Page 16 of Summer Skin

ANOTHER TWENTY MINUTESand it would be midnight, which meant Chase was definitely not ringing in the new year with a kiss. His hand wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate as he listened to Andi bemoan the fact that someone was singing “Last Christmas” for the third time that night.

“I mean, Christmas was over last week.”

“I know,” Chase answered, and blew across the top of his mug. The chilly nip of winter was in the air, and he and Andi were huddled up on Heidi’s porch under the soft warmth of string lights, a blanket shaped like a snowman draped over their laps.

An exaggerated sigh left Andi’s lips and Chase wondered if they would have been better off just staying home. Open mics at Heidi’s had become a habit, and they were nearly always a good time. Even tonight had been amusing when Andi coaxed him into playing guitar as she sang a duet with Piper that ended in a round of giggles on stage, but there’d been an emptiness in the air all night.

An obvious lack of Aven.

He’d flown to a ski resort in the Northern French Alps with his family the minute school let out for winter break. It’d been nearly two weeks since they’d last seen each other, since they’d last touched, and Chase had been counting down the days until Aven’s return tonight like it was, well, Christmas.

Besides, he’d been promised a kiss at midnight.

But a flight delay put Aven hours behind. The last text Chase received told him they weren’t going to make the ferry in time and would do the long drive across the bridge instead. But he promised to be there before midnight.

“Obviously we should have done some death metal to really liven this place up.” Andi nudged his side. “We could have dressed you as Krampus.”

It was funny how easily Andi could make him feel like part of their group. Even though Chase didn’t sport expensive new clothes and shoes or a trendy haircut. Andi made him feel welcome, and because she came as a package deal with Piper and Elena, they’d easily accepted him as well.

But it wasn’t the same as what he had with Aven. Which was intoxicating in a way that made his chest go soft like melting wax. He’d missed that. An almost compulsive need to touch and be touched by the other man. The way his company made the entire world feel brighter, made Chase want to belong.

“Oh, shit!” Andi’s nails dug into his thigh.

“What’s wrong?”

“There she is,” Andi hissed. “What’s she doing here?”

Chase whipped his head left and right, clueless. “Who?”

“Emi,” she said, her voice whisper quiet.

Emi Hayashi. Chase sat behind her in math class. She had a tattoo of poison hemlock creeping up the side of her neck. She liked to hum under her breath, but he’d never been able to place any of the tunes. She smelled like cloves and wore her hair in a messy bun piled at the top of her head.

She was also Andi’s longtime crush.

“You could maybe try talking to her tonight?”

“What ... I mean, no. No!”

“Why not? Might be the right night. Who are you going to kiss at midnight?”

She gives him a sideways smile. “I was actually thinking of luring Trent Williams into making out so I could say I’ve tongued a rock star.”

“That’s … really gross, Andi.”

“I know. But it’s not like there are many other options around.”

“Except the girl you actually like?”

Andi hesitated, tapping a thumb against her mug of cocoa. “You really think there’s a chance she might like me back?”

“I think you’ll never know unless you try.”

“Fine.” She closed her eyes, muttering something under her breath. Then she looked at Chase and demanded, “Pinkie swear you’ll take me home and feed me cookies and brush my hair and tell me I’m pretty if I fuck this up.”

“You won’t mess it up. But, yeah, I’ll take care of you if it doesn’t go the way you want.”

His pinkie met hers in a solemn shake.

“Thanks Chase,” she said, the corners of her eyes crinkling. He wished her his very best luck, and she pushed off the porch steps, hurrying to find Emi.

Someone plopped down beside him, filling Andi’s vacated spot. Chase’s heart jumped to his throat. Aven. But when he turned, it was Trent Williams staring back at him.

“She sounds amazing,” Trent said, nodding towards Heidi on stage. He gave Chase a lopsided grin. He was wearing leather again, and a gray t-shirt that reminded Chase of his hit song.

“I guess you’re home for the holidays?”

“You guess right.” Trent knocked his knee against Chase’s like they were old friends. In reality, he hadn’t a clue why Trent bothered to make time to talk to some high school kid at all. Familiar pinpricks of self-consciousness danced up his spine.

He cleared his throat. “You going to sing something tonight?”

Trent’s eyes flicked to his and then back to Heidi on stage. “Maybe.”

“I think you’d make the entire year for a lot of people in this crowd if you did ‘Gray Everyone’ tonight.”

Ice-blue eyes considered him for a moment, and then Trent tilted his head towards the house in invitation.

It was cold, and Aven still hadn’t texted him back. And honestly? Chase was more than a little curious what Trent could possibly want to talk about.

A blast of warmth hit as soon as they stepped inside. Heidi’s house was still decorated for Christmas, holiday lights sparkling in the dimly lit room. Party-goers were scattered here and there, but the mood inside was about a million times more mellow than the full-on celebration going on outside. Trent led them towards the same hallway where they’d first met months ago.

“Is this, like, your idea of a good conversation spot?” Chase asked, scratching the back of his neck.

“It’s a little more private,” Trent replied with a smirk.

In the pause that followed, awkward as anything, Chase shifted on his feet, and then blurted, “What did you want to talk about?”

“I dunno.” Trent looked him up and down before meeting Chase’s eyes. “You sounded killer up there tonight. And you look really nice.”

He must mean Chase’s new sweater, a Christmas gift from his aunt and uncle. Ethically sourced hunter green wool, soft and expensive in a way that made him feel like an impostor when he pulled it on.

