32. Brad
32
brAD
T heo suggested we head to the London Eye after the rest of them got tired of staring at the big clock. I didn’t care — it was a clock . The London Eye was yet another Ferris Wheel. What the hell was the world’s fascination with Ferris Wheels? They were fine ; they were slow; they were big. What was the point, though? A place to have a weird, forced romantic moment? Maybe . A place for Dylan to get pissed off when I couldn’t give him the attention he wanted? Possibly. It felt like a trap.
Who was I to argue, though? Logically, I had no reason to oppose it. This time we were still keeping a secret, but at least we knew what we were to each other. It wasn’t a hookup. We were together , as hard as that still was to believe. It was exciting. Maybe this way, it wouldn’t cause such a weird rift if we couldn’t get a moment to ourselves to make out.
Not that it was fair to Dylan, it was more than just that.
This time, unlike the last, we all went into the same pod. They were large and clear, letting us see the city line of London around us. It was crazy to think that we’d been in four different countries in the matter of a week and a half. So much had happened that it felt like it was more than that, but it also felt like it had been less. A whirlwind of movement and chaos.
Looking around us, Jason held Micah close, and they smiled at one another as they leaned against the glass wall, lost in one another. Would I be able to hold on to Dylan like that someday? Could I openly hold him in front of everyone? I wanted to, wanted to let everyone see us and show him off.
But not yet…if ever.
Theo and Charlie were laughing at something, Theo pointing at something below them. Charlie hid his smile, trying to hide his face. Did I make Dylan laugh like that? Did it make him happy when I told my lame jokes?
Alex and Shane were talking, Shane rolling his eyes playfully at something Alex said, but it wasn’t like they were fighting. Alex laughed and then leaned in to kiss him. Did we have our own methods of communicating like they did? While the way they argued could easily annoy anyone else — and often did — it worked for them. They understood it, and that was all that counted.
As I glanced at Dylan, it made me smile. Because that was the key, wasn’t it? It didn’t matter how we looked compared to other couples — we were making it work our own special way. I walked over to another side of the glass, and Dylan moved in next to me. His hands slid to the glass, staring down below us. Looking out at the people as they got smaller and smaller as we lifted into the air.
Something about looking down into the grey city of London made me feel so small. The sky was full of clouds, and the buildings stretched up and out in a variety of colors that still just came out as grey. It was beautiful. Just seeing everything get so small and realizing somehow we’d ended up here, it was a weird feeling. Maybe not something I could have explained, but Dylan would have better words for it. He usually did.
I glanced around at the other couples, but they were lost in their own worlds. I allowed my hand to drift to his, taking his fingers in mine next to the glass. He looked at me, eyes wide, and immediately drug my hand with his down to our sides. He straightened up and looked at everyone else, too. They didn’t seem to look at us. “Are you crazy?” he asked, but amusement was clear in his raspy, soft voice. His eyes looked so big, staring up at me.
“Maybe.” I smiled a little, lacing our fingers together. I needed to feel him, needed to remind myself of what we were. Not that I could forget, but just so I could remember, it was as real as I’d dreamt about.
He said nothing, but I could see the hint of a smile on his face as we faced London, holding hands. Dylan was just as nervous as I was about everyone finding out, he just didn’t know how to word it. Or maybe I was the one who had to take the lead here. It was kind of fun to keep it a little secret, to not let anyone know our little secret. This was for us, after all, and that’s what I needed to remember.
Anything that happened between us was just for us. Not for them. Not for anyone to judge or question.
“You know…it’s kind of fun,” I mused, still quiet. Just in case anyone was paying any attention to us.
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “What is?”
“This secret. You’re all mine…all behind closed doors. Don’t you think?” I smiled, and then I leaned into his ear, lowering my voice to a husky whisper, “Just to think how no one knows that when we get back to the hotel, I’m going to fuck you until you come on my cock.”
His lips parted in surprise, and a gentle pinkness spread over his ears and over his cheeks. Almost like his body caught up. That we needed to keep things secret, so he was just tinged the prettiest shade of pink and not full on red.
“Brad…you can’t say shit like that,” he said, trying his best to lighten his voice to laughter.
“Why not? You like it too much?” He was just so cute when he got all flustered.
He elbowed me in the ribs and disentangled his fingers from mine.
“Okay, fools, let’s get a group shot,” he announced.
Everyone glanced, but removed themselves from their partners so we could crowd around together, pressed against the glass so we could get the view of London in the background. The tallest of us — Alex, Jason, Theo, and myself — stood in the back. Shane huffed his annoyance and grumbled that he was as tall as me and Theo, but we just laughed and pushed him to stand with the rest. Alex took the photo — he had the longest arms.
Something about having this was nice, just so we could keep it as proof of this crazy trip.
Even if Dylan only suggested it so he could distract himself.