Perched in the lifeguard’s chair high above
the college’s Olympic-sized swimming pool, Kevin Chase stared
across the water and kept an eye on the students splashing below.
He’d grown used to the summery smell of chlorine and raucous shouts
that echoed off the tiled walls. Now only an hour from the end of
his shift, he held his whistle in his fist and twirled its lanyard
around and around his hand, first one way, then the other. Only an
hour, and then he’d close the pool and have the place to himself.
Sure, he had practice tomorrow with the rest of the swim team, but
he savored the opportunity to get in a few extra laps with no one
else in his way.
The gym doors squeaked open and boyish
laughter drifted in as a handful of young men pushed each other
into the pool room. Tell me that isn’t…Kevin lifted his
sunglasses to get a better look. Shit. Danny Santos.
Suddenly he wondered how suspicious it would be if he dived off the
chair to hide in the water below. Danny. Here. Tonight. Why?
* * * *
Danny and Kevin lived on the same floor in
the freshmen dormitory, but the similarities ended there. Kevin was
slim and tall and impossibly blonde, and Danny…well, wasn’t. He was
a stocky guy with dusky skin and dark hair that fell to his chin.
He wore it in a half-ponytail, just the top and sides pulled back,
and lived at the opposite end of the hall, as far away from Kevin
as possible without going into the next building. During the first
semester they didn’t say two words to each other—the only reason
Kevin knew Danny’s name was because it was taped to his door like
everyone else’s. He was a rumored pothead; Kevin joined the swim
team and worked part-time at the pool. They were, quite literally,
worlds apart.
Then two weeks ago came spring break. Most
students left campus immediately after their last class, but Kevin
had a big swim meet Saturday morning and stayed to practice. Late
Friday night someone knocked on his door—he opened it to find Danny
lounging in the doorway. “You know it’s just the two of us left?”
he asked without preamble.
Somehow one thing led to another and by
midnight the two of them were twined together in Kevin’s bed. The
taste of pot on Danny’s tongue burned Kevin’s mouth with an
unfamiliar sting, and he couldn’t remember how Danny’s hand had
found its way down the front of his pants. “I like to watch you in
the shower,” Danny purred as he stroked Kevin’s growing erection.
“Those curtains don’t close all the way, you know? Sometimes I sit
on the bench outside your stall and watch you lather up. Watch you
jerk off. I like the way you bite your lip and whimper when you
come.”
“I don’t whimper…” But it was a feeble
protest because he did and it was that tiny detail that made him
realize Danny wasn’t lying. This was the first time he had been
with a boy, ever, and his heart fluttered every time Danny
moved against him, his head felt drugged and cloudy, his lips
burned with a desire that had nothing to do with marijuana. The
thought of where this might lead nearly suffocated him.
Out in the hall, something banged against the
door to their dorm with a loud thudthat startled them
apart. As Danny’s hand slipped from Kevin’s shorts, he wanted to
pull it back, shove it between his legs, hump against the strong
fingers until he came. You said I whimper, he thought,
wondering if that would be enough to get him back. So close, so
close. But when Danny went to check on the noise, Kevin knew
the moment was gone. “Julio,” Danny called out, his voice loud in
the empty hall, “you fucker! What the hell you want at this
hour?”
As Danny went to open the door for his
friend, Kevin skulked in the opposite direction, heading for the
bathroom. There he splashed cold water on his face and neck, rinsed
the lingering taste out of his mouth. Voices drifted down to the
other end of the hall, and Kevin waited until he heard Danny’s door
slam shut before making his way back to his own empty room. Since
then, he’d avoided Danny. He didn’t know what made him angrier—how
easily Danny blew him off or how difficult he was to forget.
* * * *
The lifeguard chair shook slightly beneath
Kevin, then someone leaned over the back to breathe down his neck.
“So here’s where you’ve been hiding.”
Kevin jumped at the closeness of Danny’s
voice. Scowling, he shook his head as if Danny was an annoying fly
and refused to look his way. “Get down.”
Having climbed up the back of the lifeguard
station, Danny now stood on one of the crossbeams between the chair
legs, hands on the back of Kevin’s seat. As he spoke, he pulled
against the chair, which jerked beneath his weight. “Where’ve you
been?” he wanted to know. “I haven’t seen you in the shower
lately.”
“You shouldn’t be watching in the first
place,” Kevin said, his tone curt. “Stop that.”
Another hard tug and Danny threw his arms
around the back of the chair. Exasperated, Kevin sat forward to
keep from touching him. “Get down, will you?” he asked. “I’m on
duty here.”
Danny ignored him. “I miss seeing you,” he
whispered, one finger brushing along the bottom of Kevin’s short
hair. Kevin shook his head and Danny pulled away, only to start
again when Kevin stopped. “Don’t you want to pick up where we left
off?”
Despite the way his blood stirred beneath
Danny’s touch, Kevin snipped, “No.”
As if he hadn’t heard him, Danny trailed his
hand over Kevin’s shoulder. Kevin shrugged but Danny was stubborn
and his fingers trickled down Kevin’s chest. “Where were
we?” Danny murmured. His hand moved when Kevin tried to slap it
away, then came back to rub over his tanned stomach. Lower, lower…
“Right about—”
Kevin caught his wrist before Danny reached
the front of his shorts. “Stop. Just stop, alright?”
“I’m only playing,” Danny started.