You know, if someone had told me a month ago that I’d be laying in a God-knows-what-sized-bed, in a skyline condo over Las Vegas, with my longtime rival now turned lover who was the city’s second drag race king, (I’m the first by the way); I’d tell them to go to check themselves into the closest madhouse. However, surprisingly, three weeks later, here I am, trying to catch my breath after an intense round of sex with Cole Myers.
Twisting on my side to look at the similarly heaving chest of my boyfriend, I remember that moment how it all started like it was yesterday….
Three weeks before…
Things had gone ape-shit all day. You name it, big or small, it inevitably went wrong and that was why after ten hours on the clock, I had found myself in this dark, bummed out bar, which was reeking of stale beer and pot smoke, scowling at myself in the dark mirror where the bottles of Jack were.
My eyes then glared at the tasteless club soda I’m forcing myself to drink only because I had made myself a promise to stay away from the hard stuff after a wakeup call months ago had slapped some sense into me. I had gone through a rough patch for two months and one night I had gotten so drunk that I ended up in the freaking ICU for blood poisoning.
Right now, I know that I shouldn’t be blowing the little cash I had on crap that wouldn’t get me drunk, but damn it, I’ve had a day from hell and my irritation showed on my face. A face that sported ice blue eyes and shaggy auburn hair of the twenty-four-year-old sucker with a three-day scruff on my cheeks.
My t-shirt was a bit stained with oil from working in the auto shop – and damn Sam for giving me some fucked up Mazda with a busted radiator cap to work on and then have the gall to accuse me of breaking it. An offense for which he took fifty bucks out of my pay for ‘reparation’ which meant I was going to owe my landlady another month of rent- unless…
My phone rang the metal version of Macklemore’s, ‘Can’t Hold Us’ went slicing through the almost dead air inside the bar and with a grin I answered it. There had been a rumor running around about a certain race that might go on tonight and there was no way to measure how much I wanted that call to be about it.
“Please tell me something good,” I said into the phone.
“Hey Shaun,” a hoarse smoke-addled voice said, “You wanna win five grand tonight?”
Oh, how I loved hearing a cracked voice coming from a throat that was one cigarette step away from cancer, mumbling words that sounded like ‘Glory, Hallelujah’ to my ears.
It was hard to keep the excitement from my voice, but I managed to do it. “Yea, Pops but I’m broke as shit, I don’t have the dough to enter.”
Pops, (that wasn’t his real name but whatever) the ruler of underground drag racing scene in Vegas laughed lowly, “I’ll spot you this time just make sure you win though. The scene has been missing your orange beast for a while.”
Grinning at the mention of my sleek Dodge Charger, dark orange with black and silver lightning strikes at the side, fitted out with NOS, a heavy-duty auto gearbox, turbocharged engine, premium chrome pipes and rims that I had almost sold my soul to buy- but considering the fact that I’m gay, I’d probably be dammed anyways- I could only reply.
“Just gimme the time again place, pops,” I grinned while getting off the stool, “I’ll be there.”
“Arvielle road at midnight; get there,” Pops replied, “I really want you to win this kid.”
Checking my watch that read ten forty-seven pm, I swiftly calculated the time from this place in the Vegas Strip to Arvielle Rd was about ten minutes give or take but I had to run home and get my car in gear first.
Throwing some cash on the table, I shot back my drink with a disgusted grimace and I got up with a grin which slightly faltered as I stepped out into the cold air.
My fists clenched as I got on my bike. If that fucking ass Cole Myers was going to be with his flashy clothes and flashy Bugatti Veyron and if he even looked at me sideways with his signature condescension, there was going to be a major problem, but I’d really rather go home without a charge and five grand richer.
God, I hated looking into that smug bastard’s face. I couldn’t count how many times I wanted to smash my fist into his aristocratic, sculpted face and make one of his green eyes black and blue.
… Unfortunately, that face was one that haunted my wet dreams over and over and friggin’ over again… a fact that made me want to stab myself in the gut.
******
Arvielle Rd normally was a police hotspot because recently a lot of teens have been grabbed doing illegal drag racing on it, but tonight it was all free and clear. How the hell Pops had gotten the blue boys to turn a blind eye to this open activity I didn't know... but then again, I really couldn't care less.
I know that the usual players wouldn't like to see me turn up but that was their problem as I turned onto the road. I smoothly crawled down the lane, where my competitors were lined off and had spectators thronging through them.
I passed a sleek electric blue 2016 Evo that belonged to this Asian dude name Koji.
I had heard news that he was tearing up the tracks at the Pure Speed Racing circuit, so what was he going here?
Next, I spotted a candy red Nissan Silvia S15 Spec-R that belonged, ironically to a chic named Candy; she was a tall, leggy and bad ass like hell. The guys around here knew to not get on her bad side because she would have a knife at your throat faster than you could imagine.
Third (and fourth if you wanted to be technical) were two twin guys, Jared and Jason who hailed from some Caribbean country, Jamaica I believe, with short matching dreadlocks brushing their black shirts as the leaned on matching hunter green Dodge Viper SRT-10.
As I passed, I spotted Jason's head roll back as if to say, ‘Goddammit, we're fucked,’; I'm glad he knew it. Grinning, I saw an open spot, took a right spin and backed up into it. With that grin still on, I hopped out of the car and felt the cold air on the desert road instantly slap my face. This far out into no-mans-land you could see the stars up in the sky and it was an appreciated change from the glaring lights in the city.
Shoving the car keys into my pocket, I sauntered over to Candy whose eyes were narrowed. Despite her hate glare, she was looking hot; with some tiny daisy-dukes and a crop top that showed her silver dream-catcher dangling from her bellybutton and the snakebites under it.
Her lip, done so beautifully in blood red lipstick lifts in a sneer, “Oh hell. Pops is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.”
Grinning, I lean in to kiss her on her cheek, “Hello sweetness.”
“Oh, go to hell,” Candy sniffed insolently while flipping her hair over her shoulder, “Don’t get your hopes up Shaun, you ain’t winning this time, I promise you; you gonna be eatin’ dust.”
“Maybe all of us, woman,” Jason’s thickly accented voice suddenly materialized beside us. His hands were stuck in his jeans pockets as his head nodded to street entrance, “Put it to Pops to screw us over.”
Instantly, I knew who was coming but I didn’t turn to look, the problem was that everyone else did.
“Fuck,” Candy swore while looking over my shoulder, “It’s Cole.”
Cole, of course, it was freaking Cole. In my mind, I could picture his sleek onyx Veyron rolling smoothly down the lane with its LED blue lights coming from the underbody; Cole, the freaking ‘prince’ of racing.
One thing I’m wasn’t going to lie about, Cole had a face that looked like something Michelangelo had chiseled out of marble, you know all Apollo and shit, but he had this look in his green eyes like everyone else was nothing more than scum under his boots. His nose was always tilted in the air and I couldn’t tell you how much I wanted to break it into two pieces.
The first time I had met Cole was at a simple quarter-mile sprint race and I was attracted to him at the very second. He had won that race, by a few inches but to me, it had felt like a mile. Seeing my loss, I was ready to do the sportsman thing and give him his props, until he had sneered at me, spun on his heel and walked away without a word.
The second match with him was like the first and the third was when my car had a transmission problem and had spluttered and died in the middle of the track, but right now, I swore that this race would negate all the above; I was going to win.
Against every bone in my body, I turned to look. It galled me to my core when everyone stilled to a hushed silence as the Veyron slowly coasted down the lane and stopped in the middle of it. Again, it infuriated me that every-fucking-eye was on the car’s door with a hushed breath like they were waiting for the frigging President to appear.
Slowly, like it was a slow-mo scene out of some movie, the door opened and a thick black boot stepped out. Closely following it was the body of Cole-fucking-Myers, his lean body clad in dark Citizens of Humanity Jeans, a dark Oxford shirt; all of which might have cost more than my goddamn car.
