Free Chalk Butterfly: Part One (First Time Erotic Romance) by Audra Red

evening prior. His severe unease with
the situation was enough to draw his mind away from his sore hand,
which had developed quite a large blister on the soft palm.
     
    Alexander zoned out again, slightly
comforted by the gentle hum of his mother’s voice over the line and
the gentle rise and fall of his cat’s belly.
     
    When the phone beeped loudly at him, he
nearly jumped off the couch, his hand sliding down the armrest. His
soundly sleeping cat bolted up as well, fleeing in an annoyed
manner.
     
    “Fuck!” he yelped, his hand burning. “No,
not you, Mum. No, just, please Mum, I’m fine. I just slipped.
That’s my call waiting. I’m sorry, no it’s alright. I’m gonna get
this quick, okay? It’s probably Eli and… Mum! I don’t think Eli’d
be happy with that. Mum, I’ve got to… okay, I’ll be right
back.”
     
    Alexander pressed the talk button without a
thought, groaning in an annoyed fashion as his hand stung.
     
    “This had better be good,” he said in
greeting, slouching back against the cushions.
     
    “Now that, I can’t guarantee,” came the soft
rumble of Daniel’s voice.
     
    Alexander bit back a surprised squeak. “No!”
he said sharply, already flushing like mad. The things the man did
to him. He scowled inwardly. “I didn’t mean you, I mean, I didn’t
know it was you. Daniel.”
     
    “Alexander.” Daniel could hear the slight
panic in Alexander’s voice, and let his name roll out deeply,
soothingly.
     
    “I wasn’t expecting you,” Alexander
said.
     
    “I’m sorry, but I realized how rude I’d been
last night, calling you past your bedtime,” Daniel replied,
shifting slightly on his own couch. He was settled comfortably in
his living room, all the lights off.
     
    “Oh,” Alexander said, pulling his feet in
closer to his body. “I’m not much for late nights. I’m glad you
called, but I…”
     
    “Hmm?”
     
    “Just give me a moment, I need to… I have
someone on the other line,” Alexander said.
     
    “Do you want me to call back? I didn’t mean
to interrupt. I can call back.” But Daniel didn’t want to call back
at all, he didn’t want to get off the line with the soft spoken
young man.
     
    “Well.” The idea did appeal to Alexander,
but he didn’t want to put off the conversation any longer than he
had to. “No, that’s fine. I… I was just wrapping up the
conversation. Give me moment?”
     
    “Of course. But hurry back.”
     
    Alexander couldn’t help but smile. “All
right,” he replied, waiting a beat, and changing lines. “Mum? No,
wasn’t Eli. Listen, I need to take this. Just a friend. Oh, no one,
Mum. We’ll talk about it later. Later. Muuuuum. I know. Thank you.
All right, I love you, too. Yes, tomorrow. I promise! Bye.”
     
    One deep breath, and then…
     
    “Hello?”
     
    “That was quick.”
     
    “Yeah, well,” Alexander said, not exactly
keen on bringing up his mother. “So you--”
     
    “Was that Elijah?” Curiosity had gotten the
better of Daniel, and he had to ask. He needed to know exactly what
he was getting himself into.
     
    “Elijah?” Alexander asked dumbly, and then a
thought struck him. Was Daniel jealous? “No, wasn’t Elijah,”
Alexander said. Daniel made a small noise in the back of his
throat. “Elijah is…”
     
    “Elijah?” Daniel asked.
     
    Alexander huffed indignantly. “Stop taking
words out of my mouth,” he said, finding himself smiling, though
quite accidentally, mind you.
     
    “But you’re so quotable,” Daniel said. “So…
Elijah?”
     
    “He’s a work colleague. My boss actually,”
Alexander said. He found himself enjoying their banter, but in
truth, the older man distracted him from his real intentions; to
put Daniel off him. “Anything else in particular you wanted to
know?”
     
    “He answered your phone last night,” Daniel
said. He was attempting to step around the topic carefully as he
didn’t wish to offend Alexander.
     
    “Oh, he just