Only One Bed

Etienne glanced up from where he circled my bellybutton. “A long time ago.”

My chest tightened. I didn’t know how to feel about that. Kind of weird, I guess? Flattered but also dumb for not realizing. How did I not see it?

I asked, “When, though?” I put on an arrogant voice. “Was it just my animal magnetism, or…?”

“Oh, yes. You were a beast at fourteen in your braces.”

I laughed, but my heart skipped. “Wait, fourteen? When we met?” I barely stopped myself from asking, “Was it love at first sight?” No, I was not mentioning the L-word. Too soon! But maybe not for Etienne? That was years ago. Wow.

“You remember when I started at school? That first week, we were in gym class and Brad Douglas asked me why I’d moved to Vancouver without my parents. I guess it had spread around that I was living with another family. I was billeted at Hannah Kwan’s house since they had a spare room.”

“Fucking Brad Douglas. I hate that D-bag. And yeah, I think I remember? Have you talked to Hannah lately, by the way?”

“Yeah, she and Anton Orlov are really coming along. I think they’ll make the podium at Nationals in January.”

“Shit, really? That’s awesome. I’m out of the loop on pairs.” I grimaced. “Ha ha, see what I did there?”

A sweet little smile lifted his lips. “I see.” He leaned close and kissed me. For just a second at first, then deeper.

I threaded my fingers through his hair and opened my mouth, loving the slide of his tongue against mine, rough and wet and hot. Etienne was an amazing kisser. I was kissing Etienne. We were naked and kissing. The remnants of his cum had dried on my skin where he missed a spot with the cloth. My dick had been inside him.

Not just a guy, but Etienne. Who was kissing me and making my spent balls twitch back to life already, his tongue doing this swirling move that made me moan into his mouth.

This was so weird!

An incredulous laugh burst out of me, and as Etienne pulled away with his brow creased, I giggled uncontrollably.

“Um, what’s so funny?”

“No, no, it’s not.” But I was laughing. “It is but it’s not!”

He peered at me skeptically. “Are you high?”

“Only on fucking. Fucking you. I fucked you. We fucked.” I motioned between us. “You and me. It’s surreal.”

Etienne smiled, still hesitant. “Yeah. I think I know what you mean?”

I drew him down for a laughing kiss. “It’s awesome, don’t get me wrong.”

“Okay.” He nuzzled my cheek.

“So, wait, finish telling me about when you first…” I motioned between us again. “Something about that asshole Brad?” Focus, Sam.

“Right.” Propping his head on his hand again, he said, “Gym class. I told Brad I’d moved to Vancouver to train with a new partner. That I was a figure skater.”

“Ohhh. I was just thinking about this, actually! I remember when we went skating as a class and you blew everyone away. And Brad had been a total prick about skating being for girls or some shit.”

“Yup. I mean, I was teased a bit as a kid in the neighborhood, but I went to an arts school for piano. No one there had a problem with ice dancing.”

“Henry got teased a lot. That’s one of the reasons he switched to homeschooling.”

“I remember. People like Brad are everywhere. He thought it was hysterical that I was an ice dancer. He didn’t even know what it meant, but it definitely sounded gay to him.”

“Ugh. I hate that guy.”

“And since I really was gay as well…” His gaze went distant. “It was scary. I remember that my shorts were too small. I’d transferred mid-year, and they didn’t have the right size gym uniform for me. They had to order it, and in the meantime, I had to wear these shorts that were too tight.”

“Huh. I don’t remember anything unusual about your shorts.”

He scoffed. “It was only one size too small—not a big deal. Like you said, people probably didn’t even notice. But the elastic dug into me. I felt like everyone was staring. And I had an outbreak of zits on my chin.” He shuddered. “Teenage nightmare.”

“At least you never had braces. But yeah, I get it.” Suddenly it hit me. “Oh my god! I remember this! The rope?”

He brushed back my hair, smiling softly. “Yeah. You heard Brad making fun of me for figure skating. And wait, why were you thinking about the time our class went skating and they realized I was an elite-level athlete?”

“It was when you were playing piano in the lounge.”

His brow furrowed. “Why?”

“Duh, because you’re an elite-level pianist and you blew everyone away.”

“What?” He screwed up his face. “As if. I haven’t played in months. I’m so rusty.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“That’s because you don’t know anything about piano or music.”