Fox Creek

Fox Creek

Wade knew he should not be out on that train trestle. Every cross timber looked rotten, and he had no idea when a train last crossed it. It had been abandoned before he was born. But the memory of going out on it with Noah and Aaron, his best friends from high school, had made him foolish. He remembered how it was Noah who dared them to do it with the usual dares and taunts. They had been fifteen years old when they had ridden their bikes all the way from town down to Fox Creek. They had not realized the fire lane led to the abandoned train track, but soon found themselves standing on the berm that led the tracks to the trestle spanning the creek below.

Wade thought of them, how Noah was at Florida and Aaron was simply gone, leaving after graduation with the vague reply of going west. When they were thirteen to fifteen, he had struggled with his attraction toward his two friends, especially Noah with his blonde hair and dimpled smile.  At sixteen, he had pulled away from them, easily done when Noah and Aaron starting to date. When he was seventeen, about to turn eighteen, he had come out to Noah, then Aaron. He expected one or both to shun him but was pleasantly surprised both were accepting.

Wade smiled at the memory of the two of them giving him the same warning after his confession. Don’t tell anyone else. He knew they meant well, and for a time he heeded their advice. But he did come out to his parents and two sisters before leaving for college. It was weighing on him too much and he just needed to know how they would respond. There had been some heated discussion at first but after a day, cooler heads prevailed, his oldest sister being the main person to bring everyone around.

He was nineteen, home for the summer after his freshman year. He would be a sophomore when he returned to campus, even though there were times he still felt like the teenager from high school. But he found life in the dorm eye opening, guys open about their sexuality, whether gay or bisexual, like Thomas across the hall. He had hooked up with a couple of guys in the dorm, Justin on the floor below being the one that sexually aroused him the most but also scared him a bit with his political views that were beyond merely liberal. Their conversations after sex were eye-opening to say the least.

As the sun made sweat bead up on his forehead, Wade eased further out on the trestle, testing each board before putting his full weight on it.

“Dumbass” he uttered aloud as he took another step.

When he finally got to the place Fox Creek flowed under the trestle, he sat down with legs dangling over the side. It was only a third of the way across, the other side elevated over the area of swamp that lay along the creek all the way back to the main road and up to the outskirts of Byrneville, a farming community to the west.

It was hot sitting in the sun fully exposed, and he tugged off his t-shirt feeling the sun on his shoulders and sweat trickling down his torso. He sat back resting on his hands and just stared out over the woods that lined the creek. He began to daydream. Of Noah and Aaron, and what might have been if he had come out at fifteen or sixteen, time enough for one of them to grow accustomed to him being gay. Then he imagined the guys back at the dorm, especially Justin with his uncut cock and pieced nipples and physicality during sex.

Between the heat of the sun and his lurid imaginings, his cock stirred, stretching out in his shorts, an old pair of khakis he cut the legs off. He tugged on it, giving consideration to taking it out and jacking off.

He sat up and looked down at the creek thinking he should have gone there. He could be in the shade of the trees, or wading in the cool waters, or sitting on one of the sandy banks. Then he saw movement. Someone moving through the trees just below him. Then he saw a young guy emerge from the trees and stand on the bank of the creek.

A ballcap hid the face, but black hair was visible around the edge of it. The clothes hung loose and from his vantage point he couldn’t even gauge the guy’s height or build. What was it? Thirty feet or so down to the surface of the creek and the guy was fifty feet from the base of the trestle. Sixty feet or so between them. Far enough that making out the guy’s features were difficult.

The guy pulled off his shoes and socks, then rolled up his jeans. He waded into the creek, keeping close to the bank where it was shallow as Wade watched. After a few minutes, the guy went back to the bank and sat down. He tossed sticks and rocks into the water, then leaned back resting on elbows. The torso was stretched out, the shirt appearing to be draped over it for it looked lean, almost skinny.

Wade imagined going down there, strolling up next to him, and sitting down in a friendly manner. Then he imagined sucking his cock, of getting his own cock sucked, then he imagined the guy on hands and knees taking his fuck. It aroused him and he tugged on his cock, worked it within his shorts until it was able to stretch out down the right leg. Then he imagined he was the one on hands and knees as the head of his cock slipped into view.

