Page 4 of Friendly Skies
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.” Luis let his hand come to rest on Darius’ shoulder, his fingertips dragging lightly along Darius’ collarbone. Darius was kind of rangy, like he’d grown too fast for his body to keep up, and there were places where his joints and bones were sharp angles beneath his skin.
Luis’ fingers snuck under the collar of Darius’ T-shirt, and his thumb pressed into the hollow between collarbone and shoulder. It felt good, and Darius relaxed into the feel of Luis touching him. At least until Luis rolled onto his side and scooted close enough for Darius’ head to rest against his abdomen. Darius tensed again, fear that his body would betray him and expose his feelings for Luis making him shift his upper body. Luis’ grip on his shoulder tightened.
“Just stay,” Luis said. “I like touching you here.” He stroked his fingers over that spot between Darius’ shoulder and collarbone again. “I can’t get over how smooth your skin is.”
“It feels nice.” Darius leaned his head back and smiled up at Luis. He loved Luis’ face, from his soulful dark eyes to the faint dusting of scruff around his mouth and the sun-bleached tips of his black hair.
Luis leaned forward. His expression grew serious, his eyes boring into Darius’. He licked his lips, and Darius’ arm raised of its own accord, his hand curling around the back of Luis’ neck. It took the slightest amount of pressure to bring Luis closer. Their lips were so close.
“Dar…” Luis breathed and then closed the distance between them.
It took Darius the length of a heartbeat—almost painful in its strength—to realize that what he had dreamed about, fantasized about, convinced himself would never happen was indeed happening. Luis was kissing him, and if he didn’t hurry up and kiss Luis back, the moment might end before he had a chance to enjoy it.
The kiss was everything Darius wanted. It was soft and sweet, Luis’ lips warm against his own. He sighed as a tingle of excitement ran through his body. Of course, it made him hard, but that wasn’t what captured his attention. It was the way Luissmelled, the way Darius was getting the faintest sense of what he would taste like if they were to open their mouths to each other.
“Chico,” Darius breathed out as they parted.
Luis shifted, and then Darius’ arms were full of his best friend as Luis slithered off the bed and onto his lap. Arms around Darius, Luis pulled him close again. “Did you like that?” he whispered.
“You have no idea,” Darius whispered back.
With barely any space between them, they were breathing each other’s air. Darius could taste Luis on the back of his tongue, but he wanted more. A small part of his brain reminded him this could all be the Molly, but the larger part didn’t care. Luis might be high, but that was only letting him take the risk, right? They’d work it out after Luis came down. Which was as far in the thought process as Darius got because Luis’ lips were back on his.
This time, Luis’ tongue flicked out and teased at the corners of Darius’ mouth. Darius opened for him and groaned as he got his first real taste of Luis’ mouth.
He had no idea how long they sat on the floor, Luis’ ass on his thighs, their arms around each other. They didn’t do anything but kiss, but Darius knew he would remember this moment for the rest of his life. Anything he had conjured in his mind paled in comparison with the reality of kissing Luis Herrera.
They probably would have stayed like this for hours if Luis’ mother hadn’t knocked on the door, returning with the promised slices of cake. Luis scrambled back onto his bed, and Darius took the plates from Mrs. Herrera, hoping she didn’t notice anything that would betray what he and Luis had just been doing.
“Do you need anything else, mijo?” she asked, but Luis told her he was fine.
As soon as the door was shut, Luis started up his cake chant again, holding out his hands and making gimme motions with his fingers. Darius handed him the plate, and Luis cut off a huge portion with the side of his fork and stuffed it in his mouth so fast some of the whipped cream frosting oozed out of the corners. Darius longed to lick Luis’ mouth clean, but he settled for watching Luis’ tongue—the same tongue I’ve just had in my mouth—flick out to clean it up.
Darius took his first bite of the tres leches cake and hummed in appreciation. He settled back on the floor. “Your mom makes the best cake,” he said.
“No kidding.” Luis took a smaller bite. “It’s so cool, how everything tastes. Like I think I can taste every ingredient and then the whole thing, and then the whipped cream and sugar, and the textures of the cake and the cream. It’s incredible.”
He continued eating, shoving one forkful after another into his mouth, and each time, it seemed as if he discovered something new about the flavor or the texture. And the sounds he made…Darius was grateful he was sitting on the floor. While he still wanted to kill Andrés for giving Luis the X, now that Luis wasn’t showing signs of distress or having a bad trip, Darius could relax a bit and enjoy Luis’ sudden awareness of the world around him. And if it meant that he and Luis might become more than friends? Darius wasn’t going to think that far ahead, no matter how much he hoped things would move in that direction.
They didn’t talk while they ate, but once they were done, Luis lay back on his bed with a sigh, then rolled back up. “Come lie down with me again, Dar.”
The request made Darius’ heart skip a beat, but there wasn’t a world in which he wouldn’t do exactly as Luis asked. He moved their plates to the dresser, then lay down next to Luis, who immediately curled around him again: head on his shoulder,arm draped across his waist. Luis made contented sounds as he snuggled in closer.
“Put your arms around me,” Luis commanded, and Darius complied, though he kept a loose hold on his friend.
Were they going to kiss again? Darius wasn’t sure if he’d be willing to do more than that while Luis was still feeling the effects from the drugs, especially not without having the “I thought you were straight” conversation.
Luis gave him a one-armed body hug. “I know this is probably the Molly talking, but, God, Dar…” He pulled the side of Darius’ shirt up so he had access to bare skin, which made Darius shiver when Luis ran his fingers over his ribs. “You’re my best friend, and I love you,” Luis whispered. “Like really love you.”
The words sent Darius’ heart into overdrive. “I love you, too,” he whispered back and placed a kiss on Luis’ head.
Luis continued to trace circles on Darius’ belly while Darius tried to keep his breathing even. What he really wanted to do was run and scream and grab Luis so he could kiss the heck out of him. He tightened his arms around Luis, and Luis moved closer. Before Darius knew it, they’d both drifted off.
Darius woke to an empty bed and a dark room. The party was still going on outside, even though the music had ended. He looked at the clock on Luis’ dresser and saw that it was only a little after nine, but when he did the math, he knew Luis was probably still feeling the effects of the Molly. Finding his friend was his highest priority, so he got up and left the bedroom.
It turned out, he didn’t have far to go. As soon as he stepped into the hallway, he heard Luis crying in the bathroom.
