against his was now shaking and Colin could feel the tiny tremors resonate on his own skin. He mouthed the damp jaw-line until his tongue reached Josh’s ear and he bit the lobe tenderly, a rush of sensation starting from his stomach and flaming in his chest when Josh’s broken voice shook as he moaned.
“I thought I was the expert, here,” Josh said and moved his wrists from under Colin’s hands, pressing his palms to Colin’s side. Colin could feel Josh’s fingers splayed through his shirt and fought down the urge to squirm. Not out of discomfort, but he found he was more nervous when hands were on him, when he had in a sense given up some of his control.
“I’m a fast learner,” Colin drawled, dimly aware that his accent sounded thicker, fuller. He was conscious of Josh looking at his mouth and the hands slowly inching down to the waistband of his jeans, lingering at the front, fingers skating over the button, but he was unable to move to do anything about it.
“This okay?” Josh asked, sensing the slight change in Colin’s muscles. They had tensed up somewhat, but Colin was hoping he could play it off. He was about to reassure him that everything was fine when he heard a high-pitched voice, muffled slightly by the door.
“Mr. Charles?” The voice called. Leslie, of course, with her excellent timing.
Sighing, Josh glanced heavenward while his hands dropped from Colin’s waist to fall limp at his sides. Colin leaned against the wall, hands on either side of Josh’s head. Breath evening out, he took a moment to compose himself before stepping back and rearranging his clothes so he looked slightly less debauched.
There was a simple solution to this. It wouldn’t look suspicious if they were only looking at inventory. It was the storage/backroom, after all, and he had been searching for shoes. Colin raised his finger to his mouth and Josh nodded, taking the hint to play by ear.
Colin turned the knob and the door swung open soundlessly, but Leslie still caught them as she turned, her head peaking out from around an aisle of running shoes. Her nose crinkled up in confusion.
“What are you doing in there?”
“Eh, we were trying to find some shoes. Like these,” Colin indicated the ones he had thankfully remembered to pick up from off the floor and swung them over his shoulder.
Leslie eyed them suspiciously for a split second, but then her cheery face reappeared, and the light in her eyes clearly indicated that she was remembering who this was.
“I could’ve gotten those for you, Mr. Farrell. You didn’t have to go through all the trouble, I know how the storage room is a complete mess.” She said and her eyes crinkled from her huge smile. Colin could hear Josh shift behind him.
Colin raised his hand in reassuring gesture. “No problem, Leslie. Don’t worry about it.”
“Oh!” She glanced at Josh, “I have your coffees up front, by the way. Why don’t you bring these to the register and I’ll ring you up.”
~*~
His cell phone was ringing again. He stepped off the curb and stopped in front of his car, fishing in his pocket for the keys.
“’Lo?” He snapped.
“Hey,” Josh sounded amused.
Colin paused, fingers on the keys. “Didn’t know you had my number.”
“Jeremy gave it to me. You’re speed dial, number 6.”
“Who are the other five before me?” Colin asked and smirked, enjoying the comfortable banter that they seemed to be passing. He could definitely call Josh a pal now. Samuel had nothing on him and what they shared.
“People who are more important than you,” Josh said and a car horn blared in the background. He was already in downtown traffic by the sound of it.
Colin laughed and got in the car, throwing the bag from Gino’s in the backseat and slamming his door shut. He sat quietly with his ear pressed to the cell.
“Calling to wish you good luck on that rock-climbing excursion.” Josh’s voice sounded tiny now and static fuzzed the line.
“Hey, thanks,” Colin said, pleasantly surprised for the second time in one day.
“But I heard getting up is really hard.”
Colin laughed and slid the key in the ignition, hitting the steering wheel with his hand. “Son of a bitch,” he checked his back mirror, turned on his signal. “I’m gonna ignore the deliberate innuendo there.”
end.
Well that was fun. It got a little snarky there, and I apologize, because Josh Charles will always remain Danny from Sports Night. Heh.