When Love Beckons

“Hey Devin. Devin? Dev-in!”

I grunted as an elbow dug into my ribs and nearly sent me off the booth and out of my own little world.

“Huh?”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “You need to start paying attention and stay in the present, babe.” She said, ruffling my hair. I swatted her hand away and shoved the strands out of my eyes. “I was gonna ask if you wanted to go and get some drinks at Logan’s place.”

Riley had been pretty quiet during our time out, but he almost seemed to perk up at the mention of alcohol. That surprised me; he didn’t look the type to be interested in getting wasted.

“My parents don’t give a shit.” Logan said as Riley looked questioningly at him. He was older then most of us, senior year, with dyed bright blue hair. He had his ears pierced, as well as a few other places (privileged information). He was cool, in a stoner, vacant kind of way.

“They’re cool.” Lauren assured him. “They take our keys away when we’re drunk over there and let us crash on their couch. You wanna come with us?”

“Sure,” he said. I was curious as to who could drink who under the table. So far, it was between me and my friend Parker. Logan preferred bong hits to drinking; his parents occasionally shared their stash with him, or bought for him if he supplied the cash.

All of us fished in our pockets and produced 7 bucks, a pack of cloves, some gum and other various items. Enough to pay for the plate of fries and two drinks we had shared.

The five of us piled into Parker’s SUV and turned Bowie on full blast, windows rolled down and singing along with the wind whistling in our ears along with the music towards Logan’s house.

Like most of my friends, Logan lived in a medium-sized, two-story house, with a well-tended front yard and a bench swing on the porch. The house was dark, but his parents sometimes kept the lights off when they were there simply to favor the dark. The bellowing bark of his father’s dog greeted us as we got out of the car and headed up the porch and to the door. Lauren, the first one through the door – they never bothered to lock up until their son came home – was almost knocked over by their dog, a giant mutt named Zippo.

“Down!” Logan commanded, but Zippo only ignored him and jumped up to lick his face. He might have been as big as a Great Dane, but he was as gentle as a golden retriever. No one came out to greet us, so I figured his parents weren’t home.

The liquor cabinet was right outside of the kitchen, just a few steps away from the den. The key was close to the cabinet, under a book about plants. Logan took the book off the shelf, slid the key into his hand, and unlocked the cabinet. It was filled to bursting with Bacardi Black, Bacardi Silver, Southern Comfort, Captain Morgan, scotch, as well as other drinks of their own mixture; one of them, a bit of everything and a dash of Dr. Pepper, made by yours truly. The other three took what they wanted, but I took up my mixture and offered the duct-taped bottle to Riley.

“What is it?” He asked, eyeing the bottle skeptically.

“Hey, don’t worry.” I assured him with a smile. “Something I made while I was here. It’s great, I promise. Just try it.”

He shrugged and took, uncapped it, tilted it in a silent toast, then tossed back some of its contents. We stayed behind as the others headed upstairs to Logan’s room, waiting for Riley’s reaction. He eventually lowered it, licking his lips thoughtfully.

“Well?” I asked, and he smiled.

“It’s good.”

Grinning at the compliment, I took a flask of scotch myself and led Riley upstairs to Logan’s room, where the others were either sprawled out on his bed or draped in the few chairs. There was no room left for us, so we settled on the floor, our backs against the bed.

Both Riley and I were still finishing off our drinks when Logan brought out the pipe. My friends were fond of boxing, mainly driving out on some abandoned road full-speed, but they didn’t get up to move into a more in-closed space now. While I hung around potheads, I wasn’t all that in to marijuana. I hated the smell of it anyway. When they got stoned enough not to turn the Bob Dylan tape that had been playing back on, I leaned over to Riley and offered to go outside. He nodded and we quietly got up and left the house. I breathed a sigh of relief once we were out in the fresh air and away from the smoke.

