— t w e n t y - t w o —
"WELL," REED SAID, AFTER a long uncertain pause. "That was awkward."
"Yeah," Oliver said. "It would be safe to say that was incredibly awkward."
In addition to how awkward that entire situation was, and the fact that they still had four days left to get through the holiday together, Oliver couldn't help feeling he had somehow played an unwitting part in that break-up. It had been triggered by Clair's rather pointed forfeit involving the two of them kissing and more than once, Adam had brought up the fact that she flirted with Oliver. Oliver had a bad feeling Clair wasn't the only one in Adam's bad books on that account. Adam and Clair were pissed off at each other, Adam was possibly pissed off at Oliver; these next four days would be unbearable. Funny how Reed was the only one who had managed to avoid pissing someone off this time.
That's when Oliver remembered, with acute intensity, his close proximity to Reed. Their arms were pressed against one another, their bodies flush despite all the space, their feet still touching. Reed seemed to have a similar realisation at the exact same moment. Their gazes caught and held; heat zipped all the way down Oliver's spine to his toes. He felt like a live wire, one touch away from sparking up.
"So," Oliver said.
Reed swallowed. His gaze flitted to Oliver's mouth, only for a moment. A moment Oliver couldn't have missed even if he tried. "So?"
"So..." Without Clair's calculating gaze burning hot on them, Oliver let his hand move from where it had spent the whole night firmly in his lap to brush Reed's hand. He was rewarded with a shiver from Reed, his throat bobbing when he swallowed again. It made him bolder, encouraged by the desire blazing in Reed's eyes, the way he definitely wasn't pulling away this time. "I never went through with my dare."
"I distinctly remember you requesting a forfeit."
"You didn't seem too pleased about the dare," Oliver said, letting his fingers trail up Reed's wrist. "As much as I would have loved to do it, I told you I'd never do anything you don't want me to do. And I meant it."
"And I told you," Reed said, "that maybe I do want you to do something."
This time, Reed kissed him. The hot coals of desire that had been simmering in the pit of Oliver's stomach from first moment he had seen Reed in the dining hall, scrubbing orange juice angrily from his shirt, were stoked to a blazing fire. Just like in the bathroom of the London bar, there was nothing soft or reserved about the kiss. It was heated, wild, intense, Reed's hands roaming down his chest and Oliver's going up to curl in the fine, pale hair at the nape of his neck. It felt like silk between his fingers. Oliver drew him closer, mouth hungrily exploring Reed's, the bubbly tang of champagne still bright on his tongue. Reed's lips parted beneath his own and his moan when Oliver slipped his tongue in his mouth left him dizzy with desire.
But the sound of it also snapped Oliver a little out of the lustful haze that had descended over him. He drew back slightly, not enough to put any distance between them but enough that he could attempt to think straight without Reed's mouth on his. The sight of Reed's flushed face and huge pupils was almost enough to throw all caution to the wind in favour of kissing him again. But Oliver had to remember he was dealing with someone who was incredibly flighty over anything that questioned his sexuality, and said flight risk was also his best friend, so he couldn't risk ruining everything between them over his own badly suppressed needs. No matter how good it felt.
"What?" Reed demanded, a little breathlessly. "Lost your nerve already?"
"No, I just think we should talk about this first."
"What's there to talk about?"
Reed dug impatient fingers into the sensitive skin at the waistband of his trunks and Oliver sucked in a sharp breath, instinctively leaning in closer to his touch. He came closer to losing the battle with his willpower this time and had to press a hand to Reed's chest to physically stop himself.
"Last time I kissed you, you freaked out," Oliver reminded him. "Said that it was just a drunken mistake and we had to forget it ever happened. As much I want to do this, I'm not letting it just end in regret and awkwardness."
These words seemed to finally sink in and Reed leant back to give Oliver enough space. He was at once relieved and disappointed that there was any space at all between them, especially when the memory of Reed's hot skin against his own was so freshly imprinted in his mind. Reed was studying him with an intensity that left Oliver's insides squirming and for once, Oliver didn't have a clue what he could be thinking. Reed absently bit his lip in thought and Oliver imagined being the one to bite it, to do something to draw that moan from him again.
"I'm not drunk," he said, the words carefully chosen as if he was convincing himself of them too. "And I don't think this is a mistake."
Oliver heard the note of uncertainty there. "Will you wake up tomorrow thinking it is?"
There was a long pause. Reed was still studying him, an appraisal that seemed to be equal parts desire and wariness, as if he was finding it hard to pick apart the confusing tangle of his own emotions."
"I don't know," he said finally.
"Okay." It was Oliver's turn to pause as he considered that. "I don't really know what to do with that information."
Reed reached up and brushed a lock of damp hair from Oliver's eyes, letting his hand linger against his cheek. It was at odds with the heat and passion they had handled each other with so far; it was an almost tender gesture, his touch gentle. Oliver's squirming insides melted into a puddle of goo and again, it was instinct to lean into his hand.
