Griff
By the time had fully processed his mortality—and the changing hair color that comes with it—Pruitt was now in the kitchen, an apron over his bare chest as he prepared grilled chicken breasts. finally joined him, leaning against the island countertop.
“You doing okay, cutie?” asked Pruitt.
“Yeah, I guess. I mean, hair dye isn’t that expensive,” sighed as he ran his hands through his hair before pulling it up and out of his face in defeat. “I’ve seen this happen in movies before. Usually where the character is under a lot of stress.”
“Oh, definitely,” Uriah jumped into the conversation, appearing from behind the refrigerator door as he closed it. “Like in all these scary movies we’re watching. These poor girls have grays galore. Scars, too, usually.”
“It actually kind of suits you,” acknowledged Pruitt as he carefully ran his hand through his witch lover’s bangs.
smiled. At least Pruitt isn’t actually trying to eat me, he thought to himself.
The quarterback raised a brow. “Huh?”
“Oh!” gasped. He forgot Pruitt could now pick up on his thoughts better than ever before. “ Nothing. ”
From behind, the vampire hung his muscular arms over ’s shoulders and pulled him into a surprise embrace. “I’m guessing this is a bad time to tell you we were planning on taking you away for the weekend. Well, at least until Sunday morning, anyway.”
“Away, huh?”
“No football game ’til Sunday for your star athlete. Yadda, yadda, yadda ,” Uriah continued as he nibbled at ’s ear.
“We play our local rival, Moonhaven, Sunday night instead of our normal Friday schedule. Plus, coach is letting me skip this weekend’s practice,” interjected Pruitt with a grin. “Riah and I thought that maybe we could do something fun. Maybe go hiking and camping at a little spot your vampire boyfriend knows about.”
moved from studying Pruitt’s face to Uriah’s before grinning. “Really?”
“Yes, really,” Uriah replied. “And your werewolf boyfriend is gonna drive us in that sexy, uncomfortable car of his.”
“The weekend begins tomorrow,” thought aloud.
Pruitt stepped away from the cooktop and reached his arms out to engulf first and then Uriah in a playful hold. “Does that work for you?”
“Well, as long as Uriah is prepared for play auditions on Tuesday,” started , glancing back to the boyfriend holding him from behind, “then I’m good.”
His boyfriends shared a devious smile before Pruitt spoke again. “Excellent. What I was thinking we’d do first is— wait, wait, wait . Did you just say Uriah —as in Uriah Black, Mystic Hollow Prince of Darkness—is seriously going to audition for the school play?”
noticed the cutest giggle escape from his werewolf partner.
“It’s just the fall play,” interjected Uriah. “You wouldn’t even know there’s more than one play a year here because you’re too busy being a stereotypical jock.”
“Oh, yeah?” Pruitt playfully goaded back, puffing his chest up as he did so. “And what might this be a production of then, theater geek?”
“It’s a classic, really. Um, perhaps you’ve heard of it. It’s, um…” It was easy for anyone to see Uriah hadn’t a clue what the answer was.
“ Romeo & Juliet ,” replied as he shot Uriah a scowl.
Pruitt placed a gentle hand under the vampire’s chin. “Looks like there’s been a unanimous decision amongst us for you to sleep on the couch tonight,” he quipped.
“Yeah, and I don’t know about sharing the same tent with you anymore,” added without missing so much as a beat. “I mean, not that I sleep in tents, anyway. Wait, there are no tents involved this weekend, right?”
“Oh, come on. Swear I thought little witch here was gonna brew up a spell to help me with my lines,” whined Uriah, a long sigh following.
“What is it you’re thinking, ?” Pruitt chuckled as he rocked his lovers back and forth in a cuddly hold. “Will Uriah Black steal the stage as Mystic Hollow’s own Romeo Montague?”
“It’s my opinion that Uriah could have any role that he wants,” said as he slipped out from between his boyfriends. “In fact, I think he would make an excellent Romeo.”
Pruitt and Uriah found themselves closer than before, each expressing a look of surprise over ’s response as they fell into each other’s arms. “ What!? ” they both asked.
“I said what I said, gentlemen,” said as he pulled his backpack off of a nearby chair and started fumbling through it. “As for that spell to help you with your lines? I have something even better.”
Returning to his spot between his lovers, presented a copy of William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet to the vampire. “You mean, uh, me-me-memorization?” Uriah asked as he nervously thumbed through the book’s pages. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
Something that resembled purple zaps of electricity spilled from ’s hands and flipped the book open to the start of the script. “Let’s see, Ri. I recommend Act I, Scene I,” responded the witch, prompting Uriah to roll his eyes. “ What ? I thought you wanted me to use some magic to help you out.”
“How’s the play going forward with Quinn out of commission, anyway?” Pruitt asked. This seemed to give Uriah some hope.
“Well, I actually went to the department head about that, and they said they’d be appointing someone else in his place to oversee tryouts,” said with a smile.
“That’s it! Looks like we’re gonna have to ravage this one again now, instead of after dinner as originally planned, Pruitt,” said Uriah as he placed the book on the counter and scooped up into his arms.
“What!?” playfully howled as his vampire squeezed him between his brawny chest and arms.
“I’m innocent, I swear,” Pruitt said with a devilish grin as he removed his cooking apron. “But I will not say no to an offer like that.”
Waves of steam rolled through Pruitt’s bathroom as the trio freshened up after a steamy lovemaking session. Pruitt, fresh out of the shower and clad in a towel, stood before the double vanity just parallel to the shower his lovers were in.
guided a sudsy loofah up and down Uriah’s back before the vampire turned around and pressed a wet kiss into his forehead. “Did I go too bad boy on you back in the bedroom?” the vampire asked shyly.
“What?” giggled. “No, silly.”
“Good,” replied Uriah, moments before went in for a kiss on the lips. “It’s just an act, anyway. Well, I mean, mostly. Plus, I know you like it. But I enjoy being sweet with you, too, because you, you know, mean a lot to me.”
An exciting chill—one that felt more like a warm tickle—ran up ’s spine as he took in Uriah’s words. Wiping water away from his eyes, he adjusted his posture to study the look on Uriah’s face as best he could without his glasses.
With his short dark hair messy, wet, and pushed back and the water gleaming from his rippling muscles, couldn’t help but notice the coy look on his vampire lover’s face. “You mean a lot to me, too,” replied, his lip quivering.
Uriah’s voice carried through ’s subconscious in the form of a telepathic message. ?I know I don’t properly remember all three hundred-plus years, but I—well, I’m not sure I’ve ever felt as close to anyone as I feel with you and Pru now.?
“Th-that’s right,” ’s voice was quiet. “Pruitt told me he’s still missing big chunks, too. But I guess it’s only been like, what?”
“Little over three weeks.” Uriah gently cupped ’s chin in his palm, tilting his head until they were eye to eye. “Speaking of big bads and the post-traumatic stress that comes with fighting ‘em, you wanna talk about it, pipsqueak?”
“N-no,” began as he ran his hands through Uriah’s wet chest hair and leaned into him. “Just not sure how to interpret my dreams yet, and not wanting something bad to happen to us again.”
Uriah wrapped up in his embrace. “It’s a big, scary world out there, pet. But you’ve got the two original boogeymen in your corner. Don’t forget that.” It heartened the vampire to hear chuckle. He squeezed him tight as he listened to the gentle hum of his heartbeat.