The guy sat up and unbuttoned his shirt. Once the arms were worked free, the shirt was tossed behind him. Wade looked at the torso. Lean, the skin dark, and from the distance looked smooth. A Latino he thought as he watched the guy adjust his cock, then lean back on elbows.

Wade knew there was a Latino community in town, people who worked in the factory on the outskirts of Montgomery or on the farms in the county. He had seen them in the grocery store or crowded around one of the large tables in the Mexican restaurant on North Avenue. Watching the guy down below, he wondered what he would be like as a person. Could he speak English, knowing most had a rudimentary grasp of the language. Better than him for he knew nothing of the Spanish language.

The guy reaches down and tugs on his cock. Then he does it again. Wade knows the guy feels aroused, probably frustrated with having to do it himself wishing there was someone there to do it for him. Wade watches, waiting to see if the guy will go further, hopeful to the point it is embarrassing. Oh, how he wants to see the guy be as horny and aroused as he. To see him take it out and jack off.

Wade slips his hand over the exposed head of his cock, pushing the leg of his shorts upward revealing more of the shaft. He slowly strokes and fingers the head as he watches the guy below manipulate his own cock through the jeans. The guy leans back and unbuttons his jeans, unzips them, then works them down until around his ankles. Sitting in blue boxers that Wade wants pushed down too, the guy works his cock through them while looking around. Wade is fearful the guy will look up, not just around the woods behind him, but the guy doesn’t look up, instead he raises his ass and pushes the boxers down until they are bunched up with the jeans. Leaned back, cock in hand, the guy slowly strokes it.

Wade watches, trying to see more detail than possible. Was the guy cut or uncut. Was his cock and nuts darker than the rest of him or was it a play of shadow that made them look that way. But he can see that hand as it moves faster, stroking that cock. His own cock feels painfully confined and he unbuttons the khakis, works the zipper down, then works them carefully down his thighs, not daring to slip them over the knees. It was one thing to take a chance fully exposed on the trestle, quite another to let his shorts and boxers drop into the creek below. He leans back enough that he can stroke the full length of his cock, head to base while he watches the guy below do the same.

“Fuck,” Wade utters as he watches the guy work his jeans and boxers off leaving him naked. The lean body on full display. The lean legs spread out, the torso that is starting to reflect the light from the sweat beading up on it, and one hand buried in the sand while the other strokes faster and faster. Wade follows the guy’s rhythm, stroking his cock just as fast, just as determined to get off.

“Goddamn it,” Wade utters as he watches the guy’s knees rise partially blocking his view of the cock being jacked. “Fuck,” he utters when the guy reaches around below his thigh and touches his ass. The hand moves up and down, then works fingers over the opening. Wade feels his imminent release, the building intensity of it. Then he notices the familiar movement of the hand, how it is pumping one or two fingers into the ass. The guy is fingering his hole while jacking off. “Yeah…do it, you nasty fuck,” Wade utters as he watches the guy pump his hips upward.

The guy cries out so loud Wade heard it over his own grunts and profane utterances. He watches how the guy shoves upward, then shudders with release as white cum pools on the chest and stomach. With his jaw locked closed to prevent his own cry out, he comes. It hits him on the chin, then rains down on his chest and stomach. He shudders and jerks with every ejaculation until spent and his hand is stroking his wet slimy cock.

Wade watches the guy dress quickly as he pulls his boxers and shorts back into place. He doesn’t know whether to try to sneak off the trestle or to remain still, not moving. The guy never looks up and is soon going through the trees until out of sight.

 

 

Wade makes his way off the trestle and down the tracks to where his bicycle lay within the woods. He started to head right but turned left on the fire lane, taking him back to the place the guy had accessed the creek. He rode smoothly, with a steady pace, wondering if he would catch up with him, then a bit fearful he would. He followed the fire lane all the way back to the dirt road. A left and he was riding toward the highway that would take him back to town.

As he approached the highway, he saw the guy riding a bicycle toward town. The unbuttoned shirt billowed out behind him as the legs worked the pedals with a steady pace. Unhurried, carefree, and Wade knew, also spent.

For a mile or more, Wade kept behind the guy while debating whether, or not to speed up and approach him. He wondered what to say, amusing himself with foolish opening lines.

That was hot what you did back at the creek.

That was a nice load you pumped out, but next time will you share it with me?

Nice cock: can I play with it?

“Dumbass,” he muttered to himself.

