‘Sam…’
He kisses me. It’s soft at first, but as my grip tightens, so does his. I push him to the wall, pressing against him, kissing him hard now, my tongue finding his. He tastes like mint, with a hint of sweetness, like a strawberry lightly dusted in sugar. His hands slide down my back, cupping my bum, and my hands cradle his neck. Every muscle under my hand makes me want to rip off his clothes and observe him the way he observed me.
Something primal has awoken within us, my hands slipping under his T-shirt, tracing over his skin. With every kiss, I lie against his washboard body like he was my life support.
He comes up for air, his hands on my face. He breathes deeply, and I’m certain that if we could, we’d be fucking right here on the street.
‘What are we doing?’ he whispers.
‘This is reckless.’
‘Dangerous.’
‘Do you want this?’ I ask.
‘Fuck, yes, I do,’ Sam says. ‘Do you?’
I press myself against him, so that he can feel how hard I am.
‘Isn’t it obvious?’
He kisses me again, light, not giving me what I need. He knows what he’s doing.
‘I’ve wanted to kiss you since I saw you fall into that bush,’ he says.
‘We kissed.’
‘No. Properly,’ Sam says. ‘Like this.’
And he kisses me again, rough, like our lives depended on it. Our heads cock, our tongues explore one another’s mouths.Goneis that awkward testing phase, when he pretended to do it just for research. His hand is now on the skin of my back, and my hands clutch at the waistband of his pleated summer shorts.
‘I want you, Will.’
‘I’m yours.’
He takes my hand, breaking into a jog, making me keep up with him. Forced exercise is not my thing, but this is fun. We run through the empty streets of Athens like we’re the only ones in the city, the only ones in the country, the only men left on earth. We giggle like we’re getting away with something harmless, like breaking into the set of a movie.
When we can, we push each other against something: a wall, a lamppost, a car. We kiss, touching places through clothes that only we can touch, knowing what we need, what we want. It’s like the smell of your favourite meal cooking throughout the day, but you know it won’t be ready until the evening. We’re teasing and flirting with our desires.
The car we’re leaning against blares its alarm.
‘Shit.’ Sam pulls us away, into the shadows. ‘Let’s hope people didn’t see us.’
‘Let them.’
Foolish, but tantalising. The night is ours. No one else exists. No one can ruin this.
Somehow, we’re outside Sam’s coffee shop. The door is locked, but lights are on inside, a warmth that I can’t wait to sink into. With frantic hands, he unlocks the door, both of us tumbling over the threshold, lost in each other.
I kick the door closed, feel Sam lock it effortlessly as he caresses my body, trying to lift my T-shirt from me. I let him do it, until I stand before him with nothing on, just like I was in the art class.
‘You’re incredible.’
‘Stop it.’
The light of the moon cascades through the skylights, illuminating my body in all the right places. It’s as if the goddess Selene herself had blessed us, charging us with a sexual energy that nobody else could ever replicate. Sam breathes slowly, absorbing me like he were an evening primrose, and I his source of survival.
‘You are,’ Sam says. He draws the blinds over the coffee shop windows. ‘I couldn’t take my eyes off you in that art class.’
