21
“Dune isn’t coming?” Will questioned Gale. They had pulled into the nearest parking lot to the super club. Other guys from the soccer team were in the backseat and finishing their cans before they got out of the car. Will did the same with his.
“Him and Cassie are studying,” Gale explained. “I don’t think they realised you’d be coming.” His grey eyes scanned Will. “You didn’t invite Jack?”
Will shook his head. He didn’t want Jack here. He had every intention to get drunk tonight, and he didn’t want Jack to see him like that. Plus, who knew what Will would say to him after a few drinks? “Clubs are a bad idea for him. They’re too dark to see much, so he can have a hard time understanding anyone.”
“Is that the only reason?” Gale asked, giving his empty can a meaningful look.
“It’s one drink.” Will shrugged.
“One drink and you’re usually wired,” Gale replied.
“Okay, Mom.” One of the guys, Michael, leaned through the gap in the seats to smack Gale’s arm. “If Will wants to drink, he can drink.”
“Come on,” Will said before Gale could reply. “Let’s go in.”
They exited the car and made their way to the entrance. Michael came to his side as they approached the bouncers. “Don’t worry. Gale’s only grumpy because Eileen didn’t come out.”
Will scanned the surrounding people. It was college students mostly, and a lot busier than he’d been expecting. Usually, their team had no problem getting into clubs. Even if the bouncers knew they were underaged, on a quiet night it mattered more to have the numbers inside.
“Thanks, Michael.” Will wasn’t worried about Gale. He was worried about getting Gabriel off his mind.
The younger bouncer nodded him over when his turn came in line. He was familiar. “Max’s older brother, right?” Will said.
Max’s older brother raised an eyebrow. “Will.”
And now Will felt bad for not knowing his name. And also disheartened because he had to know Will was underage.
The bouncer dug something out of his pocket and put it into Will’s hand. “First one’s on me.” He clapped Will’s shoulder hard. “Go enjoy yourself.” As Will passed by, Max’s brother called after him, “It’s Shawn.”
“Thanks, Shawn.”
Will didn’t wait for the others. He went to the bar and got to the front, examining the piece of paper that Shawn had given him. It was a coupon for two free shots to go with your first drink. Usually, Will would say no way to shots, but tonight was different.
When he got the drinks—a vodka coke and two shots of Sambuka—he downed the shots in quick succession. There was no sign of anyone on his team. There was no signal on his phone, and he found himself alone. He leaned against the bar as the shots burned his throat. Alone, and drunk.
“Looking for someone?” a voice interrupted Will’s scanning of the dance floor. It was Shawn. Shawn had changed out of the jacket he was wearing and he was left in a plain green top and jeans.
“My team,” Will answered. “Did you let any of them in?”
Shawn gave a guilty shrug. “You were the last one for a little while. I think they mentioned going over to the pub until the next lot is let in. Come on, I’ll introduce you to my team.”
Shawn’s team was in the centre of the dance floor, and the introduction was being brought into the heart of the dance floor. A few guys, a few girls, some familiar, some not, and Shawn’s hands on his sides. Will decided he’d find his own team later. The music was too loud to even think, and his mind was too buzzed to care how he looked to anyone. Yet somehow, he’d found the relief he’d been seeking. There was some entertainment in it too, seeing the girls dancing with the girls, and the guys dancing with the guys. The shorter guy saw Will looking and dropped him a wink.
Shawn drew him away from the dance floor. “I’ve got to head back. Stick around with them, and I’ll find you later.”
“Shawn,” one of the girls said and handed him something. She smiled at Will. “We’re going to the bar. Come over when you two are done.”
“Will do,” he told her.
“Oh, nice.” Shawn popped something into his mouth and then showed the small clear bag with two pills to Will. “Want one?” he asked.
“No” was the obvious answer. Because anything that could affect Will’s body carried the risk of affecting his weight, and that would leave him with a cripplingly tiny diet for weeks. But he was already drunk, and he’d be throwing all that drink up before he left anyway, so—
“I’m not gonna end up blacking out, am I?”
Shawn grinned. “Course not.”
They were on the edge of the dance floor, and Shawn cupped Will’s face between his hands and ducked down to kiss him. And Will let him. Except Will didn’t just let him, he leaned into it, swallowing the bitter flavour of the pill that spread across his tongue, and he pulled Shawn by the hips until somehow Will’s back ended up against the wall and there was no pill being exchanged, just saliva, breaths, and body warmth.
Shawn pulled back with a grin. “You stick around, you hear? I’m gonna go tell the manager I’m taking a longer break. See you soon.”