My body went stiff in agitation. What a prick! It was night so, why the hell was he wearing shades?
Standing beside his car, Cole just looked around, his dark head of hair fluttering in the cool night breeze and when he looked my direction and his lips lifted in a sneer. God knows it had to be some kind of divine intervention that stopped me from lunging at him and breaking his face.
Candy seemed to have gotten the same inclination because she grabbed the back of my t-shirt, “Let it go, Shaun, you know he's an asshole.”
I snorted, “Prick.”
“So, Pops decided to give us some amusement tonight,” Cole’s smooth voice said behind me, “Andrews, I thought you would be burying your head in the sand from your last embarrassment.”
My fist clenched by my side and my eye narrowed, “And I still think you did something to fuck up my transmission.”
Cole snorted and spun his keys around his finger, “Why in God’s name would I even go near that old ugly monstrosity?”
My eyes popped at his blatant disrespect to my ride. Nobody and I mean nobody gets away with dissing my charger. “You fucking sonofa-”
“Boys, boys,” A grated voice cut in, “Save all that torque for the track, okay.”
Half glad that Pops had interrupted us and half sorry that I hadn’t punched Cole in the face, I turned to the man who had called me out there.
You would think that by the deepness of his voice Pops was some fat guy with a beer belly larger than Trump’s, but Pops was a tall and thin guy-like reed thin- with a shock of wild salt-n’-pepper hair that admittedly had some grays at the sides.
“Pops,” I said, “Can we get this thing started already?”
“Are you that eager to lose?” Cole taunted from the side, “Well, I guess for trash like you failure is the fuel that you run off.”
I lunged, and just before I could grab him Jason and Jared grabbed me and dragged me back. How dare that son of a bitch? Just because I was second generation Irish who hadn’t finished college and he was some Norwegian spawn and had gone to Prince-fucking-ton, didn’t mean I wasn’t smart. I worked with high-end machines for God's sake, cars that are so intricate that only a skilled person could work on them. I work and pay my taxes like everyone else.
“You’re gonna swallow that,” I swore to him while shrugging Jason and Jared’s hands off me.
Despite the fact that I wanted to smash my fist right into his face, I held myself back and stepped right into his face. His green eyes were lowered but I still saw a gleam of hostility inside, “Oh yeah, how?”
“How about pink slips,” I said stiffly, “You win, I will hand over my car to you and if you do I-”
“Hell no!” Pop interrupted stepping in between us, placed his hands on mine and Cole’s chest and pushed us apart, “There ain’t gonna be any car swapping tonight, do that on your own time, not mine. So, if it pleases your highnesses, get into your rides and get this money.”
“Like I’d take that hunk of scrap metal anyway,” Cole scoffed turning away.
“One mile,” Pops said, “Five grande and no funny business, get it. Let your wheels do the talking.”
With another glare to Cole, I spun on my heel and marched out to my car, bristling all the way. The assault of emotions Cole just made feel was just too much for me to even try and figure out. It was just- that asshole made me so angry that I’d put my fist through a wall…but then…it also made me want to grab him and kiss him so hard his head would spin.
I gripped the wheel so hard that I heard my knuckles crack but I started the car and went to the starting line. Six cars a foot away throttling with trapped energy instantly drew the crowd’s attention. I knew that ninety-nine percent of them were betting on Cole to win and the goddamn fact was that he just might.
I wasn’t going to let him do it so easily though.
A flashing light from the side counted three…two…rolled; go time!
I stomped on the brakes down so hard I wondered if my foot had broken through the floor, yanked the handbrake up and floored it. The car spun so hard and leaped out like a caged beast out of the line that I felt my heart almost stop. There was no way I was going to let that asshole Cole win me this time.
Off the starting line, I kept the steering wheel straight, making sure to shift just before gunning it. The roar of the car’s engine was loud in my ear and I drove hard while timing when to flick the NOS on.
Through the corner of my eye, I could see Kin’s Evo and Cole’s Veyron neck to neck with me then all of a sudden, Kino fell back and Candy swerved in and took his place, three feet to my left. I didn’t care about her, Kino or the twins; all I wanted was to shove my victory into Cole’s face.
The five hundred foot line was coming up in three seconds and with vicious glee, I flicked the NOS on, and god did my car roar. It was a race to the finish and Cole’s car was neck and neck with mine, not a single inch of difference.
The finishing line was coming in fifteen seconds and as the car leap, knowing that Cole and I were so close, my mind was screaming, ‘No No No; FUCK NO!’ – but then we passed the finish line- together; shit.
A string of curses was the only thing running through my mind as I crossed the finish line while I gradually applied the brakes. As I slowed down, I was begging some kind of benevolent deity to tell me that there was some difference between us and that one of us had won, but I couldn't bear to find out that we had …tied.
Slowly stopping the car and shutting the NOS off, I smelt the lingering fumes of rubber burn and huffed out a quiet curse. I didn’t want to get out of my car but there was no way to avoid it. The moment I stepped out though, I was ganged by a throng of people I didn’t know all of them yelling how bad I was back there, slapping me on the back and snapping pics with their iPhones. I looked over to see that a similar crowd was around Cole- who was sporting a pissed off look.
“All right, all right,” Pops said cutting through the crowd, “Give the men some space to breathe.”
With trepidation, I turned to the one person who might be my saving grace and shot him a pleading look. Pops slowly took a cig butt from his mouth and crushed it under his heel even slower. He was deliberating dragging this out and I detested him for it.
“Well, boys…” Pops said while taking out the roll of cash from his pockets, “I looked at the end footage three times and I’ve got to tell you… it’s a tie.”
“Oh fuck no!” I shouted, instantly incensed, “I beat that bastard and you know it.”
“You didn’t beat me,” Cole snapped, “There’s no way in hell you could have bested me.”
Pops’ head swiveled between us and there was a hint of a smile on his face, “I can show you the tape if you wanna see.”
“Yes!” We snapped in unison.
In a moment, Pops was holding a tablet in his hand and slid back a feed. With anger barely simmering under my skin I looked at the recording and idly admired my take off. The charger was in pure American muscle form and shot off beautifully.
Cole was beside me, just as Kino was but then he dropped out and Candy took his place. I didn't care about who was doing what, all I cared about was who won. The moment Cole and my cars crossed over Pops pressed pause, I went still as ice and plastered my eyes on the tablet.
Then I saw it; our cars were in the exact line, not an inch behind or before. I slumped back in grief, Pops was right; we had tied.
“Damn it,” Cole swore under his breathleanedand I couldn't say the sentiment wasn't returned.
“So, fifty-fifty,” Pops grinned while swiftly parting the cash, “Two-five each.”
Grudgingly, I reached out and took my half, a bit glad that I could pay my backlog of rent and put in at least two months in advance.
“Keep it,” Cole said stiffly while turning away, “Or give it to him; he can have it. I don’t want it.”
Without thought, I turned and snarled, “Fuck no, I don’t take charity asshole. Take the money and burn it to ashes after or whatever, but don’t fucking try to make me some charity case.”
“Why?” Cole said coolly, his eyes scanning from my chest to my feet, “You look like you could use it.”
That’s it; I was going to prison tonight. After shoving my cash in my pocket I reached out to grab him but Pops stopped me- again. Damn him; what was the old guy’s motive for stopping me?
“Don’t,” Pops hissed in my ear, “Trust me and just chill for a second until these people step off. Do you really want to see yourself attacking Cole on YouTube?”
I didn’t see any reason why but I obeyed him and stepped off, even though every muscle in my body was begging for a fight, “Whatever.”
Huffing, I spun on my heel, went back to my car and spotted Candy chatting with Kino. I so needed a distraction right now so I approached them and asked, “Kino, dude, what happened out there?”
“My right strut just shattered, shifted my alignment to shit,” Kino grumbled, “Can I hit you up to fix it for me?”
