I grab a bottle of water from the minifridge and down one of the pills. I finish off the water with two Tylenol, since everything I read online suggested that would help prevent side effects.
Now I wait.
I’m not the kind who’s good at distracting myself, so I wind up pacing the room as time inches by. Feels like hours have passed before there’s a knock on my door. I throw on my jacket before opening it to find Alexei, his hands tucked in his pockets and avoiding eye contact. He licks his lips, and my dick stiffens.
“Well, clearly you took it,” he says, looking at my bulge.
According to what I’ve read, the sildenafil is not supposed to work unless I’m sexually stimulated, which really shouldn’t happen just by Alexei being here. And this seems kind of early, but it could be a placebo effect.
“Yup. Good and ready,” I say, and he gulps before turning and starting down the hall.
We don’t talk as we pass through the dorm lobby, then go out the back, toward the woods. I wait until we’re on a trail, Alexei’s flashlight guiding us, before I ask, “You gonna tell me where we’re heading? Not everything has to be a big secret.”
“Did I not mention it already? Sorry, it wasn’t a secret.I’ve had so much else on my mind.”
“I can appreciate that. It’s not every day you have to get a spot ready to perform a sex spell with a guy you really are just starting to get to know.”
He seems to look at me for the first time, shining his light my way, making me squint. “The hell!”
“Sorry,” he says, turning the light away from me. “You shaved.”
So it wasn’t just my impression—he really was avoiding looking at me.
“Oh, yeah. Thought I should be as hygienic as possible for tonight.”
“I mean, I appreciate it, but the scruff was kinda hot.”
It’s so funny how flirty we can be with each other, especially with all that’s going on. Maybe that’ll make this easier.
“Sorry for disappointing you with the shave,” I say facetiously.
“You should definitely grow it back. Girls will go wild for that.”
“I don’t mind the compliments, but are you evading my question?”
“Shit. It actually slipped my mind when I saw you did that. Um…farther in the woods, there’s an old bottle factory that’s been out of commission for a few decades. It’s on the same road as the old Methodist church, and it’s been cut off from everything when they built the freeway, so no one ever comes back here. That’s where I’ve been setting up throughout the week.”
“So you already got a little love nest ready for us?” I ask.He doesn’t laugh the way I was hoping. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be making jokes. I’m trying to make this less awkward.”
He pats my back. “Not a chance that’s happening tonight, but I appreciate you trying.”
I hope my humor’s the only thing that isn’t working tonight, but the firmness in my crotch gives me hope that we might be able to pull this off.
I try to come up with a conversation to lighten the mood, but there’s so much on my mind that nothing comes to me, so we walk in silence, both of us surely thinking about what we’re gonna have to do once we arrive at our destination.
When we come up behind the factory, Alexei leads the way. He moves with confidence, having taken this route a few times already, maybe even in the dark. He guides me through a space where there’s a loose board at a window, and we shine our lights as we navigate through it.
It’s the kind of run-down place that looks like it’d be the perfect setting for a horror film: Old pieces of machinery. Cobwebs and debris from years of neglect. Mustiness lingering in the air. Not the sorts of things I typically associate with getting in the mood, but that’ll already be an uphill battle, so I guess where we fuck doesn’t really matter.
Alexei leads me to the second floor, into what looks like an office, which he’s arranged for his ritual. There’s a large desk on one side of the room, and in the middle he’s got an air mattress set up on top of a chalk-drawn pentagram, similar to the one Brad, Luke, Seth, and Cody sat around in the church cellar.
As I close the door behind us, Alexei turns on a lantern,then turns on a patio heater hooked to a battery.
“Where did you get that?” I ask.
“Online. Got a good deal on it and the battery. Mostly paid for shipping. We have enough to stress about without freezing our asses off.”
“And here I was looking forward to being the one to warm that ass,” I tease, and he glances over his shoulder, flashing a smile.