"I do know that right now, I want this," Reed said. "I want...I want you. Isn't that enough?"
It was enough. It was more than enough, and even if it hadn't been, Oliver didn't think he had the strength to turn back now. He had been dreaming about this moment for longer than he could remember and now Reed was here, thumb brushing a featherlight pattern across Oliver's jaw, icy gaze burning with need. Need for him. Oliver caught his face between his hands and drew him in for a kiss. This one started softer, the two of them taking the time to savour the taste and feeling of each other, memorising the way Reed felt flush against him. Things quickly grew more heated; Reed tilted his head down to part Oliver's lips beneath his own and Oliver returned it by catching his bottom lip between his teeth, biting down lightly just as he had imagined doing so minutes ago. Every one of his nerve endings sparked at the way Reed shuddered beneath him.
Reed responded to that by shoving Oliver back against the hot tub and shifting forward until he was straddling his hips. Oliver's breath caught in his throat at the press of Reed's body against his own and a moan of his own rose from his throat as Reed's mouth began roaming across his jaw, down his neck. He lingered over the hollow of this throat and sucked the soft skin there hard enough to make Oliver moan again.
Reed brought his lips back up to meet Oliver's again to murmur, "I know I'm good, but you better keep it down."
Oliver grinned against his lips. "Clair and Adam have been traumatised enough today without walking in on this. Speaking of," he said, letting his hands roam up the muscles planes of Reed's shoulders, cradling the back of his neck. "Adam's parents will be back any moment. We'll be more than traumatised if they find us like...this."
Reed tensed against him. "Shit."
He immediately slid off Oliver and moved to the other end of the hot tub with an almost rueful look. His lips were swollen from the aggression of their kisses, pale hair tousled where Oliver had run his hands through it. Oliver already wanted to yank him closer and mess it up even further, to never stop touching him, ever.
"Luckily for us," Oliver said, "we happen to share a bedroom. A rather convenient occurrence." A flicker of uncertainty flashed across Reed's face and Oliver's stomach lurched at the sight of it. Maybe this was all he was getting tonight, maybe he had already pushed too far. Maybe bringing up Adam's wildly homophobic, conservative parents had been a bad idea. "Unless you don't want to. We can always return to our previous arrangement of sticking to our assigned sides of the bed."
It would kill me a little, Oliver thought, curling his hands into fists against his knees, but that's okay. It had to be okay, because he fully intended to keep his promise to never do anything Reed didn't want him to.
"I don't...it's not that, I just..." Reed had turned a little pink as he glared down at his hands, struggling more with his words than Oliver had seen before. Oliver waited patiently for him to figure it out. "I've never done this before with a guy, okay?"
"What, kissed one?" Oliver tipped his head in question. "You've kissed Brooks before."
"Not like this. And that's not what I meant. I meant..." Reed was definitely blushing now and turned his glare on Oliver, as if furious at the embarrassment that came with spitting out his next words. "I've never done anything more with a guy. You know. Anything more than kissing."
"That's okay, I have. I'm more than happy to teach you."
Reed scowled. "And who taught you? That asshole from Hampstead?"
"You mean Finley?" Oliver couldn't help laughing at Reed's dark look and slid forward towards him, arms on either side of Reed to pin him against the edge of the hot tub. Reed's gaze flicked over his shoulder, most likely to check no one was watching, but the chalet remained dark and silent. "I don't think I've ever heard you say his name, you know. It's only ever some insulting term."
"Insulting terms suit him better than his name."
"I like how jealous you get," Oliver said, leaning forward until his lips were less than an inch from Reed's, the ghost of his breath warm against Oliver's skin. "It's cute."
"Shut up. Don't call me cute."
"So you admit you're jealous?"
"No," Reed growled, pressing a hand against Oliver's chest as if to shove him away but making no move to do so, "the only thing I'm admitting is that you're an asshole."
Oliver raised an eyebrow. "I thought that was Fin?"
"You're both assholes and I hate you both." Reed really did shove him now, not hard enough to actually move him but with enough force to make it clear he was irritated. "If you're so fucking keen to talk about him, maybe you should go make out with him instead."
"Shame he isn't here. I'm just taking the piss," Oliver said, when it was clear he was toeing the line of acceptable teasing and Reed really did look one hard shove away from refusing to touch him again. "Reed, I meant it when I told you it was over between me and Finley. It was over long before I left London. He means nothing to me."
Reed muttered, "And you mean nothing to me, so that's great."
"Really?" Oliver drifted closer through the warm water and Reed let him, although his blue eyes were narrowed. Oliver let his hand trail down the side of Reed's neck to rest lightly over his chest and felt the wild pounding of his heart beneath his palm "Nothing at all?"
"Less than nothing."
Oliver moved even closer until it was his whole body pinning Reed against the hot tub and let his hand continue further down his torso, along his stomach, and further still. He felt Reed's sharp intake of breath and the imperceptible darkening of his gaze. His heart was still beating as fast as Oliver's, a staccato rhythm in tandem with one another.