“Yeah,” I nodded, “I’d be happy to.”
Mischievously kissing a slightly pissed-off Candy on her cheek I went over to my car and sank inside, trying hard to not over think about what had just happened. On one hand, I was happy that I had gotten some cash but on the other, I was pissed as hell that I hadn’t beaten Cole.
I knew that my feelings for him were messed up to the point that I should probably need a shrink to help me work them out, but then, if I had a hundred an hour to spend on counseling I knew I’d do something else with that cash- maybe buy a better external transmission cooler and some premium brake shutoffs.
Cole was… so dangerously attractive that the first time I saw him I had gone home knowing I was fucked. With one look, his eyes had made me wonder what those glittering green orbs would look aflame with lust- lust caused by me. Then I realized there was no way in hell a guy like him was gay (or even bi on the outside) and even if he was, there was no way he’d get together with a grease monkey like me.
Call me a stalker all you want, but after that first meeting, I had asked about him. There wasn’t much but I had learned that Cole was the older of two sons, his younger brother was Cameron and that he had gone to St. Sebastian Boys School and then went to Princeton.
Sighing, I leaned forward and caged my head in my arms, and groaned, “I’m so fucked,”
A knock on my window dragged me out of my musing and I looked up to see Pops gesturing for me to come out. When I did, it was to see that most of the masses had dispersed and it was just me, him and Cole in the middle of the steadily emptying street.
“What’s going on?” I asked tensely, “Why is he here?”
“Because I have a job for the both of you,” Pops said running a hand over his weathered face, “I had staged this race for one winner but I have orders and I can’t go against them.”
A spark of trepidation had run through me and I stepped back, “Pops, what the hell are you into?”
“It’s nothing bad…” Pops shrugged, “…well not from my perspective. A month ago this rich guy from Sweden arranged for a…package to be transported to Vegas by some… people.”
That really didn’t help my anxiety, “And how did you come into the mix?”
Pops titled his head and eyed me, “Do you really want to know that?”
Despite what many - Cole- might think I’m not stupid and I knew whatever that ‘package’ was it had to be illegal. I had a suspicion but I needed confirmation, if that package was still in his hands there was no way he could use UPS to deliver to the buyer.
Playing dumb I asked, “So where do we come into the mix?”
“He moved away last month before the package came and asked me to get some of my best drivers to run it up to him… in New York," Pops replied.
“New York?” I gaped, “Are you crazy? For what?”
“A hundred grand initially,” Pops shrugged, “But not that we have two, it’s now fifty each.”
A list of zeros ran through my mind like a bullet train but then three things occurred to me. One; I realized what Pops was saying…or not saying, which was that he wanted me and Cole to do the run. Two; was that that trip was going to be over thirty-seven hours long and third, did Pops want me to go to jail for murder. Was fifty grand worth it? Was my sanity or my freedom worth it?
“No,” Cole said stiffly, “There is no way in hell I’m going to do anything with that idiot.”
Instantly, my concern about my sanity evaporated and was replaced with irritation. “Are you scared Myers?”
Cole’s green eyes glimmered and for a moment, I wondered if that was what being in the eye-range of cobra looked like.
“If I’m doing this I’m doing it alone.” Cole snapped. “I don’t need that moron slowing me down.”
“And that’s where you have it wrong,” Pops butted in, “One package, one car, one run; both of you at one time.”
The two of us, in the same car? Now I was sure Pops wanted me to go to prison… but fifty grand was a hefty weight on the other side of the scale. Fifty grand could set me up in ways I didn’t even want to imagine and to get it I had to endure three days, four on the outside with the object of my lust and my aggravation.
“I’m in.” I said, then something came to me and I asked, “Why the hell don’t you want to do this any way Myers? I mean its fifty grand, no matter how rich you are, what’s wrong with getting more?”
Cole glared darkly, “I don’t need to explain myself to you.”
Pops shrugged, “You really can’t refuse either way, Cole. The client was explicit whoever won the race would do the run.”
“Or what?” Cole said stiffly.
“Or I would need to put a bullet between your eyes to make sure you don't go running to the cops," Pops said easily.
How was that as an incentive, death or fifty grand; it was an easy choice to make.
Pops looked at Cole with a level look and he asked, “What’s your decision Cole?”
At that moment I swore to myself that if that ass let fifty thousand slip through my fingers I was going to go to my best to fuck him up in every way I could. The night seemed to go even stiller as we waited for Cole to respond.
He glanced at me for less than a second and a twitch I didn’t know how to decipher was in his jaw. “…Yes, I’ll do it.”
I let out a breath and spinning to Pops asked, “When do we leave and what the hell is that package anyway?”
“You’ll find out when you leave… at nine tonight.” Pops replied. “Meet me at the freeway underpass at Interstate 80; I’ll have the car waiting for you.”
I did a mental check; it was about two in the morning so I had about nineteen hours to get my shit in order. “Done,”
Cole only grunted and turned away. I looked over at him and had to drag my eyes away, Cole walked like some kind of model or a tiger on the prowl with a sleek with a hip roll that just screamed, ‘come at me.’
I wanted to stab myself in the face.
Turning back to Pops I said, “See you at nine,” and walked away before I allowed myself to see that knowing look in his eye. The old fart was too smart for my liking.
*****
With my hand on the doorknob and my duffel over my shoulder, I looked back at the apartment and remembered the conversation I had with my boss this morning.
“What do you mean you quit?” Sam had almost screamed at me through the phone.
It was almost perverse but I felt sadistic glee at picturing my fat boss face getting red with rage and stream coming out of his ears. It was about seven in the day when I called him up to tell him I needed some time off.
“Well, I had originally asked you for a few days off but you refused, so what was I supposed to do?” I replied evenly.
“Goddamnit Shaun,” Sam sighed, “It’s just…”
‘That I’m the best goddamn mechanic you have and you’re just realizing it.' I thought viciously while stuffing some clothes in a duffel bag.
While waiting for him to speak I looked around my shoebox apartment and wondered if I should really still use this dump as my home after I got paid. I mean it’s not like I would go for a condo, just something better, where I wouldn’t have to shower at ass o’clock in the morning just to get some hot water.
“…Fine.” Sam grunted, “You can have your three days and I’ll just have to get Jacob to fill in for you.”
Grinning, I zipped the bag up, “Oh, right, if he’s gonna take up my jobs, tell him to fit the 198 Mustang with a C5 3-speed auto and don’t mess with the alternator or I’d have to refit the whole thing again. And don’t even breathe on the compressor alone or I’ll have his head.”
“Yeah, sure,” Sam said, “Just do what you have to do quickly though, I can’t be losing business,”
Somehow, I took that as a compliment but the only indication of that was the shit-eating grin on my face, my voice, however, was solid, "Yeah, with any luck I might do it faster."
Now, after shoving the phone in my pocket and grabbing a protein bar, I hoisted my duffel further over my shoulder, locked the door behind me and got into my car.
It was about 7:45 and as night life starts early in Vegas, the streets were starting to get alive. Knowing that I had time to meet Pops and Cole I took a small detour to a man-made river just in Lorenzi Park, eight minutes away.
Parking as close to the bank as possible I got out and sat on the hood. I don’t know why but the sound of water just calms me, no matter how pissed I was. The night was cool and the breeze gave a chill that I rose goosebumps on my skin.
Everything was going well until I heard, “Ah, shit.”
I spun, looked and nearly cursed, “What the hell are you doing here?” I glared through the darkness, knowing that it didn't make any difference.
“I come here to think," Cole replied simply.
“Well tough shit bastard,” I shot back, “I was here first so you're gonna have to go.”
“What are you, five?” Cole sneered, “Just ignore me like I'm damn sure going to do to you.”
