Set up

Warning: some swearing/crude language ahead.

"Man, you should have seen that goal! You really chose the wrong moment to pop to the loo." Devon claps my back and downs the last gulp of his beer. I look at the TV in the corner of the dark bar. On the screen Liverpool is playing against Manchester. City or United, I don't know, but I don't care either, so it doesn't matter. Devon clearly is a football enthusiast and he supposes I am too, because in his opinion every guy is or should be. He's a good friend, but I prefer a good psychological thriller to spend my time. I only fake interest because obviously some of those men have fine legs and an equally fine ass and a great body in general. I wouldn't mind getting it on with one of them if he were gay.

Meanwhile, Devon is chatting away with Luke about Liverpool's keeper. I let my eyes glide over the crowd. I can't make out many faces, because they're either turned to the TV or it's too dark.

"Hey, Abel!" A voice pops up next to me.

"Hey, Ramiro!" I briefly clasp his shoulder while he gives some money to the bartender and takes two cocktails in his hands. "You here as well? I didn't know you lived here in the neighbourhood."

"Nah, I'm just visiting my cousin. He lives in the university dorms like you and nobody under thirty stays at home on a Friday night, right?"

"Of course." The conversation already comes to a dead end. After all, we don't know each other that well, but we share some classes and we've worked together on group assignments.

"Hey, you're gay, right?"

"Yeah, I am. Why?"

"My cousin's gay too. Would you like to meet?"

I shrug. It's not the first time someone I know, tries to set me up with their other gay acquaintance, but it's not like it will hurt to meet that cousin of his and it spares me the struggle to politely decline.

"Devon, Luke, Ramiro wants to present me to his gay cousin, so I'll see you in a bit." They just nod and dismiss me, not once glancing away from the TV screen and cheering loudly when Liverpool almost scores.

Ramiro leads me to a table without a clear view of the screen where a boy with thin, dark blond hair is seated. He can't be much taller than me and his entire build nearly mirrors mine. I burst out laughing.

"You wanted to set me up with another twink? Yeah, right, like that would work." The boy glances up and Ramiro looks at me confused.

"What's a twink?"

I shake my head. "Never mind." I stick out my hand to the boy. "I'm Abel and your cousin here wanted to set us up because we're both gay, but he clearly doesn't know anything about gay subculture."

The boy laughs and shakes my hand with a firm grip. "I'm Emilio and I'm aware of his ignorance. I've tried to educate him, but he refused because he was afraid I would tell him all about the ins and outs of gay sex."

I chuckle. "Like any other straight man. He doesn't know what he's missing."

"Hey! I could say the same", Ramiro butts in indignantly. "You ever had sex with a woman?"

"No, but I kissed a few girls when I was like fourteen. That's probably more than you can say."

"Same." Emilio looks pointedly at Ramiro. "I bet you've never kissed any boys."

"True. But I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear about my sex life, so why would I want to hear yours?"

"Of course we wouldn't, because you have none." Emilio snickers and I laugh at Ramiro's face. "By the way, Abel, take a seat. I think we'll fit together like two pieces of a puzzle to smother Ramiro with our gayness."

"Our new hobby."

"Exactly." Emilio leans forward. "So, how do you know my straight as a pole cousin?"

"We share some classes."

"Oh, do you study chemistry as well?"

"Not exactly. I want to become a chemist, though, and open my own shop."

"Nice."

"What about you? Ramiro said you live in the university dorms as well."

"Yes, I'm currently striving to get my master in astrophysics."

"Wow, you're older than us?"

Emilio chuckles. "I don't know if I should feel flattered or insulted."

"It's just ... You look very ... boyish, you know, so I estimated you no more than twenty."

"Don't worry. I'm used to it. Don't you get the same reactions?"

"Well, yeah." I smile sheepishly. "So, astrophysics? Isn't that, like, really difficult?"

"I don't know. I've always had a knack for physics and math and there won't be any lives depending on me like on you."

"Now he's purposely hiding the fact that he's the first of his year and can easily quote lots of Stephen Hawking", Ramiro declares. "But I'm off now to Luke and Devon. Clearly you won't be bitch-fighting nor playing tonsil hockey any time soon, so no reason for me to stay."

