Page 8 of Friendly Skies
“Didn’t you enjoy that?” Andrés asked. “A cocksucker like you? Better learn, cheeeeko. The boys won’t like you if you don’t suck their cocks.”
And then Luis was alone in the bathroom, trying as best as he could to clean himself up. There was blood on his mouth, blood in his hair from where Andrés had twisted hard enough to pull a clump from his head. He tried to keep quiet, but Darius was knocking on the door, asking if he was all right. Darius, whom Luis had only just realized he loved when they were kissing. But maybe that was just the Molly talking. Maybe…Luis’ stomach heaved, and he lunged for the toilet. But Darius was still knocking. If Luis could stand up, if he could open the door, everything would be fine. Instead, he wiped his mouth with toilet paper and told Darius to go home.
As usual, he woke in the morning with no conscious memory of the nightmare, but his body remembered. His jaw and head ached, his throat was raw, and his muscles felt wrung out.
Luis lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He didn’t need to remember the nightmares to know what they were about. Like everything else about that night, he shoved the dream to the back of his mind and forced himself to get out of bed.
“Honey, I’m home!”
Luis put down the brush he had been using to scour the kitchen floor, stripped off the purple kitchen gloves, took a deep breath, and got to his feet. He shook his head, ran his fingers through his hair, and tried to look like he hadn’t spent the entire morning stress cleaning, then went to greet his best friend.
Though he tried to play it cool, as soon as he rounded the corner and stepped into the living room, the sight of Darius made his heart beat faster. He crossed the room in three strides and jumped into Darius’ arms, linking his legs around the other man’s waist and burying his head in Darius’ neck. He didn’t care that Darius smelled of stale air, sweat, and burnt coffee. All that mattered was that Darius was home, and he could breathe again.
“Hey, baby,” Luis cooed in his friend’s ear. “Did you miss me?”
Darius chuckled, wrapped his arms around Luis, and carried him over to the couch, where he sat without dislodging Luis. “You know I did, chico. I always miss you.”
“That’s 'cause I’m so cute, right?” Luis lifted his head and stared into Darius’ eyes. His best friend was so fucking beautiful with his hazel-green eyes and dark umber skin. Luis had always loved the contrast of his golden skin with its olive undertones against Darius’ darker, more rosy color. And don’t get him started on the velvety feel of it under his fingers or the firmness of Darius’ muscles beneath all that amazing skin. Luis had to stop himself from pulling Darius’ shirt from his waistband and running his hands up his bare back.
“Yup,” Darius agreed, and it took Luis a moment to realize he was responding to the comment about how cute Luis was because he’d been so distracted by his friend’s proximity. “Always been a cute little bug.”
Luis wrinkled his nose and gave Darius a pout. “You know that’s not what I’m talking about at all.”
“Yeah, chico. I know. How’d it go last night? You hook up?”
“Naw. Wasn’t really anyone there that caught my eye.” Luis slid into the lie without thinking about it. On one hand, that was good because Darius wouldn’t find out the truth about the previous night. On the other, it sucked because it was just one more lie Luis was telling his best friend.
“Hmmm. Maybe we should go tonight, see if you have any better luck.”
“What about you? You haven’t had a date since that gaffer guy.”
Now it was Darius’ turn to wrinkle his nose. “Chris. Yeah.” He shook his head. “Can’t say I’ve really been looking. Maybe it’s time to test the waters again.”
Luis nodded. Both of them had been experiencing a dry spell for the past six months, ever since Darius broke up with Chris. If Luis was being honest, his own dry spell went back about a year, about the time Darius and Chris hooked up and then started seeing each other exclusively.
“Maybe we need to try somewhere new,” Luis suggested.
“That sounds good.” Darius stifled a yawn. “After I get a shower and a nap in.” He swatted at Luis’ ass. “Get up and let me go rest.”
Luis climbed off Darius’ lap, more than aware of how just that brief bit of contact had relaxed him. At least it did until Darius handed him a piece of paper.
“Any idea what this is about?” Darius asked as Luis unfolded the note. “It was taped to our door.”
Sorry about last night. My boyfriend is a jerk sometimes. Come by for a drink so I can make it up to you. Hugs from Max in Apt 3F.
Luis shrugged. “No idea,” he lied again and folded the paper back up.
“What time did you get back last night?” Darius retrieved his flight bag from where he’d left it by the front door and headed for the bedroom.
Oh. Right.Luis shook his head as if he were thinking. “I don’t know. Maybe oneish? One thirty?”
“So whatever happened was after that? And you didn’t hear anything?”
“What can I say? I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow.” Luis smiled and hoped he sounded convincing. He followed Darius down the hallway.
“Max is a nice guy. I hope he’s okay and whatever thing his boyfriend pulled wasn’t that bad.” Darius maneuvered his flight bag into a corner of their shared room, then flopped down onto the bed. “It always feels so good to come home.” He rolled onto his back and raised his arms. “Come be with me until I fall asleep?”
“As if you have a doubt.” Luis stripped down to his boxer briefs. He climbed onto the bed, stopped to give Darius a quick kiss, then pulled the covers down and got under them. “I could use a nap as well,” he said. “Especially if we’re gonna go out.”
