“Yeah, ready.” The words came out clipped and automatic. Xavi’s gaze flickered between the table and Lulu, then Gate 37 where people were starting to board to their right.
“You’ve got this,mano.”
“If you say so,” Xavi chuckled bitterly.
“I do. I believe in you. Always.”
“At least that makes one of us.”
“How can I not,mano, when you always believe in me, too?”
Xavi frowned, then murmured softly, “I do,cisne.” Then, with an outdrawn sigh, he nodded and got up from his seat. Without letting go of Lulu’s hand, he picked up his backpack with the other, sliding it over his shoulder. Lulu picked up his, too, then leaned up on his toes and pressed a quick kiss against Xavi’s scruffy chin. Lulu’s lips tingled as his thighs shivered with the phantom feel of Xavi’s scratchy scruff and the marks he’d left on Lulu’s skin last night when he’d gone to town on Lulu’s hole like it was an all-you-could-eat buffet.‘I fucking love this hole,’Xavi’s words reverberated through Lulu.‘Myfucking hole,’Xavi hadhissed as he’d speared said hole again and again with his firm tongue, taking Lulu to unimaginable places of filthy promises and endless pleasure.
There were only a few people ahead of them as they made it to the gate, but Xavi made no attempt to get in line. His breathing was heavy, and more sweat broke across his forehead. Leaning in, he whispered in Lulu’s ear, panic evident in his voice, “What if we crash?”
“We won’t,mano. Planes hardly ever crash. You know that. Remember the statistics I read to you last night?” It was true. Lulu had read the last ten years of statistics from his phone last night while Xavi rested his head against Lulu’s stomach. Xavi had asked him to read them three times, while Lulu had trailed his fingers along Xavi’s scalp, tracing random patterns.
Xavi licked his lips contemplatively, his forehead furrowing. “But what if we’re the exception?”
“We aren’t.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I can’t, but I firmly believe that we aren’t. We have too much to live for. Too many things to experience together. We still have Madrid. We can’t go up in flames before we visit Lorca together.” Xavi’s face tightened, his eyes darkening, and Lulu realized it the second he’d spoken the word.Flames.He was such a fucking idiot, mentioning fucking flames to a burn victim. Xavi looked almost green at this point as he sucked his lips into his mouth, a pained sound escaping. Fuck, maybe this was a mistake? Maybe he was out of his depth here?
“Lulu?” Xavi looked at him pleadingly, and some inner force took over inside Lulu.Distraction, right. He needed to distract Xavi. Reaching out, he cradled Xavi’s cheeks in his hands.
“Listen to me. I’ll be right next to you the entire time. I won’t let go of your hand. I’ll tell you a thousand bad jokes if you want. I brought enough snacks for the next decade or two, and we can order more in-flight if you don’t like the ones I brought.”
“Okay,” Xavi whispered, leaning into Lulu. “Okay. What if there’s turbulence? I heard it can be really bad sometimes.”
“It can. I ain’t gonna lie,mano, but I’ll be right there with you. I won’t let go of your hand, not for one second,te prometo.”
“But what if… I don’t know,” Xavi’s eyelashes fluttered nervously. “I just saw this documentary once where some birds, geese, I think, flew into the engine or something, and it blew up. What if that happens? That can’t be good, can it?”
“No, it’s not, and it can happen. But it’s very unlikely. It happens very, veryrarely.”
“What if we die,cisne? I don’t wanna die. Not now that I finally have you. I don’t wanna die now.” There was no one left in the line ahead of them, and when the young woman at the boarding counter yelled “Next!” it was directed at them.
“Just a second,” Lulu yelled back, then added a “please.” He could tell Xavi was close to panicking. Lulu also knew that if they didn’t see this through, they would never go to Spain, and they’d never see Lorca, and he knew Xavi would hate that. “Look,mano, if we die, we die together, okay? If we hit really bad turbulence or if some psycho goose collides with the engine, I promise you that I’ll jump in your lap so fast your head’ll spin, and I’ll ride you through the storm or whatever. You won’t even have time to freak out with me bouncing on your dick.”
Xavi blinked, his eyes widening as his bottom jaw dropped. Then he snorted. “You’re not even kidding, are you?”
“Nope. I’m not. I’ll do whatever it takes to get you through this.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you and there’s nothing I won’t do for you,oso.”
“But what about Article 134?” Xavi croaked, his voice thick with emotion.
“Fuck Article 134! I’ll blow you right here, right the fuck now, if that’ll make you calm down and feel better.”
“Uhm…” Xavi gazed at the gate agent, who was, luckily, busy inspecting her fingernails, and then at the vacant waiting area. “Thanks for the generous offer, baby, but no thanks.”
“Aha! You were considering it for just a second, weren’t you?”
“No, I was contemplating the fastest escape route,” Xavi smiled, and little by little, the color returned to his skin, his eyes once again spilling over with mirth.