"You would stay if we kissed?" Emilio questions.

"Well, no, but that would at least be more interesting than you getting to know one another."

"Okay. Bye. If we're not done talking by midnight, come find me."

"Okay. See you later."

"Later", I reply.

For a moment we both look at the football match.

"Are you interested in football?"

Emilio laughs heartily. "Except for the free eye candy? No, thanks. I'm a swimmer, though I wouldn't want to watch a swimming contest either."

"You swim? What kind of style?"

"Nothing in particular. It's just for fun. I'm not even a member of some club. Besides, my professors keep me busy enough, but it clears my head after a day of studying, if you get what I mean."

"I do. I mainly read to relax, but maybe I should tag along sometime. Get some exercise done. The amount of sweets and coffee I consume during the exams, isn't considered healthy and I could use a bit of muscle definition instead of this skinny body with zero muscle."

Emilio looks me up and down and shrugs. "You look fine, but I wouldn't mind if you accompanied me on my swimming sessions. Give me your phone and I'll put my number in it. You can put yours in mine." I smirk at the unintended sexual innuendo, but don't comment on it, because it's a bit childish.

Emilio resumes our conversation. "So you like reading? What kind of books do you prefer?"

"Mainly psychological thrillers and the occasional fantasy or sci-fi, sometimes even historical fiction."

"Really? I'm very keen on detectives, both books and TV series or movies. I like solving puzzles. Give me enough sudokus and I'll be a sweet boy for the rest of the day." His eyes twinkle. "Or any mind game actually."

"Do you play chess then?"

"If I can get someone to play with me, yes."

"I don't mind the occasional chess game."

"Another reason to see each other again. If one of us were more the other's type, we really would be the perfect match."

"Too bad Ramiro doesn't know twinks don't get it on. Though, maybe we can work together to lure someone in our bed and then we'll still have slept together, just not the way he intended." I smirk.

Emilio grins widely. "I like you. I think we'll be great friends."

***

I shiver slightly in the cold evening breeze. I'm currently waiting for Emilio in front of the municipal swimming pool. It'll be the first time we see each other since the night we met, and I've been looking forward to it since we settled the date.

"Abel! I'm here." Emilio rushes across the parking lot. "Sorry I'm late, but my roommate is sick and I had to clean up before I could leave."

We enter the building and blink against the too bright light, but it gives me a first look of Emilio in decent light. His hair is not blond like I thought, but more of a characterless mouse brown. He's also not as pale as I expected.

"Hey Emilio, do you and Ramiro have Spanish names for a reason?"

"You mean, if we have a Spanish origin."

"Well, yeah."

"We do. My mother and Ramiro's moved here as children from Spain and they decided to pass down the Spanish names, but I take more after my father. Otherwise I wouldn't look that much like a twink, because I would definitely have more body hair and isn't 'twink' usually only used for white boys?"

"Yeah, quite a racist word if you think about it."

"It is, but it's not like we should be ashamed because we're white. That's racist too."

I pay my entrance fee and Emilio flashes his membership card. We quickly change and when we come out, I must admit Emilio doesn't look too bad in his tight swimming briefs. He has a small but firm arse, but his legs are a bit pudgy and he has acne on his shoulders. When he looks back and our eyes connect, he smirks, as if he knows I was checking him out. He waits a second so I can catch up with him. We walk to the showers and he playfully pats my right arse cheek.

"Nice."

I jerk away. "Keep your hands to yourself, Emily."

"Hey!" He lightly pushes me. I let him be and just wash down myself, before we head to the pool.

"Let's do a little race. I want to see how good you are."

"Don't get your hopes up", I warn him, but I get in nonetheless.

As expected, Emilio wins with ease, but I laugh my loss off. He swats at my stomach and says: "I can see why you said you could use some exercise. You've quite some baby fat here. You definitely need to work that off. I bet you don't have any stamina either."

"But I do. In a much more enjoyable activity, that is." I wiggle my eyebrows and Emilio rolls his eyes.

