Friendly Skies (Blue Skies #2)

Prologue

Darius

When they were sixteen

Luis had disappeared even though his sister’s quincea?era? party was still going strong in the backyard, and Darius thought that was odd. Firstly, because it wasn’t like his best friend to ditch him, and secondly because this was a family event. The Herreras were serious about their family events. Even with a backyard full of people, someone was going to notice Luis wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Which was why Darius decided to look for him.

Rounding the corner of the house, Darius ran into Luis’ youngest sister, Donella, and a gaggle of girl cousins. Like Donella, they were all thirteen and fourteen and thought they were hot shit because of the way boys reacted to them. At sixteen, even if Darius had been interested in girls, he wasn’t keen to be flirted with by a dozen of them who giggled so much he barely understood what they were saying. He tried to back away, but they had him surrounded like a pack of wolves.

Donella stood right in front of him, stared him in the eye, and asked him if he wanted to truth or dare with them.

Oh, hell-to-the-no! he thought and said he needed to find Luis.

“I think he went inside,” one of the girls said, then giggled and blushed.

“Thanks,” Darius said and pushed his way out of the crowd of girls. He was five-eleven and towered over them, but it was still disconcerting to be leered at by a bunch of kids.

Once free, Darius scanned the backyard for any sign of Luis, then headed inside. The kitchen was full of aunts and younger cousins, along with Luis’ abuela, who would grab him by the arm and ask if he had a girlfriend yet, then pat his cheek and tell him the girls should be falling all over themselves for such a good-looking boy.

Darius backed out of the doorway, then rounded the house on the opposite side from where Donella and her crew were probably still lying in wait for their next victim. He re-entered the house through the front door, then sought out Luis’ bedroom, knowing the house almost as well as his own, which was only two doors down. They’d been best friends since Darius and his family had moved in when Darius was eight, and their parents always knew if they weren’t in one house, they’d be at the other.

Luis had the smallest bedroom, but as the only boy, he had it to himself and didn’t need to share like his sisters did. The door to Luis’ bedroom was closed, but Darius didn’t bother knocking. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The shades were down, and the room was dark, but Darius could still see Luis’ form lying on top of the bed, his left foot flat on the floor. His shirt was off, the waistband of his shorts pulled down over one hip as if Luis had fallen over while trying to get undressed and decided it was too much effort to get back up and finish the job. Darius frowned at his friend because he shouldn’t be taking a nap in the middle of his older sister’s quincea?era.

“Hey.” Darius shook Luis’ shoulder. “Chico, are you all right?”

Luis responded with an unintelligible groan, so Darius shook him harder.

“Go ?way,” Luis said. “?Vete al carajo y déjame en paz!”

He tried to curl on his side, but Darius kept him pinned so he could see Luis’ face. Like most of his family, Luis was slightly built with a compact frame and delicate features. His size belied his strength, but he wasn’t much of a match for Darius.

“Should I get your mom?” Darius asked.

That question roused Luis, and his eyes flew open. Even in the dimly lit room, Darius could see something was off by the way Luis’ eyes were moving back and forth. It didn’t seem like Luis could focus.

“Chico, you’re scaring me. Are you okay?”

“Please, don’t get my mom,” Luis whispered. “Just stay here.” He tried scooting to the side to give Darius room to climb onto the bed with him but couldn’t seem to get his body to work. Darius gently pushed him to the side and lay down alongside his best friend. Having grown up basically next door to each other, sleeping in each other’s beds was something they’d done since they were little. Even if their parents thought sixteen was too old to share a bed, they continued to do it, sleeping head to toe until the rest of the house was asleep, then switching so they could talk.

Darius wrapped his arms around Luis and pulled him against his chest, feeling the clamminess of Luis’ skin and the way his heart was racing.

“What did you do, chico?” Darius asked.

Luis moaned and curled his legs up to his stomach. “I don’t know. I think Andrés may have given me something.”

Andrés was the latest boyfriend of one of Luis’ cousins and someone both Darius and Luis avoided at all costs. Everyone in the neighborhood knew he dealt except, it seemed, for Gabriella’s parents. They thought Andrés was a perfect gentleman because he always brought gifts for both her and her mother, but the guy was bad news all the way around as far as Darius was concerned.