“Thanks, it was a gift. What about you? Get anything you liked this year?”

“Not yet.” One eyebrow lifted. “But there’s still a few minutes ‘til midnight.”

Chase’s arms folded across his chest. It was nearly midnight. Where was Aven?

Trent cocked his head to the side. “Do you want to go upstairs?”

Chase’s brows drew together in confusion. “What for?”

Trent blinked at him like he couldn’t possibly be that dim, and like a light switch, Chase finally got it. Trent Williams, the rock star, was trying to get him into bed in a way that seemed blindingly obvious now that Chase had gotten a clue.

Shocked, Chase met Trent’s light blue eyes, sharp and icy. So unlike the warmth he was used to. He wanted—

“You ever been with a guy before?”

—Aven.

“Someone’s waiting for me,” he mumbled, hoping it was true. He reached a hand into his back pocket for his phone but found it empty. “My phone. Where’s my phone?”

Trent gave him a thin smile. “Maybe you left it out on the porch?”

Damn.

“I gotta—”

He jerked a thumb toward the end of the hall and spun away, rushing for the door.

After a frantic couple of seconds searching, his phone tumbled from the folds of a blanket, and Chase quickly thumbed to his texts where he found a slew of missed messages. All from Aven.

AVEN:Just parked. Where are you? I need to ask you something

Less than a minute to midnight. His eyes left the phone to scan the crowd.

AVEN:Can’t find you

Jogging down the steps, Chase craned his neck this way and that, but Aven was nowhere to be found.

AVEN:Don’t see you inside

The music came to a halt as Heidi stepped up to the mic. “Hello friends and ex-enemies! Who’s ready to start the new year with a banger? It’s almost time for the big countdown and a song to make you jump around!”

AVEN:You in the bathroom?

AVEN:Chase?

“Ten!” Heidi shouted into the mic.

AVEN:Gonna check around back in case you needed some quiet

“Nine!” More voices joined in.

AVEN:If you get this meet me there

“Eight!” The entire crowd chanted to the sky.

Chase took off around the side of the house in a sprint.

“Seven!”

He wasn’t going to make it.

“Six!”

He was going to miss a kiss with Aven at midnight.

“Chase?” He immediately recognized the voice.

“Five!”

He raced even harder.

“Four!”

A turn of the corner and Aven came into sight, turning in a circle, calling his name.

“Three!”

Aven’s smile was a beacon once he spotted Chase barreling towards him.

“Two!”

Strong arms wrapped around him as he crashed into Aven’s chest. “There you are,” Aven said in a voice as dreamy as the sky at twilight.

“One!”

His mouth met Aven’s in a full, demanding kiss. Pouring out every second of pent-up want he’d felt for the last two weeks. His hands slid into Aven’s hair, pulling him closer, hanging on. Somewhere in the night an explosion of fireworks lit up the sky with thunder to rival the beat of his heart.

Finally, a minute, or five, or maybe an hour later, they pulled apart.

Aven leaned in for one more quick kiss on the corner of his mouth. “Hi,” he said, a ridiculously happy grin on his face.

“How was skiing?”

“Dude, I don’t ski. I spent most of the time thinking about fucking you and binge-watching Love Island.”

Chase huffed out a fond laugh.

“What?”

“You always surprise me.”

“In a good way?”

“Very.”

Aven’s face lit up.

“So you had a good trip?”

“Yeah, it was fine. My sister was there. Cassie.”

“You close?”

“Not at all. She’s four years older and thinks I’m a total brat.”

“I mean, you sort of are.”

Aven gave his shoulder a light shove. “Bully.”

“I’m only trying to keep you humble,” Chase said with a smile. “But for real, I missed you. I’m glad you’re back.”

“Me too. You’re spending the night at my place, right?”

“Yes.” He toyed with the zipper on Aven’s coat, running it up and down. “What was it you wanted to ask?”

“Ask?” Aven said.

“Your text, you said you had something to ask me?”

“Right.” Aven glanced away, then looked back. “So, I’ve been wondering. Are you my boyfriend?”

Chase’s heart stuttered in his chest. “Are you asking me to be your boyfriend?”

“I sort of spent all break wondering if we’re already each other’s, but just haven’t said it out loud?”

His eyebrows raised hopefully and Chase bit his bottom lip into his mouth, considering this. After spending endless time with Aven, sharing their bodies in so many intimate ways, there was still a part of him that wondered why. What Aven saw in him when he could have anyone, everyone, he could ever want. Being with Aven felt like borrowing time from a dream he never wanted to wake from. Aven asking if it could become something more real, something said out loud, felt nearly impossible.

“You really want me like that?”

Aven’s eyes went tender. He took a step closer. “I want you in every way. I always have, since the very first time I saw you.”

Chase exhaled, letting his shoulders relax. “You mean that extra sentimental moment where you told me to get the fuck out of your way?”

A breath of laughter, and then Aven grew serious. “Meeting you hit me so fucking hard, I didn’t know which way was up.” His hand cupped Chase’s face, tracing the line of his cheekbone. “But now I know, I’m yours.”

Chase slid his fingers over Aven’s, placing a gentle kiss across the top of his knuckles. “My boyfriend.”

Hands laced together, they headed back to the party. And though their fingers were cold with the chill of winter midnight, Chase felt remarkably warm.

It was the strangest thing … but Chase had a feeling it was going to be a happy new year.