Page 68 of Monsters within Men
In his hand was a wooden fox.
“Did you make this for me?” Zeke’s voice shook.
Noah had depicted the fox’s fur in delicate, swirling lines, and its pointed snout hung slightly ajar. The wood was a warm, golden-brown colour, polished to a smooth finish. The carving possessed a sense of liveliness, as if the fox was just about to spring into action.
“It’s not my best work,” Noah said quickly. “I mainly do birds, to be honest, so it was a good challenge. The tail was a nightmare.”
“Are you joking? Noah, this is…” He trailed off, unable to find words, distracted by the warm tingles circulating in the pit of his stomach. “I don’t des—”
Noah stretched his leg out to kick him. “If you start another self-deprecating speech, you’re going in that river.”
Zeke laughed as he held the small fox up, turning it over and over. It was already his most precious trinket. “How long did this take? When did you even have time to do it?”
“I had to work on it once we’d gone to our rooms, mostly. Honestly, don’t worry about it. It was fun.”
He stared at Noah. He knew exactly what he wanted to happen next, but was unsure of how to make it happen. The air grew heavy with unspoken tension. He willed himself to stand up and cross the space between them, but his thoughts paralysed him.Don’t be an idiot.You’ve got it all wrong. He’s just being a good friend.
But good friends didn’t look at each other the way Noah was looking at him now. His hazel eyes gleamed with hunger as his lips curved upwards; the beginning of a tentative smile forming. Wordlessly, Noah slipped down from the rock to sit next to him, startling him for a moment. One hand slid into Zeke’s, shakily, to entwine their fingers. The other reached across to fist the edge of his coat.
Zeke’s thoughts scattered like autumn leaves in the wind. The world around him blurred as the sensation of Noah’s hand in his own overwhelmed his thoughts.Do something,his brain screamed.
If there was ever a time, it was now.
Zeke swallowed. “Noah, I don’t know how to thank you. Not just for this, but for everything. I would have had such a shit time if I didn’t land in your squad. I’m so thankful every day that I did.” His cheeks already radiated with heat, but his traitorous mouth continued, “I don’t even know what I’m saying now, but you’ve been so awesome, and I think you’re amazing and—”
Noah’s mouth pressing against his spared him from finishing his rambling speech.
The kiss was perfectly chaste at first: his lips ghosted across Zeke’s as soft as a whisper. But before he had time to think, react, or even breathe, Noah cupped the back of his neck and parted Zeke’s lips with a warm tongue. Noah became frantic, needy, as his grip tightened, strong arms pulling Zeke closer towards him. Noah ran his hands down Zeke’s arms as if he were checking he was still there as he kissed him again, again and again. Unsure of what to do with his own hands, Zeke feebly pawed at Noah’s shirt, bundling the fabric there, anchoring Noah to him.
Zeke became untethered from reality.
His stomach liquidized. His heart raced, matching the frenzied flutter of a trapped bird’s wings. He was floating, flying,soaring.
Distantly, he became aware of the incessant buzzing of Noah’s wristband. Noah drew back, panting lightly, and both of them glanced down at the screen. Five missed calls from Vitt. How long had they been kissing for?
“Hold on,” Noah muttered, rising to his feet, and Zeke fell forward from the sudden absence of his weight. “What is it?” he snapped into his wristband, causing Zeke to suppress a delirious laugh. Noah had kissed him. Noah hadkissedhim!
“Finally! Habib said you and Zeke were in the city today?” Vitt sounded incredulous.
“He was visiting his sister on their birthday. I saw Khyan’s parents for a bit.”
“Oh. Did it go okay?”
Noah sighed. “They’re… fine. It was hard.”
“I was just ringing to see when you’d be back. Murphy posted all of us at the wall in the end today. We lost five men in the morning, which threw everything into chaos.”
Noah paced back and forth, concern etched into his face. “Five? Anyone we knew well?”
The whiplash change in energy was disorienting, casting a sense of unease over Zeke.
“Not terribly. I think they were mostly new recruits. Two of them were Brian’s. He’s pretty beat up about it. I think he would appreciate you checking in with him later. Forewarning, the general morale across the barracks is low.” Loud chattering in the background and the sound of water running distorted her voice. “Also, Frankie says hurry up back. She’s eager to give Zeke his birthday cake.”
Noah ran his hand over his face. “She’s relentless. Tell her we’ll head back now.” He hung up with a promise to see them all soon.
Zeke stared at him.Can we not just go back to the kissing part?
But Noah remained standing, and he took that as a cue to move. He sprang up, brushing the dirt off him, following Noah’s fast pace back down the river. His near-jog made it seem like he was running away from Zeke.