The idea that Andrés might have slipped something to Luis made Darius want to go find him and punch him, but he controlled his anger. It would be stupid to go after Andrés, and besides, his best friend needed him more than he needed to cause a scene at the Herreras’ party.

“My stomach hurts,” Luis said.

“Are you gonna puke?”

“I don’t think so.” He stretched his legs out and rolled onto his back so he could look at Darius, who kept his left arm draped lightly over Luis’ stomach. “It’s more like a cramp.”

“Maybe you ate some of Tía Aldona’s camarones a la diabla,” Darius suggested, though if Andrés was involved, his money was on drugs, and probably X, which meant Luis was going to be tripping in another thirty to forty minutes. Darius was no expert on drugs. He’d smoked a joint or two—he didn’t know a single kid in their neighborhood who hadn’t at least gone that far—but he had an older brother who spent most of his nights on something or other.

Luis laughed, then grabbed at his stomach and curled up again. “I know enough to stay away,” he groaned. “And no shrimp has ever made me feel like I’m trying to crawl out of my skin from the inside. Fucking Andrés. Fucking mierda.”

Darius rubbed Luis’ back in what he hoped was a comfort. He wanted to ask how his friend had ended up taking something, but knowing the way Andrés operated, it was likely Luis didn’t know. Andrés had probably dropped it into whatever Luis had been drinking. Why? Darius didn’t have a clue. Humiliation, maybe, if Luis did something outrageous while stoned? And then what? Blackmail to get Luis to sell for him? Or maybe it was just some stupid family rivalry shit, and Luis was just too perfect not to mess around with. He didn’t want to think about other reasons Andrés might want to fuck Luis up.

As far as Darius was concerned, Luis was perfect. He was sweet and smart, funny, and athletic in a non-jock way that Darius adored. Since Darius had started putting on height, first the middle school basketball coach, and then the high school one had tried to get him to sign up, but that wasn’t going to happen. Darius wanted nothing to do with the jocks and had loved tagging along to Luis’ gymnastics classes. Just as he now loved watching Luis on the high school cheer squad. Just as he loved Luis. He wasn’t going to jeopardize Luis’ safety or his own by putting them on the jocks’ radar. Besides, he wanted an academic scholarship to UCLA and wasn’t going to risk his grades or his body just because he happened to be taller than most of the guys in his high school, which was more than ninety percent Hispanic.

Darius tucked his chin over Luis’ shoulder. “If it’s Molly, you’ll be okay. Jamal does it all the time. Says the first half hour or so sucks, but then it’s like his brain explodes, and everything’s amazing.”

Looking over his shoulder, Luis nodded. “Feels fucking awful right now. Stay with me, okay? I don’t need my mom finding out.”

“Yeah. Of course. I’ll take care of you.”

“Thanks.” Luis snuggled against him again, and Darius resumed rubbing Luis’ back.

That he was gay hadn’t been a huge aha moment for Darius. The knowledge had always kind of been there, but it wasn’t until his eleventh birthday that he became conscious of what it meant and that not everyone was like him. Luis was staying overnight, and Darius’ parents had given them permission to stay up, eat junk food, and watch whatever movies they wanted. It was during Chronicles of Riddick that Darius realized he was checking out Vin Diesel while Luis was into Jada Pinkett Smith.

Only after Darius became more familiar with getting erections—and getting rid of them—did he realize that some of his reaction that night had been due to the way he and Luis were tangled up beneath a blanket and that he was in love with his best friend. Luis, for all the ribbing he took for being the only boy in his gymnastics classes, didn’t seem to notice. He never gave the slightest hint that he might be anything other than straight. So, Darius had no choice but to pretend his feelings were merely platonic.

“Doing any better?” Darius asked, and pressed his thumb along the edge of Luis’ shoulder blade.

“A bit.” Luis arched against Darius’ hand. “That feels really good.”

Luis stretched, and Darius bit his lower lip at the roll of Luis’ body alongside his own. “Luis,” he whispered and tried to pull his hips back. If Luis kept rubbing against him like that, he was going to get hard. But Luis didn’t stop.

“Touch me,” he said.