“You’d think I’d get used to the smell by now.” I joked as I sat down on the porch swing, moving aside slightly to let Riley sit down. I wanted to move closer, but I resisted the urge. The smell of grass and the small garden in front of the porch was a welcome relief to how it smelled inside his room.

“Mhm.” Riley agreed with a content smile, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. I took that opportunity to scoot a little closer, and when he opened his eyes at the movement, I began gently nudging the swing back and forth with my foot. Riley must of noticed my closeness, but he didn’t comment, only folded his arms behind his head and looked up at the sky.

“It’s nice here,” he commented. “You can see the stars a lot better here then you can in Seattle.”

“I’ve never been to Seattle.” I said, turning my own eyes up to the navy sky, sparkling with stars. “The stars are really nice in the Bahamas.”

He looked at me with surprise in his eyes. “You’ve been to the Bahamas?”

“Err… yeah. For a… uh… vacation last summer.” I hated talking about how much money I had; it had really been an accident, and I wanted to get off that subject. I rubbed the back of my neck and rolled my head, sighing when it refused to pop.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing… neck hurts, that’s all.”

Riley nodded and looked away, but I noticed him unfolding his arms. One hand dropped to my neck and I closed my eyes; I felt his hand all the way down to my groin. He slowly began rubbing my neck, gradually loosening my muscles. He had talented fingers.

Several minutes later, my neck was completely loose. I rolled my head along it and smiled at him. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” he replied, but kept his hand there. Maybe Lauren was right. God, I hoped she was. The night wasn’t particularly cool, but I shivered and rubbed my arms, and, as I had hoped, Riley tugged me in a little closer. That was no mistake. I had sat beside straight guys and acted the same way, and all they did was offer to go back inside. I leaned against his solid warmth, enjoying his closeness, even more when he began sliding his fingers through my hair. I loved it when people petted me.

“Riley,” I mumbled, lost in contentment and comfort, “can I kiss you?”

His hand stopped and, realizing what I had said, opened my eyes and looked hesitantly at him. He looked back at me before he smiled. He didn’t say anything, only gently grasped my chin and tugged my head forward until our lips met. He tasted wonderful; the alcohol he had drunk, the salt from our earlier snack, and something I couldn’t name that fit him perfectly.

I practically melted against him, closing my eyes and kissing him back, wrapping my arms around his neck and winding a strand of curls around my finger. I felt his tongue nudge against my lips and I gladly parted them, sucking gently on it. Sadly, the kiss was broken, but we remained close. His lips were parted slightly, and the starlight was mirrored in his eyes when he opened them.

“I wasn’t sure if you were gay or not.” I murmured as I slid my hand through his hair, and I felt him smile. “It was a good thing you are…”

“Yeah….”

I don’t know how long we remained like that, just leaning against each other, the smell of jasmine and rain in the air. I hadn’t been held in a while, mainly because I never had boyfriends. The guys that I had were only for sex because they wanted sex, not a relationship. But Riley… he didn’t deserved to be used like that.

“Maybe… we should go inside?”

“Is it that bad with me?”

“No!” He pulled his face back to look earnestly at me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I just thought—“

I laughed and silenced him with a peck on the lips. “I was joking.” I said. “Don’t take things I say so serious.”

He smiled and relaxed, pulling me back into his chest. I went willingly, closing my eyes and tucking my head on his shoulder. “I like this… a lot.”

“Me too.”

We stayed like that a while longer, and then it was me who broke the silence. “Maybe we should go in now… See how stoned they are.”

He reluctantly agreed and released me. I stood up, stretching and rubbing my hand through my hair, before I took his hand and tugged him up. Winding our fingers together, I led him back into the house and upstairs. As I had thought, my friends were completely out of it; the ones awake had a glazed, dreamy look in their eyes, and the others were sacked out. The CD had started over again, so I stepped across Parker’s body and turned it off. Riley waited for me at the door, and I pulled him out and closed it after me. “Let’s go home.” I whispered. “His parents let them crash when they need to, I can pick them up later.” We’d have to walk or catch a cab, but I didn’t mind either of those.

