Page 68 of In This Iron Ground
On impulse, Damien leaned forwards and placed a soft kiss on Gonzalo’s cheek. When he sat back, Gonzalo’s eyes were closed, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
Damien tensed. “Sorry. Am I not supposed to—”
Gonzalo’s eyes opened. His expression cleared. “No. No, no, it’s fine.” He smiled.
Damien smiled back. “Movie?” Damien prompted after a few seconds of Gonzalo just watching him.
Gonzalo blinked before shaking his head. “Yeah. Let’s watch a movie.”
*****
Mia and Cameron had converted one of the offices that wasn’t being used into a ramshackle game room. It was equipped with a TV, comfortable seating and beanbags, gaming consoles, and posters on the wall. There was a low table cluttered with things and drink rings. It was a space they were all supposed to clean, and therefore was appropriately dusty.
Damien was lured by the slightly open door and the videogame sounds coming from within. He opened the door the rest of the way. Immediately, Koko and Hakan whipped around to look at him. Damien froze. Hakan’s face was completely blank, but Koko’s was split in a shit-eating grin.
“Shut up,” Damien told Koko, already knowing where this was going.
“Iknewit!”
“Shut up!” He should have showered before entering the room.
“Dude, you smell like you rolled around with him. Eau de Gonzalo. Ooh la, la! Smells good on you, playah,” Koko teased.
“Shut up,” Damien repeated, sitting next to Hakan to avoid the ribbing. Hakan was still looking at him, nose wrinkled. Damien threw his hands in the air. “What! Come on! Surely I must smell like other people all the time!”
“Not like that. Arousal smells different. Very…distinctive,” Koko said. Hakan remained completely silent, his shoulders a tense line.
“Oh my God…”
“Well, good news is you turned him on. Must have done something right. Though it doesn’t smell like you finished…”
“Jesus, Koko,” Hakan said, snapping out of it. “Out of line.”
“Whatever, loser. Damien and I have talked about worse.”
Hakan looked at Damien. Damien shrugged.
“Still,” Damien said. “Please shut up.”
“Okay, Boner City. Whatever you want.”
“Screw this, I’m going to shower.”
“Have fun!” Koko called after him. Damien stuck his tongue out at her before he closed the door. He covered his face with his hands.
Werewolves were the worst.
**********
As a teenage boy, it was more a confirmation than a discovery that Damien liked sex. They never wentall the way, as Damien called it and Gonzalo laughed at, but that summer was filled with another type of heat, with new, awkward, thrilling experiences.
In a way, it helped Damien distance himself from his attraction to Hakan. He was still in love with him, but it was dormant and abstract, shadowed by the actual experiences of his daily life. It felt like something in him finally settled. The love didn’t burn anymore. It only warmed him.
Damien walked carefully downstairs for a drink late one night, the house quiet and filled with moonlight. He stepped softly on the landing and saw a beam of light stretch from the kitchen. As he opened the door, he saw Hakan already inside, eating the leftovers from the day before as a midnight snack.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
