26. Gale
Gale
It felt like a dream. Maybe sneaking into Ozrik’s room hadn’t happened. Maybe the intense orgasm we shared wasn’t real. Maybe my fantasies were getting out of hand, and I’d fallen asleep in a knot of contemplation, deciding what I wanted to do.
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
Except Ozrik was beside me. Real. Flesh and bone. I could reach out and touch him if I wanted to. I was naked. We were naked. The aftereffect of a recent orgasm still lingered. It was a lot to process.
“You’re awfully quiet.” The faint light from the window refracted diamonds in his eyes. It licked a silver path along one cheekbone, highlighting his sharp features.
“Taking it in.”
“Was it good?”
I laughed. “Um… yes. So good.”
“As good as you imagined?”
“Better.”
He wiggled closer. Our knees and noses bumped. Ozrik weaved a leg through mine. The bristly hairs on his shins and calves sent a shiver through me.
“Good enough, you might want to do it again sometime?” he whispered.
“Definitely.”
He hummed in pleasure, nipping at my mouth. We kissed for a minute before he pulled back. “Was it good enough you might let me try something different next time?”
“Like?” My skin buzzed, despite the sheer level of exhaustion tugging at my body.
“I want to use my mouth on you.”
My cock pulsed at the suggestion. “I’d… like that.”
“I know you would.”
We shared another languid kiss before he sighed and settled, barely an inch separating us. “You wiped me out. I’m tired now.”
“It’s long past four in the morning. The sun will be up soon. I should probably go back to my room.”
He whined and pulled me closer.
I wasn’t ready to leave yet either.
“When did you come out?” I asked, nuzzling against him.
“Never really been in.”
“Oh?”
“The first couple of relationships I had in high school were with girls. So it was all very hetero. Although even then, I was attracted to guys as well. I didn’t identify as bi until I was eighteen, though.
I met a guy who was passing through town.
My friends and I were hanging out at the Orange one night.
This guy was older. Mid-twenties, maybe.
We caught each other’s eye across the bar.
It kept happening, and it was obvious there was an attraction.
He moved to a nearby table and flirted. I flirted back.
It felt natural. He was hot. There was a connection. ”
“Your friends didn’t notice?”
“Vern did, but he was used to me being wild and impulsive, so he probably figured that was all it was. Anyhow, after last call, the guy invited me back to his hotel. I went. We hooked up. After that, I did a lot of… data collecting.”
“Data collecting?”
I felt Ozrik’s smile against my mouth. “I was trying to find a tactful way of explaining my sexual promiscuity.”
“I see.”
“Does it bother you?”
“No. Better that one of us knows what he’s doing. So after that, you… came out?”
“I never hid who I was. Vern confronted me the following day. I shrugged and owned it. If he was weirded out, he didn’t say anything.
By that point, I’d been at war with my mother for years.
Stella’s name was already on everyone’s lips in that fucking town, so my being out was just one more thing to gossip about. I didn’t care.”
I wanted to inquire about his mother. His feelings toward her were loud yet veiled. I didn’t know how to bring it up without sounding nosy. Instead, I asked, “What did your mother say when she found out you were bi?”
Ozrik laughed.
“What?”
“Well, she didn’t exactly react like most parents.”
“How so?”
“Stella dragged me to the local clinic and had them test me for HIV. She bought about a dozen at-home test kits, the kind you mail in for results, and forced me to take one every month for a year.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish. If that wasn’t bad enough, she also forced me to stand naked in her presence every so often so she could check me for lesions. God forbid I presented with a scab on my knee, or she would convince herself I was dying of gay cancer.”
“I… Are you… Is this a joke?”
“I wish.”
“But… you said you were eighteen when—”
“Yes. I know.”
“Naked?” My voice squeaked.
Another self-deprecating laugh. “Horrific, isn’t it? I wish I could say that was Stella at her worst, but it wasn’t.”
“Oh… Wow.”
“I love my mother, but she’s… not well. It can be hard to talk about because people judge her based on rumors. Someday, I will tell you about my life, but not tonight. I want to enjoy this with you.”
He kissed me again, and I let him.
It was slow, mostly chaste, but perfect. The kiss came to a natural end a few minutes later. His warm breath ghosted my lips as he sighed. I sensed he was falling asleep.
We lay like that, face to face, wrapped around one another, until Ozrik’s breathing slowed and his hold on me loosened.
I wasn’t ready for the night to end, but my eyelids grew heavy.
I told myself I would go back to my room in five minutes.
I wanted five more minutes to enjoy the sensations of being in another man’s arms.
Five minutes.
Just five more…
A pounding on the door jolted me awake an indeterminant amount of time later. I opened my eyes to daylight streaming through the window and a naked Ozrik beside me.
“Oh shit!”
More pounding.