Fat chance of that happening but I damn well gave it my best…until I saw him tilt his head up the sky and the silver rays of the moon ran over his face. His look of serenity was nothing short of enrapturing and my gut clenched while my eyes were stuck on his face. For the first time, I actually saw some human in him and the way he was dressed wasn't bad either. Stonewashed jeans and a fitted dark blue wrist length shirt was a good look on him.
A stint of silence hung in the air and I had to force my eyes away from Cole to check my watch, it was almost 8: 26.
“Hey,” I called over, “It’s almost time; we need to go.”
Silently, Cole turned on his heel and walked away and my eyes followed him all the way down the lane to where his car, cloaked by the dark night, was. The moment he entered his car, I did the same and drove out of there.
*****
When we arrived at the meeting place, under the overpass, Pops, in his usual rag-tag jeans and faded shirt, was there leaning on a white Jetta with a dark blue Honda Accord in front of him. I guessed that was me and Cole’s car. I would have preferred a muscle but if we were to stay under the radar, a standard ride made sense.
Steeping out of mine, I grabbed my duffel and walked up to him, “Hey Pops, we all set?”
“Uh huh,” He replied while shuffling on his feet, “Just a gimme a moment…”
He got off the trunk, popped it open and took out a crate…with a kitten. I balked. Why the hell were we carrying a kitten over three thousand miles to New York? Did this cat shit gold nuggets or something?
"Um, Pops, no offense but why the hell are we carrying a kitten to the Big Apple?" I asked, "Can't that guy just go to Pet Co or something?”
“This isn’t any kitten, this is a Sand Kitten,” Pops replied, while I peered into the big ears of the feline, “A species that was thought to be extinct. She was born in Tel Aviv, in a litter of five but four were officially declared born and given over to the zoo but this one was smuggled out and sold on the black market.”
“And what the hell does this client of yours want that thing for?” Cole interrupted darkly, “Some pet?”
“Yeah, actually,” Pops replied while crossing the small stretch between his car and ours, “It’s a gift for his six-year-old daughter."
“Great,” I drawled, “From mechanic to delivery man, I don’t think I can sink any lower.”
Cole shot me a conceited look, “Oh, I have no doubt you can sink much, much lower. In fact, my car headlights are probably brighter than your future.”
I shot him an annoyed look, “Oh, just shut up. Pops, if this guy is shelling out a hundred grand for the drive, what’s your take?”
Pops laughed and shook his head while popping the blue car’s trunk and settled the crate inside, “Kid, just get in and drive. Remember to give her some the milk or kibble I packed every couple of hours and get there by seven a.m. Thursday at the address on the back of the note. That’s his kid’s birthday.”
It was nine Sunday night, and we had forty hours to get there, which probably, would give us some time to get there and even have time to spare.
“Sure,” I grunted and turned to Cole, “So, how are we gonna do this?”
“You switch,” Pops interrupted while shoving a paper to me.
I took it and looked; it was an itemized list and why didn’t it shock me that this guy had planned it all out. “Six point five hours to Salt Lake City, Utah after driving about 430 miles. Three hours to Rock Springs Wyoming after driving about 190 miles, then our first pit stop at…what… Motel 6 at Rock Springs and then three point five hours to Cheyenne, Wyoming…” I flipped the list over, “…Damn Pops, you got it all lined out, huh.”
“You need to leave in five minutes,” Pops advised, “If you want to get there by 6:30 am tomorrow at Rock Springs. Here is five hundred for gas, food, and hotels; use it wisely.”
Cole took the roll of cash and nodded, “Sure,”
“See you on the flip side of fifty grand, Pops,” I grinned, hefted my bag, shoved it into the backseat and hopped into the passenger seat.
"Seatbelt," Cole said coldly while stashing the cash in the dashboard, “I’m not going to get pulled over for a seatbelt ticket.”
“Sure, grandma.” I scoffed while tugging the belt over my chest, “Just don’t do any granny shiftin’ or I’ll throw you out the damn car.”
“Will you just shut up so I won’t get an assault charge,” Cole glared, while yanking the gear shift. “Just because I’m an accountant doesn’t mean I want to add up all the money I’m going to fork out to remake your face.”
“You're an acc- snort - accountant?” I laughed, “Bad ass driver like you and you're a bean counter?”
“I just have a head for numbers, it’s not that funny.” Cole snapped while smoothly shifting a gear.
“Oh hell yes it is,” I grinned. “Do you have a double life or something? Should I check under that pad of yours to find a bat cave?”
“Now I know you're five.” Cole murmured darkly.
“Alright, alright fine... I'll let up... “I replied with a decidedly snide tone, “I don't think it would help your rep if people know that you're an Ivy League pencil pusher.”
“And you’re a college dropout metal monkey,” Cole griped while we got on the freeway, “So what?”
“You sonofabitch,” I said evenly directing my eyes out through the passenger window, “Can we just do this without any more incentive to murder each other?”
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Cole said stiffly.
With that agreement, I trained my eyes directly out of the window, looking at the passing lights of Jiffy Lubes, the large stretches of Kia and Hyundai car dealers and well nothing much. I started to drift asleep by the time we had hit midnight but I forced my eyes to stay open.
There was no way I was going to be that punk that dropped asleep when Cole still awake; so I forced my eyes open and looked at everything else except Cole… well, not directly. Form the corner of my eyes I saw a tick in his jaw every time his eye seemed to stray over to me but then they jerked back to the road.
It was hitting one when I got tired of this silence and reached over to turn the radio on. Surprisingly, Cole didn’t stop me. I fiddled until I got to station where soft rock was playing and I settled back with Coldplay in the air.
It may have been my imagination because I swore I saw the steel in Cole’s arm and shoulder soften and for the first time he actually relaxed in his seat. There was no problem on the I-80 and I literally felt the car speed up from the 90 we were on to 110.
We passed an intersection where trailers came into play and Cole was playing hopscotch around the hulking mass of metal with such smooth finesse. It was disturbingly arousing to watch him manipulate the car so easily.
Like a masochist, I wondered what his piano fingers would feel running down my body, sliding through my hair and wrapping around my- oh shit. I needed to stop thinking like now. I’d literally die of mortification if he saw my arousal.
Forcing my eyes away, I thought I saw Cole shoot a look at me the same time but I couldn’t afford to think about that. I needed to cool off. My mind took me back about thirteen years ago when I would follow my dad around his garage in Lincoln Nevada.
I was a wide-eyed 11-year-old kid who was obsessed with anything with a motor and hung onto his every word. Even after he went blind, he could still know a spanner just by the feel of its handle and I admired him for that sole minded dedication.
I loved my dad but I knew he would be pissed to know that I was gay; you know all that strict Irish born catholic stuff, he’d probably flay me alive. I kept reflecting on my dad buy the time we crossed the Utah border I knew Cole was slipping off and knew I had to do something.
“Pull over,” I said quietly, “I’ll take over and check that damn cat too.”
His green eyes blinked hazily at me and I gave him an assuring nod, “Come on, I’ll get us to our first pit stop.”
Cole let out a sigh, pulled over to the soft shoulder and after leaning back on his headrest for a moment, sighed again, released his seatbelt and got out. I did the same and crossed behind the car to check the kitten.
The night was cold and I hurried to quickly refill the cat’s bowl before I closed the trunk and went to the driver's side. By the time I got inside Cole's head was resting on the window and his hair was so innocently fluttering over his drooping eyes.
I latched my seatbelt in and smoothly started the car back onto the highway. A few miles down the road, Cole was solidly asleep and god he looked so…beautiful that way. All the hard lines in his face were gone and he looked so innocent. A part of me wondered how he’d look waking up in my arms with me softly kissing his- and there I went again, thinking the impossible.
Forcing my concentration back on the road I drove to daylight. While coasting down the empty road just after dawn an annoying grumble of my stomach made me groan. I shot a look over at Cole and realized that he had to be hungry when he woke up.
