“He’s had a hard year, hasn’t he?”

I glanced over at the man driving the car. Ole-Kristian was looking in the rear view mirror, and I followed his gaze back to Tommy, curled up on the back seat; sleeping soundly. A faint smile touched my lips as I regarded my little brother, looking so young despite being only a year my ( Read more... )

          There’s something about hospitals that scares the shit out of me.

It might be the smell; acidic disinfectant and eye-watering bleach, absurdly attempted to be concealed beneath the artificial scent of pine. Or even just the aura of the place, coldly impersonal, professionally detached. I’d had to spend over a month in such an ( Read more... )

          In the darkness of the bedroom with the lights turned off and the window shades pulled closed, Sidney can pretend that this is isn’t so wrong. That the lean form fixated between his legs isn’t a male younger by two years, just barely legal; that he doesn’t know him, that he’s just another face, just another set of hands and lips. Just a ( Read more... )

          Red. Pink. White.

Hearts of spun sugar and rich chocolate. Roses of the deepest crimson, the palest pink, the purest white. Stuffed bears holding boxed treats in their paws, button noses shaped like hearts. Hearts, hearts, hearts. Little candies, large signs; lying lovers. Young men and women symbolically handing over their ( Read more... )

          The roses were a bit too much, Ilya decided, as he critically regarded the glass vase of red-petaled flowers. Long-stemmed and deep crimson, they just seemed out of place atop the white tablecloth that covered the round dining table. The three plates set at equal distances around the table were trimmed in silver, matching the cutlery, ( Read more... )

          I never much liked the All Star breaks. Even when I was actually on the team, I wasn’t too fond of the idea-they broke the rhythm of the season, changed the momentum. I know some guys enjoy the time to rest and recuperate, but for me, I always just wanted to get back to playing real hockey.

“Would you care for a martini, sir?”
( Read more... )

          Fingers stroked my sweaty forehead. Hands slid across my bare shoulders, down my arms, gently massaging. Lips pressed below my ear and I mumbled incoherently, fighting to think coherently through the fog in my mind.

“Nn..stop…”

But the gentle caresses continued despite my protest. I pulled away from those strong ( Read more... )

Part Seventeen

“Mmm…”

I sighed contently as a hot stream of water hit the back of my neck. The glass door of the shower fogged up as steam rose from the heated water, soothing my tired muscles; washing the dirt and sweat from my skin. I ducked my head beneath the pounding spray, closing my eyes as the water slicked my hair ( Read more... )

          Sergei likes how Nikolai appeals to all five of his senses.

When they’re together, close and joined at the hip, Sergei finds he’s inescapably lulled into an almost blissful peacefulness with Nikolai around. On the bus, with Nikolai’s head resting on his shoulder, hair tickling his neck; on the plane, when Nik curls up tiredly ( Read more... )

          You know, it wasn’t always like this. There weren’t always the bright lights of the media, the black ink of newspapers; the snapped photos of our lives exposed for all to see. Before all the fame and glory, before the infamy and the smears, he was just my little boy. My solnyshko; my sun, my son-my Sergei. There was once a time before the ( Read more... )