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Phayu was neck deep in the hood of a silver Porsche when P’Aon told him Rain was on his way over.
His brow furrowed in confusion. It had barely been a week since he had told Rain he should stay away and focus on his studies, and the boy was already disobeying?
He turned to P’Aon. “Did you tell him he wasn’t allowed to come?”
He shook his head. “Namtan tried, but he just said that it was important and all he needed to know was if you were here. She said you were, and then Khun Rain said to tell you he was on his way and hung up.”
Disobeying him and being rude to his staff? Phayu was going to have give Rain a stern reminder of the rules.
Even so, despite his irritation, he was worried. Rain had been good at being respectful since those first few lessons, and Phayu didn’t think he would disobey his request to not come to the garage lightly. Something must be wrong.
Inhaling deeply, Phayu nodded to himself. “Show him in when he gets here.”
“Yes, boss,” P’Aon ducked his head and left.
Phayu turned back to the Porsche, paused, and looked at his hands.
Well, best clean up for now. He wanted to look his best when Rain arrived.
Phayu had just finished changing when the downstairs door jingled.
That was fast. It hadn’t even been an hour since P’Aon told him Rain was coming.
He hurried down to the reception area, and made eye contact with Rain almost as soon as he walked in. His hair was windswept and clothes a little askew. Wherever he had come from, he had come in a hurry.
Rain stood up and marched toward Phayu like a man on a mission, his face serious. It was cute. Phayu would have told him as much if he weren’t so annoyed at Rain for being here.
He halted in front of Phayu, and his demeanor visibly faltered when he met his eyes. His eyes darted to the side, and he shoved one hand into the pocket of his jacket.
Despite the apparent importance of whatever he had to say, Rain still seemed nervous. Phayu was about to ask him what he thought he was doing here when Rain took a breath and schooled his expression back to the serious mask it was before. He exhaled, and suddenly his body was much more relaxed, his shoulders looser, and he met Phayu’s gaze head on.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” he said. “I know I’m not important to you.”
Phayu’s face fell.
What the fuck?
How casually Rain stabbed him in the heart.
Of all the things Rain could say, Phayu never expected that. He could have said “the sun is hot” or “I like orange juice for breakfast” and it would have sounded just the same and been half as confusing.
Neither of those phrases, however, would have shattered Phayu’s heart so thoroughly. Is that really what Rain thought of himself? Of Phayu? Did he really think his affection was so cheaply given?
He’s trying to form a response, anything to reassure Rain. He’s teased Rain a lot, called him stupid (though he meant cute), made him work to pursue Phayu, but never once had he wanted to give the impression that Rain wasn’t important to him. He wanted a relationship with Rain.
Any reply he might have made was cut off by Rain’s finger in his face.
“But just because I’m not important to you now doesn’t mean I wont be soon! Just you wait, P’Phayu! You’re gonna be so in love with me you’ll never even think about anyone else! Ever!”
Phayu blinked, the sudden earnestness surprising him. Rain’s response to thinking he wasn’t important to Phayu wasn’t to cry, or get angry with him; it was to…try harder to make himself important to Phayu????
He was still trying to make sense of that when Rain suddenly flung himself at him. Phayu grunted as their bodies collided and tried to wrap his arms around Rain, but instead, they froze at his sides.
Rain was kissing him.
It’s wasn’t a good kiss–in his haste to throw his entire body at Phayu he seemed to have shifted his balance a little, so instead of kissing him full on the mouth or even on his lower lip, he was kissing the side of Phayu’s mouth. There was no finesse, no real skill. A little to the left and he would have gotten the corner, a little more and he would have kissed his cheek. Like their first kiss after Rain snuck into the races, it seemed to have been an impulsive decision.
Rain’s mouth only lingered for a moment before pulling away, almost as quickly as it had come. What a pity–he would have allowed more. (Wanted more.) However, it appeared Rain had decided that was all he was going to get.
For a moment, it was just them, one body pressed together, sharing the same breath. Could they stay like this? If Phayu stayed silent, and remained very, very still, would time stop, and leave them frozen, in each other’s arms forever?
Phayu will never know. Rain tilted his head up and met his gaze. He had fire in his eyes and all Phayu could think was beautiful.
“I’ll prove it to you, Phi,” he whispered softly. “I’ll show everyone I’m good enough to stand by your side, and you won’t want me anywhere else.”
And just as quickly as he had come, Rain left, pulling himself out of Phayu’s arms and walking out the door.
Rain was gone. The moment was over. Still, Phayu remained in place, arms frozen at his sides.
Once, when Phayu was still learning to ride, he took his bike around a corner too hard. Too late, he realized he had leaned too far to one side, and he was going to fall. In that moment of realization, it was like time slowed. The bike, falling. Him, underneath. Too late to change direction, to late to move away. All he could do was brace himself for the landing.
He’d come away from that crash with a scraped arm, a bruised leg, and a mild case of whiplash. It was the first and only time he’d fallen.
The whiplash he got then was nothing compared to now.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Phayu reached up his hand. Brushing his thumb over his mouth, his lips split into a wide grin.
When he spoke, he spoke only to himself.
“I can’t wait.”