𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝚗𝚍, 𝚃𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚍𝚊𝚢
Miles POV

Something, or someone, kicks me in the shin and pulls me out of deep sleep. I inhale deeply and groan as I shift. The bed creaks, and the body pressed against me stirs.

Someone pressed against me stirs.

My eyes crack open, and I blink against the hazy sunlight trying to peek past the curtains. The shelf of football trophies on the far wall is dimly illuminated by the sun, and I blink as the night comes back to me.

Instead of my memory being murky from alcohol and substance abuse, it's crystal clear this morning. I can recall every last detail, from the smell of lake water to using one of Parker's towels and even getting down and dirty with him.

Actually, that last bit might've been a dream. I couldn't believe my luck then, and I still can't believe it now as he nestles closer to me.

His breaths are deep and peaceful. We must've pieced together at some point during the night because I don't remember falling asleep with the length of his body spooned to me.

Parker is curled up, his head resting on the mattress. With each inhale, his bare back presses into my chest, and he made himself real comfortable against my hips.

My fingers stroke over Parker's dark swathe of hair as I gently brush the strands away from his face, and I close my eyes as I appreciate this moment of peace. His heel scrapes against my ankle, and I've still got the leftover taste of him on my tongue. I bite my cheek to keep from smiling like a fool. And maybe I am one.

God, I curse to myself. I knew I shouldn't have let things go so far last night.

This great memory will be torturous if he decides not to follow through with coming out. All of this, everything that's happened over the past twelve hours, the past week—hell, even the past month—will have been for nothing.

I like to tell myself that I could get over Parker as I have with the rest, except he is different.

It's been a long time since I've met someone who completes me and challenges me so perfectly without fail every day. I don't want to wait another few decades for my next kindred spirit to come along.

A phone buzzing in the sheets throws me out of my pondering.

Gritting my teeth, I take my hand out of Parker's hair and gingerly peel myself away from him. I must've knocked him around good last night because he doesn't even wake up; all he does is sigh and sleepily stretch, the bottom of his foot running down my leg.

I knock my hand behind my head before successfully bumping into my phone. Scooting it closer, I grab it and hold it in front of my face, squinting and blinking at the bright screen.

Notifications are piled up at the bottom. A few recent text message notifications are at the top and also the culprit of the buzzing.

Turner (4): dude where the fuck are you?

Where am I... My gaze flicks up to the time.

"Oh shit," I whisper to myself.

It's a quarter after nine. I'm usually at school by now because it fucking started over an hour ago.

So much for me knocking Parker out. That bastard got to me, too.

I send Turner a quick text to apologize for running late. Turning my phone off, I set it down and prop myself up on an elbow as I grab Parker by the shoulder and gently shake him. I'd like to wake him up a few different ways, but unfortunately, time isn't on our side this morning.

"Park. Parker," I say gently.

He moans and rolls his face deeper into the mattress as he shifts his body backward, only stopping when he runs into me again.

"Dude, we gotta get a move on. We overslept," I whisper and glance at his neck's soft, white skin. As much as I'm dying to lean down and kiss every inch of it, this isn't the time to push boundaries. We did enough of that last night.

That does the trick. Parker readjusts and rolls over, blinking sleepily as he comes too. "Wha...?"

"It's almost nine-thirty. Did you set an alarm at all?"

Parker scoffs drowsily and shakes his head. "No, I forgot. I got a little... sidetracked."

This little bitch smirks, and his gaze drops down my body. Man, I knew this boy was totally gay for me, and I love to see it. That look alone could get me going again. It's his sexy, raspy morning voice that almost does me in.

"Me too." I run a hand over my head. "I don't think your parents ever tried waking us up."

"They wouldn't have. Usually they're gone before I make it downstairs. They probably assumed we would be well-behaved, orderly boys who care for ourselves."

I laugh a little at his words and sit up. "Just like they assumed we could share a room and end up not touching all over each other?" Adjusting the hem of my t-shirt, I tug my lips up and look at Parker out of the corner of my eye.

Much to my amusement, he's bright red. "Yeah, like that. Um, I should apologize..."

"Don't." I shake my head and throw the blankets off of me. "There's nothing to apologize for. It's like I've been saying, we both know there's something between us by now. I'm not sorry that we explored that." The floor is cold on my feet as I swing out of bed. "I'll only be sorry if it was all for nothing. I don't enjoy leading my one-night stands on."

Parker scoffs again, with a little more power this time, as he sits up and watches me. "I'm not one of your hook-ups. You know that."

It's difficult to take him seriously with dried drool on the corner of his mouth, red sheet marks imprinted on his cheek, and his hair disheveled. I humor him by smiling. "I want to know that before we move on. You said it yourself that you're not out yet."

