Kash let out a slow breath, some of the tension leaving his shoulders.
Ody stepped inside the apartment first, not turning his back until Kash passed him. Even after closing the door, his hand lingered on the handle, his guard still up. He finally turned to Kash. “Wait here.”
Kash nodded, unsure, staying still near the entrance like he was afraid to move without permission.
Ody walked straight to the bathroom without another word. He needed the water. Needed those five minutes to breathe, to calm the shaking in his chest, to scrub away the sweat frombasketball and the even worse feeling of Mano’s hands still lingering on him.
He stood under the water longer than he meant to, but not long enough to think clearly, to erase anything.
When he stepped out, he dried off quickly, pulled on clean sweatpants and a T-shirt, and looked at himself in the mirror. His pulse was still too fast, his thoughts still in places they shouldn’t be.
He left the bedroom. Kash was exactly where he’d left him, standing stiffly in the middle of the hallway. His eyes lifted the second Ody appeared, equal parts hopeful and scared.
Ody crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, guarded. “Alright. Talk.”
Kash swallowed before speaking. “I wanted to thank you for letting me get to know you. You’re a good guy. You didn’t deserve the lies, or the way we treated you. I’ll never stop being sorry for that.”
Ody nodded, but there was nothing encouraging about it. It was the kind of nod people give when they’re waiting for the real reason someone showed up. “Is that all?” he asked.
Kash looked down. His foot shifted on the floor. “I really like you, Ody,” he admitted, voice small. “I know I didn’t handle anything right. I just… wanted to say that you showed me empathy I didn’t deserve.” He let out a shaky breath. “Even after everything I did.”
The words landed somewhere uncomfortable inside Ody. He didn’t know why his chest felt tight hearing them. And he hated that something about Kash being this close made his stomach dip, the same way it had dipped earlier today when Mano pinned him against a door with nothing but a towel around his hips.
He blinked and realized Kash had taken a small step toward him. Close enough for Ody to notice how nervous he was, to feel the shift in the air.
“Ody,” Kash whispered, eyes searching his face, “Can I kiss you? For one last time?”
The question hung between them, heavy. Ody should have said no. He knew that. Kash had lied to him. Hurt Mano. Hurt him. None of this should have been happening.
But something in his body betrayed him. That flutter he felt earlier. The way heat sparked in his chest whenever Mano stood too close. The way Mano’s voice kept replaying in his mind like it was carved into his skin. Why was he reacting like this? Why did he feel like he was on the edge of something he didn’t understand?
He didn’t answer. He didn’t agree, but also didn’t refuse. He just didn’t move away. And that was all the permission Kash needed.
He leaned in carefully, giving Ody one last chance to pull away. When Ody didn’t, Kash closed the distance and pressed his lips to his. The first touch was slow, almost gentle, but then something broke in him and the kiss deepened. It felt like Kash needed it, like he had been holding his breath for months and this was the only way he knew how to let it out.
He exhaled against Ody’s mouth. “God, I’m gonna miss those lips.”
Ody’s pulse kicked hard. He hated how his body reacted and how warm that sentence felt in his chest. But the way Kash kissed him, the way his voice sounded so close, so soft, made something inside him tilt off balance.
He didn’t understand any of it. Why this felt like something. Why his thoughts kept snapping back to Mano. To the way Mano’s breath slid down his neck earlier, to the heat of his skin, to the look in his eyes when he whispered at the door. It made no sense. None of this made sense.
Kash’s lips blurred his thoughts for a moment, softening the panic and the spiral in his head. Even though Ody hated it, he leaned in, his body betraying him.
Kash kissed him deeper, and something in Ody snapped. His breath hitched, pulse spiking as the image of Mano at the door slammed into his mind.
He kissed Kash harder, desperate now.
Kash let out a startled sound, his hands tightening on Ody’s shoulders. Ody barely noticed. His body moved before his mind could catch up, pushing Kash back step by step.
Kash’s heel hit the couch. Ody didn’t stop. He shoved him down hard enough to knock the breath from him. Kash landed against the cushions, staring up in shock.
“What’s gotten into you?” he whispered, breathless.
Ody hovered over him, pulse wild. “You said you wanted to say goodbye.”
Kash stared up at him, chest rising fast. Ody caught the swallow in his throat, felt the heat of his breath between them. Something in Kash’s eyes shifted, confusion giving way to want.
Ody leaned down and kissed him harder, almost clinging.
