Chapter 10
Drew
Gabriel’s kiss tasted slightly of salt and of beer.
Drew had leaned forward, though he hardly needed to move, and kissed him.
The kiss wasn’t tentative, but it wasn’t overly passionate, either.
It was steady and intentional and exploratory.
Gabriel had encouraged him to embrace new beginnings and take risks, and that was what he was doing.
The entire day felt like it had been leading to this. An extended act of foreplay in which they had slowly been growing more comfortable with each other, opening up bit by bit, letting each other in.
By now, Drew was certain what he wanted: he wanted Gabriel.
Their first kiss was long and slow, gently exploring each other’s mouths. Drew cradled the back of Gabriel’s head in one of his hands, and Gabriel’s fingers rested on Drew’s thigh.
Drew pulled away. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while now,” he said.
“So have I,” said Gabriel. His eyes were wide, and his cheeks were red. “You don’t care that I’m younger than you?”
“You’re an adult, and you’re mature.” Drew hesitated.
He didn’t want this to be a circumstance where he accidentally took advantage of Gabriel.
“I know that the power balance here seems strange, with who I am. I hate saying that. It makes me sound full of myself. But I want to acknowledge it, and I want to make it very clear that if this is not something you want to do, I have no intention of pressuring you into that.”
“I completely understand,” Gabriel said, “and I absolutely want this. Would you like to go to my bedroom?”
“Lead the way.”
They didn’t make it all the way to the bedroom before kissing again.
Drew pressed Gabriel up against a wall in the hallway, knocking pictures askew, and kissed him again.
Gabriel’s hands roamed under Drew’s shirt, feeling the hard muscles of his chest. Drew shivered at Gabriel’s cool touch and bit lightly on Gabriel’s bottom lip, causing Gabriel to moan in pleasure.
“I don’t know what you’ve done to me,” Drew said. “It’s like you have this power over me, and I’m powerless against it. I’ve barely been able to resist you since meeting you.”
“Stop resisting,” Gabriel said.
And so Drew stopped resisting. He had longed, his entire mature life, to share an intimate emotional connection with a physical or sexual partner.
He had thought he’d had it with Quentin, but Quentin had always been reserved and guarded, mostly holding himself back from Drew.
Gabriel held nothing back. He presented himself wholly to Drew.
They had known each other for only a week, but Drew felt like he knew Gabriel already.
He saw Gabriel for who he was, and he liked what he saw.
Words failed to express what he wanted to say, but his body was able to say it. He kissed Gabriel with passion and desire, his hands roaming all over Gabriel’s body. Gabriel was strong, muscular, and firm beneath Drew’s hands.
“Is this okay?” Drew gasped, and Gabriel nodded frantically as Drew reached down to grip Gabriel’s cock through his shorts. Gabriel moaned, his head tipping back against the wall, as Drew kissed his neck.
“You don’t know how badly I’ve wanted this,” Gabriel said.
“I think I do,” Drew said, “because I’ve also wanted it.”
“Bed,” Gabriel said. “Take me to the bed.”
“Show me where it is.”
Gabriel’s bedroom was small, with an old bed, large windows, and a lamp beside the bed.
They closed the door with their bodies, kissing against it, and then Drew laid Gabriel on the bed, still kissing him.
They took their shirts off in a struggle of limbs and kisses, tossing them aside.
Gabriel was beautiful beneath him, tanned and shirtless and sweating and smiling.
“Just let me know how far you want to go,” Drew said. He kissed Gabriel’s neck and then his chest. Gabriel moaned in pleasure.
“Keep going,” he said.
Drew kissed Gabriel’s stomach, tasting the salt of his sweat. “And this?” he murmured, looking up at Gabriel.
“Keep going.”
He kissed down to just below Gabriel’s belly button, where a narrow, dark trail of hair disappeared below his waistband. Drew desperately wanted to follow the trail all the way to the end.
“And this?”
“Keep going.”
Drew kissed the bulge in Gabriel’s shorts. He wanted what was beneath it, but he was willing to be patient. He was just about to untie the drawstrings of Gabriel’s swim trunks when he felt something vibrating in Gabriel’s pocket.
“I think you’re getting a phone call,” he said.
Gabriel groaned, yanked out his phone, and paused. “Shit, it’s my dad. I think I need to take this.”
Drew sat up, hot and wanting more, but giving Gabriel some space to talk to his father.
“Hey, Dad,” Gabriel said. “What’s up?” He listened carefully, a frown slowly spreading on his face. “Is everyone okay?”
