Spark (10 page)

Hugo stood out when he didn’t play his role, and he couldn’t play it all the time. Even when he was with his friends from theater or choir, he couldn’t truly relax. He never knew who would say something. It was exhausting, and the real Hugo inevitably snuck out at home. That’s how his sister knew so easily he was gay. But he played the part of the straight boy as best he could at school, much like the city kids pretended to be cowboys. The difference between them was that Hugo didn’t fit in anywhere in Austin, and his classmates did.

Until Kevin arrived.

And Kevin changed everything. Granted, they hadn’t even been back to school yet. Maybe Kevin would end up being the fucking quarterback or the biggest ass-faced bully in the world, but Hugo didn’t think so.

Kevin was someone who seemed to accept anything Hugo threw at him, including the meltdown he’d had earlier about his father. The only thing Kevin had been weird about was the fact that he’d initiated a kiss with Hugo. He had hardly reacted at all when Hugo said he was gay. What did that mean? Especially considering all the not-so-subtle touches Kevin was now giving him. Maybe Hugo wasn’t as alone as he thought, but he also knew Kevin wasn’t gay.

“Hey,” Hugo whispered into the movie-lit room.

“Hmm?” Kevin answered as he searched blindly for the remote.

“You….”

How the hell do you ask why your friend is suddenly okay with touching you when he was freaking out a few weeks ago over a kiss?

Suddenly he had doubts. “Nothing,” Hugo answered, hoping Kevin would stop searching for the remote. His fingers ceased movement, and Hugo released a sigh. His brows bunched up tightly with his own frustration at himself. This wasn’t the time or the place to talk about this stuff. A well-lit room in a noisy, almost public place would’ve been a better location to talk about his longing for Kevin and Hugo’s confusion over what was happening, not the dark bedroom of the boy who told him kissing was off-limits.

They settled back into the film, but Hugo felt Kevin’s warm fingers move closer. Kevin rolled toward Hugo, his nose releasing warm puffs of air against Hugo’s naked shoulder. His tight tank top did nothing to protect him from the tempting breaths washing against his skin. Nipples hardened beneath the soft cotton, and Hugo had the urge to brush over the peaked flesh, to feel how much Kevin’s barely there caresses of air had affected him.

Hugo punched his familiar pillow, turning away as if attempting sleep. He was hard, so hard his cock was poking out of the fly in his boxers. Why hadn’t he brought shorts or pants to wear to bed
?
With a quick, subtle motion, he tried to tuck himself away, but Kevin moved even closer. The heat of his body radiated around Hugo’s back and ass.

“I’m tired,” Hugo choked out, trying to make his voice seem exhausted and not aroused.

“Do you want me to turn off the movie?” Kevin’s voice was low, the heat and moisture of his breath washing over the knob at the base of Hugo’s neck.

“Only if you’re done watching,” he managed.

“How about I put on some music?” Kevin suggested. Hugo could only nod, listening as Kevin turned off the TV and flip-slapped through his CDs with determination as if he knew exactly what he was looking for. A few moments later, soft Celtic strains drifted through the room, the light dimmed, and Kevin returned to his former position—way too close to Hugo for this to be more than only friends sharing a bed.

“I like this music,” Hugo said as he tried to ignore the fire against his back.

“Me too.”

Kevin’s hand landed on the bed right below Hugo’s ass, close and tight to his thigh. Kevin sighed something that sounded very much like contentment while Hugo tried to will his erection away.

It was many minutes later, perhaps ten or fifteen, when Hugo attempted to rearrange himself. He fought to find comfort in the foreign bed, but even the familiarity of his pillow from home seemed to be working against him. Six positions later and ending up in the original one on his side, Hugo was still uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong,” Kevin asked in a sleepy voice.

“Nothing,” he lied. After at least thirty breaths he admitted, “I just always have a hard time sleeping at other people’s houses. That’s all.” His now wilted erection had had nothing to do with it. It was just that he was in a new house, a new bed, surrounded by new sounds and physical sensations.

“Anything I can do?” Kevin asked.

Hugo shook his head in the darkness. “I just need to relax. Somehow.”

They lay in stillness listening to the Celtic music fill the space, drowning out almost everything else, except the soft sound of skin moving against skin. Kevin must have been scratching himself, or maybe rubbing his arm or chest or foot on foot. Hugo couldn’t see because he was turned away.

Then suddenly, he felt the warm weight of Kevin’s hand on his hip.

