Page 3 of Friendly Skies
“It’s fine.” Luis put his head against Darius’ chest. “Your heart’s so loud.” He laughed, and Darius felt the vibration of it in his chest, but Luis didn’t move away. He rolled his hips again, and Darius felt that Luis was hard. “Come on, Dar. I just want to be close to you.” He pulled Darius’ arms around his waist, pressed his hands against Darius’ back, and continued to sway against him. “Hold me, Dar. Dance with me. Please. It feels good when you touch me.”
Blood pounded in Darius’ ears, and he held his body as rigid as possible. It physically hurt not to respond to Luis, but he couldn’t. It wasn’t right. Luis was high, obviously not thinking clearly. No matter how much Darius had fantasized about a moment like this, no matter how much he wanted it, he wasn’tgoing to take advantage of the situation, and he damned Andrés all over again.
“Let’s lie down, chico,” Darius said. “I don’t feel like dancing right now.”
“Only if you hold me.” Luis flashed him a wicked smile that made Darius bite his lower lip to keep from groaning, but he followed Luis back to the bed. Once they were settled, Luis snuggled back into Darius’ arms. “It feels good,” he said. “You holding me. As cool as it feels being high, I’d probably be freaking out if you weren’t here.”
“I’ll take care of you,” Darius promised again.
“You’re the best friend ever.” Luis held on even tighter, then trailed his fingers along Darius’ jaw and down the side of his neck to his throat. “Your skin is so soft,” he said as his fingers teased at the small amount of Darius’ chest that was visible above the collar of his T-shirt. “How did I not know this?”
“Luis…” Darius breathed out his friend’s name, then choked back a shout when Luis’ hands abruptly left his neck and dove under his shirt.
“You’re even softer here. Like velvet.” Luis stroked his fingers across Darius’ belly, then lifted his chin to look Darius in the eye. “Do you like what I’m doing, Dar?”
The truth was Darius liked Luis touching him very much—too much—and he didn’t know what to do about it. Luis could be flying for another couple of hours until he crashed, and while Darius meant what he’d said about taking care of him, that meant keeping himself in check and not letting his feelings for Luis show. Which meant Darius was likely to be in agony for the next few hours unless he got Luis to focus on something else. The problem was he couldn’t think of anything else, not while Luis had his hands on Darius’ body.
“It’s okay if you don’t, Dar,” Luis said and pulled his hands from under Darius’ shirt.
Darius missed the contact immediately but was grateful Luis had taken his silence as an indication that Darius wanted him to stop. It wasn’t the truth. Not by a long shot. But he didn’t want Luis to think he was upset.
“It was fine, chico,” Darius said and captured Luis’ hands in his own and brought them up to his chest. “But this is better.”
Again, Luis pulled back so he could look at Darius directly. “Have you kissed anyone yet, Dar?”
Darius drew in a breath so quickly that some of his own spit went down the wrong way, and he started coughing. “What the fuck, Luis?” he asked when he got his breathing under control again.
Luis grinned at him and freed a finger from their entwined hands to stroke along Darius’ jaw again. And then he kept right on going until his fingertip skated over Darius’ lower lip. “Just asking. Have you?”
“Who would I be kissing? I’m too busy studying and working in my dad’s store. And when I’m not doing any of those things, I’m with you.”
“I don’t know.” Luis shrugged. “Angel on the cheer squad really likes you.”
Darius was saved from having to answer by a knock on the door and the sound of Luis’ mother calling his name. Scrambling to his feet, Darius crossed the room and opened the door a crack.
“Oh, Darius,” Mrs. Herrera said. “It’s time for cake. I know you boys don’t want to miss that.”
“Actually, Mrs. H, Luis isn’t feeling well—” Darius raised a hand when she started to push past him, realizing he’d made a cardinal error when dealing with a parent. “He probably just ate too much and needs to lie down for a bit.”
“¿Pollito?” she queried. “¿Cómo estás? ¿Necesitas algo?”
“No, Mamá, estoy bien. Darius me está cuidando.”
Mrs. Herrera eyed Darius as if she was trying to figure out if they were up to something—which, to be honest, they were—and Darius tried to keep his expression neutral, especially when he asked her to let his parents know he’d be staying the night.
At that, she smiled, patted him on the arm, and told him she’d bring them both pieces of cake. “For later,” she said, “because I know how much you boys love cake.”
Darius thanked her and quietly closed the door as she moved off down the hallway.
“Cake sounds really good,” Luis said and started chanting cake, then laughing. “It sounds so weird now. Cakecakecakecakecakecakecake.”
The sound of it made Darius laugh as well. He didn’t return to the bed, but sat on the floor with his back leaning against it. Luis scooted to the edge of his bed, close enough that Darius felt the heat of his body, then ran his fingertips through Darius’ closely cropped hair.
“Angel’s really cute. You should ask her out,” Luis said. He teased at the hairline on Darius’ neck, which made Darius squirm.
“That tickles,” he said, though he really wanted Luis to continue. “I don’t want to go out with Angel.” He turned his head to look at his best friend. “What about you? Have you kissed anyone?” Darius hoped his expression didn’t give away how much he dreaded Luis’ answer would be “yes” and how relieved he was when Luis shook his head.
“I’m thinking of asking Julieta to the next dance.”