The convenience store that sat south of town was just ahead and Wade saw the guy swing into the parking lot. As he neared, he saw him lean his bicycle on the front wall and head inside. He rode past the first drive, telling himself to just go home, but at the second drive another ‘fuck it’, and he swung around and coasted to the front of the store.

The interior was dull white walls and crowded aisles of candy, chips, and miscellaneous product Wade wondered if ever got sold. The sales counter was just inside the door to the left with the store opening up to the right. Along the far side and rear walls, reach-in cases lined them.

The guy was at a drink display on the back wall, the one with water and sports drinks. Wade strolled toward him, determined to get close enough to really see him. The guy pulled out one of the sports drinks.

“Hey, that’s what I’m looking for,” said Wade in a light tone.

The guy looked around surprised, but he stepped back holding the door open for Wade to take ahold.

“It is hot, isn’t it?” asked Wade.

“Si…yes,” the guy replied.

“I saw you on your bike.”

“I rode to creek.”

“Really? I rode the fire lanes down there.”

“Did you go to creek?” The guy looked nervous.

“Nah, I just rode the fire lanes.”

The guy visibly relaxed. It was obvious he was afraid Wade had seen him. Wade found it humorous, for dried cum was evident on the guy’s chest and stomach and he could smell it. The odd odor of it. But then he wondered if it was his own, he smelled.

“You like to ride?” Wade asked as he twisted off the cap to his drink.

The guy had started to walk toward the front but stopped looking back. He nodded yes, and Wade saw it. Some desire to make a connection with someone, but some fear or insecurity stopped him. Was it their different languages, or did it have to do with something else.

“I’m home for the summer and get bored riding alone. Would you like to ride with me sometime?”

The guy smiled and at first Wade wondered if he had understood him. But when the guy stepped closer, he knew the guy had understood.

“I’d like that.”

“I’m Wade.”

“Wade,” the guy repeated, and he smiled. “I’m Bruno.”

Perfect white teeth. Dark brown eyes, so dark the irises were not visible. Thin black eyebrows arched over each one. The thin lips that curved upward in a smile, forming dimples in the cheeks. And dark skin, smooth, with nickel size nipples. The ballcap was pulled low but sticking out was black hair, straight, a little long. Wade realized how he was looking down, estimating Bruno to be about five foot four, or so.

Wade wondered how he looked to him and if there was anything sexual about it. He saw the eyes survey him, up, then down. Did they give measure of him, his physical aspects. Five foot eleven, one hundred and fifty-two pounds with fair white skin, light brown hair, blue eyes…by nearly every measure, the opposite to Bruno. Would Bruno find him attractive? Did Bruno even think of such a thing when looking at him. The smile gave him hope it was true.

 

 

Three blocks south of the two-block business district, Bruno came to a stop and Wade pulled next to him and stopped too. They had ridden into town with him doing most of the talking, about college, growing up in town, and where he liked to ride his bike. Bruno mentioned a place in Mexico, but Wade couldn’t catch the name, not sure if it was a town or some rural region. There was also mention of his family, how he was eighteen and worked full time with his father’s construction crew installing drywall. Wade knew it meant Bruno couldn’t ride during the week.

“Tomorrow is Sunday. You want to ride with me?” asked Wade.

“Yes,” Bruno replied, then he looked worried, frowning as he looked west. “Where to meet?”

Wade sensed Bruno didn’t want his family to know he was hanging out with the locals, or maybe there was something else at play.

“We can meet here,” Wade replied, pointing at the real estate office behind him on the corner. “Is nine o’clock too early?”

“No. See you here at nine.”

Bruno rode west toward the Latino community. Wade swung his bicycle around headed east, to the old suburban white neighborhood that was home.

 

 

They had been riding for an hour, cutting through town then out into the countryside. Wade let Bruno decide where they would ride, at times falling in behind him. It allowed him to look. The exposed upper body the tank top left exposed, to the legs pumping the pedals exposed by the shorts. It also let Bruno decide whether or not they went down to the fire lanes around Fox Creek, and maybe even to the creek itself.