“Do you want help?” Kevin’s voice was lower than normal, almost husky.

“What?” Hugo said, fear evident in his voice. He looked across the foreign room and tried to make out the random images in front of him. A stapler. Pencil cup. Ruler. Calculator.

“Do you want me to help you relax?” Kevin’s voice sounded more certain, but almost pedantic, as if Hugo hadn’t a clue what the word relax meant. In all honesty, Hugo had no idea what Kevin meant until a warm palm moved over his boxer-covered hip and across the deep dip between his hip and groin.

Hugo gasped at the ticklish sensation, which only caused his hips to cant backward forcefully. He felt a long line of hard flesh against his ass. Kevin’s warm palm grasped Hugo’s heavy cock, and the sound ripped from him was so
not
dignified.

“Fuck,” he huffed into his pillow that smelled like home. “What are you doing?”

Kevin chuckled against the back of Hugo’s neck as if everything were obvious. “I’m jerking you off so you can relax.”

Hands burrowed between fabric to find skin, and Hugo moaned. “But why?” he managed to get out. “You’re straight.”

“You’re stressed and can’t sleep. Just let me do this for you,” Kevin pleaded, pulling on Hugo’s shoulder so he would lie on his back. He followed the direction but kept his gaze turned toward the office supplies on the desk as Kevin palmed his cock. “You’re big,” Kevin whispered in Hugo’s ear, moist breath spreading low and wide. “Wow.”

“You’re straight,” Hugo repeated in utter disbelief over what was happening, his eyes surely bugging out of his head.

Not entirely
, Hugo imagined Kevin whisper against his shoulder.

Kevin stroked Hugo with confidence, holding him in his palm in the way Hugo guessed Kevin held his own cock. He thumbed over his slit and drew any moisture collected down his shaft, causing Hugo to shudder in Kevin’s arms.

“Mmm. You like that just like I do.”

Hugo could only gasp into the darkness.

“Don’t—” Hugo started but suddenly stopped mid-thought when Kevin twisted his wrist and tightened the hold of his fingers. “No. Don’t do this to me unless you’re willing to do more,” he weakly warned.

“Look at me,” Kevin demanded. Hugo slowly turned but only reluctantly opened his eyes at Kevin’s frustrated growl.

“Why?” was the only word Hugo could form.

Kevin’s response was a tender kiss to Hugo’s already parted mouth and a whispered “Because you need this.”
Because I want you
, Hugo thought he heard, but it couldn’t be.

Their mouths opened to each other, and no matter how reluctant Hugo was at first, the pure desire Kevin poured into his mouth was enough to have Hugo panting and licking and biting against Kevin’s mouth. It was messy and desperate. For moments, it was tender and sweet. Then it was so hot it was hard to keep up with, Hugo losing himself almost entirely, hips thrusting into the circle of Kevin’s fingers as he tasted the desire in Kevin’s kisses despite his prior objections.

Hugo’s hands had nowhere to go. He felt lost, clutching at sheets and cool air. When he reached for Kevin, fingers finding their way into Kevin’s hair and reaching around to grab his ass, Hugo finally felt grounded, able and willing to take on these overwhelming sensations.

Kevin rocked his own body against Hugo’s hip, his side, as they kissed. There were no words exchanged. Nothing to disturb them from what they felt at the moment.

Hugo found himself slipping past Kevin’s waistband, palming Kevin’s bare ass, fingers grappling with his flesh. A dry finger, his middle finger, brushed over Kevin’s puckered entrance, and Kevin cried out. He seemed to like it. Hugo did it again, slower this time, with more determined motions. Kevin’s hips stuttered against him as if they were confused.

Hugo was inexperienced, but he had read about sex with men in the gay pulp fiction Charisse had bought for him. Kevin seemed to like the sensation, even pushing his hips back against Hugo’s hand as if silently asking for more. Hugo knew what to do, so he withdrew his hand and slicked his middle finger with saliva before reaching back toward Kevin. He pressed in this time as he caressed his pucker. Kevin gasped. Hugo pressed farther, pushing in past his first knuckle before he reached some resistance. He pulled out again and just circled the fluttering flesh before plunging back in.

