Spark (14 page)

“I wouldn’t know,” Hugo mumbled lowly, but Kevin most likely missed it because at the same moment, Hugo had curled his fingers, and Kevin’s hips canted backward like he was chasing a sensation.

“What did you do?” Kevin asked with wide eyes.

“I-I don’t know. I just bent my fingers ’cause they were cramping a bit in the tight quarters.”

“Is that a nice way of telling me I have a tight ass?” Kevin baited with a smirk. “And is that a good thing?”

Hugo chuckled, not realizing there would ever be so much conversation with a guy when he had his fingers up the guy’s ass. “I think a tight ass is a good thing in this case, yes. But tell me, did the finger-curling thing feel good or bad?”

“Good. It surprised me because I didn’t think it would get better than it already was, but do it again. Try what you did again,” Kevin urged.

“Okay. Let’s see,” Hugo said as he concentrated, shoving his two fingers back in about the same depth he had them before. He watched how the rim of Kevin’s ass opened but seemed to still hug his fingers, glistening pink and wet with lube.

Hugo bent his fingers, trying to figure out what he’d done before, and again, Kevin’s hips snapped back. He touched that spot, feeling that the tissue there was a different texture.

Kevin took a deep breath and rocked against Hugo’s hand. “Yes. Fuck that’s amazing.”

Hugo pulled back so his cock wasn’t resting right against Kevin’s leg anymore. He wanted to put all his focus and energy into giving Kevin what he wanted, so he sat on his haunches and quickly became mesmerized by the movement of his fingers inside Kevin.

I’m inside him. I’m inside his body. I can’t believe he’s letting me touch him like this.

It was so intimate, and Hugo felt the confidence, the faith Kevin handed over to him. He was just about to reach for Kevin’s cock so he could come when Kevin’s orgasm tore through him, surprising them both. Hugo was so turned-on it hardly took any time to stroke himself off, Kevin helping with his hand joining Hugo’s, their mixed come painting Kevin’s chest in thick, white stripes.

Hugo thought that had been intense, but it was nothing compared to how much trust Kevin showed him days later as Hugo kissed his way down his chest and put his inexperienced mouth on Kevin’s cock and then his balls. It was nothing compared to the first time Hugo licked a wet and messy path even farther down the raised and swollen taint and then back up, hesitating to kiss Kevin again—even though he desperately wanted to—until Kevin pulled him right to his mouth with no doubts in sight.

They learned each other’s bodies in those last weeks of summer with the few private hours they’d had. Kevin took Hugo into his mouth, and it was entirely too short a time before Hugo was trying to push Kevin away in warning, but Kevin wouldn’t have anything to do with that. He held Hugo’s hands as he swallowed down every drop his cock spent into Kevin’s mouth. When he looked up at Hugo afterward, he smiled like the Devil, telling Hugo his come felt weird in his mouth and tasted bitter. That didn’t stop him from moving closer to kiss Hugo, to share Hugo’s own taste with him. They kissed again for… forever, moving the flavor back and forth between their mouths until it all but disappeared and left nothing behind but Hugo and Kevin, taste commingled beyond distinction.

And then school started. Their junior year. Hugo had to cut back on his hours at his job but was able to keep it, even if his shift was moved to after school for only a few hours a day. Duties were moved around so most of the jobs he had previously done during the mornings were now done in the evenings.

Although Kevin’s father valued a good work ethic, a high grade point average—nothing less than a 4.0—was more important. So he made Kevin quit, even though his supervisor had already rearranged things so he could work less and for only a couple of hours after school. That meant they no longer saw each other during their work shifts, but with fewer people around after five, Hugo was actually able to save time and get done with his work quicker, usually making it home before supper.

Time together suffered, though. Kevin had some free time and used it to get more involved in after-school activities, heading to football games and meeting new classmates. He’d wait to start his homework until after Hugo finished eating supper and they could get together. That meant quality study time, but Kevin’s free time after school also meant something else.

Tricia Stevens.

Captain of the cheer team. Perky. Long, dark hair that bounced in its silky ponytail when she walked. Each step created a wave of
bounce, bounce, bounce
. And not just her hair bounced. Short cheerleading skirts and tight cheer sweaters showed off all her other assets. Plus, she was unique-looking enough to not be a cookie-cutter, blue-eyed blonde Austin girl. While her mom was all Minnesotan, her father was half-Japanese, and Tricia had inherited his dark eyes and gorgeous black hair.

