Chapter Twenty-Five
Xavi
The first hour of the trip had been pure torture in too many ways to count.
Lulu was hyper, and Xavi suspected it had a lot to do with Finn’s presence and that they’d now left their safe little bubble in Hayley’s Peak.
The road ahead felt uncertain, whereas Nebraska had offered a small reprieve from decision-making.
But they both seemed to feel it now, back on the road toward Oregon.
Could they truly redefine their relationship out in the real world, go from friends to being lovers, too?
Xavi didn’t see how they could go back to just being friends now that he’d been with Lulu in the most intimate way you could be with another person.
Not just the sexual part, but the fact that he’d bared himself to Lulu, body and soul.
It felt monumental and like something you just couldn’t dismiss as what happens on the road stays on the road.
Lulu sniffed next to him, laughing at something on his phone.
Then Xavi felt Lulu’s eyes on him, like heat licking at his skin, leaving a trail of white-hot arousal behind.
Lulu exhaled, his breath coasting along Xavi’s chin, a gaspy edge to it, like something had caught Lulu by surprise mid-thought.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Xavi could hear the smile in Lulu’s voice. “It’s just…”
“What?”
“It’s nothing, really. Just something silly I thought about. Doesn’t matter, mano.” Lulu sighed, wiggling in his seat.
“The fuck it is. You can’t just say stuff and then not finish. It’s… It’s…” He threw Lulu a side look, adjusting his grip on the steering wheel.
“What?” Lulu’s smile widened, teasing the corners of his mouth, threatening to spill into that trickling laughter of his that did weird stuff to Xavi’s heart.
“I don’t know. Just fucking tell me, mano. Don’t be a brat.”
“I thought you liked it when I was a brat.”
“Maybe,” Xavi grunted, unable to hide the smile that tugged at his lips.
He did. Who was he kidding? He loved every part of Lulu, every side of his personality.
“But just tell me, cisne.” Fuck, why was it his voice took on that croaky, needy tone now whenever he spoke that small endearment?
Like Xavi’s voice was no longer his own, just like his fingers weren’t when they itched to grab onto Lulu, or his lips tingled to kiss-kiss-kiss those sultry lips of his.
Lulu must’ve heard it, too, that imploring edge to Xavi’s voice.
“Okay, okay. I was just thinking… have you ever thought about growing your hair longer? I mean, not long-long, but just a few centimeters longer. So, you know, if someone wanted something to run their fingers through or to have something to grab on to? I mean, I really love your cropped style; it’s really fucking hot, oso, but I think you’d be really fucking gorgeous, too, with your hair a little longer.
” Lulu was rambling by now, and it was just so fucking adorable that something as ridiculous as Xavi’s hair could make Lulu unravel like that.
When he eventually stopped for air, Xavi couldn’t help laughing.
“Cute little sales pitch there, hombre,” Xavi smirked. “But you could’ve just started with mentioning that you want something to grab onto when you fuck my face.”
Lulu’s hand flew to his mouth, his eyes wide with mortification, as he gestured to Finn in the back. Huh, Xavi had never thought he’d see the day when he’d be able to shock Lulu into silence.
Leaning closer against Lulu, Xavi’s voice dropped an octave or maybe even two, when he spoke, his dick throbbing in his pants. “There ain’t nothing I won’t do to make you happy, cisne. So if you want me to grow my hair out, I’ll fucking do it. But I gotta warn you, it’s curly as fuck.”
“I know. I remember.” Lulu’s fingers found Xavi’s hand across the console, and Xavi instinctively turned his palm upwards as their fingers tangled together, a perfect match.
“You remember?” Xavi had started cropping his hair in the eighth grade. Officially, it had been to avoid all the tias in his neighborhood constantly tugging at his thick mop of curls, but really, it had been because Lulu had swooned over a picture of Brad Pitt with his hair all cropped.
“Of course.” Lulu’s voice had dropped, too, a small tremble in it when he spoke. “I remember everything, oso. Every little thing.”
“I do, too, cisne. Everything.” Fuck, Xavi wished it was summer and that he could just pull over somewhere and fuck Lulu senseless without freezing his balls off.
“I wish I’d known sooner, oso. How you felt about me.” Lulu’s thumb brushed along his knuckles, an edge of regret to his voice. Xavi’s heart clenched, the hurt in Lulu’s voice resonating with something deep inside.
“I wish I’d known sooner, too, but we’re here now, ain’t we? That’s all that matters.” Raising their joined hands to his lips, Xavi pressed a kiss against Lulu’s knuckles, his gaze shifting between Lulu and the road ahead.
“Sí.” Lulu’s eyes fluttered closed as he leaned his head back against the headrest. “That’s all that matters.” His features softened, his mouth relaxing, his grip around Xavi’s hand loosening.
