“Who'd see us? It's dark, and there's no one around.”
I follow him through the school's football field until we reach the storage shed.
“Isn't it locked?” I ask.
“Yes, but I helped Coach bring the equipment back after practice and kept the key.”
His hand is so warm I almost forget about the dangers of what if we're caught.
“Hold on, won't they miss the key?” I ask.
“Nah, I'll put it back in the morning. I'll tell Coach I forgot to put the key back or that I was in a rush to go to church with my mom. He'll believe that one, for sure.”
My belly tightens in anticipation of what we might do when we're inside the shed. We've kissed a few times before, and even though we were both clearly hard, we never took it further. Will Jayden want to take it further? I'm not sure I'm ready for that. Or am I? The thought makes my dick harden in my jeans.
Thank god it's dark.
When we go in, he closes the door behind us, and he's immediately on me. His mouth is warm and wet, and he tastes like beer.
Has he been drinking?
I stop thinking when he pins me to the wall by the door and rubs against me.
“God, Levi, you're so sexy. I wish I could touch you like this every day for the rest of my life.”
“Yes…” I gasp as I feel myself getting closer to coming.
“Is this okay?” he asks, placing his hand between us, rubbing my hardness over my jeans.”
“Ugh…fuck…yes…”
The door opens with a bang, and I'm suddenly thrown onto the ground. Luckily, the ground is covered with a few old gymnastics mats.
I can't see who's behind the flashlight. I cover my face and try to look for Jayden.
When my eyes adjust, I see Jayden's mom, the school principal, and a police officer standing there staring at me. Jayden has his eyes down on the ground and stands next to his mom.
“What did I tell you, officer? This boy is a bad influence. My Jayden would never have done this on his own,” his mom says before she turns to the principal. I feel all blood drain from me even before she says her next words.
“Mr. Charles, as a parent, I cannot condone having students such as this little criminal attending school with my children. Expelling him would be a lenient punishment,” she says and grabs Jayden's arm before they leave. He doesn't even look back.
I open my eyes and stare at grown-up Jayden.
“I spent a lot of time feeling hurt about what happened. Fuck, Jayden, you could have lied. You could have said anything. But instead, you threw me under the bus to save face, and I was the one to face the consequences.”
His face falls and he looks down at his hands. “You weren’t the only one who suffered consequences, Levi. I know it doesn’t change what happened to you, but I didn’t exactly come out of it unscathed.”
“Penny said you haven’t been back, and you’ve cut ties with your family.”
“I did everything I needed to do to survive the months until I graduated high school. I went to church, attended prayer meetings, confessed my sins daily. I became the poster boy for the perfect son. On the first day of college, I went to the admissions office and applied for a scholarship based on my academic achievements.” He’s staring at his hands as if he’s lost in the past. “That day was my first day of freedom. I had some money saved from summer jobs and my grandparents helped me out a little. I haven’t spoken to my parents since the day they dropped me off at college.”
I try to make sense of what he's saying. All this time, I assumed he’d been able to carry on with his perfect life after I left. But he hadn’t. I’d actually come out in a better position.
Living with my aunt had been great, and she was a keen photographer, so we’d spent so many weekends driving around taking photos and then developing them in her darkroom.
Jayden had been stuck in his stuffy home with his parents, pretending to be someone he wasn’t.
“Jayden, was any of it real? You know…between us?” I ask.
