Page 6

Aldo

I tie my laces before standing up and swinging my bag over my shoulder. After triple checking that I have my keys and phone, I head outside. I make a startled noise as I realize Gendry is already outside my door, waiting for me.

“Good morning,” I say once I’ve gotten my racing heart under control. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Gendry tilts his head to the side in a way that makes my stomach swoop with fondness. He always does that when I say something confusing or a phrase he doesn’t quite understand. He hands me the translating device and I stick it into my ear so I can understand him.

“Good morning. Was this not the correct place to meet you? Should I have waited for you to knock on my door? Have I messed up a human ritual again?”

“Absolutely not. You’re perfect,” I tell him seriously, reaching out and squeezing his upper arm. Dios mío, those arms are ridiculously muscled in a way that makes my cock twitch with interest. I need to keep myself under control because these shorts will do nothing to hide an erection.

Gendry stares down at me, his eyes achingly soft. “You charmer,” he says, making me chuckle.

“Look at you! Learning all the lingo.”

“I have a great teacher.”

“Come on,” I say, placing my hand in the crook of Gendry’s arm. We walk down the hallway. “We’ve got some place to be and I don’t want to be late. If we’re late, I will get teased mercilessly.”

“I do not wish to see someone tease you.”

“It’s okay, Gendry. It’s just some of my cousins and their friends.”

“You have family here?”

I nod my head as we make our way outside. The air is crisp and the wind has a chill to it. The sun is out and by noon, it’ll be ridiculously hot but for now, it’s the perfect weather for being active.

“My mother and her sisters immigrated here at the same time. They started on a visa but then they worked really hard to get their green card. My cousins and I were all born here. We were all raised to know English and Spanish which I’ve always been incredibly proud of, being able to stay true to my heritage while also being able to understand everyone here.”

“That is incredible,” Gendry says, awe tinting his voice. “Learning multiple languages is a feat worthy of praise.”

I duck my head, smiling. “Thank you.” I bite my bottom lip for a moment. “Sometimes I still feel like an outsider. When I was younger I would speak Spanish at school with my cousins and people thought it was weird. Sometimes people make me feel like an outsider, but I like it here. It’s my home.”

“I’m sorry people have made you feel like that.”

“Thankfully, this city is a melting pot of people. Diversity makes a city better and I’m proud to be a part of it. It’s probably why you fit in with us so well,” I add with a grin, hitting my hip against Gendry’s leg. He stumbles before correcting himself, turning towards me with a frown.

“Are you alright?”

I chuckle. “I’m good. I just wanted to shove you a little bit. It was an affectionate gesture.”

Gendry is wearing a pair of shorts that cut off above his knees, his shirt is sleeveless. His tail swings behind him and he’s careful not to let it hit anyone as we walk down the street. This is the first time I’ve noticed that Gendry doesn’t really have hair anywhere on his body but for his head. His legs and arms have none. Interesting.

There’s so much dark purple skin on display and it’s taking all of my effort not to stare at him. He’s so hot and I know what I’ll be thinking about tonight when I’m home alone with my hand wrapped around myself.

“This way,” I tell him, grabbing his hand and pulling him over towards the park near our apartment building. “I hope you’re feeling limber and loose, Gendry, because we’re about to play some soccer.”

Gendry’s face lights up with the brightest smile I’ve ever seen. His eyes shine with excitement and I can’t stop looking at his adorable little fangs.

“Really?”

He sounds like a kid who’s been told he’s allowed to stay up late. It’s adorable. “Yes, really.”

Gendry hip checks me but because of his size and the fact that I wasn’t ready for it, he plows me over. I sprawl into the grass, letting out a gasp of surprise.

“Oh gods! I’m so sorry, Aldo! I was trying to do the affectionate gesture back at you.”

I sit up, giving him a thumbs up. “All good! I’m okay!”

“Maybe I should go back home.”

I jump to my feet and grab Gendry by the front of his shirt before he can run away. “Absolutely not. We’re here and we’re going to play some football. Don’t you dare go.”

Gendry blinks down at me. “You’re quite scary when you are dominant like this.”

“Thank you,” I say because I’m not really sure how I’m supposed to respond to a comment like that. “Hopefully not scary enough to scare you away.”

Gendry looks down at himself before looking back at me. “I am not afraid,” he says slowly. It takes me far too long to realize what he’s implying and when I finally get it, my body warms all over.

Oh.

Oh .

He enjoyed that I was dominant despite our size difference. Okay, that’s good to know and something I’ll keep in mind as we continue to spend time together. I have no idea where this relationship is going, or if it’s a relationship at all, but the more I get to know Gendry the more I want to see this through to the very end.

