I’d almost gotten into the game when he tugged on my sleeve. Ms. Pac-Man was quickly eaten as I followed him into a shallow alcove next to a busted sit-down version of Pole Position.
“I don’t know about this, Princess,” I hissed. There was no telling how long we had until we were found or made to leave by an employee.
“No one’ll see.”
Cal didn’t waste a second.
He crowded into me until my back hit the wall with a thump. As hot and heavy as always, Cal tried to dominate my mouth just as I did his. He straddled one of my legs and rubbed himself off against me. I blindly found the bottom edge of his hoodie with my fingers and lifted until the bare skin of his abs warmed them.
“Cal,” I whispered, a plea he could do nothing about here.
“I want you so fuckin’—”
“Cal?” a chorus of voices said behind him.
He froze, but I peeked around his shoulder, expecting our friends, and readied several explanations. However, I didn’t recognize the guys behind him, and my first instinct was trouble. Homophobes who couldn’t handle two guys kissing.
“Shit,” I mumbled, fingers tightening into fists.
Cal turned with a jolt, uncertainty in his eyes and open mouth, then stumbled out of his stupor and stepped closer to them. “Jesus, Wren, Tate, how are you guys?”
Wait. Seriously? As the shock faded, a couple of them became familiar. Right, from the picture Nick showed us at camp. These were the guys outed last year. Tate, insanely gorgeous, and Wren, the fucking beast. With them were a pretty boy and a kid.
“You’re gay?” the kid all but yelled.
The pretty boy rolled his eyes. “Inside voice.”
Cal spun to me, hands wide as if he might need to stop me from running. “This is okay. Don’t … I’m sorry, don’t be upset.”
I nodded, not sure what else to do. We’d talked at length about how to handle being found out. Cal respected my need for not shoving our relationship in the face of others, but if they saw, they saw.
“Uh, this is Jack.” Cal moved so I could stand at his shoulder, not hidden behind him. “My boyfriend.”
I swayed with those two words, the first time he’d said them. He snaked his arm around the small of my back and kept me steady while I dipped my chin and smiled at the ground. Quiet didn’t mean shy, and shy wasn’t me. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why I was acting this way. Maybe just too shaken to do otherwise.
Boyfriend? Sure, but, okay, yeah. Hell, yeah. I’d own that shit in a heartbeat.
I lifted my head high and smiled for all to see. “Hey,” I said.
Each blinked at me, and then Wren nodded in greeting with a lopsided twitch of a smile that highlighted the scar on his cheek.
“I had such a crush on you,” the kid said.
Tate and the pretty boy laughed.
Cal rubbed the back of his neck. “How’ve you been, Percy?”
Oh. He’d been in that picture too. I’d forgotten his face but remembered his unique name.
Percy fluttered his lashes and sputtered, “Y-you know me?”
“Of course,” Cal laughed. “You seemed a little skittish, so I never said hello or anything, but yeah, I knew you.”
Percy, who had bratty twink on lock, blushed so prettily and ducked his head.
“Wait,” the pretty boy said. “All of you went to high school together? What the fuck is in the water down here?”
Cal and Tate laughed. Wren grinned, and after Tate bumped Percy’s shoulder, he did too.
