“This shit is always so sticky,” Kaj mumbled as he pulled his pants and underwear down.
A half-mast dick bounced after he cleaned it and started rubbing the towel over his lower abdomen. Noah couldn’t take his eyes off him—off it. He was mesmerized by the size, the shape, and the hypnotizing movement.
“It’s not the first time you’ve seen it.”
Noah snapped back to reality, looking everywhere but at his friend.
Kaj smirked in the mirror. “You’re so fucking gay. I love it.”
“Shut up.”
“By the way, you should take your clothes off and clean yourself.”
“Here?”
“Where else?” Kaj looked around. “Are you shy now, Noah? We’ve seen each other naked more times than I’d like to admit.” He pinched his side.
“Stop it,” Noah hissed, slapping his hand away. “I know, but... it’s different now.”
“It’s better.” Kaj flashed Noah a look he’d never seen before. It was brief, but it made something flutter in his stomach. “Anyway, not to be pushy or anything, but if you don’t want it to completely dry and become crusty on your skin, you should clean yourself.”
Without sharing another word, Noah complied, taking off his clothes under Kaj’s scrutinizing gaze. His friend bit his lower lip, poorly concealing a devilish grin, but at least he didn’t say anything.
It was strange, but knowing his feelings were reciprocated after one year of secret longing was amazing. It was as if a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. As if he could really be himself.
Once they were completely clean, they put on the boxers Kaj had grabbed from his dresser. Unsure what to do next, Noah stood frozen in place. He didn’t want to explode the bubble he was floating in right now, but he still had questions.
“Do you think we should,maybe, keep this to ourselves for now?” he asked, looking at Kaj through their reflection. “Like not kissing or holding hands in public or anything like that, I mean.”
He wasn’t ashamed and didn’t really want to hide anything from anyone, yet he wasn’t sure if he was ready for the world to know he liked boys.
“Hmm, yeah. I don’t wanna become the town’s new gossip.”
“Should we at least tell Val and Theo?”
“Maybe we should keep it a secret from them, too, for now? Even if they don’t seem homophobic, like some of the assholes in class, I don’t want them freaking out until we actually know this is going somewhere. For the band.”
Noah frowned. He didn’t expect Kaj to be in love all of a sudden, especially not while they were trying to figure themselves out amid the confusing rollercoaster that was adolescence. But he also didn’t expect this to be some kind of experiment for him.
“Yeah, you’re right. Better wait.” Noah bit the inside of his cheek. Now that he had his attention, now that he’d had a taste, he didn’t want to back out, no matter how much it hurt if it turned out to be one-sided in the end.
Kaj stepped into his personal space and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. “Let’s go back to bed, or we’ll be dead tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
When they opened the door, they almost bumped into Jesper. As a reflex, both of them hid their soiled underwear behind their backs. They’d been caught red-handed. Noah didn’t know about Kaj, but his heart was thumping in his ears.
“What the fuck are you two doing up so late?” he scolded in a low voice.
“We needed to pee,” Kaj said.
“Together?” Skepticism quickly replaced the surprise on Jesper’s face. He was twenty-one and obviously didn’t buy their bullshit.
“Yeah, so?”
“Were you holding each other’s dicks?” he quipped.
“You’re such an idiot,” Kaj retorted.