She was the perfect girl, always kind, genuine, sweet. And a girl. Not a boy, like Hugo.

Kevin met Tricia at a football game, and they started hanging out after school when Hugo was still at work. They had something in common: overbearing fathers. Rather than talking to Hugo about his dad, Hugo suspected Kevin talked with her instead, because she more readily understood his frustrations. Besides, Hugo wasn’t nearly as available as he had been in the summer. On top of that, Hugo guessed Kevin felt guilty bitching to him about his father when Hugo’s own dad was dying.

Tricia asked Kevin to go to the homecoming dance, and he accepted. He’d come over that evening looking apologetic as he tried to better describe their relationship, playing it down as a close friendship. Kevin shared how she asked him to the dance and tried to reassure Hugo that he didn’t want anything to change between them. Hugo encouraged him to go to the dance with her. Maybe friendship was all Kevin initially wanted.

But soon, Tricia and Kevin were spending more and more time together, and then people around school started noticing. Hugo heard the words
boyfriend
and
girlfriend
being used with respect to them. Yet, when Hugo got off work, Kevin would leave Tricia and head over to Hugo’s house to study with him. At least he still spent time with Hugo, or that’s what Hugo told himself.

But Kevin would come over smelling like flowers, fruity perfume, and toothpaste. Hugo suspected he knew what that meant. They’d been kissing. Kevin and Tricia had
dated
long enough that kissing was expected, and Hugo knew from how Tricia had been with her other boyfriends that she wasn’t shy about PDAs, even in the hallways of the school. Hugo hadn’t seen any evidence of Kevin and Tricia’s affection, aside from the images his overactive imagination provided, but those were bad enough.

“What’s going on with you and Tricia,” Hugo asked a week after Kevin agreed to take her to the homecoming dance. That afternoon, he saw them talking near her locker right before he left for the day. They stood so close. So very close.

“I don’t really have a choice,” Kevin tried to explain as he found the right page in his textbook. “My dad basically expects me to date, and the more popular I get, the better off I am. The less he bothers me and sticks his nose in my business.”

“Do you
like
her?” Hugo dared ask.

“Yeah. She’s nice.”

“And me?”

“Of course I like you, Hugh. I just can’t have a boyfriend. You know that. My dad expects me to have a girlfriend, and she’s cool.”

“But you sorta already have a boyfriend,” Hugo mumbled, but Kevin seemed to have missed the words, listening to his own thoughts instead. Angry, pink spots brightened the apples of Kevin’s cheeks.

“I hate that he expects shit like this. Makes me want to tell him to fuck off, but I can’t. I have to play his game. Head cheerleader is the perfect person to date, especially since she’s into me. Plus, she’s a senior. She’ll be gone next year so there’s a definite end date.”

“Geez” was about all Hugo could get out before he had to turn away with a scowl plastered on his face.

Hugo hated when Kevin so easily took on his dad’s way of thinking and made decisions based on Mr. Magnus’s logic rather than his own. Those decisions didn’t fit with who Kevin was, and it pissed Hugo off to no end that Kevin would allow his dad to have so much control over his ethics.

Hugo walked upstairs to get something for them to snack on while they worked through their English assignment but had to stay upstairs for several more minutes in front of the bathroom mirror just to wipe the annoyance off his face.

“Are we ever gonna study?” Kevin’s voice traveled through the house, and Hugo took a deep breath before finding Kevin rooting around the fridge for pop.

They ended up back downstairs, but Hugo had a very hard time concentrating. He was hurt, even if he did get the practicality of Kevin’s arguments. Besides, there was no way Hugo and Kevin could actually be out in their school, claiming to be boyfriends. They’d get their asses kicked on a daily basis if they did. So Kevin had a girlfriend for show. Whatever.

W
HATEVER
very quickly turned into
what the fuck
, especially when Hugo walked out of the school and saw Kevin leaning Tricia up against her vintage VW Bug with his mouth pressed to hers. He could clearly see their tongues moving against each other.

