Chapter Caelyx
CAELYX
“SO… WE DON’T have to go through the, um, security or any of that?
” Aspen asked, fidgeting in the passenger seat as I pulled the Porsche through the gate to the private terminal.
He’d been too nervous to drive, worrying about how his first time ever flying in a plane or even being in an airport would go.
“No,” I assured him. “It’s an FBO. Fixed base operator,” I explained, at his confused look. “We’re just going to park in a hangar. The jet will be waiting there for us, and we’ll bring our bags in, and that’s it. Everything is all taken care of.”
“That’s good,” he said, though his eyebrows were still furrowed together in obvious concern. “I was worried because, well… You know, my driver’s license still has my old gender marker and… I didn’t want anyone to get confused. I heard that can be kind of a nightmare.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “It’s not like the kind of flight you’ve seen in movies and stuff. My family owns the plane, so there’s no check-ins or anything like that.”
On one hand I hated to see him so freaked out, but on the other, he was so cute like this.
“Okay.”
Once I’d parked and we’d grabbed our bags out of the backseat, I led him back out onto the tarmac, where my family’s familiar private jet was waiting for us. My dad didn’t pull it out for daily use or anything, but I’d ridden in it more than a handful of times.
The pilot, one of my dad’s guys who I’d known for over a decade, greeted us with friendly enthusiasm as always and ushered us on board, asking me how school was going and making general small talk as we did.
“Going to be just about two and a half hours,” he told us, before retreating to the cockpit.
Aspen was exploring the cabin, his eyes wide with awe as he took everything in. It was an open floor plan, the seating area leading back into a galley with a refrigerator and espresso machine.
“There’s no seats,” he observed, with just a hint of confusion.
“There are seats,” I said, gesturing to the divans along the wall.
“Well, yeah,” he agreed, making his way over and sitting on one, testing the cushion with a few little wiggles.
They were spacious and very soft. I’d never brought a date or romantic partner on a trip before, but I imagined they would be great for…
cuddling. “I just meant, like, the smaller chairs.”
Smirking a bit, I knew he meant the uncomfortable seats they usually had on commercial flights.
“This is our smaller jet, just for short trips. But on the bigger one, the sofas convert into beds, too.”
“Wow.”
I padded across the floor to the little dining area and popped open the refrigerator. “Do you want something to drink? There’s soda and juice, and… Well, there’s usually champagne in here,” I mused, raising an eyebrow. “I guess my dad doesn’t want me drinking.”
Once I’d grabbed him a Coke, which I knew he liked best, I dropped down next to him, just in time for the plane to tilt back as it lifted off. He immediately tensed up, and I set the can into a little drink holder so I could rub my hands up and down his arms.
“Here, pick a movie,” I said, shoving the remote for the massive flatscreen mounted on the opposite wall into his hands before gently guiding him down into a laying position, settling comfortably behind him and slipping my arm over his waist to hold his back against my chest.
“You’re not actually going to try anything, are you?” He wondered, glancing up toward where our pilot had disappeared behind a curtain. He knew me just a little too well. Not that I was an enigma or anything.
“Just cuddling,” I promised him, nuzzling into the crown of his chestnut hair. “We have a couple hours, so you might as well get comfy.”
“Won’t he… Think it’s weird if we’re out here spooning?” Aspen asked wryly, and I chuckled.
“Well, I hope he’s more focused on flying the plane than worrying about what we’re doing out here, Cupcake.”
I also knew my dad was totally anal about vetting his employees, and he’d never hire anyone who was openly homophobic, at least. Being a passionate and devoted liberal was a huge part of his public image.
It wasn’t exactly just for show, he’d raised me like that and was completely supportive about me being bi, even though he loved busting my balls over other stuff.
Supporting marginalized communities was genuinely important to him, but at the end of the day, he also wanted to make sure everyone knew it, too.
There was nothing about him that was completely selfless, everything and everyone in his life served some greater purpose.
That was part of what made it hard for me to trust him around my boyfriend, but I didn’t really have much of a choice in that matter anymore.
Seeming mostly satisfied with my response about the pilot, Aspen relaxed against me, scrolling through some movie options until he landed on a comedy and started it. It wasn’t the first time he’d picked something light and fluffy for us to watch.
“It’s always funny to me, you avoiding all the darker stuff.”