Will stared after Shawn as he disappeared into the crowd of people, realising he should have asked about what he’d just taken. He could see Shawn’s friends by the bar, and they beckoned him over. Will gave them a wave, letting them know he’d seen them. He went to the bathroom, and by the time he was splashing water over his face, his entire body was like a hot box. His hands were clammy and his cheeks were flushed bright red. He dug his phone out of his pocket, but couldn’t get his fingers to function well enough to put in the password. That meant no calling Gale to come get him.
He made his way back to the club, and with only the minimum of conscious thought going into it, he found himself going through the second bar to avoid Shawn and his friends. The exit was in sight when he spotted a familiar form. Will stopped, doing a double-take, but he couldn’t tell if he’d seen a flash of Gabriel or just someone who looked like him.
“What are you doing?” Shawn was by his side then, taking him back to the dance floor.
“Dancing,” Will reported. His body felt disconnected from his mind. Will looked for Gabriel once more, but the dancing bodies were one big blur. He had to blink several times to even get Shawn’s face to focus. He realised he was leaning on him heavily.
“Why are you so red?” Shawn asked him. “Were you with someone in the back section? You’ve only been here two minutes.”
“The back section?” Will questioned.
Shawn caught his hand. “I’ll show you.”
They passed by two girls in an entranceway, and they both whistled. Shawn shot them a grin. The back room, Will guessed, was where people went for some privacy. It was a small booth area, with dimmed lights and only faint music. There was nobody else there.
“I wasn’t with anyone back here,” Will said as Shawn twisted around to him.
“No?” He was drawing Will toward the couch. “You are now.”
Even in his state, Will knew where this was leading. He knew this was stupid, and that he wasn’t thinking clearly, and he didn’t even find Shawn attractive—his vision was swimming a bit too much for that—but refusing him now and walking all the way back down the steps to the club seemed like too much effort.
So when Shawn kissed him, he kissed him back.
“Will?”
He and Shawn both looked behind them. It felt like bad etiquette to come wandering into the private space. Gabriel was just inside the doorway. His dark eyes were unreadable as they moved between Will and Shawn, with his hands in tight fists.
“He your friend?” Shawn asked Will.
“Sure is,” Will replied, since Shawn probably had the power to throw Gabriel out of the place otherwise.
Shawn looked between the two of them. He was trying to read the dynamic here, wasn’t he? Waiting for Will to tell his ‘friend’ to get lost so they could hook up, but Will was barely able to stand, and he wasn’t saying anything. “You need something?” Shawn asked Gabriel.
Gabriel gave Will this look, and Will tried guessing what it meant. He just knew there was something dark in Gabriel’s eyes that he hadn’t seen before. There was something imposing in the way he stood there too, big and broad, like he wasn’t going to leave and there was nobody in the world that could make him.
“You mind leaving us?” Will asked Shawn. “I’ll come down in a few.”
“Alright,” Shawn said, with a look of great reluctance.
They watched Shawn leave.
“What are you doing?” Gabriel turned to him.
Without Shawn there, Will opted to lean against the edge of the booth to keep himself steady on his feet.
“Aren’t you an adult?” Will asked. “Can’t you guess what we were going to be doing up here?”
When Gabriel remained silent, Will looked up. He didn’t look at Will like he was a child. He stared at his chest. Will realised his shirt was hanging open, and that his abdomen and his navel were exposed, fine hair leading down to his unbuttoned jeans. His boxers were visible, a strip of navy against the blue of his jeans. Gabriel was watching him with that same dark look in his eye, and under his gaze warmth flooded Will’s body.
The fuzz in Will’s mind didn’t leave room for second-guessing or self-doubt. He knew desire when he saw it. He stepped in close to Gabriel and took his hand. “Is there something you want to say to me, Gabriel?” He guided Gabriel’s hand underneath his shirt. Gabriel took in a sharp breath, but he didn’t take his hand back. Instead, his fingers splayed out across Will’s abdomen, pressing against his abs. They were rough and made goosebumps break out over his skin. Will didn’t feel numb anymore.
“Do you even know who that is?” Gabriel asked.
“What are you talking about?” Will said with a smile. He slipped his hands up Gabriel’s chest. “He was a little taller than me, a little heavier than me, so it doesn’t matter who he is, cause that’s enough to pretend it was you touching me.”
Gabriel’s gaze snapped to him, his eyes dark and blazing. He seized the back of Will’s neck and brought their lips together. It was rough, and if anyone else was pushing so hard against Will, he wouldn’t have enjoyed it. But it was Gabriel. And he couldn’t help but sink against his broad chest.
Their legs tangled together as Gabriel walked them back to the couch. Passionate and hot, the moment Will was on his back Gabriel was on top, ripping his shirt off over his head and disposing of Will’s completely. He seized Will’s jaw. “N ever kiss someone else pretending it’s me again.”