A few miles down the road, I spotted an exit with a large McDonalds on it and took it. A quarter mile down the road, we pulled up to the large golden M and with a sigh of relief, took the drive through. We had a timeline and it made no sense to actually get into the place.
Cole seemed to be one of those types that got anal about fat, carbs and stuff so I ordered something healthy for him, two egg white McMuffins, some hash browns, and orange juice. I grabbed a sausage and cheese and, fries and more OJ for myself with the realization that we could always grab coffee later.
I was about five minutes from the hotel when Cole woke up and blinked wide green eyes at me. “Where are we?”
“About two minutes from the hotel.”
He rolled his neck and his nostrils flared, “You got food?”
"Uh huh," I said while one-handedly turning into the hotel's car park, "I saw a MacD's and felt hungry, I knew you'd be starving too; got you two eggs whites and cheese and OJ.”
Cole tucked a finger in the bag, “…Thank you.”
I pulled up and parked, "So, do you want to check in or should I? Bear in mind that who doesn't, has to take care of the cat."
Cole left the car so fast that it was almost comical. I hunched over the wheel and laughed a bit, it felt so good to be in control for once. In five minutes, Cole came back with the keys and I got out with my duffel, popped the trunk, took the cat out and followed him to the room.
Thank god, it was a ground floor room because I honestly didn’t have the strength to climb any stairs. I was only interested in feeding the cat, feeding myself and crashing. I was so intent on doing those three things that I didn’t even look at the furnishing in the room.
Cole dumped bag on his single bed and stretched. My mouth ran dry when I saw the shift and my eyes latched onto his tight cut of abs and firm obliques. To my horror, I stood there like an idiot holding the cat until Cole gave me a look- a look like he was looking at a crazy guy- and I couldn't blame him.
“Did the final screw in your brain fall out of place?” he asked snidely,
“Did the stick in your ass finally pierce your brain?” I shot back instantly while dumping the crate on the nearest flat surface. "I'm tired, asshole; I tend to zone out sometimes."
“Whatever,” Cole said while yanking his shirt off and grabbing for his food. “Just don’t zone out when you drive and make us crash because I will haunt you for life.”
I was about to say something else when I realized, it was way too juvenile. “I’m an adult Myers, I don’t have time for this shit. Let’s just eat and sleep. I want to get my fifty grande as soon as possible.
After feeding the cat and scarfing down my food, shucked off my pants, I dropped on my bed was asleep in moments.
******
A few hours later, I woke up with a gasp and tried to banish the images dancing behind my eyes to some abyss in the back of my mind. It was just my goddamn luck that I was now being haunted by the live version of Cole, in my dreams.
Sighing, I shucked the sheet off, grabbed my duffel and left to the bathroom to clean myself up. Once again, I was faced with the stark reality that nothing was going to happen between Cole and me, and that, even with the sort-of peace between us, I was sure that I was nothing more than scum on his boots to him.
The warm shower was a little soothing but it wasn't much and soon enough I got out, toweled off and got dressed in a pair of jean shorts and a dark red t-shirt. I left the room just in time to see Cole sit up. Instead of looking at him, I took a quick look around the room we were in. It was a generic one, cream walls, standard dark rug under foot, a flat-screen TV and two beds and night tables with lamps. I crossed over to the window and looked out at the bland landscape.
“It’s about two,” I said not even looking at him, “We need to leave and get to Lincoln Nebraska in time.”
“I…ok, sure.” I heard him mumble behind me as he left to the bathroom.
Sagging on the wall behind me, I was severely tempted to bang my head back on it. What the hell was I doing? Why was I there? Oh right, fifty grand.
Scrubbing a hand through my hair, I went to check the kitten and almost drowned in her large dark soulful eyes that were brimming with longing. It killed my ego that only a female animal would ever look at me that way.
Snorting to myself, I added some kibble into her bowls smiled a bit when she started to munch. A shuffle behind me alerted me to Cole’s reappearance and I glanced over my shoulder at him.
He was dressed in a tight black tee and deep blue jeans and his dark hair looked freshly washed.
Not in the mood to talk much, I grabbed my duffel and the cat’s crate and headed towards the door. I think Cole was smart enough to realize he was to sign us out as this was still my time to drive.
The day was light and sunny and the soft fluffy clouds above didn’t even dent my sullen mood. The car was throttling when Cole hopped in and without a word, I spun out of the lot.
Even with my trained on the road, I could feel Cole’s eyes on me, but I didn’t shift. My goal was to get this job done, get home, get my half of a hundred grand and go back to my humdrum life. We stopped quickly for some Gatorade and chips at the nearest gas station and went on.
Cole hadn't uttered a word to me, and I was grateful for that. The radio was the blessed buffer between us.
Time seemed to fly by and by the time we got to Lincoln Nebraska the already dark sky looked stormy and wasn’t that just great. We had grabbed some dinner at an Applebees’ and then later stopped for a bathroom break at a gas station. After relieving myself went to take care of the kitten once more.
“No!”
I jumped so hard that my head hit the trunk door and after wincing and rubbing my head, I looked around to see Cole coming out of the bathroom with his phone at his ear and a dark scowl on his face.
“Are you a fucking idiot!” Cole snarled, “Cameron, just shut the hell up and go home!”
I closed the trunk door and leaned on the rear end of the vehicle, still frowning. What the hell was going on with his brother to make him so mad? Even in my mood, I was dared to say something, but then Cole stalked past me, got into the car and slammed the door so hard that the car rocked; I took that as the cue to shut up.
Boy and I thought I was mad.
Slipping into the driver's seat, I took one look at his face and knew it was best to hold my peace. The air in the car was so tense I could Stonewashed a knife and cut in half. Cole was glaring out the window so fiercely that I was surprised the glass didn’t melt.
A few miles down the road, I dared to look at him once more. His face wasn’t fire anymore but his jaw was stone stiff. I just turned into another motel when his phone rang again.
His face darkened again and I got out of there quickly and gasped in some fresh air. I then went to the front office and rented the room for us.
When I went back to the car, Cole was spitting fire. Wisely, I only flashed him the room key number, took my bag and the kitten and made my way to the room. Cole was smart enough to find me so I left.
Inside the room, I fed the cat, yanked my shirt off and changed into a tank. I cranked up the AC to cool me down enough to shower and popped one of my warm energy drinks. I glanced at the note Pops had given me and realized we still had a ways to go.
“Eight and half hours to Chicago, four hours to Toledo, Ohio and five hours to Buffalo, New York… I-”
The door to the room slammed so hard that a tremor ran through me. I looked up and met Cole's glower a and I had officially had enough. His foul mood wasn't helping mine.
“What crawled up your ass and died?” I asked snidely.
“Oh just fuck off,” Cole snarled dumping his bag on a bed, “I don’t have the time or the crayons to explain this to you.”
I snapped, “You know what asshole, not everyone who didn’t go to some private boys school or some Ivy League college like you did isn’t stupid.”
“Yeah,” Cole snapped while spinning on his heel, “But you didn’t go to either so shut up…”
I felt this weird hot bubble in my gut and it was only stared to sear when I saw the heat in his eyes. This was getting into dangerous territory but I didn't care, all the riotous emotions, running though me, paired with my angst was now met by his anger, and that toxic mix lit the bonfire.
“… I don’t need any wise advice from an illegal immigrant Irish spawn to try and tell me how to deal with my anger.”
About a million things ran through my mind but the predominant one, (despite me wanting to punch him in the face for his smart mouth remark) was how the hell did he know I was Irish?
"You bastard!" I swore while reaching out and grabbing him, all ready to pummel him into the floor. "You don't get to throw shade on my father! My dad was the hardest fucking worker I ever saw. So shut up!”
His green eyes were glistening like a furious cat and goddamn it, fury on his face spiked my lust so high that I was halfway insane.
The next few moments were a blur; all I could remember was his glare, my snarl and then, our mouths were on each other. Don't fucking ask me why my battered knuckles were caging the back of his neck like a lifeline or why I felt like I was stuck by lightening.
