Page 22 of Lustful Nights

“Um…” Lennox taps his finger against his chin as he’s lost in thought. “Dancing is a hobby I really like to do. What about you? Do you have a hobby?”

“I like to draw. I’m not really good at it or anything, but it relaxes me. I try to do it as much as I can.” I busy myself with making our plates, piling both extra high. If there’s one thing I remember about Lennox, it’s how he’s always had an appetite.

“Can I see some?”

“You want to?”

Lennox nods his head excitedly, practically bouncing on the seat. “Hell yes I do. Please. Gimme ’em all.”

“Okay.”

I leave him in the living room to walk over to my desk. My hand hovers over the different notebooks in my drawer. Hoping what I show him will make him smile, I grab the sketchbook I have with the drawings I’ve done of him. I ended up redrawing the pictures of his lips into my bigger notebook, so I’m both excited and anxious to see if he’ll recognize himself. After setting down the notepad in front of him, I busy myself with stuffing my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him open the notebook, examining each page carefully. The first parts of the journal are generic drawings, maybe something I encountered that day at the beach or a cartoon character I love.

“Wow,” he breathes, his hands turning page after page. “These are incredible. The attention to detail is unlike anythingI’ve seen. I mean, it’s not like I’ve encountered a lot of art in person, but I know for a fact that these are amazing.”

He keeps flipping the pages, and after a few seconds, I look along with him. He reaches the page where there’s a portrait of Sophia, my sister, and he smiles. I drew it the last time she was here visiting. On the page she’s bundled in a knit sweater, reading a book on my couch. Her long hair wrapped around her shoulders, and I captured the happiness radiating from her that day.

“How is she doing? I feel like I haven’t seen her in forever.”

“She’s doing good. She and my parents moved to Colorado a year or so ago. They love it there, plus they’ve always been snow people and they don’t get that here in San Diego.”

“She looks beautiful. Would you draw me someday?” he asks, turning and looking at me. “You can see how much she means to you through your drawing of her. I would love to have something like that for myself.”

“I would love to draw you one day, Lennox. I might have started already, actually. Hopefully this doesn’t creep you out or anything.” I take the notebook from his hands, flipping to the first drawing I did of him. His eyes. “I drew this after I saw you at Peaches. At the time, I was so immersed in my sketch I didn’t realize it was you until I finished it.”

“Holy shit,” Lennox whispers, his eyes glued to the drawing. He snatches the journal out of my hand, pulling it closer to his face. “Those are my eyes. Like perfectly. How? How did you draw them like that?”

“You have gorgeous eyes, Lennox. They’re easy to get lost in. There’s uh—there’s another one.”

Lennox wastes no time, turning the page until he stops, his gasp echoing throughout the room. “Those are my lips.” His fingers run across the drawing, stopping on the mole right above his lip. “When did you draw this?”

“A few nights ago, before we kissed. I was down at the beach, daydreaming. It’s a place I like to go to get away from the busy streets sometimes. I drew it quickly in one of my small notebooks. This sketch has more detail than that one. But once I got home, I took my time with recreating it.”

“I can’t believe you were drawing me before we even kissed.” Tears prick his eyes as he turns to face me. “Are you always so sweet?”

“I mean, I’m not trying to be? It’s just how I always am. Plus, I told you, there was something about you that was captivating me.”

“What do you think is so different now? I mean, we’ve known each other for years, but you’ve never viewed me this way before. Or have you?” He waggles his eyebrows playfully and I bust up laughing.

“You’re right. I didn’t see you this way before. I’m not sure. It was like I saw you and a light went off. It’s hard to explain. You went from being Nick’s younger brother to just Lennox. And I evolved from thinking I was straight to realizing I’m not.”

“Sexuality is a spectrum. Some people wake up one day and discover that what they thought they knew is no longer their truth. And that’s okay. Everyone’s journey is their own.” Lennox’s fingers continue fondling the picture of his lips, a smile playing on his face.

“I’ve come to realize that. It also might have been the sexy-as-hell skirt you wore that night.”

Lennox laughs, tossing his head back, which exposes his gorgeous, slender throat. Sliding my digits down his throat, I pull him closer by the nape of his neck. I plant a kiss on him and when I pull away, Lennox has a dazed expression on his face. “I can’t wait to wear them more often for you.”

“Same here, sweetheart.”

11

LENNOX

It’s beenthree days since I’ve seen Jensen and I’m itching to see him again. After he made me breakfast, I went back to my apartment to study for an upcoming test. I’ve had classes the past few days, and he’s had to work, so we haven’t been able to get together. Plus, I have to be at Peaches tonight and he has a shift tomorrow morning, so I won’t see him tonight either.

I step into the back of the club, using the employee entrance. It’s not open yet, so there’s no flashing lights or pounding bass music. It’s nice to see it this way sometimes.

“You’re here early.” I turn around, taking in Jonas, who’s standing in the hallway. How he’s so quiet while being so big, I have no idea.

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