Hugo had to force himself to look away before his jaw dropped open and he stood there staring, scandalized, like he had some business caring about his best friend kissing the girl he was dating. It didn’t do him a bit of good to have his fears and suspicions verified visually.

When Kevin showed up at Hugo’s house that night to study, Hugo didn’t want to answer the door. He pulled himself up from his comfortable spot on the couch and reluctantly opened it.

“What?” he said shortly to Kevin’s smiling face. Kevin was always so happy to see Hugo, as if Kevin had been forced to play a part all day long and he was finally able to relax and be himself when he saw Hugo again.

“Aren’t we going to study?”

Hugo just stared at Kevin in the darkening evening as he stood on the porch, smile slowly fading as he read the anger on Hugo’s face. “I’m already done with my homework,” he lied, hoping to get Kevin to leave.

“Cool, ’cause I don’t have a clue what Mr. Hanson was talking about today with that stupid play. You’re reading
Much Ado About Nothing
in your class with Hanson too. Right? Can you help me figure it out?” Kevin said as he pushed the door open and started taking his shoes off in the front entryway.

They ended up kissing again that night, Kevin’s mouth exploring all over Hugo’s chest, sucking his nipples like he was an expert, practically making Hugo come right there in his underwear. Hugo wondered how he got to be such an expert, but then realized Kevin and Tricia had probably at least gotten to second base.

The thought made him nauseous.

Hugo was conflicted, to say the least, but he didn’t know how to tell Kevin without making him angry and basically encouraging him to just tell Hugo to fuck the hell off. So he said nothing, pushing Kevin away from his chest and directing him farther down so he’d suck his cock instead. At least that way, Hugo would get something out of this strange new relationship. Even if it wasn’t what he really wanted.

S
EVERAL
weeks after homecoming, Hugo found the strength to tell him how he felt about Kevin’s relationship with Tricia. They sat outside in the chilly fall air on a cold stone bench at a neighborhood park.

“I don’t like her,” Hugo admitted, knowing he was possibly risking their relationship, both the friendship and the weird sexual thing they had going on. He was jealous and wanted Kevin all to himself, but he didn’t know how to say that without risking losing him entirely. Yet he knew he
had
to say something.

“Why? What did she do to you?” Kevin asked.

Hugo just fish-mouthed at him for a few seconds before he found the ability to hold his mouth closed again.

“Why do you need her? Why do you have to have a girlfriend at all? Can’t you just be single and still satisfy your dad? I don’t get it,” Hugo finally said.

Kevin looked down at his fingers, thumb brushing over the rough stone on the bench. He seemed incapable of looking Hugo in the eyes as he thought, even as he opened his mouth to speak.

“I’m just trying to get him off my scent, okay?” His voice seemed to beg for understanding. “He’s already asking why the hell I need to spend so much time with you. About the last thing I want him to do is start sniffing around and finding out what we’ve been up to. Tricia is the best way to deflect that shit, okay?”

Hugo sat for a long time beside Kevin, trying his best to see the situation from Kevin’s point of view, but he just couldn’t. Hugo had been living a lie for years, hiding behind the façade he’d created, the straight guy image he knew very well how to fit into for school and work. It was just temporary, and it didn’t involve another person. Not like this did. His own lie of omission had hurt no one.

“I feel cheap, like I’m second-best,” he finally admitted in a pained whisper.

“What?” Kevin said as if he couldn’t believe his ears.

“Just think about it for a minute. If I had girlfriend or even another boyfriend to hide the fact we’re… together sometimes, how would that make you feel?” he dared, his voice growing stronger the longer he spoke. “And she’s not just a cover-up girlfriend. I know you kiss her.”

Kevin scowled, and Hugo could see the defensiveness, the barriers rise around him. This wasn’t going to end well, at least not tonight.

“Look, just… maybe now isn’t the time to talk about this. Go home, Kevin. Go do your homework, and we’ll talk about this another time. Okay?” Hugo said in a gentle voice. “I don’t want to lose my best friend over this.”
I’ve already lost my boyfriend.

Kevin looked to Hugo and stared, a nod coming several beats later. “I’ll go,” he said in a chastised voice.

There were no kisses that night. Not thirty-minute kisses nor three-minute kisses nor even closed-mouth pecks on the lips.