His lips were chapped and there was stubble on his cheeks but I didn’t care. We were fighting but with our mouths, trying to get control but this battle was the most erotic one of my life. We kissed so hard I swore my lips were bruised. I didn't understand why the soft keening sound came from his throat when we parted for air made my chest expand like a balloon.
Inches away from his hellfire lit eyes I husked, “Don’t over-think this.” then grabbed him, pushed him on the bed behind us and fell over him.
Cole was just as aroused as I was and I felt his hardness under mine. His hip was outside mine and then we were rutting like starved animals with our lips locked. One of his hands was in my hair and the other was grabbing at my back. Red was boiling under my skin and I felt like I was about to explode.
Cole wasn’t passive either, he was pushing hard, racing for his release just like I was. My lungs were burning for the lack of air but they could wither and die for all I cared. I was kissing Cole.
With my arms braced over his head, my lips on his and my lower half rocking into his like a train, I was in utopia and I didn’t want it to go. Of course, it couldn’t last forever and even though I wanted to drown in the pleasure for the rest of my life, my body had different goals.
Cole was fire under me, his hot mouth and fiery breaths seared me, moments in by the way his eyes clenched, I knew he was at his peak and in the next second, I succumbed to mine. Would it be too Danielle Steele to say that I saw a white light go off in my head because that was exactly what happened. I stayed there, frozen above him for a small eternity before I listed over and fell to his side, gasping in some air.
Cole was so close that I felt the heat radiating off his skin that told me this was real but I still thought I was dreaming. After getting some air back into my lungs, I closed my eyes and dared to ask, “What the hell was that?”
“Fuck if I know.” Cole panted a mere inch away from me.
Barring the deep breaths, a deep silence was between us and I wasn’t going to let it go that way, we needed to sort our shit out, right then. I twisted and looked at him and I opened my mouth to say something but my tongue cleaved to the roof.
Cole was so… gorgeous that it spun my mind in circles. His skin was softly flushed and his lips were bitten red. Tendrils of his hair were sticking to his wet forehead and brushing his eyes.
I swallowed hard, switched over and no matter how hard I wanted to reach out and kiss him again, I had to say something.
“Cole…” I said quietly, “Do you think that the only reason we hated and all this tension between us was because…we were attracted to each other?”
He stilled and after a moment turned to me with his green eyes now satiated verdant. A look I’d paid every cent I had to see it for the rest of my life, “…Possibly.”
I dragged a hand through my hair, “Then can you please tell me what the fuck was wrong with us?”
Cole laughed darkly, but this time it sounded smooth instead of sarcastic, “Was anything right with us in the first place?”
That was a goddamn good question. I shifted on the rumpled sheets and turned on my side. Instantly, my eyes latched on the stretch of his neck that was bared to me and I had to fight my urge to lean over and press my lips to it. Cole mirrored my motion and looked at him, and for the first time, I saw anxiety in his eyes. I could have bet my last dollar that he was worried about the same thing I was.
“So...where do we go from here?” I asked, “I mean, what do you want from this? Do you want us to be enemies with benefits of what?”
Cole snorted and sat up, “I don’t think that exists.”
“Then what do you want?” I asked, even knowing damn well what I wanted. I had this fantasy universe in my head where I would come home from a hard day and sink into a bed with Cole beside me. I wanted to wake up with him by my side and share a warm shower with. I wanted to be able to have a fight with him, complete with hurled insults and maybe a thrown punch or two but then duke it out in the sheets. I wanted…fuck…I wanted him to be my…boyfriend.
I was so fucked.
It then occurred to me that Cole still hadn’t said a word to me and his back was slightly turned away and that hurt. It was clear that he didn’t want what I wanted and that this was probably just a screw up for him; cool and collected Cole. I bet that his supercomputer mind was coming up with a million and a half reasons to shut me down…and I just couldn't hear it.
Besides, the cooling mess in my shorts was starting to get to me so I shuffled off the bed and grabbed my duffel. “I’m gonna wash off, you can go when I’m done.”
Inside the bathroom, I stripped; grimacing a bit at the mess on my thighs then stepped into the shower and mixed the water temp to lukewarm, then studiously started to wash off. I forced myself to think about everything else than what had just happened, about how Cole had brushed me off.
Without thought, my fist stuck the wall. Damn it, I was twenty-four, not fourteen; I shouldn't be this hungover on this guy. Yeah, so what if he was all I wanted, so what if I still had fantasies of him coming into the shower with me and saying…something, something to put my mind at ease…but that was a long time coming, huh.
I took a longer time in the shower than needed but honestly, I didn’t want to go out there, to face his eyes and see…rejection. It wasn’t like I had bared my soul to him or anything but I knew he didn’t feel the same.
Inside the bathroom and wiped the steam off the medicine cabinet’s glass and looked m without emotion, into my half empty eyes.
By the time I left the room in t-shirt and boxers, Cole was on his bed and turned away from me. I really couldn’t bear to stay in the room so I dragged on some jeans and a sweatshirt and left the room. I didn’t care if the outside was cold; the room was even more arctic.
I leaned my arms on the balcony with a sigh- a deep soul weary sigh; I was right; I was a sucker for pain.
“Hey dad,” I murmured to the softly shining moon, “I haven’t checked in on you in a while huh. Well, my job at the garage is the same, nine to five and oil stains under my nails…. I know this wasn’t how you wanted your son to turn out dad, all your dreams about me being a top-of-the-line engineer, but I had to take my college money and put mom in the nursing home… but I’m going to get back on the horse soon, I promise... Just…put in a good word for me with the man upstairs alright.”
Many people might think that this, talking to my dead father by talking to the moon was bat-shit crazy, but that was the only way I felt comfortable doing so.
I leaned further on the cold iron and snorted softly, “I… I know that you wouldn’t like my lifestyle dad, but I hoped you’d love me anyway. I don't know dad…it's just all messed up…" I said scrubbing a callused hand over my face, "It's like… you know how you felt with mom, how you felt over the moon and like the slightest attention mom gave you, would make your heart soar…it's like this with…Cole, dad. I mean, its… he irritates me but I want to kiss him. He makes me angry and hate myself a lot of times but I just want to hold him and care for him. I know it sounds crazy but I just want to be with him. I know it's not what you wanted for me but I can't change who I am… I’m sorry dad.”
I stayed there until my nose was numb and only then did I go back inside; even if I could catch drooping a couple hours of sleep, it was okay, Cole was driving this time.
The room was as silent as the grave and I thought I saw Cole shift on his bed, probably by some dream. I let out a slow and soft breath; at least he hadn’t heard me. I softly padded to my bed, sank on it and closed my eyes, after a long moment I slipped away.
*****
We left that crack of dawn and four hours into the drive to Chicago I had gotten used to the silence between me and Cole. He didn’t seem like he wanted to address what had happened between us and I wasn’t going to push the issue. If he wanted to ignore it like it hadn’t happened, I’d happily do the same. Even if he wanted to address it, I wasn’t in the mood to say anything.
At another pit stop, I used some of my own cash, bought some earphones, while Cole had run to the closest pharmacy for some Advil or something. I was in the mood for the raw lyrics of Eminem so, inside the car I plugged them into my phone. Leaning into my seat, I allowed my eyelids to slip down to the point I looked asleep.
I still hadn’t gotten over what had happened last night and by the tension in Cole’s arms and face, I believed he was still having issues with it. Every time his eyes shifted to me, I wanted to this drive to end… either that or find some cliff to jump off.
The last one was just my mind going off the deep end but still, I mean how could you have hot frottage with the guy of my dreams and end up in this cold silence.
We got into Chicago at 2:30 and we had to stop to stretch our legs, feed the kitten and ourselves. The next leg, four hours to Toledo Ohio was mine and honesty I wouldn’t mind driving the next five to Buffalo New York just to get this over with.