"Even now?" Oliver whispered.
Reed kissed him, hard and fierce, before shoving him away. "Not here," he said, voice roughened in a way that send those tingling sparks of pleasure shooting straight through to the base of Oliver's spine. "Inside. The bedroom. Let's see if you have anything worth learning."
Usually, there was a lot of complaining and putting it off when it came to leaving the hot tub, because it meant a short but unenjoyable period of having to bear the icy cold air before you had managed to grab your towel and run inside. Today, neither of them could have jumped out of the hot tub any faster, only just beating Adam and Clair's speedy exits earlier in the evening. Although it was safe to say they were rushing for an entirely different reason. They were dripping wet and making a valiant effort at staying quiet as they hurried through the darkened halls of the chalet, which Oliver felt for the first time was too big when it was taking them this long to get to the bedroom.
They were kissing as much as they were hurrying, Reed hissing at him to shut the fuck up between kisses, stumbling around corners in a wet tangle of limbs. It was nothing short of a lucky miracle that Oliver saw the light seeping out from under the door of their bedroom before he shoved Reed inside. As it was, he barely managed to yank Reed to a stop in time, the two of them almost crashing through the door with the momentum they were moving with.
"Wait," Oliver hissed under his breath.
"What?" Reed demanded, impatience dripping from his voice. "Don't tell me you want to talk again. You have shit timing, Sterling."
"No, look," Oliver said, gesturing to their door. It's edges were limned gold from the light. "The light is on."
"So? Maybe we forgot to turn it off. Would hardly be the first time."
Oliver shook his head, lowering his voice. "What if someone is in there?"
"Why the hell would someone be in our bedroom?"
"I know we were a little preoccupied, but don't forget that Clair and Adam did break up today. Literally an hour ago," Oliver said. "Do you really think they'd want to share a bedroom tonight?"
"What are you trying to say?" Reed cast a suspicious look towards the bedroom door. "One of them is waiting in there to share the room with us?"
"I'm saying we should be careful before we go barrelling in there shoving our tongues down each other's throats."
Reed accepted that without further question and wordlessly stepped away from Oliver. The absence of his body felt wrong, cold. Reed patted down his hair where it had mercilessly tousled and glared at Oliver when he chuckled. "What?" he said defensively. "It's not my fault you messed it up."
"You better get used to it. It won't be the last time I'll be doing that."
Oliver gave his own hair a cursory pat, although with Reed's cast there was less opportunity for tousling and it was somewhat less of a mess. He attempted to school his expression into something neutral, like he hadn't spent the last hour making out with his best friend and liking it better than anything else he had done in his life, then cast one last glance at Reed. He still looked a little too flushed, lips swollen red, but there wasn't much they could do about that now. Oliver would just have to hope anyone would assume the temperature had been turned up a little too high in the hot tub. Praying the room was empty, he pushed open the door.
His prayers weren't answered. As he had suspected, there was someone else already in there and it was Adam waiting on the other side. He had made a somewhat pitiful makeshift bed out of towels and pillows and blankets on the floor by their bed but was sat on the bed, staring blankly at his phone.
He barely even glanced up when they walked in. "Hey."
Oliver remembered, a little belatedly, that he was still unsure as to whether he had played a role in their break up and if that meant Adam was pissed off at him. He exchanged a glance with Reed, who was looking supremely relieved that they had proceeded with caution rather than stumbling into the bedroom in the same manner that they had stumbled through the rest of the chalet. Oliver could only imagine how much of a nasty surprise that would be for Adam, who had already had enough of a shit day.
"Hey," Oliver said, and realised he didn't know how to proceed from here. What was the most appropriate response to his best friend dumping his girlfriend? I'm sorry felt inadequate. You did the right thing felt presumptuous. Another glance at Reed made it clear he wasn't going to be much help in this situation. "How're you doing?"
Oliver thought that was almost more inadequate than I'm sorry, but Adam's only response was, "Fine." Which was almost certainly a lie, but hardly one either Oliver or Reed were going to call him out on. Adam didn't want to talk about anything to do with emotions or feelings on a good day, so it was unlikely he would want to be probed to spill his heart today. Maybe Oliver could try again when the wound wasn't so fresh. "Can I stay here? Clair made it clear I'm not allowed to share a room with her, and I don't want to anyway. I'd sleep on the sofa, but that would raise questions with my parents that I definitely want to avoid."
"Sure," Oliver said, and nudged Reed in the side when he said nothing.
"Yeah," Reed added. "No problem."
"Thanks," Adam said, in that same blank, carefully steady voice. He wouldn't really look at either of them. Oliver wasn't sure whether it was because he was just upset by the break-up or he was pissed off after all. "I'll sleep on the floor."
Oliver glanced at Reed to see he was already watching him. The look they exchanged was weighted and knowing. Whatever shift in their friendship they had acknowledged tonight, whatever boundaries they were willing to explore, it would have to wait. Oliver was going to need a very cold shower to get through the rest of this night.