“You can also set the rinse cycle to eco if you wanna save time, otherwise, leave it on deep.”

Xander waited for Luka to make a sexual innuendo about someone doing something ‘deep’ with him—what else would he expect? But the joke never came. Instead, Xander continued to stare at the washing machine’s screen. When Luka turned around, Xander became hyper-aware of how close his former sex friend was standing next to him. If Xander turned his head a little, would he be able to stop himself from kissing Luka?

Before Xander could face his own cowardice, Luka stepped aside and asked Xander if he understood everything. 

“Yeah, makes sense,” Xander replied, only half paying attention. “Thanks, Luka.” 

“Great.” Luka was too eager to widen the space between them as he made his way towards the door. “Let's go move your car now.”

Was Xander the only one conscious of the situation?

***

The cold leather seats squeaked as the two men slid into Xander's white Ford Fiesta.

“It's been a while since I was last in your car,” Luka commented while glancing around. 

“Sorry it's such a mess, I haven't had time to clean yet,” Xander said, starting up his car and turning the heater on full blast. 

There were a couple of empty water bottles scattered on the floor, and an old crumpled-up Maccas bag that had been left on Luka's seat. In the back, one of Xander's used gym shirts from a month ago had fallen out of his bag—and although he knew it was there, he hadn't made the effort to take it inside. 

He was used to the mess, and it didn't usually bother him how filthy his car was. But now that Luka was sitting in that filth—and gathering up his rubbish for him—Xander felt embarrassed by the state of his car. 

“Don't sweat it,” Luka reassured him. “I haven't cleaned my car in ages either. I'm pretty sure there's a couple of French fries underneath the seats.”

Xander laughed, his embarrassment quickly dissipating. Sometimes he forgot that he didn't need to be perfect all the time when he was around Luka. 

“Alright, where's the garage?” Xander asked, turning down the heater once it was warm enough. 

“Before that, do you wanna buy some spare undies from Woollies?” Luka pulled out his phone to check what time the nearest supermarket closed. 11 PM. 

“But I'd need to wash them before I wear them,” Xander replied, rubbing the back of his head. 

“Why?”

Luka's question left Xander dumbfounded. Did Luka not wash his clothes after buying them? This was just like the tea towels all over again. 

“What do you mean, why? You're supposed to wash new clothes before you wear them,” Xander explained. 

“I don't always,” Luka said. 

Xander rolled his eyes as he scoffed. “I'm living with a caveman.”

“Hey! If anything, cavemen didn't even wear underwear!” Luka's defense didn't really help him out, but it did give him an idea. “Oh! Why not go commando?!”

Xander narrowed his golden-hazel eyes. 

“Yeah, nah,” he dismissed Luka's ridiculous—albeit hilarious—suggestion. “The chafing would be unbearable.”

With a shrug, Luka offered two solutions. 

“In that case, your options are either to buy new undies and just wear them, or…” The obnoxious grin on Luka's face already told Xander he wasn't going to like the second option. “You can borrow one of mine.”

Xander tightly closed his eyes and let out a long, slow, unnecessarily loud sigh. He tried not to let the imagery of Luka's underwear into his head. Or the imagery of Luka wearing his underwear into his head. Or even the memories of Luka not wearing underwear into his head. Or the memories of Luka giving him head—

“No,” Xander halted his own train of thought. “I'm not going to wear your undies, Luka.”

With a melodramatic gasp and a hand over his offended heart, Luka responded, “And why not? Are my undergarments not good enough for you, Mr Fancypants?”

Luka loved pretending to be offended by stuff, it was something Xander found amusing and he knew Luka wasn’t actually serious. 

Deciding to play things up a bit, Xander smiled back wickedly as he replied, “That's right. I wouldn't be able to fit my massive junk into your tiny little undies.”

Amethyst eyes shot open faster than a cork leaving a champagne bottle. 

“HAH!” Luka didn't even try to stop himself from laughing. His lips curled into a Cheshire smile as he leaned over the gear shift and invaded Xander's personal space. “Careful there, Xander. With words like that, I won't know if you're trying to insult me or flirt with me.”