“It’s not like we can watch a horror movie,” he reasoned. “If it ends up being one Arie picks later, we’ll just have to rewatch it and pretend to be surprised.”
“That’s true,” I acknowledged, amused. “He’s definitely got his quirks.”
Sighing and settling more comfortably against me, Aspen was quiet as we watched the opening scene of the movie. Breathing in the woodsy scent of his shampoo had all my muscles limp and totally relaxed, as usual.
“But it would be nice to watch a horror movie with you like this,” I said. “I could feel you jump when you get scared and I’d get to console you.”
Aspen snorted. “Who do I look like? Maddox?” Maddox was definitely not the most stoic when it came to the scarier flicks, always grabbing onto Ren’s arm and probably squeezing it to death when he got startled.
Grinning, I shook my head against him. “You definitely do not look like Maddox.”
“Don’t sound so disappointed,” he teased, and I could hardly contain my incredulous bark of laughter. Maddox was objectively hot, but…
“You are the sexiest guy in the world to me. I wouldn’t want you to look like Maddox or anyone else,” I swore, even though I knew he was kidding.
After another little stretch of quiet, he spoke again. “What do you think everyone’s doing right now?”
“Ren and Maddox are together,” I said. We’d both seen the cute selfie Ren had posted in the group chat that morning.
In some cheesy romantic miracle, their moms had become best friends, taking trips together and inviting each other over for holidays, which made it a hell of a lot easier for the two of them to spend time together outside of school.
“And Arie and Che live together already.”
“That makes me kinda sad.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. What about Cyprian?”
“Cyprian’s spending time with his family. He’s with Kelani.”
“I know, but… It’s not the same,” Aspen insisted softly.
“Oh,” I realized, glad he was facing the TV so he couldn’t see my wide, delighted grin. “You’re one of those people.”
“Huh?”
“So now that you’re all lovey-dovey in a couple with me, you just want everyone else to experience the same happiness as you, right? It makes you sad to see someone all alone.”
“N-no!” He denied, twisting around to glare at me. “Shut up! I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to,” I teased, taking advantage of his new position by nudging him onto his back. “That’s so cute, Cupcake. I think I might scream.”
“You have an overactive imagination,” he retorted, but his cheeks were flushed pink. “I’m just saying it would be… Nicer if everyone was paired up.”
“Well… Maybe, but the conversations I’ve had with him give me the impression he doesn’t exactly want to be, uh… Paired up.”
Tilting his head, Aspen frowned a bit. “He doesn’t want to get with anybody?”
Amused by the way this super smart and studious person had missed what I considered to be so many obvious signs of something out of the ordinary going on between Cyprian and the twink twins, I could only chuckle.
“Well, you never know,” I finally said. I wasn’t going to be the one to spell it out for him.
I’d already decided I wasn’t getting involved.
But the subject did remind me of a certain conversation that I’d forgotten to bring up before.
“Ah, so you remember when I mentioned I’d talked to Lazaro and you came up? ”
“How could I forget?” He asked dryly. I don’t think he had ever quite forgiven Lazaro for basically revealing his inexperience and making it clear to me how I’d been his first for just about everything, even if it had been accidental on Lazaro’s part.
“Well, there was one part of that I forgot to mention.”
“What?” He asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
“He kind of… Invited us to… Hang out,” I said.
“Hang out?”
“Like… A hookup kind of thing, I guess. Us, and him.” Aspen stared at me warily for a few seconds, before I hurried on. “I mean, I told him you wouldn’t be interested, so…”
“Are you interested?” He asked, and I quickly shook my head.
“No! God. No. I mean, I have nothing against the, um… You know, the concept. It’s fine if people want to do that. Right?”
“Right,” he agreed, eyeing me cautiously. “But…”
“But I’m not sharing you with anybody. Ever,” I insisted. “You… Aren’t interested either, right?”
“No,” he said. “I told you before.”
I knew exactly what he meant, because that phrase had been rattling around in my head for days. And because he’d said it while I’d been pushing my dick into him for the first time, it was starting to give me a Pavlovian type of reaction every time I thought about it.
“I don’t recall.” I lied. “Tell me again.”
He rolled his eyes, but relented to my lovesick request.
“You’re all that matters to me, Caelyx. You’re all I want.”
“Mm.” Purring with pleasure, I rolled onto him, burying my face in his neck. “I love when you say that.”