Bruno led them south, but on Old Federal Road in lieu of Saw Mill Road. The road went to the west of the abandoned train track and its trestle over Fox Creek. They fell into a single file for the road was busy with traffic. Pulpwood trucks, grain trucks, pickup trucks and SUVs made their way around them as they kept up a steady pace, legs working the pedals at a furious pace. Wade felt his body slip into the groove. The steady breathing, the slight burn from his leg muscles from his exertions, and how his body sweated trying to cool itself. Looking ahead, he saw the white tank top was wet and the exposed skin shiny with sweat. But Bruno had not slowed, instead kept a hard pace that surprised him.

Two miles south of Fox Creek, Bruno stood up on the pedals and coasted through a turn onto Harrison Road. It was a narrow slag road that connected Old Federal with Saw Mill, and Wade stood on his pedals feeling the stretch as he straightened his legs and back following Bruno through the turn. Off the main highway, they slowed to a more leisurely pace, Wade coming along side Bruno as they passed stands of pine, the old Primitive Baptist Church, and the Schneider farm, the old dairy barns abandoned with the family doing crop farming instead.

They found one of the fire lanes and headed north. Wade in front, using his knowledge of the lane to know when to ride the right rut and when to ride the left one. They crossed the dirt road, Hinson Farm, and continued north, then west where the lane curved to run parallel to the creek. After a short run, Wade came to a stop desperate for water. Bruno coasted up next to him and pulled out his water bottle, taking several long deep swallows.

“Jesus it’s hot,” Wade uttered, running his forearm across his forehead.

“We could cool off at the creek,” said Bruno.

“The creek; yeah, that is a good idea,” Wade replied making it sound like he had not thought of it.

Bicycles stashed in the edge of the woods; Wade followed Bruno through them until standing the bank of the creek. To their left, the abandoned train trestle loomed over them. Wade had not considered how its height was great enough one had to look up to see the top.

“This is a nice spot,” said Bruno.

“You’ve been here before,” Wade replied.

“Yes.”

“This creek is spring fed, coming from some old woodland near Byrneville, so it’s clean.”

“You can swim in it?”

“If you can stand how cold it is.”

“Should we?”

It came out as a pleading for Wade to say yes. He recognized the desire and how Bruno hoped to at least see him half naked while swimming. He planned to do him one better.

“Sure,” Wade replied, then he looked around making sure no one else was coming upon them. He turned to Bruno, smiling wickedly. “Let’s strip and go in.”

Bruno looked surprised at first, then he smiled as Wade tugged off his old basketball jersey. Bruno tugged off his tank top while watching Wade drop his shorts around his ankles and step out of them. He was undoing his own shorts when Wade was stepping out of his boxers. Naked, cock hanging heavily over its sac, Wade stood straight, unabashed about his nudity. Bruno worked his own shorts and boxers down at once, slipped each foot free, tossing them to the side. He stood before Wade, covering his cock, then absentmindedly tugging on it.

“Yeah, it feels good, doesn’t it,” Wade uttered as he looked at Bruno. The uncut cock that hung down in front of its sac, both dark, much darker than the rest of him. There was the smallest fan of pubic hair over the cock but under each arm a dark patch, the jet-black hair wet from their exertions.

Wade looked at the lean body wondering what it would take to get Bruno to let him touch it. Bruno turned and moved toward the water, and he watched the flex of the round ass cheeks. He imaged his fingers between them or his tongue…or his cock.

“It will feel frigid at first. It is deep on the other side, so I recommend you wade out quickly and just jump or dive into it,” said Wade as he moved next to him.

Bruno giggled, then looked up at Wade. “You go first.”

Wade eased out into the creek. Ankle deep, halfway up his calves, to his knees, then mid-thigh. The bottom had been visible up to then but it suddenly rolled down into the deeper area and Wade dove into it. As the water roiled in his ears, moving with the momentum of his dive, he heard an impact into the water and knew Bruno had dived in behind him.

They surfaced not more than four feet apart. Wade found himself looking into dark brown eyes wondering if Bruno was willing. He paddled to ease a bit closer, and Bruno didn’t back up.

“It feels good,” Wade uttered.

“Yes.”

Wade saw Bruno look back toward the trees and knew he was worried about someone coming upon them.

“No one comes down here. The fire lane is too rough. They go in at the bridge on the highway.”

“So, we’re alone?”

“Yes.”

Bruno moved closer and Wade couldn’t help but smile.

“I’m glad you came with me.”

“Si…yes.”

“Bruno?” Wade asked, letting himself drift a bit closer.

Bruno looked at him. “Yes.”