“Never,” Will agreed. The fire in Gabriel’s eyes left him breathless.
And then they were kissing again, and Gabriel was possessive in the touch that roamed Will’s body. It was greedy and didn’t give Will enough time to feel self-conscious. He was preoccupied with the hard muscles under his palms, the ridges of his spine, the bumps of his shoulder blades—and then the v-line of Gabriel’s hips. He heard buckles being undone and knew it was him unfastening Gabriel’s belt, and that Gabriel wasn’t stopping him.
“I—” Will hesitated.
And Gabriel kissed him, and kissed him, until Will’s head and body were filled with white noise. His lips tingled and an adrenaline rush—bigger than anything he’d ever felt in a match—racked through him. He struggled to remember why he was hesitating. Gabriel fully unzipped Will’s jeans and pulled them open to his boxers.
Will remembered the source of his hesitation when Gabriel was kissing his throat. “I want to go slower,” he panted out. “I haven’t done it before. I don’t want to rush.”
Gabriel slowed. He caressed Will’s inner thigh before he propped his weight onto an elbow. Will missed his warmth. His admission embarrassed him, and he wondered if Gabriel could see that as he scanned his face. Gabriel offered him a soft smile. “Thank you for telling me.” He bent back down to him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips and then trailed a path down his throat and along his bare collar bone. His stubble tickled his skin.
“I don’t want to stop.” Will closed his eyes.
He felt Gabriel’s grin against his skin. “I can tell.” He caressed somewhere that made Will jump. Gabriel adjusted his weight and nudged Will with his nose. “Look at me for this.”
Will had a hard time doing that. Numbness wasn’t the problem anymore…over-stimulation was.
Gabriel nudged him again. “Kiss me,” he requested.
Will struggled to get his body to move the way he wanted. His hand managed to get into Gabriel’s hair, and he got his eyes open, but even when their lips brushed together Will couldn’t kiss him. Even the effort of lifting his head left him exhausted. He collapsed back panting.
“Will?” Gabriel’s voice lost its sultry edge. His hand was on his jaw again. “Open your eyes.”
Will did. Gabriel stared down at him and realisation dawned on his face. “Are you high?”
If Will was smart, he would have denied it. Instead, he nodded, and Gabriel got off him. He muttered under his breath as he retrieved his shirt from the floor. When he turned around to Will, he seemed surprised—Will hadn’t moved an inch. But Gabriel understood, and something akin to anger flared in his eyes. “Do you know how stupid this is?” he demanded. “What the hell would you do if someone came in and wanted to take advantage of you? Nothing! You wouldn’t be able to do anything. Your pants are down, you’re—” Gabriel cut himself off. His chest heaved erratically. He paced the room, pulling at his hair.
Will found he could move. Humiliated beyond words, he got his pants up. Sitting upright was difficult, and his fingers didn’t even feel attached to his body as he picked up the shirt. He struggled to get it on, and the humiliation worsened.
“I’ll drive you home,” Gabriel snapped.
“No.”
The anger turned back on Will, and if he had enough control over his body, he would have cringed away from it. “I’m driving you home,” Gabriel said. “It’s not up for discussion. You’re not going back to end up in the bed of the first person who decides they want you. You’re not—”
“I’m not getting in a car with you,” Will replied lowly. “Not up for discussion.”
Gabriel faltered. The anger dissolved into regret and shame, and that cut deep into Will’s chest. “Will,” he began in a pained voice, “I’m so—”
Will didn’t want to hear it. The apology. The regret. But he couldn’t erase the sting of Gabriel’s words either. “I’m an idiot,” he repeated. “After all that trouble to convince me I wasn’t, you relented.”
“I didn’t—”
“I am, you know.” Will continued, “I’m made of the same stuff as all those other guys on the team that can’t get passing grades, just a lot better at making everyone feel sorry for me and a lot more pathetic.”
“Please stop.” Gabriel knelt in front of him and wiped the tears off his cheeks that Will hadn’t even realised had started to fall. Gabriel pressed his forehead against Will. “I’m sorry for shouting. I am . It’s just—seeing you in a state where you’re vulnerable like this, where you wouldn’t be able to move or say no, it’s scary . If you get into my car, I’ll bring you back to mine and we can talk, okay? About all of this. And I won’t take out my anger on you again. I promise.”
Will rested his forehead against Gabriel’s, and let his eyes drift closed. “I like how you kissed me,” he whispered.
Gabriel squeezed his cheeks and lifted his lips to Will’s forehead. “Me too. It’s not that part I’m angry about.”