Rodrigo

Marco's POV

"So, tell me, who’s the lucky guy?” Rodrigo asked stuffing his face with cheese cake.

He had driven us straight to a café for an early dinner. We had spent the whole ride talking about everything. He had enquired about my love life severally and I had craftily changed the topic each time but I knew Rodrigo.

The handsome Mexican devil will not allow me digest my meals properly if he hadn’t heard about who I was screwing or who was screwing me.

“and for the one millionth time Rodrigo, I’m single” I replied and took a sip from my banana flavored milkshake.

“then why are you blushing like a new bride?” he said, an amused glint in his eyes.

“I’m not” I could feel my face heating up more.

“don’t be a bore Cuz. Just tell me already”

“okay fine. But just so you know, he isn’t my boyfriend and I don’t think he will ever be” I said avoiding his eyes

“ohhh!! I love a twisted love story” Rodrigo said, an easy smile playing on his lips.

I rolled my eyes at his childish enthusiasm and finished the slush liquid in my cup before clearing my throat, ready to embarrass myself.

“get on with it already. I’m about to pull out my hair" Rodrigo wailed dramatically and I began to laugh.

“okay” I said and cleared my throat for dramatic effect.

“well, I recently just met a guy and he’s handsome and rich and clearly way above my standards” I could feel my face heat up as I pictured those hazel eyes in my mind.

“and....” Rodrigo asked, his eyes wide. He was done with his cake and was noisily sucking from the cup.

“and nothing” I was avoiding his eyes again.

“you are joking, right?”

“I’m not”

“that has got too be the most boring stuff I’ve ever heard. I need details”

“there’s no details. He is not in my class and he probably doesn’t even like me” I felt my heart break at the thought but I kept a straight face to avoid further questions from my meddling cousin.

“have you spoken to him?”

“yes, I have”

“and did you tell him you like him?”

“Oh my God, no!” I couldn’t even think of standing before his mind blowing, brain shattering gaze and saying those words.

Pedro, I like you. No, I think I love you. I just want to be your little slut, so you would fuck me with that big dick and make me cum all over your sheets.

“if you keep blushing that hard, you might explode” Rodrigo laughed earning a gentle kick under the table from me.

“Don’t worry primo, big cousin is here to get you fucked, and hard too” he said laughing hard this time and I had to join in too.

“so, what brings you to New York?” I asked after we had recovered from the bolts of laughter.

I saw the easy smile on his face change to a less humorous one.

“I’m in a fix primo" he said without looking at me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked sincerely concerned.

He seemed to be in deep thought and as if someone had flipped a switch in his head, he smiled again.

“don’t worry about it. I don’t want to ruin our dinner. We’ll talk about it some other time. Right now, I have a map and a long list of places that I want to see” he said fishing out a map from his wallet.

I smiled, once again infected by his contagious good mood.

“okay” I replied

We spent the rest of the evening visiting all the places Rodrigo wanted to see and they were a lot. We got home late, too tired to even get out of our clothes before we crashed on the tiny bed. I had barely slept for an hour when I was woken up by loud sex sounds from the flat directly above mine. I groaned and got out of bed, too awake to force myself back to sleep. Rodrigo was still past out, half on the bed and half on the floor. I glanced at the antique wall clock in the sitting room; two o’clock AM.

Do they have to be so loud?

I could hear a man, the fucker, groaning and a woman, the fucked, moaning loudly and I was sure that I wasn’t the only one being disturbed.

“will you guys cut it out already, some people who actually have jobs to do tomorrow need to get some sleep” a voice yelled from the corridor on their floor.

I need to move out of this mad house.

With sleep several miles away, I decided to tick somethings off my mental to-do list. I opened the fridge and discarded the now moldy packet of milk, got a wet rag and began cleaning. It took me an hour to finally clean all the corners and get the stench out.

I was sweating by the time I was done and headed to the shower for a quick bath and even after that, I was still very much awake.

I went back to the room and got my phone from the pocket of the trouser that I had worn the previous day. I decided to open the TENDER app on my phone. It was an app like Tinder but for the LGBTQ community. I scrolled through the profiles, immediately lost in the sea of hot men on my screen. Rodrigo was right.

I really need to get laid.

I continued scrolling, swiping none but drooling at most, till my eyes fell on a particular profile that made me gasp, mostly out of surprise but also because my dick jumped a little from excitement.

You’ve got to kidding me.

I felt my skin heat up as I stared at those hazel eyes. And even though they were stationary in the picture, I could feel them digging into my soul. He was dressed in just a tank top and the sweat on his stunning body showed that the picture must have been taken in the gym. His lips were curled in a heart stopping smile and I actually felt my heart stop. His raven black hair was a bit damp and swept back in the most attractive way. The tank top did little or nothing to hide his breathtaking physique and with the sleeves of the shirts I have often seen him on gone, I could finally admire his sinewy arms. I could see a line of tattoo on his right arm that was usually hidden in his shirt sleeves and I zoomed in to read what it said but I couldn’t make it out in the slightly blurred zoomed copy. He looked so relaxed and less rigid than the usual front he put out to people in the office. I felt myself wanting to know this strange human more.

Hold on a damn minute! If he is on Tender, that means……

Pedro was gay.

Or bisexual.

I felt the butterflies in my stomach do a little celebratory dance.

His profile didn’t say much; Pedro McFarland, 27-year-old male, lives in New York and that was it.

It was obvious that the profile was carefully made, giving out just the necessary details and nothing more.

I wasn’t surprised though. CEO of Hydela Industries would be bait for gold-diggers and all sorts of sharks on the internet. The more discreet, the better.

My finger hovered on the swipe button.

What would he think if I swiped him?

Was I being desperate?

What if he rejects the match?

Since this is mainly a hookup app, does this mean that I want to sleep with him?

What if he blocks me?

Should I block him?

But I do want to sleep with him, right?

Why do I feel like I want more than just a night with him?

What if I get sacked tomorrow for swiping my boss?

I need to get laid, right?

Wouldn’t it be jackpot to get it from the hottest human alive?

I groaned in obvious frustration.

You never know until you try.

I swiped the profile and quickly switched off my phone with trembling hands, too scared to see ‘rejected’ in case he was online.

The small mental battle had tired me out. I stifled a yawn and went back to the room and lay down. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, dreaming of the word ‘rejected’ dancing in the sky.