“Can I come closer?” Wade said it, put it out there thinking what was that worst that could happen. Bruno gets mad and rushes away. He was sure that wouldn’t happen. There was a longing in the expression that just had to mean what he wanted it to mean.

Bruno didn’t reply but he moved closer. Less than two feet between them. Wade could see the little mole under the left eye, the exact shape of the eyebrows, their gentle arch over each eye, the shape of the nose and the lips and the…

A hand brushes his arm, and he sees something else in Bruno’s expression. Determination for something to happen. A foot brushes his foot, then a hand touches his chest.

He smiles as he reaches out to touch him. His fingers graze the chest and Bruno smiles and comes closer. Less than a foot separates them. A hand touches his cock, fingers manipulating it, tugging and working it until it begins to harden. He moves his hand down the chest, the stomach, until he is touching Bruno. He feels the loose skin, the flaccid cock, then tugs on it, works it until it too begins to harden. He works the skin back and toys with the head and hears Bruno moan.

“Let’s get out of the water,” Wade whispers.

Wade lays on the wet sand and Bruno lays next to him and they kiss while stroking the other’s cock. Bruno pulls back and moves down. Wade watches how he slips down until at his waist. Bruno leans over holding up his cock. The first touch, a simple kiss to the head, then the swipe of the tongue over it and Wade moans while putting a hand on the back of Bruno’s neck.

“That feels good,” Wade utters as he pushes a little, not too hard, just enough to encourage Bruno to go further. He watches the mouth slip over his cock and sink down on it. It feels so good he lays back, closes his eyes, and focuses on the feel of it. How Bruno’s lips feel moving up and down his cock, then the tongue working the head. He gets so hard he wants to come.

The mouth comes off his cock, and he opens his eyes to see Bruno moving over him. Holding their cocks together, Bruno works his hips sliding cock along side cock. Slowly, gently, rubbing one against the other.

“Joder…fuck,” Bruno utters.

Wade watches the lean body undulate, provocatively, sensually, as it works their cocks together.

Bruno lets their cocks go and moves over him sitting on his cock. Leaning over, Bruno kisses him passionately, roughly, tongue working into his mouth, then lips moving along his jaw.

“Yes?”

Wade doesn’t know what Bruno asks, but he is too aroused to care. “Yes,” he replies.

Sitting up, Bruno works his ass over Wade’s cock. Back and forth, pinning it down and stroking it with his ass. Then he rises on knees and reaches behind him. Wade feels the fingers on his cock, lifting until it is pointing straight up. Bruno eases down and Wade feels the ass press down on it. Then he shivers at the tightness squeezing down on the head as Bruno stretches to take him. Bruno eases down, slowly, shuddering with the penetration. Wade looks at the lean body, how it is descending on his cock and Bruno’s cock sticks straight out. It flexes, then drools its slick, a bead soon hanging from the head. Wade wishes he could capture it on his tongue knowing how it would be uniquely sweet.

At first, Bruno only worked down just past the head of Wade’s cock, but suddenly he is dropping down, steadily, until fully seated on it.

“You have me,” Wade utters.

Bruno smiles, leans back onto his hands, and begins to work his ass up and down. Slowly, letting them feel how every inch tugs and pushes through the tightness. Wade takes him by the ankles and holds them tightly as the ass moves up and down on his cock. It comes into view, then disappears, over and over, until he is breathing hard and Bruno is gasping for breath.

Bruno increases his pace, slamming down on Wade’s cock, ass smacking against abdomen. He moves with a furious brutal pace, with utterances that sound profane, desperate, each one breathlessly exhaled.

The dark-skinned body soon glistens in the sunlight. Sweat beads up and trickles over it. With head held back, Bruno’s pace slows, and Wade knows he is tired from his exertion. Sitting up, he pulls Bruno up until bearhugging the lean body. It is hot and slick against his skin. It moves slowly up then down on his cock while Bruno’s leaking cock drags over his stomach. He feels like he can’t contain him.

Wade knows he doesn’t want to.

He rolls Bruno to his back on the sand while moving over him. He folds the body beneath him, the legs against his chest. He lets his weight pin him to the ground. Then he fucks. Slowly, tugging out until nearly slipping free, then pushing inward, slowly, savoring the feel of every inch working through the tight opening. Gradually increasing his pace, Wade hears Bruno moan and grunt, while hands cling to him, rub over his sweaty skin, and hug their bodies together.

