Come Monday morning, Preston was indecisive. He tried on three different shirts and two white shorts before he finally settled on what to wear; the white short that hugged his arse a bit more and a pink v-necked polo shirt which exposed his nipples a bit but he positioned the fabric to be less revealing.
He stared at his reflection, biting his bottom lip in dissatisfaction as he ran a hand through his dark locks that were starting to grow out of proportion, sticking out in corners they shouldn't, hiding his slender neck and the rose tattoo he had just above his collarbone. To an extent, he reckoned himself to be good-looking but he looked nothing like those men he usually hit on so it was hard to judge his appearance. He thought himself to be too skinny and feminine, wondering how some men found that appealing.
But had Rex been joking around when he said that Preston was gorgeous or had he been trying to not offend him by saying anything mean? Preston flushed as he remembered how he'd been turned down but more at the memory of the kiss Rex placed on his cheek. That went a long way to convince Preston that at least Rex was interested but didn't have the slightest idea how to approach it. Maybe he was shy, or maybe he was waiting for the right time — but patience had never been Preston's stronghold.
He traced his fingers lightly over the bruise, trying to ignore the memory of how he got it at the toilets two nights before. It wasn't painful anymore but had come up as an ugly, purple mark which his concealer couldn't do a good job covering properly.
Oh well. He straightened his shoulders and picked up his duffel from the hanger. It was nothing to be ashamed of and would make a good tale at the shop.
How right had he been! As soon as he walked in through the door, Chester and Jude stared at him as though he'd grown a second head.
"Oh heavens! Pres, what have you done to yourself!" Chester recovered from his initial shock and rushed over, fussing and tilting his head towards the light to examine the bruise more carefully.
"It's not that bad as it looks," Preston tried to play down their fears. "I've been through worse,"
Jude joined them, shaking his oblong head. "What happened?"
At that moment, the backdoor popped open and Rex slipped in smoothly, his golden hair shining in the sunlight. He caught Preston's eye and winked, and Preston lost control of the lower half of his face; grinning stupidly and not knowing how to stop it. Back in his faded work jeans and a red plaid shirt that'd never known water for days, Rex still managed to keep up that hottie look.
"Morning everyone," Rex said, then stepped closer to cup Preston's cheeks. "How are you feeling? Did you sleep okay after I left you?"
"Um, Yeah thanks," Preston was about to explode into a million pieces. He wondered at Rex's sudden affection and intimate gestures but more at his agreement that'd they'd been together Friday night.
Chester and Jude regarded the engaging scene with increasing curiosity.
"You were with him? What the hell happened?" Jude's voice was surprisingly sharp.
"It was nothing serious. Just some dick trying to rape me in the club bathroom," Preston didn't want to go further into details because at that time it'd been fucking scary, and he didn't want to think about what might have happened if Rex hadn't shown up and Stefan had succeeded in his motives. "Lucky for me, Rex gave the brute a run for his dick,"
"You'd already fought him off when I arrived. I simply continued from where you stopped,"
"By sharing his pants off him. That was incredible,"
"Yeah, well. He deserves it," They grinned at each other briefly.
"You should be more careful, kiddo," Chester scolded. "I keep telling you, not all men you see out there are who they portray themselves to be. You need to know who you're hooking up with in and out if he's an abuser or some psychopath who wants to force himself on you,"
"I'm fine Sir, I really am. Besides giving someone a blowjob in the bathroom is so much safer than agreeing to go back to his apartment if he's a serial killer, isn't it?"
He shook his head, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "You boys shouldn't throw caution into the wind,"
Preston was busy till lunchtime when he had the opportunity to speak with Rex again. It was a Monday and as usual, there'd been an influx of customers, both old and new with commercial orders ranging from wedding receptions, high-school proms, birthday parties for children and more so Preston had been doused in flour, steam and sugar all morning. He got to bake a cake too for Chester's and Brock's anniversary which was in three days. Already, the twenty-seven-year-old owner had been going on about it since the beginning of the month, rambling and setting up what was sure to be a worthwhile anniversary celebration.
While Preston was at one of the new sinks, washing off flour from the equipment and cleaning himself up, he was well aware of Rex working a few metres away. As promised, Rex was dismantling the two sinks remaining to install the new ones; an activity that demanded a lot of crawling on hands and knees. Preston found his arse distracting, accidentally squirting water into his eyes in the process of staring. He'd already wasted enough time at the sinks that Chester was bound to shout at him anytime soon. The day wasn't going as planned.
"It's five minutes till lunchtime, kiddo. You can go get yourself something," Chester said to him after he'd arranged the equipment to dry.
"Thanks, Sir. Would you like me to bring you anything on my way back?"
"No, Brock made me a cheesecake," Chester smiled. "Don't you dare come back with anything tempting and start eating it in front of me,"
"What about you, Jude?"
"I'm all good, thanks. Tara packed me a sandwich," Jude sighed dreamily.
"Rex?" Preston raised his voice. "Want something?"
"Huh?" Rex crawled out from beneath the sink he'd been fiddling with and swiped at his brows. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that,"
"I'm going out for lunch. Would you like me to get you something to eat on my way back?"
"Uh..." Rex hummed in contemplation. "I'm not sure what I fancy for lunch today, but is it okay if I come with? My legs are sore,"
"Yeah, of course," a ripple of warmth spread through Preston and he beamed.
"Boy, I think he's into you as much as you are too," Jude whispered, giving him a booty shove in the passing. Luckily, Rex had his back to them so Preston finally gave up trying to conceal a blush that tingled his earlobes.
"Shut up," he hissed at Jude but couldn't stop smiling. Because could what Jude said be true? Did Rex fancy him as much as he did?