"I know." He looks away and runs a hand over his hair. "I'll figure this out for us. Believe me."

"I always have. Is it cool if I use your bathroom and get ready? As much as I'd love to spend all day here with you, we should probably get to school."

Parker nods and kicks the blankets off. "That's fine. I'll get ready after you, then we... God dammit. Do we still need to get your car?"

"Sí, so let's make this quick!" I clap my hands together and grab my phone off of the bed.

Moving fast, he leans over the bed and takes my wrist as I grab my phone. "First... one more kiss?" He smiles sheepishly.

I can't help but laugh. Man, I knew that I knocked a few screws loose from him last night, but he's really getting greedy now.

"This is all you get until you're ready to have a big boy conversation." I rest a hand on Parker's jaw and gently press my lips to his. It's the type of kiss that gets the job done and hopefully will leave him wanting more.

Considering how his fingers tighten around my wrist, it does the trick.

"Fuck you," Parker replies with a smile before letting go.

~

Getting to my car and retrieving it ended up being more of a chore than I realized.

Trying to get out of the house alone took us an extra half-hour. Between Parker trying to scrounge up an outfit for me, both of us getting ready, quickly scarfing down breakfast, and running out the door, it wasn't an easy task.

Then, once we got to my car, it took an hour for me to get it running.

Yeah. A full fucking hour.

It's safe to assume that the damn battery needs to be replaced because it never should've taken that long. Parker probably learned twenty new curse words in Spanish.

This entire morning has felt like the universe giving both of us boys the middle finger. As if we needed a little karma after such a great night last night.

I curse under my breath now as I follow Parker into the school parking lot. Here's another chip on the table: since we're late, the lot is packed to the edges.

"Fuck this," I mutter and switch gears as we're forced to drive to the back lot. It's a miracle that we find an open section... as humanly far from the school as possible.

Sliding my car into park, I turn it off and jump out. Parker and I shut our car doors in unison, and we have the same idea as we start to break it for the school.

"Okay, D1!" I yell after Parker as he starts to gain ground on me. "Slow your roll! We're already fuckin' late!"

Parker laughs and slows his freakishly fast strides so I can keep up. "How in the world do you ball on the court if you can't outrun the other team?"

"I can outrun the other team! You're just a science experiment gone insanely wrong!"

"Or insanely right!"

"Whatever," I scold and grin as our strides match up, our heels slapping the asphalt in time with each other.

The adrenaline keeps me from becoming winded, so we sail to the front doors and quickly slide into the front office, pleading our case with the faculty. Thanks to my charm and Parker's status, we get by without even a warning.

We speed-walk down the hall together, not wanting to risk getting yelled at for running, and I pull my phone out to check the time. Son of a bitch. We're late for history. This is gonna be difficult to play off.

I follow Parker through the halls, only stopping for a moment by our lockers to gather our supplies. Our next stop is at class, and I mutter a thank you as he holds the door open for me.

Naturally, everyone's eyes are on us the second we walk into the room. A deaf person could hear a pin drop with how quiet it gets.

I can only imagine what this must look like: Parker constantly running off with the gay kid. Parker showing up late to class with the gay kid.

And from how some of our peers' eyebrows raise when they recognize the shirt I have on, I bet they're wondering what the actual fuck I'm doing wearing his clothes. Or at least, Rose definitely thinks that from the way her eyebrows are almost aligned with her hairline.

Greyson turns around and blinks at us, the red dot from his laser on my chest. "Oh. Boys, I already got a call that... Never mind. Um, this is a pleasant surprise."

Like daughter, like father. Greyson also notices what I'm wearing, and confusion clouds his vision.

I put on my best, most charming smile to try and play off the sudden awkwardness. "Why? You think we'd blow off our favorite teacher?"

I walk towards the desks first and hear a blond kid cough, covering up his muffled sentence. "Yeah, 'cause you were definitely blowing each other."

There's no reason to hide my middle finger as I walk past the blond kid and sit down, waving my hand at Greyson. "I apologize for disrupting your lesson. Please, continue."

He tilts his chin at me. "Thank you, Miles. Anyway, we left off last week..."

Parker slinks after me, and I know that he heard that asshole, too, from the way his shoulders hunch and his face goes pale.

It baffles me how twelve hours ago he was so confident with himself, only to get watered down by the inferior opinion of some weasel-looking-ass kid. I learned a long time ago not to take advice from boys I wouldn't bang raw.

But Parker isn't me. He keeps his head down and silently takes his seat. We might've been at our closest together this morning, but the chasm is already back between us again.