Movements on Hugo’s cock had ceased with the new sensation in Kevin’s ass, but as Hugo picked up a rhythm with his finger, Kevin found his own, rocking against Hugo’s hip and sliding closer so more of his weight was right on top of Hugo. Kevin’s hand resumed its motion, picked up speed, and matched Hugo’s. The Celtic music playing on the stereo was primal music, something that spoke of another time and perhaps even magic. It drove their hips and fingers and tongues. It drove them to the point that neither boy wanted to pull away to breathe, and they remained fused because they both refused to give up the feel of tongues and lips and teeth and warm wetness. The music drove them toward orgasm, made them grab on to each other so tightly that bruises would be left, and drew something sweet and ancient from them.

The beat did all of that and more, things they wouldn’t fully realize for days.

Come cooled between their bellies as they refused to stop kissing for more than a few seconds. It went on for well over thirty minutes with more and more skin being revealed, sticky come eventually cleaned up, sheets and blankets kicked aside, but all the while, their mouths refused to be parted.

Finally, Kevin kissed down Hugo’s cheek and toward his jaw. He sunk his teeth into Hugo’s neck, kissed toward his chest, sucked a nipple into his mouth, and pressed lips to the center of Hugo’s chest before collapsing.

It took many minutes before breaths slowed, and then Hugo could feel Kevin smile against his chest.

“Go to sleep, birthday boy,” Kevin mumbled before snuggling in closer.

Hugo’s difficulty getting comfortable in this strange bed was all but wiped away. He didn’t need to shift or readjust his pillow or the blankets. All he needed to do was press a kiss against Kevin’s silky, blond hair, and Hugo drifted away.

The Walk of Not-Quite-Shame

H
UGO
slowly came to wakefulness. With each passing minute, he realized he wasn’t at home in his own bed. The sheets smelled different, and they were buttery soft. It wasn’t until he heard the gentle sounds of waves behind him that he remembered.

Kevin. He’d gone home with Kevin last night and then fell asleep. He was at the lake with Summer. There were fireworks last night. Fireworks while they fucked.

Hugo shifted, and the sharp pain of hair being pulled out on his stomach made him take in a sharp breath. Dried come.

What had he done? Sure, it was Kevin, but Hugo just didn’t drop trou anymore. He’d had enough of that early in college to know it was dissatisfying and just left him wanting for something more, for a more meaningful connection with another guy.

He and Kevin had hardly talked. He knew nothing about the guy’s modern life after seventeen years of no contact, well, aside from what Kevin did for a living, sort of.

Soft steps could be heard coming up the hardwood stairs. “Oh hey. You’re awake,” Kevin said in a gentle tone. “Do you drink coffee?”

Hugo sat up, making sure his naked skin remained covered from the waist down. “Yeah.”

“Cream or sugar?”

“Just cream.”

Hugo watched as Kevin set a sturdy wooden tray on top of the rumpled comforter and then poured from a shiny carafe. He handed Hugo a mug and then pushed a small ceramic Holstein cow closer. Hugo picked it up by the tail and watched as the cream poured out the cow’s mouth into his mug. The cream swam around in a cloud, slowly blending with the coffee.

“Here,” Kevin said, handing Hugo a spoon, which he used to stir. “Are you going to be around Green Lake for long?” Kevin asked in a slightly nervous way.

“Uhm,” Hugo fought through his morning fog and took a sip of the coffee. “Summer thought we’d just be here through the holiday weekend. I think we’ll go back fairly early on Sunday.”

“Maybe… maybe we could grill, or we can go out on the boat on Saturday. I have to drive up to Fargo today, so I won’t be back until later tonight.”

Kevin was acting odd, almost as if he were worried about something. It wasn’t a good combination with Hugo’s regret over how easily he’d ended up in Kevin’s bed, but Hugo tried to shake off his own feelings for now. He’d deal with them once he got back over to Summer’s cabin.

“I’m not really sure what Summer has in mind, but we might be able to get together. The whole reason I’m up here is because of her. Her engagement was just broken off, and she wanted some time away from the city.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”

“How would you?”

“I suppose I wouldn’t. I’m sorry I took you away from her last night.”

Hugo shrugged, not wanting Kevin to feel bad about that. “She wanted to spend some time with her aunt, but I should probably be getting back over there actually. Uh….” Hugo gestured toward his stomach and took another sip of coffee.

“Take a shower. Make yourself at home.”

H
UGO
’
S
shower was quick, and he took minimal time finger-combing his hair and putting his wrinkled clothes back on. As he studied his face in the mirror, he remembered his dreams. But they really weren’t dreams. They had been more like buried memories of his past with Kevin.