“I am.” Darius’ heart pounded in his chest, and he suddenly wanted to be anyplace but where he was.

“No, Dar.” Luis rolled over so they were face-to-face. “Like really touch me.” He took hold of Darius’ hand and ran his fingers alongside Darius’, outlining each digit, then dragging the tips of his fingers across Darius’ palm. He smiled. “It feels amazing. Like I’ve never…I don’t know, touched anything before.” Luis shifted his shoulders and rolled his hips. “And the music…” He moved his body with the beat playing in the backyard, laying his head back on his pillow. It exposed his throat, and Darius found himself fighting against his desire to kiss the skin under Luis’ chin. “God, the music is incredible.”

Darius sat up and swung his feet off the bed. “That’s the Molly kicking in,” he said.

“It’s awesome.” Luis waved his hands in the air. “It’s like every part of my body is lit up at the same time. Where are you going?”

Luis grabbed him and pulled him back down onto the bed, then tangled their legs together. His body moved from side to side in time with the music.

“I want to go dance,” Luis said.

“Probably not a good idea, chico, if you don’t want your mom to see you high.”

That seemed to sober Luis for a moment. He stopped writhing but tightened his legs around Darius’ thighs and rolled on top of him. Damn, he’s strong , Darius thought. It wasn’t like he didn’t know how hard Luis worked on the cheer squad or that Luis’ arms and legs were beautifully muscled and powerful. Of course he knew. But it was one thing to watch Luis during practices and games and another to feel those muscles tighten around him, to feel the power in them, their firmness, their warmth.

Fuck . Darius needed to think about anything other than how many times he had dreamed of lying beneath Luis like this, of how much he longed to raise his chin and close the distance between their mouths. He needed to get up, needed to get away before he did something he couldn’t take back.

“Luis—”

“Oh my God, feel that,” Luis said. He pushed himself up, still straddling Darius, their groins dangerously aligned, and rocked forward. “ That .”

Yeah. That . Darius thought his head was going to explode as he felt Luis’ erection rub against his own. If the way his body reacted was even a shadow of what Luis was feeling because of the X…Darius didn’t even want to think about it. He needed to regain control before they did something they would both regret.

Darius sat up as well, pushing Luis back so he could free his legs. Even though his body was protesting, his mind was made up. This couldn’t go anywhere.

Once Darius was standing, Luis flopped back onto his bed and stared at some spot in the air, his head nodding to the beat of the DJ’s music. “I feel like I’ve never listened to music before,” he said. “Like there’s notes I’ve never heard before. It’s so cool. And I can hear everyone talking outside, and it’s like they’re part of the music, too.”

Without warning, Luis popped up to his feet and held out his hand to Darius. “Come dance with me, cari?o.”

The endearment kept Darius motionless as Luis approached him with a wicked grin. Luis, who had never called him anything other than “bro” or “chico,” took hold of his hand and pulled him close, swaying to the salsa beat with a sexy roll of his hips that made Darius bite back a groan.

“Luis—”

“It’s fine.” Luis put his head against Darius’ chest. “Your heart’s so loud.” He laughed, and Darius felt the vibration of it in his chest, but Luis didn’t move away. He rolled his hips again, and Darius felt that Luis was hard. “Come on, Dar. I just want to be close to you.” He pulled Darius’ arms around his waist, pressed his hands against Darius’ back, and continued to sway against him. “Hold me, Dar. Dance with me. Please. It feels good when you touch me.”

Blood pounded in Darius’ ears, and he held his body as rigid as possible. It physically hurt not to respond to Luis, but he couldn’t. It wasn’t right. Luis was high, obviously not thinking clearly. No matter how much Darius had fantasized about a moment like this, no matter how much he wanted it, he wasn’t going to take advantage of the situation, and he damned Andrés all over again.

“Let’s lie down, chico,” Darius said. “I don’t feel like dancing right now.”

“Only if you hold me.” Luis flashed him a wicked smile that made Darius bite his lower lip to keep from groaning, but he followed Luis back to the bed. Once they were settled, Luis snuggled back into Darius’ arms. “It feels good,” he said. “You holding me. As cool as it feels being high, I’d probably be freaking out if you weren’t here.”

“I’ll take care of you,” Darius promised again.

