Page 5 of Friendly Skies
“Chico?” He knocked on the door. “You okay?”
There was silence, then a loud sniffle. “Go away, Dar.”
Something in Luis’ voice worried Darius. He tried the knob on the door, but it was locked. “Let me in, please.”
“I told you to go away.”
Darius knocked again, then leaned close to the door so he could speak without being easily overheard. “Come downs can be rough. I want to know you’re okay.”
There was a long minute of silence before water ran in the bathroom sink, and then the door lock popped open, and Luis stepped into the hallway. Darius immediately noticed a small bruise on his temple, but when he tried to touch it, Luis pulled his head away.
“Satisfied?” he asked.
Darius shook his head. He went to take Luis’ hand, but again, his friend pulled away.
“I feel like crap, and I don’t want to be touched. Okay?”
“Okay. Come lie down again?” It was the only thing Darius could think of to suggest, a way to get back to where they’d been only a few hours before, and he wanted to take care of Luis.
“Go home, Dar. I’m fine.”
The dismissal shocked Darius. “I thought I was going to stay over.”
It was Luis’ turn to shrug, and Darius noticed Luis wasn’t meeting his eyes. He moved closer, and Luis took a step back from him and shook his head.
“You’re scaring me,” Darius said. “What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing. Probably just the comedown, like you said. But I’ll be okay. I’ll sleep it off.” Luis finally raised his chin and tried to smile at Darius. “Don’t worry so much, chico. I’m good.”
Darius knew he wasn’t getting anywhere by arguing with Luis; his best friend was as stubborn as they came. “Call me if you need me,” Darius said.
“I will,” Luis said. He pushed past Darius and returned to his bedroom. Darius was sure he heard the lock click into place.
Though it killed him to do it, he headed home and hoped they’d be able to talk about what had happened in the morning.
They didn’t talk about it, though. The next day, Luis claimed he had no memory of what happened after the Molly took effect, so Darius had no choice but to let it go and follow Luis’ lead back to friendship. Even when Luis came out during their first year at UCLA—where Darius had an academic scholarship and Luis competed on the gymnastics team—Darius kept his feelings under wraps and accepted that he was always going to be in the friend zone as far as Luis was concerned.
Chapter one
Luis
It was a partynight! Luis was more than eager to get out the door and head for Neon, but first, he had to make sure his look was absolute perfection and totally fabulous. Make-up, hair, clothes, shoes, everything. No one else was home—everyone’s schedules had been thrown off by flight cancellations and bad weather over the past several weeks—but Luis wasn’t going to deny himself a chance to have fun.
He glossed his lips and stood back to admire his outfit in the full-length mirror. It was amazing, if he did say so himself: pink metallic booty shorts, silver mesh tank, and strappy silver sandals with two-inch heels that elevated him to a respectable five-seven, and his makeup had come out so good tonight. Luis snapped a few mirror selfies and sent them to Darius, even though he knew his best friend was somewhere over the Pacific and wouldn’t get a chance to see them until he had a break.
Practicing a few coy looks in the mirror, he smiled at his reflection and felt the familiar butterflies of anticipation at a night out. The only fly in the ointment was that Darius wouldn’tbe home until the following day, and then they’d only have two days together before Luis was flying to Brussels, and then Darius would be back to Tokyo before Luis got home. Usually, they were able to get their schedules in synch, but not lately.
With their mismatched calendars, and Ricky continuing to be the reticent roommate, and Greg spending most of his off time with his silver fox boyfriend, Holden, Luis was often the only person at home, which meant the condo had become a lonely place. Hence the reason why Luis had decided to go out despite being on his own. He didn’t like flying solo, as those butterflies attested, but he couldn’t face another night in front of the TV with no one but himself for company.
With a last look in the mirror, Luis picked up his cell phone and headed down the hall toward the living room and his ultimate destination: the kitchen. He’d made a pitcher of lavender Cosmos so he could pregame and was already pleasantly buzzed, but he wanted one more before calling for his Uber.
Someone knocked on the front door at the same time that Luis’ phone screen lit up with a text alert flashing him an image of his and Darius’ faces at last year’s LA Pride Parade when they’d marched with a contingent of flight attendants. He swiped up on the screen as he made a detour to the door and opened up his messages, smiling when he saw Darius had responded to his selfies with heart-eye emojis.
You look great, chico. Have fun.
Luis sent back a heart emoji, then leaned forward to look through the peephole and almost dropped his phone because his hands lost all feeling at the sight of who was standing outside. His body froze. What the hell was Andrés doing out of jail? Luis’ mind rabbited, half-formed questions about whether Andrés had escaped and if he could pretend not to be home rising even as Andrés knocked again.
“Come on, cheeeeko, I know you’re in there.” Andrés’ voice was singsong sweet, but when he knocked again, the sound was menacing. “I’ll stay out here all night until you open the door, chico.”