“Let’s walk.” Riley said, as if reading my thoughts. “It’s really nice out, and… cabs usually reek. At least in Seattle.”

I laughingly agreed and walked with him down the porch and away from the house, wrapping my arm around his waist. In turn, his settled around my shoulders, and we walked with our heads tilted together.

“Can you hang out this weekend?” I asked. “Just… the two of us. Unless you want someone else besides me.”

“Nah… I think I could stand having you to myself for a night,” he said, fondly ruffling my hair. This time, I didn’t mind. He stopped and leaned back down to kiss me, and I happily greeted his lips halfway. He pulled back so he could nibble on my lip piercing before diving back to my mouth. After another several minutes of this bliss, he pulled back.

“Keep doing this and we’re never gonna get home.”

“You’re the one who started it.” I said impishly, leaning up to kiss his nose before I pushed him back and took off, shouting a challenge over my shoulder. I heard him laugh and give chase; I knew it was pointless to try and outrun a soccer player, but I still did it anyways. He gained on my quickly, and I felt his arms wrap around my waist and pull me off to the side, sending us both tumbling into someone’s yard. I was more breathless then he was, but laughing nonetheless, and I kissed him again. I felt like I was on my first date, and ours was planned for this weekend.

We finally made it to his house over an hour after we had left Logan’s; there had been numerous chases and kisses, but never anything more. His mom left a note on the counter to say she was asleep, so Riley quietly headed into the den. “You wanna spend the night here? It’s kinda late…”

I was tired, and I didn’t feel like making the trek back to my place. Our things were in Parker’s SUV, but that didn’t matter; I’d get them before school. “I’d have to stay in here, huh?” I asked in disappointment, sticking my lower lip out in a pout.

“Yeah.” He sounded just as regretful. “My mom doesn’t know, and I don’t think she’d be very happy about seeing a guy in my bed…”

“Oh… all right. Do you have anything I can wear?”

“Yeah, come with me.”

I followed him up to his room, the last room on the left, its sloping ceilings plastered with posters of bands and soccer players. Lights were strung around the walls, giving it color and shedding enough light that we could see. We maneuvered around the mess of clothes and plates to the dresser, where he fished out a pair of flannels and passed them to me. “You need a shirt?”

“I usually sleep in the nude, but… I don’t want to scare your mom or anything.”

“You got some deformity on your chest?”

“Nah, just might be too hot for her.”

He laughed and shoved a shirt into my face, and I snatched it away to steal another kiss. He pulled out his own change of clothes, but didn’t make a move to undress.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Aren’t you gonna change?”

“With you in here?”

“Aw, is Riley shy?”

I was promptly shunted out of his room, and I asked through the door where the bathroom is. Getting directions, I wandered in to change. By the time I emerged, Riley’s door was opened, so I took that as an invitation to go inside. He was on his bed but awake; he sat up when I entered, and I dropped my clothes beside his before wandering over and straddling him. “You sure I can’t stay here tonight?”

“I’m positive, Devin,” he replied, and didn’t bend at my pout. I finally gave a sigh of defeat.

“All right… but a good night kiss?”

“Gladly.”

He tugged me down until our lips met, and I melted against him again. His tongue nudged its way inside my mouth and I pressed up against him, curling my fingers in his hair. Once again, he pulled back. “Go on…” He said reluctantly, stroking my hair away from my face. “I’ll want to keep you here if you don’t…”

I reluctantly obeyed, sliding off of him and onto the floor.

“There’s some blankets and a pillow in the closet for you.”

I nodded my thanks and blew him a kiss, said a ‘good night’, before I left. I wanted to skip my way down the hall and downstairs. Now with blankets and a pillow in tow, and I was almost humming as I threw the pillow down, flung one sheet over the couch, then wrapped myself up in the other and settled down. I knew I was grinning like a fool, wondering what base we’d get to on our date.