“You’re the best friend ever.” Luis held on even tighter, then trailed his fingers along Darius’ jaw and down the side of his neck to his throat. “Your skin is so soft,” he said as his fingers teased at the small amount of Darius’ chest that was visible above the collar of his T-shirt. “How did I not know this?”

“Luis…” Darius breathed out his friend’s name, then choked back a shout when Luis’ hands abruptly left his neck and dove under his shirt.

“You’re even softer here. Like velvet.” Luis stroked his fingers across Darius’ belly, then lifted his chin to look Darius in the eye. “Do you like what I’m doing, Dar?”

The truth was Darius liked Luis touching him very much—too much—and he didn’t know what to do about it. Luis could be flying for another couple of hours until he crashed, and while Darius meant what he’d said about taking care of him, that meant keeping himself in check and not letting his feelings for Luis show. Which meant Darius was likely to be in agony for the next few hours unless he got Luis to focus on something else. The problem was he couldn’t think of anything else, not while Luis had his hands on Darius’ body.

“It’s okay if you don’t, Dar,” Luis said and pulled his hands from under Darius’ shirt.

Darius missed the contact immediately but was grateful Luis had taken his silence as an indication that Darius wanted him to stop. It wasn’t the truth. Not by a long shot. But he didn’t want Luis to think he was upset.

“It was fine, chico,” Darius said and captured Luis’ hands in his own and brought them up to his chest. “But this is better.”

Again, Luis pulled back so he could look at Darius directly. “Have you kissed anyone yet, Dar?”

Darius drew in a breath so quickly that some of his own spit went down the wrong way, and he started coughing. “What the fuck, Luis?” he asked when he got his breathing under control again.

Luis grinned at him and freed a finger from their entwined hands to stroke along Darius’ jaw again. And then he kept right on going until his fingertip skated over Darius’ lower lip. “Just asking. Have you?”

“Who would I be kissing? I’m too busy studying and working in my dad’s store. And when I’m not doing any of those things, I’m with you.”

“I don’t know.” Luis shrugged. “Angel on the cheer squad really likes you.”

Darius was saved from having to answer by a knock on the door and the sound of Luis’ mother calling his name. Scrambling to his feet, Darius crossed the room and opened the door a crack.

“Oh, Darius,” Mrs. Herrera said. “It’s time for cake. I know you boys don’t want to miss that.”

“Actually, Mrs. H, Luis isn’t feeling well—” Darius raised a hand when she started to push past him, realizing he’d made a cardinal error when dealing with a parent. “He probably just ate too much and needs to lie down for a bit.”

“?Pollito?” she queried. “?Cómo estás? ?Necesitas algo?”

“No, Mamá, estoy bien. Darius me está cuidando.”

Mrs. Herrera eyed Darius as if she was trying to figure out if they were up to something—which, to be honest, they were—and Darius tried to keep his expression neutral, especially when he asked her to let his parents know he’d be staying the night.

At that, she smiled, patted him on the arm, and told him she’d bring them both pieces of cake. “For later,” she said, “because I know how much you boys love cake.”

Darius thanked her and quietly closed the door as she moved off down the hallway.

“Cake sounds really good,” Luis said and started chanting cake, then laughing. “It sounds so weird now. Cakecakecakecakecakecakecake.”

The sound of it made Darius laugh as well. He didn’t return to the bed, but sat on the floor with his back leaning against it. Luis scooted to the edge of his bed, close enough that Darius felt the heat of his body, then ran his fingertips through Darius’ closely cropped hair.

“Angel’s really cute. You should ask her out,” Luis said. He teased at the hairline on Darius’ neck, which made Darius squirm.

“That tickles,” he said, though he really wanted Luis to continue. “I don’t want to go out with Angel.” He turned his head to look at his best friend. “What about you? Have you kissed anyone?” Darius hoped his expression didn’t give away how much he dreaded Luis’ answer would be “yes” and how relieved he was when Luis shook his head.

“I’m thinking of asking Julieta to the next dance.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.” Luis let his hand come to rest on Darius’ shoulder, his fingertips dragging lightly along Darius’ collarbone. Darius was kind of rangy, like he’d grown too fast for his body to keep up, and there were places where his joints and bones were sharp angles beneath his skin.