Wade thinks of the way Bruno moved on his cock, how the body undulated, and he pictures his own body doing the same. The undulation of his torso, the flex of his ass as he pushes inward, and the biceps in his arms bulging and flexing as he holds the body beneath him. He fucks Bruno until slamming down into his depths, hips bouncing off the ass.

“Si…si…” Bruno utters.

Wade is gasping for breath, muscles burning with his exertion, yet he continues to fuck. To drive into Bruno’s depths. It pushes him to the edge, the very edge, and he shudders and jerks, then slams into Bruno and keeps pushing against the upturned ass as his cock explodes, spurting wad after wad into him.

 

 

Wade rolls to his back and sees Bruno move over him, straddling his chest. Bruno is more aggressive, so aroused his cock flexes up and down while drooling its slick. Then the cock is rubbing across Wade’s face, cheek to nose to cheek, then across the lips and around the chin. It leaves a trail of its slick all over his face and he licks his lips, then opens them for he knows it is what Bruno wants. The cock pushes through them and to the back of his throat. Bruno holds his head between both hands and fucks. Fucks with a steady pace, working the cock through his lips, over his tongue, and into his throat. It hits the side of his mouth pushing a cheek out, it rubs the roof of his mouth, then slides along his tongue. The it swells thicker and floods his mouth with cum.

 

 

They wade out into the creek to a place knee deep and sit down. The cool waters swirl around them as it draws the heat from their skin and removes the sweat and sand. They giggle like little kids, then touch each other, playfully at first, then more seriously. Wade pulls Bruno into his lap so they may kiss. It arouses him to feel the body against his own, and to feel it undulating, moving against him with such seduction. He climbs to his feet lifting Bruno with him. He carries him to the bank and eases him down, guiding him to get on hands and knees. Bruno drops his shoulders to the ground and reaches back spreading his ass.

It is too much for Wade. This submission to him, so easily given. The ass spread wide waiting for him to penetrate it again. He puts his cock to the opening and slowly pushes through it, sinking his cock all the way inside him. Every inch, with his abdomen pressed tight to the ass. He leans forward until he can reach around the narrow waist and takes Bruno in hand. The cock is hard, and he strokes it until he feels Bruno trying to move beneath him. Then he rises on knees, holds the narrow waist with both hands, and fucks.

An increasing rhythm until the sound of flesh smacking flesh echoes over the water and through the woods. Bruno moans and grunts, begs him to fuck harder, while taking his own cock in hand. They fuck to cum, Wade hammering cock into Bruno’s depths while he strokes with a furious pace.

Wade fucks. Bruno masturbates. Both maintaining their pace. Bruno comes first, spraying the ground with cum as he shudders and jerks beneath Wade. Wade doesn’t slow, keeps up the pace of his fuck, driving his cock through the opening as it spasms with Bruno’s release. Then he pushes inward, all the way and shudders with his own release.

 

 

Laying in the edge of the creek, waters moving around them, they kiss and touch and playfully toy with each other. It is getting late when they finally dress and head back to the fire lane for their bikes.

 

 

Wade enters the dorm, looking at the others as he had done the previous year. Which are doable. Which are willing. He sizes them up, the new faces and the familiar, some still a bit of mystery to him. He thinks of the summer with Bruno, how their sex was the most intense of his life, nothing from his freshman year compared to it. But summer came to an end, and he had to return to campus and the day before leaving, found out Bruno’s family was moving away, up north somewhere to find better work. He hopes Bruno finds someone for he knows how desperate for affection he had been. He comes to his door and starts to insert the key, but senses he is being watched. He turns and looks in the room directly across the hall. A guy comes to the door in just a pair of cargo shorts. A lean body with dark skin, black hair, dark brown eyes, and a smile with teeth not quite perfect. He pictures Bruno, flashes of him naked taking his cock, then he looks at the guy before him. Taller than Bruno, slightly larger build, but similar in every other way.

“Hey, I’m Santos.”

“Wade. I guess we’re neighbors,” he replies wanting to say more.

Santos steps out into the corridor and Wade sees the eyes survey him. Down then back up until looking him in the eye.

“I hope we can be good friends,” Santos whispers. The seductiveness of it, how it seemed like Santos growled as he said it, made Wade smile.

“I’m sure we can be the best of friends.”