At the switchover, I hated to get rid of my earphones but I couldn’t dare drive inhibited; as long as Cole played the silent game I’d be fine. By 3:00 were we onto Toledo and we switched; I was fine with the silence until Cole broke it
“I’m sorry, about last night…” Cole said quietly with his head twisted to the window. I frowned, what part of last night was he referring to? “I went off the deep end and I… I just don’t deal with stuff like this easy.”
Oh, he was talking about when he snapped at me, not the almost-sex. I leaned back in my seat and rested my left arm on the window are rest was silent for a moment before I replied. “So what happened to your brother?”
His head snapped towards me so fast that I knew his mind was racing trying to figure out how I knew that, so I made it easy on him, “People talk.”
Cole sagged, “After Dad died our mom started hopping countries like a nomad, Cameron has been… difficult. I'm the only role model he has and I work like eleven hours a day and when I get off I cool off by racing, so he barely sees me.”
I quickly glanced up at the side and rearview windows before overtaking a slow Nissan before me. “Acting out how?”
The dusk was deepening and I was steady as I was steady on my decision to get us to Buffalo.
“Skipping school or tardy on his best days, tagging walls and running with some punks on his worst,” Cole replied, “But what astounds me is that he still gets all A’s on his report card.”
Honestly, my laugh was low and sardonic, “How would that surprise you? Aren’t you all born geniuses?”
Cole green eyes narrowed in irritation, “Not funny.”
“Well,” I said while shifting over to a clear lane, “From my experience when my dad died, I acted out too. My dad was like my rock and when he passed and my mom fell ill I felt like I was standing in one place while the world was still moving around me. Maybe Cameron is feeling stuck, unmotivated or well, hell, lonely. He’s fourteen Cole; he needs someone to go to ask advice, how to come onto a girl without her slapping him in his face and …you know…someone who can buy his porn for him."
To my-delighted – surprise, I heard Cole laugh. It was a soft sound but had enough deep intonations to make it sound… husky. I twisted my head towards him for a quick second and liked the smile, he had on his face.
“What’s he into?” I asked as face the road again.
“Football, basketball, motorcycles, Criminal Minds, Frank Miller who drew 300 and he's addicted to coffee..." Cole replied, "…and cars; especially Ferrari’s.”
“That’s something you have in common, why not take him to a race one night?” I proposed, “I mean, you guys could bond over it. That’s what I would do.”
Cole looked thoughtful for a moment, “That’s actually a good idea, I’ll try it.”
My mouth then opened to ask him about last night but then I closed it. If he wasn’t going to bring it up, I wasn’t going to; he might just tell me to my face that he wasn’t interested with and I wanted to have a shred of dignity left.
The rest of the ride to New York was done in the sibilant tones of U2, The Weeknd, and Bastille serenading us to one more hotel. This time though the place was almost booked out of rooms with separate single beds and we had to settle for one with a double.
Feeling sort of generous, I had offered to take a blanket and sleep on the floor, but he insisted that we could share it and who was I to say no; I’m a sucker for pain, remember?
In the dark room, I leaned back on my half of the bed and watched Cole's back flexing under his tank as he lay down on his stomach. This was like a gift and a curse all at once; I was so close to touching him, but I didn't dare to.
His skin looked so luminous in the low light and I was torturing myself on thinking on how smooth it felt, wet and slick with sweat from sex or soft from a showed. Every thought made me hate myself even more and knowing it was going to kill me, I forced myself to think of the coming hours when we had to deliver the damn cat and get our reward.
I felt like I had won…but then I felt like I had lost; lost everything that I really wanted. Fifty thousand wasn’t enough for this level of torture. I resigned myself a night of torment and tried to sleep…it didn’t happen.
I got up about after midnight and sat beside the cat. For a nocturnal – or crepuscular, I never was good at biology- creature, she sure looked peacefully asleep. How I wished I could do the same.
I sat there on the lone couch with my bare feet on the scratchy carpet for a while until I heard the soft patting of feet behind me. I assumed Cole was going to the bathroom until he slowly dialed the light up into a soft, golden haze.
A bit confused I looked up ready to ask him why he wasn’t sleeping but I never got the chance.
“Cole-ah-mmph?” Cole’s lips were on mine and I swore I was hallucinating or having an out of body experience. There was no way that Cole who had been so evasive and indifferent through the whole drive was kissing me.
It took me less than two seconds to respond and I leaned into it and kissed him back. He wasn’t rushing and his motions were softer like he wanted to savor it. The instant my lips parted, Cole’s tongue was there, tracing over my lips before slipping inside. My hands slipped around his waist as the embrace continued.
A minute in I found myself a bit confused and pulled back but I didn’t have time to ask. Again, he was the one to lean in and initiate the next kiss. This was a little harder, with more heat, and he was rewarded with a low moan that came out of my throat.
No matter how sparks were running over my skin and how much I loved his lips on mine, I pulled back because I needed to know what the hell was going on. I was lost in Cole's eyes; his green seemed to have darkened and the pupils were blown wide.
“Cole,” I asked quietly, “Can you give me a heads up here?”
His dark head shifted and he pulled out of my light hold. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, “It’s complicated Shaun…”
A soft laugh escaped from my mouth before I could contain it and Cole’s eyebrows quirked a little in confusion, “What?
“That’s the first time I heard you say my name,” I said, “Can you give me a reason why I might hear it some more?”
Cole propped himself on the edge of the couch’s seat and his eyes met mine, “I have a confession…you know last night after we…”
I smirked.
“…well I overheard you on the balcony…” Cole replied a bit-dare I say- shyly, “Do you really feel that way about me? I mean you said that you wanted to hold me and care for me, do you really want that?”
I stood up and tugged him into me again, “I do, despite the fact that you’ve been such ass to me for so long.”
“Yeah,” Cole sighed, “About that… would you believe me when I said the reason I hated you was because I envied you?”
Now that made an incredulous laugh blurt out of my mouth, “You what? How on earth could you be envious of me?”
Cole pulled away once more, “The first time we met wasn’t the first time I saw you. I saw you at this car park, you were goofing off with some other guys and you…you had this freedom that I didn’t have. I mean you didn’t have all the obligations I had and when you showed up at the race after and looked so at ease I-”
He broke off, “It was stupid and what was even more stupid was that I got so obsessed with you that I… dug into your past.”
My eyes popped, “Y-you did what?”
“I dug into your past to try and find something damning, something so repulsive that it…” he stalled, “…would make my attraction for you die.”
If I had been bowled over before, I was floored now, “Excuse me? You were… attracted to me? From when?"
His face twisted away and a blush hinted his face, "Remember just before the race when you shirt got wet by some woman's soda and you stripped it off…"
Oh yeah, I remembered that. My red shirt had been soaked with purple soda and luckily I had a change another change of clothes; preemptive measures because of my work. I had yanked the soiled shirt off and took out another. That had probably flashed my toned body to him.
My head tilted to the side and a sly grin crossed my face, “Really?”
“Yeah, really,” He said evenly.
I stood up and reached for him, “….Come here.”
I got up and tugged him back to the bed. There, standing before it, I sucked in a breath and though his eyes widened for a second, I was kissing Cole once more. Pulling back I asked, “Do you want this?”
We stopped there, were just a breath apart from one another, lips parted in unspoken need. At that moment, I could honestly appreciate that he was level with me; for some reason, it always freaked me out with guys a little shorter than my five foot nine.
“I have no fucking clue why I feel so nervous,” he breathed as he leaned in and rested his forehead against mine.
“And here I thought it was just me,” I laughed softly as he placed both his hands on Cole’s hips and took in a deep breath.
“Shaun…” Cole tightened his grip and pulled my waist flush against his. I could feel Cole’s hardness pressing against mine and he let out a soft moan at the sensation, “You have no idea how fucking good you feel.”