Luis’ fingers snuck under the collar of Darius’ T-shirt, and his thumb pressed into the hollow between collarbone and shoulder. It felt good, and Darius relaxed into the feel of Luis touching him. At least until Luis rolled onto his side and scooted close enough for Darius’ head to rest against his abdomen. Darius tensed again, fear that his body would betray him and expose his feelings for Luis making him shift his upper body. Luis’ grip on his shoulder tightened.

“Just stay,” Luis said. “I like touching you here.” He stroked his fingers over that spot between Darius’ shoulder and collarbone again. “I can’t get over how smooth your skin is.”

“It feels nice.” Darius leaned his head back and smiled up at Luis. He loved Luis’ face, from his soulful dark eyes to the faint dusting of scruff around his mouth and the sun-bleached tips of his black hair.

Luis leaned forward. His expression grew serious, his eyes boring into Darius’. He licked his lips, and Darius’ arm raised of its own accord, his hand curling around the back of Luis’ neck. It took the slightest amount of pressure to bring Luis closer. Their lips were so close.

“Dar…” Luis breathed and then closed the distance between them.

It took Darius the length of a heartbeat—almost painful in its strength—to realize that what he had dreamed about, fantasized about, convinced himself would never happen was indeed happening. Luis was kissing him, and if he didn’t hurry up and kiss Luis back, the moment might end before he had a chance to enjoy it.

The kiss was everything Darius wanted. It was soft and sweet, Luis’ lips warm against his own. He sighed as a tingle of excitement ran through his body. Of course, it made him hard, but that wasn’t what captured his attention. It was the way Luis smelled, the way Darius was getting the faintest sense of what he would taste like if they were to open their mouths to each other.

“Chico,” Darius breathed out as they parted.

Luis shifted, and then Darius’ arms were full of his best friend as Luis slithered off the bed and onto his lap. Arms around Darius, Luis pulled him close again. “Did you like that?” he whispered.

“You have no idea,” Darius whispered back.

With barely any space between them, they were breathing each other’s air. Darius could taste Luis on the back of his tongue, but he wanted more. A small part of his brain reminded him this could all be the Molly, but the larger part didn’t care. Luis might be high, but that was only letting him take the risk, right? They’d work it out after Luis came down. Which was as far in the thought process as Darius got because Luis’ lips were back on his.

This time, Luis’ tongue flicked out and teased at the corners of Darius’ mouth. Darius opened for him and groaned as he got his first real taste of Luis’ mouth.

He had no idea how long they sat on the floor, Luis’ ass on his thighs, their arms around each other. They didn’t do anything but kiss, but Darius knew he would remember this moment for the rest of his life. Anything he had conjured in his mind paled in comparison with the reality of kissing Luis Herrera.

They probably would have stayed like this for hours if Luis’ mother hadn’t knocked on the door, returning with the promised slices of cake. Luis scrambled back onto his bed, and Darius took the plates from Mrs. Herrera, hoping she didn’t notice anything that would betray what he and Luis had just been doing.

“Do you need anything else, mijo?” she asked, but Luis told her he was fine.

As soon as the door was shut, Luis started up his cake chant again, holding out his hands and making gimme motions with his fingers. Darius handed him the plate, and Luis cut off a huge portion with the side of his fork and stuffed it in his mouth so fast some of the whipped cream frosting oozed out of the corners. Darius longed to lick Luis’ mouth clean, but he settled for watching Luis’ tongue— the same tongue I’ve just had in my mouth —flick out to clean it up.

Darius took his first bite of the tres leches cake and hummed in appreciation. He settled back on the floor. “Your mom makes the best cake,” he said.

“No kidding.” Luis took a smaller bite. “It’s so cool, how everything tastes. Like I think I can taste every ingredient and then the whole thing, and then the whipped cream and sugar, and the textures of the cake and the cream. It’s incredible.”

He continued eating, shoving one forkful after another into his mouth, and each time, it seemed as if he discovered something new about the flavor or the texture. And the sounds he made…Darius was grateful he was sitting on the floor. While he still wanted to kill Andrés for giving Luis the X, now that Luis wasn’t showing signs of distress or having a bad trip, Darius could relax a bit and enjoy Luis’ sudden awareness of the world around him. And if it meant that he and Luis might become more than friends? Darius wasn’t going to think that far ahead, no matter how much he hoped things would move in that direction.