Finn appeared to still be asleep in the back.
Or perhaps he pretended to be so as not to intrude on their conversation or to avoid it altogether.
They drove on in silence, putting miles and miles behind them, and soon it was no longer the landscape of Nebraska but of Wyoming acting as backdrop.
Lulu woke up again when Xavi made a stop at a small gas station to stock up on water and snacks.
Finn left the car wordlessly, visited the restroom, and then walked around the parking area, stretching his long legs.
They ate in the car, eager to make it to Salt Lake City before nightfall. Finn had gone back to sleep after finishing a hot dog from the gas station, curling up under his winter coat. Lulu, who Xavi had tasked with finding them a decent hotel for the night, was back to scrolling on his phone.
“Oh my fucking God!” Lulu squealed, causing Xavi to nearly lose his grip on the steering wheel.
Finn jumped awake in the back. “What?! What’s happening?!”
“What the hell, hombre?” Xavi hissed, gesturing toward the back.
“Sorry.” Lulu bounced in his seat, then turned, smiling at Finn apologetically. “Sorry for waking you, hermano, but I’ve got amazing news.” Turning back to Xavi, he smirked, “I bet you didn’t know there were gays in Mormon land.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Lulu smiled widely, his eyes sparkling with something Xavi knew all too well. Trouble.
“There’s a gay club in Salt Lake. Can you believe it! An actual fucking gay club! You’re never gonna guess the name!”
“I’m sure I won’t. But somehow I have a feeling you’re gonna tell me.”
“Guess.” Lulu beamed at him, then turned back toward Finn, who looked like he’d just woken up in the goddamn twilight zone or something. “You can guess, too, Finn.”
“Stop harassing our guest,” Xavi hissed, then threw Finn a quick look. “You don’t have to answer. This is the way he is. Don’t indulge him.”
“Oye, mano!” Lulu pushed at Xavi’s shoulder, momentarily causing him to lose control of the car, as the FIAT swerved ominously on the still-wet road.
“I can guess,” Finn spoke softly.
“Dude, you don’t have to.”
“Nah, it’s okay.” Finn sat up in his seat, leaning forward. “I like these games. Salt Lake, right?”
“Yes!” Lulu clapped his hands together, shooting Xavi a hah! look. For fuck’s sake.
“Uhm, Utah Underworld?”
“No, but that’s actually not a bad guess. Your turn, Xavi.”
“I ain’t playing, mano.”
“Sure you are.” Lulu batted his eyelashes at him.
“Don’t be like that. I know you like playing games.
” A cute blush crept along Lulu’s cheeks, blending with his caramel skin, and Xavi felt the hair at the back of his neck rise.
Games. Xavi hated games, but then again, Lulu seemed to be able to persuade him to do just about anything, didn’t he?
“Just take a guess.” Lulu smiled at him in that knowing way of his, and before he realized it, Xavi blurted, “Saints and Sinners.”
“Sadly, no, but wouldn’t that be fitting? Imagine Father O’Reilly as the DJ?” Lulu snorted. “Your turn, Finny Boy.”
“Uhm… I don’t know. Been a while since I went to a club. Maybe…” he frowned, deep in thought. “The Thirst Trap?”
“Oh my God, I love that! I wish it were that, actually. But alas, no.”
“Just tell us so we can have some quiet, mano. I know you’re dying to tell us anyway, with the way you’re spinning in your seat.”
“Oh, that ain’t why I’m spinnin’, papi, and you know it.” Lulu winked, then blushed even harder, and Xavi’s eyes flew to Finn in the back, who was luckily staring out the window.
“Lulu!”
“What? Ain’t I allowed to talk about my blunt force trauma? I mean, you’re the one wh—”
“Mano, I swear to fucking God, if you don’t—”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be good. I’ll be a good boy for ya, oso. Don’t you worry.” Lulu made the sign of the cross in front of him, looking all pious, and now all Xavi could think about were all the unholy things he wanted to do to Lulu later.
“So, what’s it called?” Finn’s lofty voice drifted from the back. “The club. What’s it called?”
“Excommunicated.” Lulu smiled devilishly. “And we’re sooo going!”
“Nah, I don’t think so,” Xavi shook his head. “Bad idea. We have to make an early start tomorrow if we wanna make it to Florence, then to Portland.”
“Bullshit!” Lulu crossed his arms in front of his chest. “DJ Hunni Drip is playing tonight.”
Xavi nearly swallowed his tongue, then managed to croak, “I have no idea who that is.”
“Me neither, but dontcha wanna find out?”
“No. I definitely don’t. I wanna get some food and some sleep; that’s what I want.” And then I wanna blow you, mano, until you come in my mouth and I fall asleep with the taste of you on my tongue.