His shoulders dropping. His jaw releasing.
"Jesus," he said.
"Yeah."
We got dressed in silence. But it wasn't the tense silence of performing—it was the buzzing, giddy silence of two people who'd just done something reckless and survived. I caught Alex's eye across the bench and he shook his head slightly, mouth pressed shut against a smile he was trying to kill.
"Don't," I said.
"I'm not."
"You're smiling."
"I'm not smiling."
"You're definitely smiling."
"Get dressed, Liam."
I pulled my shirt on. Jeans. Shoes. The routine. But my hands were shaking slightly and my skin was still humming and the memory of Alex against the tile.
Alex closed his locker. Turned to me. The smile was gone now, replaced by something steadier.
"We can't do that again," he said. "Not here."
"I know."
"I mean it. The door wasn't locked. Anyone could have walked in."
"I know."
"So we agree. Not here. Not in the boathouse."
"Agreed." I held his gaze. "But somewhere."
Something flickered in his eyes. Want, still. Even now, five minutes after, still.
"Somewhere," he said.
He gave me one last look before he turned toward the door.
"See you later," I said.
He nodded. Walked out. The door swung shut.
I sat on the bench after he left. Alone. My body was still buzzing. The memory of Alex against me—the sounds he'd made, the way he'd pressed back, the way he'd saidme toowhen I told him I wanted more. All of it still alive in my skin.
We'd gotten away with it. This time.
But sitting there in the quiet locker room, the steam thinning, the showers dripping into silence, I knew something had shifted. Not just between us—in me. The want I'd felt with Alex against the wall wasn't going away. It was going to get louder. And louder meant riskier, and riskier meant eventually our luck would run out.
Not here. Not in the boathouse.
But somewhere.
The best moment of my life and the most dangerous moment of my life. Same ten minutes. Same room.
I'd do it again. That was the terrifying part. Even knowing the door was unlocked. Even knowing the walls echoed. Even knowing thatcarefulhad just failed in the best way possible.