They didn’t talk while they ate, but once they were done, Luis lay back on his bed with a sigh, then rolled back up. “Come lie down with me again, Dar.”

The request made Darius’ heart skip a beat, but there wasn’t a world in which he wouldn’t do exactly as Luis asked. He moved their plates to the dresser, then lay down next to Luis, who immediately curled around him again: head on his shoulder, arm draped across his waist. Luis made contented sounds as he snuggled in closer.

“Put your arms around me,” Luis commanded, and Darius complied, though he kept a loose hold on his friend.

Were they going to kiss again? Darius wasn’t sure if he’d be willing to do more than that while Luis was still feeling the effects from the drugs, especially not without having the “I thought you were straight” conversation.

Luis gave him a one-armed body hug. “I know this is probably the Molly talking, but, God, Dar…” He pulled the side of Darius’ shirt up so he had access to bare skin, which made Darius shiver when Luis ran his fingers over his ribs. “You’re my best friend, and I love you,” Luis whispered. “Like really love you.”

The words sent Darius’ heart into overdrive. “I love you, too,” he whispered back and placed a kiss on Luis’ head.

Luis continued to trace circles on Darius’ belly while Darius tried to keep his breathing even. What he really wanted to do was run and scream and grab Luis so he could kiss the heck out of him. He tightened his arms around Luis, and Luis moved closer. Before Darius knew it, they’d both drifted off.

Darius woke to an empty bed and a dark room. The party was still going on outside, even though the music had ended. He looked at the clock on Luis’ dresser and saw that it was only a little after nine, but when he did the math, he knew Luis was probably still feeling the effects of the Molly. Finding his friend was his highest priority, so he got up and left the bedroom.

It turned out, he didn’t have far to go. As soon as he stepped into the hallway, he heard Luis crying in the bathroom.

“Chico?” He knocked on the door. “You okay?”

There was silence, then a loud sniffle. “Go away, Dar.”

Something in Luis’ voice worried Darius. He tried the knob on the door, but it was locked. “Let me in, please.”

“I told you to go away.”

Darius knocked again, then leaned close to the door so he could speak without being easily overheard. “Come downs can be rough. I want to know you’re okay.”

There was a long minute of silence before water ran in the bathroom sink, and then the door lock popped open, and Luis stepped into the hallway. Darius immediately noticed a small bruise on his temple, but when he tried to touch it, Luis pulled his head away.

“Satisfied?” he asked.

Darius shook his head. He went to take Luis’ hand, but again, his friend pulled away.

“I feel like crap, and I don’t want to be touched. Okay?”

“Okay. Come lie down again?” It was the only thing Darius could think of to suggest, a way to get back to where they’d been only a few hours before, and he wanted to take care of Luis.

“Go home, Dar. I’m fine.”

The dismissal shocked Darius. “I thought I was going to stay over.”

It was Luis’ turn to shrug, and Darius noticed Luis wasn’t meeting his eyes. He moved closer, and Luis took a step back from him and shook his head.

“You’re scaring me,” Darius said. “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing. Probably just the comedown, like you said. But I’ll be okay. I’ll sleep it off.” Luis finally raised his chin and tried to smile at Darius. “Don’t worry so much, chico. I’m good.”

Darius knew he wasn’t getting anywhere by arguing with Luis; his best friend was as stubborn as they came. “Call me if you need me,” Darius said.

“I will,” Luis said. He pushed past Darius and returned to his bedroom. Darius was sure he heard the lock click into place.

Though it killed him to do it, he headed home and hoped they’d be able to talk about what had happened in the morning.

They didn’t talk about it, though. The next day, Luis claimed he had no memory of what happened after the Molly took effect, so Darius had no choice but to let it go and follow Luis’ lead back to friendship. Even when Luis came out during their first year at UCLA—where Darius had an academic scholarship and Luis competed on the gymnastics team—Darius kept his feelings under wraps and accepted that he was always going to be in the friend zone as far as Luis was concerned.