The sun was completely submerged into the horizon, but it was too early to return to the Campbell’s house to eat dinner. Milan and Owen only stayed leaning on the wall next to the backdoor. They had lit cigarettes in their mouths, but Milan was surely not used to it. He kept on coughing.
Owen blew out smoke. “Do you not pity the child?”
“I understand where she’s coming from. It does suck to be married to some entity, but all she did is escape. It’s not like she commits to it as well.” Milan only kept the cancer stick down to breathe properly. “She’s also getting angry at the wrong people. Just because I kept her from falling that night, she decided I should take on her anger.
“I saw how scared she was when she was dangling from the bridge. Her entire body was trembling, and she held on to me readily when I said I would keep her from falling.” Milan snorted, coughing once again. “She’s scared of killing herself, but she’s not choosing any other path to deal with her problem.”
The tall man inhaled more of the cigarette before blowing out smoke again. “Sounds like you have given up some things for the same results. Is this related to dealing with your father’s death?”
Milan chuckled. “Yeah, my father died, all right. Mama didn’t have a reason to keep me, either. If I didn’t want to live in the streets, there are things I have to do. Of course, I have to commit to those.”
He gazed at the cancer stick and hesitated to take a huff. He just brought it down again. “You can say I got married to my version of Lasair on the mainland. Seeing her whine like that annoys me. Is that bad? Should I be more sympathetic?”
“Your sympathy wouldn’t help her. It would only worsen her state.” Owen finished his cancer stick and dropped it on the ground. He crushed it with his heel before looking at how Milan envied the action. “If you’re not finishing that, can I have it instead?”
“N-No way, this already got inside my mouth…” Milan blurted out, only to realize what he said. He only chuckled and turned away, hiding the sudden blush on his face. “My mom’s funeral is like behind us. I don’t want to be that disgusting.”
Owen then moved to stand in front of him and pinned Milan against the wall. The younger male gasped and felt Owen’s breath brushing against his face. Owen whispered, “Have an affair with me, Milan.”
Milan stared at him, but he suddenly placed the cigarette in Owen’s mouth. The other man held onto it with his other hand and took it out. Without another word, he leaned closer to kiss Milan once again. Unlike what was said, Milan also responded to it hotly. The smell of cigarettes suffocated Milan as well as the loss of breath, but he was willing.
This man just asked for an affair, but Milan could give was a few days.
…
The dinner that night was the strangest one Corbin had had for a long time. He just arrived at his house to eat, and he found the posh nephew of the sheriff watching TV with Corey. She was even discussing the prior episodes for context. In the kitchen behind half a curtain, he could see a man and a woman cooking together. Milan’s strangely coquettish laughter even echoed faintly.
Corbin’s eyes flickered. He loosened the collar of his uniform. “Did I miss anything? Why do we have a lot of people tonight?”
“Oh, welcome home, Corbin!” Corey waved from the couch and pointed cutely at Owen. “Owen helped with the funeral services so Milan invited him to eat with us! Milan is also cooking!”
“Don’t worry about my cooking! You wouldn’t want to wash your tongue later!” Milan laughed from the kitchen and didn’t bother coming to greet Corbin for real.
The police officer lifted a brow and shook his head. He then walked toward the kitchen to get something to drink. He wanted to as Milan about a few things, but he saw how Florence was happily chopping ingredients for Milan’s dishes. Corbin could only shrug and grab a can of beer from the fridge. However, he only picked it up before putting it back inside.
His hand went for the pitcher of water and poured a glass for himself. He then walked closer to Milan and watched the other cook from his shoulder. It didn’t help that he was giving the food some kind of suspicious gaze.
Then he asked, “Why is it red? Did you forget to wash off the blood?”
“That’s beetroot. We passed by a stall that was selling some.” Milan laughed primarily because it was Florence who grew offended for him. “Trust me, this thing is really good!”
“If it looked like I pooped my guts out, we will have a problem.” Corbin walked away, but only Florence nudged Milan to get him to say something more. The cook was even smiling as if just waiting for sweet and sour revenge.
…
Instead of sleeping on the couch and an air mattress—or going home just as Corbin suggested, Milan and Owen were outside in the grassy garden Corey was trying to revive. Winter was coming so it was best if they could stock up on home-grown vegetables. However, Corey was a seamstress and a fashion designer. Her green thumb didn’t even grow.
Milan and Owen were working on the root crops with just a small light. It was more of Milan playing farmer as the tall man was only watching him. The young man was squatting down, raking the earth with his little tool to make a hole for the crop.
He wore gloves, but Milan’s wrists and cheeks still had dirt on them when he was done. Owen just had to reach out to clean his face with his own handkerchief. Such a gentle gesture made Milan blush even if he continued to respond with bedroom eyes.
“…Milan! Owen! Are you two out there?” Corbin yelled from inside the house, and the two men turned toward the house.
“Yeah, why?” Milan circled to the front of the house when he figured Corbin was in a hurry. He then saw Corbin unlocking his police mobile while his uniform was not even buttoned properly.
“Watch over the house for now. Anne is missing again.” Corbin opened the car door and looked at Milan. “Someone said they saw her running into the woods. This is the first night it didn’t rain after a long time. I’m pretty sure the wolves are aching to catch food.”