Page 61 of Fruit
“Iva,” he warns, and I take him down all the way so that when he comes it’s down my throat, twitching in my mouth. I swallow it all down, dragging my tongue up the length of him as he slips out of my mouth.
I sit on my heels. I’m completely dressed, and I watch him, naked and slumped and breathing heavily on the couch. What a fucking sight. His brown skin is glowing with sweat, abs rising and falling with his breaths.
I crawl up his body and sit on his lap as he leans against the back of the couch. I let him come down, kissing his face because I can’t get enough of him. His hands run under my shirt absently as he smiles a little goofily at me.
“Pretty. Pretty, pretty, pretty,” I say as I poke at his cheekbones.
He laughs, catching my hand and kissing my palm before pressing his lips against mine. I return the kiss easily, and when he pulls my panties aside to finger me, well, that’s good too.
I come, rocking against his fingers, a wet, open kiss between us, the broken sound of his name pressed against his tongue.
The day dissolves much like yesterday did. We fuck, we watch TV, we eat. When we go to bed, we press close. Everything feels even more intimate in the near darkness.
I listen to him breathe until I fall into sleep.
**********
The next Thursday, I notice straight away that Joshua doesn’t show up. Some of the other young people attend only do so every few weeks, but it’s the first time Joshua skips since I started volunteering there.
“Hey, Jasmine. Did Joshua say he wasn’t coming today?” I ask her.
“No. No one called.”
“Okay. I was just wondering.”
“It happens sometimes.”
“Okay, no worries.”
I get distracted by readying everything for the art club, but spot Hugo as I go out to the common room to call young people in.
“Hey, Hugo,” I say, walking up to him.
The niggling worry at Joshua’s absence grows to full-blown worry the moment I see Hugo’s face. He looks drawn and nervous, his shoulders hunched in.
“Everything okay?” I ask. Hugo looks down and away.
“Um…” He pulls at the edge of his shirt.
“It’s Joshua,” I say, failing to phrase it as a question. He glances at me quickly, giving himself away. I take a deep breath. “Hugo, I completely understand you want to protect him. But if something’s happened to him…”
“I…” He shakes his head.
“I know I’m asking a lot of you. And I’m sorry if there are some adults you feel like you can’t trust. But, please, if you guys need help, let me help you.”
Hugo is silent for a moment. “I think something happened with his dad.”
“Do you know where he is? Where Joshua is?”
The silence is longer this time. I want to push, but I hold myself back.
“At a park, I think. Near his house.”
“Is he hurt?”
“I think…I don’t know. He didn’t sound too good when I called him. I’m sorry, he told me not to tell anyone—”
“It’s okay, Hugo. Thank you for telling me. You did good. It’s okay.”
