Seven
Cody
My stiff fingers clutch his wrist, acting like a thread of yarn in the dark. Something guiding him into the light.
Back to me.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that there’s something deeper behind the lists thing.
“Your parents won’t mind me coming in?”
“I’m a mortgage helper, Ari. As an adult. My suite is my suite.” Admittedly, Mom and Dad charge me far less than the going rate in Vancouver, and I suspect that they’ve been banking my “rent” for me for when I do get a place of my own. But I come and go as I please. I can have men over as I please.
I just … don’t, really. It’s easier for Mom to notice something like that while I live in their laneway house. Mom will meddle. Dad stays out of my love life.
“Okay.”
Inside we kick off our shoes. Ari’s quick to shed his jacket, but I keep mine. I keep the lights off because I’m bringing him straight to my room.
I don’t know what the morning will bring, but tonight he’smine.
It’s a loft-style laneway house. I tug him up the stairs as he looks around, getting the lay of the place.
“This is some set up, Codes,” he says.
“I like it.”
The living room spreads out below, with the kitchen at the North end, below the bedroom. The floors are hardwood and the walls are white brick. There are two large windows on the west side, one above the other, divided by a ledge filled with plants.
“We’re in your bedroom,” Ari says. “That’s your bed.”
“Uh-huh.” I unbutton my Mackinaw, already heating up.
“But we’re not?—”
“Do we need to be boyfriends to fuck?”
“Well, no, but?—”
“Just take me to bed, Ari.”
“As you wish.”
He pushes me onto the bed. And then he’s above me. Rough fingers ghost over my face. His nose almost touches mine, our lips only a hair’s breadth away from each other.
“Cody? I’m gonna kiss you now.”
I thought I was ready. I wasn’t.
I fall.
Through the clouds, spiraling toward Earth at an inhumane velocity. I forget where I am, but also find my way home. His tongue curls around mine, and I don’t bother fighting for control, I want him to have me. He’s already shown me how much he wants me, that he can be trusted. I’m ready to dive from the ledge with him.
Ari tastes like beer and man. I take a deep inhale, filling my lungs with his minty shampoo scent.
“Mhm.”
“Yeah, baby,” he says barely lifting his mouth from mine, latching on again.