Honestly, it was a little of both. 

Too embarrassed to speak the truth or come up with a witty reply, Xander merely scoffed at Luka's words before gripping both hands on the steering wheel. His sweaty palms rubbed against the faux leather. 

Luka leaned back into his seat, resting his chin against his hand and his elbow against the passenger side door. His leering eyes trailed down Xander's body, from his face to his chest, and from his chest down to his lap. Lingering. 

“Massive junk, ey?” Luka repeated Xander's words with a snicker.

Xander was a little insulted that Luka posed it like a question. 

“What?” he spat out, swinging his left hand over to the headrest of the passenger seat, caging Luka in. With a crooked smile and an attempt to sound more domineering, Xander smugly retorted, “You've seen my dick before, don't act like it isn't.”

If Luka wanted him to prove it—which Xander expected he might—he wouldn't object. 

But instead, Luka raised both of his hands in surrender and started defending himself. “I never said it wasn't. I'm just saying, it's bold of you to make that claim when you haven't seen enough cocks in your life to make a reasonable comparison.”

“I’ve seen enough,” Xander claimed. 

Luka pointed at Xander's chest. “One.” Then pointed back at himself. “Two. That doesn't really provide a good enough sample size.”

“I've fucked other guys since you, Luka,” Xander declared, instantly regretting the fact that he admitted it so easily. He hadn't intended on telling Luka, but the flow of the conversation somehow coaxed it out of him. 

“Ohhhh?” Luka cooed with more interest than Xander would have liked. “Have you now? Tell me more.”

There was no sign of surprise or jealousy in Luka's tone, just pure curiosity. And Xander wasn't sure he liked that. 

“I’d really rather not,” Xander said. Explaining to Luka that he had tried online dating in the hopes of getting over him wasn't a conversation Xander was ready to have just yet. 

“That bad, huh?” Luka offered his sympathies in the form of a gentle pat on Xander's leg. It was only for a brief second, but the moment was enough to light Xander's entire body ablaze. 

“What? No! It wasn't—” Xander caught his tongue before he could run his mouth any more than he already had. Allowing a long, drawn-out sigh to preoccupy his lips, Xander ran both hands through his messy black hair, trying to gather his thoughts. “I just hooked up with a couple of guys from online and—”

“A couple of guys? Like at the same time?” Luka's eagerness shined through even in the darkness of the night. 

“Jesus! No, Luka. Separate occasions.” Xander corrected. “Who even does that?!”

Luka unabashedly raised his hand. “Um—hello?”

Xander rolled his eyes. 

“Should’ve known. You're such a whore, Luka,” Xander said, chuckling to let Luka know he didn't mean it as an insult. He expected as much from the man that offered to give him a blow job the very first time they met.

“You know it.” There was no sense of shame or embarrassment in Luka’s voice, and the huge smile on his face suggested he was rather proud of the title. “So you messed around, ey? I thought you didn't sleep with people you weren't dating. Present party excluded.”

“Well, things change.” Teenage Alexander would have been appalled by 23-year-old Xander. The boy who waited until his third date with his first girlfriend to have his first kiss, now had sex with random strangers he met over the internet. After his string of bad romances—being cheated on twice by his exes and rejected by Luka—any ideals of a fairytale romance no longer existed for Xander.  “I'm not as naive as I used to be.”

“Says the guy who doesn't know how to use a washing machine,” Luka joked. 

“This and that are completely unrelated, Luka.” Xander could feel himself fighting a losing battle. “Can we drop the topic now?”

Luka shrugged. “Sure. But just so you know—”

Xander raised a brow while side-eying Luka; he prepared himself for whatever ridiculous comment Luka needed to have as the last word. 

“—I’ve seen a lot of dicks in my time—” 

Xander didn't doubt that. 

“—and you're definitely within the top ten.”

Thin lips curled with a hint of vanity. 

“Top ten?”

“Fine. Alright. Top three.” Luka clapped his hands. “Congratulations!”

“Fuck off, Luka,” Xander cussed. But the smile remained on his face as he took the car out of park, and it stayed there throughout the entire drive to the supermarket.