They both stood there for a moment, breathing each other in.
I slowly ran his hands down to Cole’s waist, letting them gently play along the lip of his jeans. Cole pressed his cheek against mine and breathed in his scent, dark musky aftershave and the menthol of Irish Spring. Nuzzling his face into the crook of his neck, he softly kissed the warm skin right above his shirt collar and I let out a slow sigh as my head fell back.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I said against his skin, “Do you want this?”
In a silent reply, Cole's hands slid down, snapping the button on my jeans, breaching the zipper and found only warm flesh under his hand, holy shit; that was a hell yes.
I gritted my teeth to hold back a curse and his warm hands, and this fingers I had been daydreaming about wrapped around me. Somehow, don’t ask me how, I found my voice, “If you keep doing that up, we’ll get done before we even start. I’m not settling for dry humping tonight Cole.”
"We won't have to," He murmured in my ear, as his twisted away a bit. He reached for his duffel and took out a tube of lube and a strip of condoms. For a split second, I wondered where he had gotten those and then I realized.
“You little shit,” I teased, “You didn’t go that Walgreen’s for headache pills, did you?”
His eyes twisted over his shoulder, “Oh, I did, but I got those too, the sales girl almost had an aneurysm when I put them on the counter with the Advil.
Slowly we stripped each other of our shirts taking time to run our hands over warm skin and feel every dip and curve, flitter over every rise and dip of muscle and dig into his thick hair. Our mouths weren't idle either but what got me was that every time my lips met his, I felt a tremor run through his gut. Had his body been that deprived?
With only his pants on I pushed him onto the bed and breathless, Cole took the nonverbal clue and lifted his hips. In a smooth motion, the cloth was ripped off his lower half and he, intuitively, rose up, grasped my jeans and pulled them down while not moving his gem green eyes from me. I didn’t hesitate to shuck them off and crawl over him.
Naked under me, back on the soft sheet, I relished the hunger in the green eyes that ran over me like a parched man approaching an oasis.
"Fuck, you're beautiful." I said while leaning down to capture Cole's lips again as my free hand ran over his milky white, smooth skin.
I slipped down his body, biting his nipples and then my mouth began to nibble at Cole's stomach. I found his navel and a slick tongue started a merciless thrusting in. A tantalizing prelude to what I wanted to do to another part of his body.
Bypassing his leaking cock, I shifted, back to Cole's lower half and latched his lips on Cole's upper thigh. Cole then opened his eyes to see and feel me drag my tongue over his inner thigh, softly bend his knee and pressed his leg almost to his chest. Soft bites peppered up his calf until he reached the tender skin under Cole's knee.
“What ar-ahhhh!”
I had sunk my teeth into the skin and let them stay there like an animal. The pressure wasn't enough to break the skin but hard enough to send pleasurable pain spiking up Cole's body.
The deep moan Cole released after the shock made was mirrored in my gut. Fire and lightning seared his pleasure pathways to dust, and Cole was left gasping and unfocused.
Blinking his eyes open Cole whispered. “Do that again.”
Without another word I then started to lick, suckle and kiss every part of him.
“Ahhh,” Cole groaned.
I made sure to map his whole body with my lips and hands. I wanted to know every part of the body that I had been longing for such a long while. His hands were on my back, sliding down to press me together intimately against his hard flesh.
I kissed him once more, passion stripping reality away and leaving behind nothing but that burning, aching need. That need for more. Unashamed, Cole let his legs fall open a little more, letting me slip down between them, our bodies were pressing together even more intimately and I loved how Cole moaned at that.
It had been too long since I had felt this kind of heat and I realized that the same went for Cole too. He reacted like he hadn’t been touched in a long time. His body was on fire and my skin felt hot too as I stretched over him. Every touch, every kiss, and every groan was building that fire more and more.
Every muscle in Cole's body was quaking now and his skin was damp with a thin sheet of sweat. It was when I was kissing his neck when Cole lost his cool, “Goddammit, Shaun just fuck me already, please!”
That was exactly what I was waiting for. Cole then suffered through the longest five seconds of his life before he finally heard the cap of the bottle of lube snap open.
A delirious part of his suffering mind whispered something scarily close to a prayer when I released the tie and gently shifted him on his side.
Nestled behind him I graciously placed his arm under Cole's head and hand under his knee bent his left leg up. A warm nose muzzled at a sensitive ear just as slick fingers prodded at his entrance.
Cole's eyelids fluttered down reveling in the soft presses around and eventually in his body. Slow, steady strokes widened and prepared the passage for entry while I was whispering soft calming susurrations in his ear.
“...Why're you going slow?” Cole asked in a whisper, eyes opening a little.
“I have to.... you're tight and I don't want to hurt you...” I murmured.
Lids closed back again just as he heard the rip of foil and a second later the tip of my dick was pressing inside at the initial intrusion.
A hand was pressed against Cole's stomach just before it then slipped to capture his cock. “Breathe, baby.”
Cole did just that and braced himself for pain but by the look on his face, he felt nothing but sensuous sensation. My hot, slow and deep thrusts drove into the very core of him, and Cole's lip was permanently trapped between his teeth.
On his back, Cole felt the sweat-slicked abs clench and release with every push. His hand fisted the sheet as each thrust dug deeper into him. There was an inferno in my belly and white behind my eyes. The moment I touched that part deep inside he almost screamed and after that, his mouth was constantly open with his pants and moans.
“Cole…”
His head only twisted to the side and he moaned.
“Cole… baby, look at me.”
Cole barely managed to force his heavy lid open to meet my eyes. His hand reached up and behind to clutch at my head as the thrusts started to pick up. His head then lolled back.
"Oh fuck!" Cole clenched as he felt that trembling that had just started in the deepest part of him, climbing and climbing. His nails sank into my neck.
His body was tightening now, locking up for the massive orgasm that was just on the edge, but there was no way I was going to let it go that quickly. I knew it was cruel but damn it I wanted this to last. His belly was trembling under me as his body calmed down and then I started again.
The thrusts slowed, the sex burned hotter as the invasive breeches got deeper and deeper inside his belly. It was a deep reaming of epic proportions and Cole fought the tears that were threatening to brim over. Hot lips claimed his own as their lower bodies joined into something greater primal. It was something cosmic and eternal. Cole hadn't felt this- ever.
“Sh-aun... “ Cole clenched around the slick thrusts that seemed to breach his soul.
It was too much; way too much. Cole arched and came with a soft cry. My jaw went stiff as the throes of release stained his face. Cole was barely conscious when he felt me release inside him as he was still riding the mental high.
Admirably I held the bulk of my weight from crushing Cole until he himself dragged my sweat-slicked self down onto him. I wasn't sure how long we had stayed there, until I eased up and withdrew, took off the condom, tied it off and threw it in the trash bin beside the bed.
Cole placed his head on my chest and his eyes dark, sleepy emerald eyes had a look of complete satiation, contentment, and exhaustion radiating from the
Nuzzling his nose in wet hair I murmured, “You okay Cole?”
"Yeah, much better than before," Cole replied as his eyes bopped
in sleep and his wet hair was tickling my chin, "Remind me to return the favor when I'm conscious."
*****
Long story short, we had another round when Cole woke up a few hours after. We managed to get the damn car to the guy at the address Pops gave us and the guy gave us plane tickets to go back home. It turned out that the car we drove was the guys, and that there was a LoJack in it that he could have used to track us down and skin us alive if we had stolen the cat.
Two weeks later and fifty grand richer I was now resting an inch away from Cole. None of us had gotten the balls to come out yet, but I was damn sure that Pops already knew…old ass.
I twisted to look at him and smiled at his frantic breaths were fluttering his hair. I wasn't sure if this warm feeling in my chest was love but it damn well felt like it. I guess the universe had finally decided to make it up to me…by giving me the one thing I wanted most- Cole.