“Come on,” I say, grabbing his wrist. “My cousins are over here and if we keep them waiting, they’ll start cat-calling.”

“What does a cat have to do with playing football?”

“I mean, they’ll start teasing us and making kissing noises.”

Gendry startles. “Kissing noises? After I hit you to the ground? Do you often bring giant aliens who push you down to meet your cousins?”

I squeeze his wrist, smiling up at him. “Nope. You’re the first. I hope you feel special.”

“I do,” he says seriously. “You make me feel very special.”

I open my mouth to respond but before I can, Carlos is jumping into the conversation.

“Aldo!” Carlos calls out, making us both look up. “You’re the last one to arrive. Not that any of us are surprised.”

There are chuckles all around. I shake my head, letting out a snort as I walk over to the group waiting for us. Carlos, Benny, Miguel, Hector, Sal, and Marcus are all here. They’ve brought a few friends along with Benny and Hector’s partners. Perfect numbers for a six on six match.

“Thanks for waiting for us,” I say, clasping Carlos on the shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

“Of course. We couldn’t start without you.”

“And why is that?”

“We were curious about who your mysterious extra player was,” Sal says with a grin, his eyes darting between Gendry and I. “The wait was worth it.”

I rub the back of my neck before pulling my bag off my shoulder. I turn towards Gendry, waving a hand in front of him. “Everyone, this is Gendry. He’s my neighbor and I promised I would take him to a proper football match,” I explain. “Please go easy on him. He’s never played before.”

“Nice to meet you,” Carlos says with a wave. “I’m Carlos.” Then he points everyone out including Page and Michelle, Benny and Hector’s partners.

As the introductions are happening, I walk over to the picnic table near the field. “Hey, Carmen,” I say in greeting to my niece. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you at one of these things.”

Carmen lets out a little sigh. My niece is 14 years old and knee deep in all the worst parts of being a teenager. Carmen is Benny’s daughter. He had her when he was just 18. I feel way too young to have a teenage niece but here we are.

“My boyfriend broke up with me and Papi didn’t want me at home alone wallowing in self pity.”

“Your Papi is very wise.” Then I wince. “Well, he is now. Don’t ask me about when he was your age.”

Carmen giggles. “I’ll keep score.” Then she looks over at Gendry, her cheeks pinkening. “Is that your boyfriend? He’s so big , Aldo!”

“Dios mío, Carmen! Don’t talk like that!” I walk away, leaving my niece a mess of giggles as I go. I’m happy that frown has faded and I’ve given her a moment of joy even if it means it’s at my own expense.

I run onto the field, joining the guys already out here warming up. I kick the ball a few times, do a few stretches, and then run over to Gendry, pulling him onto the field.

“Enough chatting,” I tell him with a laugh. “I brought you here to play. Come on.”

“They can’t understand me,” he says softly. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

I frown, completely forgetting that Gendry doesn’t speak English. I make a mental note to stick around so I can help translate for my cousins.

“Don’t let the ball touch your hands. Don’t use your body against other people too much, especially because you’re so much bigger than most of us,” I explain with a grin.

“Speak for yourself,” Hector calls out, slapping his belly.

“I said most of us!”

“We can’t all be as tiny as you, pequeno!” Sal says, stealing the ball from me and kicking it over to Michelle. She grins in my direction, probably overjoyed to no longer be the newest addition to our group.

“There’s a lot of talking going on when we were here to play some football!”

“Skins and shirts?” Benny asks, running down the field and holding up his hand for Michelle to pass. She does and he takes it, turning, and dribbling it back towards us.

“We usually split couples up but today, I think we’ll allow Aldo and Gendry on the same team?” There’s a cheer of agreement from my cousins. The teams end up with myself, Gendry, Carlos, Hector, Benny, and Sal on a team. The rest are on the other team.

We quickly strip out of our shirts, tossing them onto the table by Carmen. She picks mine up and sniffs it, making a disgusted face that makes Gendry chuckle.

I can’t stop staring at Gendry now that his shirt is off. His stomach is toned and hard, his pecs have the most adorable purple nipples on them. I can’t stop thinking about running my hands all over his purple skin or feeling those muscles lifting me up as he fu--

“We start with the ball,” I say to Gendry, doing my best to cut my thirsty thoughts off before I embarrass myself. “We have a rule where whoever is the newest to the game starts with the ball. And that would be you today.”

“Okay,” he says slowly. “What do I do with it?”

I set it on the ground and pat him on the shoulder which is now naked. His skin is hot against my palm and it makes my mouth run dry. “Now? Now we play some football.”