As Kaj approached the reserved area, he spotted his bandmates and part of the crew gathered around the large table like the fucking Knights of the Round Table.
Aksel was gesticulating wildly with his hands, long hair swaying as he regaled the others with one of his crazy anecdotes. Xander leaned back in his chair as he sipped his coffee, shaking his head and the messy bun on top of it in the process. Frederik, Val, Markus, Oliver, and Klaus, the sound engineer, were there, too, completely hooked in the story. And then there was Noah, arms crossed over his chest as he laughed. It was annoying how he always looked so handsome, with those stupid jeans that let the ink on his legs peek out, a yellow and black long-sleeved baseball shirt no one else would look good in, and tousled hair.
“Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence,” Markus called out, deep voice tinged with amusement. “I thought you’d skip dinner, too.”
“Rough night,princess?” Val asked.
Kaj flipped him off and slid into the empty chair beside Xander, across from Noah. “Some of us need our beauty sleep.”
“Well, it clearly wasn’t enough,” Val quipped, ducking as Kaj threw a sugar packet at his head.
“Here, you look like you need this more than me,” Aksel said, sliding his coffee across the table. Whether it was untouched or not, Kaj didn’t care. He accepted the mug and wrapped his hands around it. God knew he needed it.
The easy banter continued as Kaj took a sip of the still warm beverage. Although he didn’t dare to look in his direction, Kaj could feel Noah’s stare on him, a weight he both craved and feared. To say their conversation had been intense was an understatement, but in the cold light of day, Kaj wasn’t sure what it meant that they’d demolished that wall between them.
He was a fucking mess.
As Kaj looked up to pretend he was paying attention to whatever they were chitchatting about, his eyes locked with Noah’s. For a moment, neither of them averted their gaze. Old memories of their hands roaming over bare, damp skin, their breathy gasps, Noah’s lips on his neck, his ass strangling Kaj’s cock… The possibility of having all that again was within arm’s reach—quite literally.
Shit.
The drummer crossed one leg over the other, casually putting a hand over his crotch as blood rushed south.
“Just so you know,” Frederik started, bringing Kaj’s attention to him. “Our golden boy here”—he gestured toward Aksel—“was telling us about theeventsfrom last night, or more like early this morning.”
“Like that one time you were fucking this chick on a Ping-Pong table and got caught by the janitor guy?” Kaj tilted his head mockingly, grateful for the distraction. “Or that one time you were fucking a guy in his car, butt-dialed his mom, and then had to drive him to her house to delete the lengthy voicemail of your tryst?”
Markus roared with laughter. “I had forgotten about those.”
“Seems like you’re a fan of outdoor adventures,” Noah quipped, eyes flicking to Kaj’s.
What is with him?Kaj rubbed the back of his neck, shifting in his seat again.
Aksel rolled his eyes, faking annoyance, but he was clearly proud of his fuckery. “Right, so I was there, out on the balcony of her room at 5 a.m., with nothing but a potted plant for company.”
“With your socks on,” Val interjected, earning a round of laughter from the group.
“Yeah, with my socks on,” Aksel repeated. “She tossed everything else through the window when her friend showed up, drunk and crying.”
“And why couldn’t you go out the door like a normal person?” Frederik asked.
“She said her friend was obsessed with me and would never forgive her if she knew we’d fucked.Hoes over bros, or some shit like that. I don’t know, dude.” Aksel shrugged. “Anyway, I’m trying to figure out how to get down from there without cracking my skull open, and before having someone call the cops on me. So, I see this tree near enough, and I’m calculating the distance like a fucking cat, you know, to jump there and climb down, as painful as that would be butt-naked, when—”
“Let me,” Frederik interrupted. “Let me guess… a flock of pigeons shows up.”
“What the fuck?” Aksel’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”
“Because only you could get into a situation involving public nudity and angry birds.”
The table erupted in laughter, and even Kaj couldn’t help but join in this time. He loved seeing Aksel being his obnoxious self again. The past year had been especially hard for him. He’d worked his ass off for the band since he was fifteen; it was his entire life, and having it ruined because of Emil’s rape allegations would have been hard to overcome. Then there was Dahlia, too. She was like a sister to him. She washis person. Losing her to cancer would have been devastating for everyone in the group, but a death sentence for him.
To outsiders, it probably didn’t look like Aksel was struggling or that he cared about anything that wasn’t himself. Most people thought he was superficial and shallow because he always cracked jokes and acted like a clown. But it was all a facade. If you knew him—reallyknew him—it was easy to see that the light hadn’t reached his eyes in months, until now.
It was a fucking relief that after such a tumultuous year, everything was finally going back to normal.
“No, for real, it was like that Hitchcock movie,The Birds.”
“How did you escape in the end?” Markus asked, still shaking with a silent cackle.