Drew sensed the distress and concern in Gabriel’s voice.
“Okay, I’m glad everyone’s okay. Do you want me to come?”
Gabriel cast Drew an apologetic look, and Drew shrugged. If Gabriel had to do something for his family or for the camp, Drew understood. He didn’t like that their makeout session might have to be cut short, but he could be patient.
“Okay,” Gabriel said. He ran a tired hand over his face. “I’ll be there soon. Bye.” He hung up and looked apologetically at Drew. “I’m so sorry. Something happened at camp, and my parents are freaking out. It’s my day off, and they normally wouldn’t call me in, but it sounds serious.”
Drew could tell from Gabriel’s face that he was distressed, and Drew didn’t want to make anything worse. “Are your parents both okay? Is your dad?”
“I think so. Thanks for asking. I think they’re just confused and worried. They didn’t tell me what happened, but it sounds serious. I have to go, unfortunately. I feel awful. But I have the rest of the day off. Can I see you later today?”
“Let me come with you,” Drew offered. “In case there’s anything I can do.” Then he realized what it might look like if he showed up with Gabriel. He wasn’t sure if that was something Gabriel wanted his parents to see. “Unless your parents would ask questions if we showed up together.”
“They might, but I don’t care if they do. Do you really mean you’d come with me? I think that would make me feel better. I’m worried about them. I love them, but sometimes they struggle to make big decisions if they need to be made, and I work there.”
“I’ll come with you.” Drew found their shirts, tangled on the floor, and handed Gabriel his. “Do you want me to drive?”
“I don’t mind driving.”
—
It was mid-afternoon when they arrived at Orion’s Belt Hockey Camp. Gabriel drove quickly and in silence, and Drew didn’t break the silence. He could tell that Gabriel was worried, and he wanted to be there to support him if Gabriel needed him.
When they reached the parking lot, Gabriel swore softly. Drew felt nervous, too, seeing what Gabriel had seen: a police car was parked in the gravel lot. There was just one car, and no sign of any officers.
“I hope everyone is really okay,” Gabriel muttered as he parked the car.
Drew squeezed Gabriel’s hand. “I’m sure everyone is.
” He didn’t feel as confident as he sounded.
If the police were here, that was concerning.
He was vaguely aware that, if the police were here, he might have to give a statement of some sort, and if he did that, he would have to give his full name.
More and more people were discovering that he was here, and he didn’t want the word to get out to everyone. He was enjoying his privacy.
Gabriel led the way into the main building of the camp. A middle-aged woman—Drew remembered her name was Danielle—was sitting in the offices. She jumped to her feet when she saw Gabriel and Drew. She only looked briefly at Drew before looking to Gabriel.
“Gabe, I’m glad you’re here. They’re back in your dad’s office.”
Neither of them asked who “they” were. They would find out soon enough.
Don Ackermann’s office was cluttered with stacks of papers, old photos from camp, books, and camping equipment.
Gabriel opened the door after knocking and indicated that Drew should come in with him.
Drew followed Gabriel into the large room.
Don was sitting at his desk, and Laurel leaned against one of the walls between two framed photos.
An old, cranky-looking man in an Orion’s Belt polo shirt and wide khaki shorts sat in a chair with his arms folded.
Another man, with dark hair and wearing athletic clothes, paced on some of the only open floor area.
A police officer, a woman in a dark blue uniform, also sat facing Don at his desk.
Everyone looked up when Drew and Gabriel entered.
“Who’s this?” the officer asked.
“Our son,” Laurel said. “And…?”
“This is my friend Drew,” Gabriel said. “He was with me when I got the call and is here to help if he can. What happened?”
“You know each other?” Don said, looking from Drew to Gabriel.
“That’s not important,” Gabriel said. “What happened?”
Don filled them in. It appeared that there had been a prank: Stu Chaudhry, who wasn’t spending the night at the camp, but staying with his wife and kids at their house, had gotten to the camp this afternoon after he’d been at church, to check on some things at the rink.
When he’d gotten to the rink, he saw that someone had carved something in the ice.
It was a message, sloppily hacked into the ice, that said, GET OUT, repeated many times.
“Thirteen times,” Stu clarified, and Don nodded.
Stu then told them how he’d gone to his office in the rink and had seen—here, he hesitated—that every single drawer and cabinet had been opened. Nothing else was disturbed, and nothing had been taken, but it had left him unnerved.