Someone shouted, “Oz! Wake the fuck up. It’s ten o’clock, and we’ve got a problem.” It sounded like Vern.
Ozrik stirred.
I instantly panicked, flying from bed in a frenzy, tripping over my feet as I tried to locate my clothes.
“No, no, no, no…”
“What the…” More pounding and shouting. Ozrik must have registered what was happening. He tumbled from bed and snagged my arm before I could escape. “Whoa. Gale. Relax. It’s ok. He doesn’t know you’re here.”
It was not okay. I fell asleep in Ozrik’s room. It was daytime. I had to get away before someone found out.
More pounding. Then the voice shouted to someone else. “Could you go around and wake this fucker up? He could sleep through the goddamn apocalypse.”
Frantically tugging on my underwear, I scrambled for the door with my pajama pants and T-shirt in hand.
When Ozrik wouldn’t release my arm, I shoved him away. “Let go of me.”
“Stop, for fuck’s sake. Don’t go that way. Bathroom. Hide in the—”
The door between our rooms opened before he finished the sentence, and Noah walked in. “Oz, wake up. We can’t find—” The words died on Noah’s lips when his gaze landed on me. A momentary pause ensued as he seemed to process what he was seeing. “Oh. You’re here.”
My blood turned to ice. Bile rose up my throat as my knees threatened to buckle.
Noah flicked his gaze between me and Ozrik—who was as naked as the day he was born—before backing up a step. “Shit. I didn’t mean to intrude.” To me, he said, “We’ve been looking for you all morning. We thought you took off in the night, but your Jeep’s still here, so… Fuck. I’m so sorry.”
Vern banged and yelled from beyond the other door. “Noah? Are you in there? Open the fucking door. Oz, you motherfucker. Wake up.”
More banging.
More voices arose outside.
Ozrik, who had snagged a towel from the bathroom to cover up, shoved me aside and caught Noah by the T-shirt as he was about to slip into the next room.
“Stop. You saw nothing. Do you hear me? Nothing. And if you say a fucking word to anyone, I will beat your ass so bad your mother won’t be able to identify the body. ”
“Jesus.” Noah shoved against Ozrik, anger flaring in his eyes.
Ozrik wouldn’t release him, hissing, “Say it, goddammit. You saw nothing.”
“Let go of me. What the hell is wrong with you? Who fucking cares? I said I was sorry.”
The two battled for a second longer, getting louder and louder, until Ozrik let go and held up his hands in submission.
Noah stumbled back a step and straightened his shirt, scowling between us.
Ozrik spoke, voice hushed. “Look. Gale’s not out. Noah, please. Don’t do this to him.”
My throat was closing. Each breath wheezed in my chest. The room spun, and I was certain I was going to pass out or throw up.
Vern pounded again. “Is he awake? Open the door.” To someone else, he said, “Maybe he’s not in there.”
Noah hadn’t taken his eyes off me since Ozrik spoke.
His anger had softened. Sympathy bled from his eyes.
“Hide in the bathroom before Vern decides to go through our room and finds you here. We’ll encourage everyone to head to the restaurant to regroup.
You can find us there in a bit. Say you were out walking or something. ”
When I didn’t move, Ozrik took my arm, gently guiding me to the bathroom. “Come on.”
I stumbled on wooden legs, and Ozrik followed me inside, half closing the door for privacy. He cupped my cheek. “It’ll be okay. Noah’s solid. I promise.”
He brushed a soft kiss on my lips and returned to the room, closing the bathroom door behind him. I sat on the closed toilet lid and listened to the commotion beyond the door. Vern was in the room. I heard my sister, Maggie, and Roe.
The discussion revolved around me and my whereabouts.
“He does this,” Olivia said. “It’s only weird that he didn’t take the Jeep. Noah, can I check your room?”
“Yeah,” Noah responded. “I didn’t see a note or anything.”
“I say let him go. We don’t need him.” Jazz.
“This guy wants his fucking ass kicked.” Ozrik. “What’s your problem anyway?”
“J, shut up.” Maggie.
“Did anyone text him?” I thought the voice belonged to Lex.
My sister responded. “No note. He never responds to my texts. I don’t know what to do.”
“Maybe he went for a walk.” Ozrik. “Why is everyone freaking out? Let the guy do his thing. If he wants to be alone, let him be alone.”
“That’s not the point, Ozrik.” Olivia.
“What is the point? He’s twenty-six. Are you his mother?”
I winced, knowing Olivia would hate that accusation.
“Hey. Get out of my room.” Ozrik again. “Charles said no cameras in the rooms.”
Oh god. The camera people were there too?
“Look. Stop arguing.” Noah. “Let’s leave a note for him in the command center and go to the restaurant. We can talk about it over food. We have a couple of hours before the new system moves in anyhow.”