"You really are the stereotypical twink, aren't you? Insatiable sex drive and all. Are you a butt slut as well?"

I know he means it as a joke, but I still answer a bit more seriously. "No, I'm not. I don't sleep around. I mean, it's not like I've never hooked up when I didn't have a relationship, but – I mean – haven't we all?"

"I haven't."

"You haven't?"

"That's what I said."

"Oh." Maybe I'm a butt slut then.

All of a sudden, Emilio smiles. "Don't worry. I'm not judging you. I just don't want to share my body with someone I can't share my mind with as well."

"Ah, okay." I force a small chuckle. "But you're not a virgin, right? Because that would be kind of awkward."

"God, no. Besides: I'm well acquainted with certain other things, if you get what I mean." This time, he is the one to wiggle his eyebrows and I blush, because I've never used toys and it kind of weirds me out to think about it, especially if I imagine Emilio using a vibrator or whatever else he likes.

"Let's cease the flirting for now. I don't want to know what you put in your body."

"Are you jealous because you can't put your own thingy in it?"

"Emilio!" I blush for the second time in not even a minute. Flirting with someone of the same build makes me feel uncomfortable for some reason.

"I'll stop, I'll stop. Don't get your panties in a twist."

I sigh and roll my eyes.

After that we swim laps and when I'm tired, I sit on the side of the pool and watch Emilio swim some more laps. Breaststroke, crawl, back crawl, breaststroke again. I'm no expert, but he seems to glide through the water as effortlessly as a professional swimmer. The tiles and the artificial light make the part of his body that is underwater, glisten with a blue gleam.

When Emilio deems his performance satisfactory, he comes to sit by my side and we look at the pool with only one other nightly swimmer. I feel strangely at peace, even though the light and the colours of the walls are too cold for my liking.

"It's nice to have some company. We should do this again. If you're up for it, that is?"

"Yeah."

"Are you always free on Tuesday evenings?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want to make this a weekly occurrence then?"

"Yeah."

"Everything okay? You seem a bit mellow."

"Yeah."

"Can you answer with something else?"

"Yeah." I try to keep the hint of my smile hidden.

"Will you suck my dick?"

I splutter and shove Emilio in the water. He coughs before climbing back up.

"Sorry. It was too tempting. But you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah." I smile. "I just get like this in the evenings, especially if I'm tired. And like you pointed out so kindly, I'm not used to any exercise."

"You know I didn't mean that as an insult, right?"

"Yeah."

He chuckles. "Let's go change, before you fall asleep and fall in the pool and drown. That would be a pity."

"Would it?"

"Come on." He stands up and offers me his hand. I gladly take it and we walk to the locker rooms in an amicable silence.

***

"Checkmate!"

"Ugh! Why do you have to be so good at this?" Emilio groans. "With anyone else I win every game and with you I lose every one of them."

I smirk. "You can't be good at everything, can you? I just kick arse, honey. Besides, my parents sent me to chess club when I was in primary school, so I had a lot of practice."

"Don't honey me, baby."

"Whatever floats your boat, sweetheart."

"Keep that up and I'll show you what a sweet heart I have."

I grin. "Sure."

Emilio grunts and then asks: "Did your parents really send you to chess club?"

"Yes, but it's not like they forced me or anything. I loved chess and I think they were just tired of me whining that they didn't want to play with me, because I beat them."

"Really? You beat them? How old were you?"

"Like eight?"

"That's ... Wow. Impressive. No wonder I can't beat you! You deceived me!"

"What deception? You're just a sore loser."

"You hid from me that you're a chess champion."

"No, I didn't, because I'm not. I've never participated in any contests, except the one in school."

"It was meant as a figure of speech."

"Whatever floats your boat, honey."

"Don't honey me, you dick!"

***

"Hey Abel! Are you free on Friday?"

"Yes. Why?" I flop on my bed while listening to Emilio on the phone.

"Ramiro wants to go out with me and his friends, but I don't want to be the odd one out among all those football fans. Do you want to tag along?"

"Well ..." I drag out. "Depends. What's in it for me?"

"Checking out hot men and a more interesting conversation than football with a celebrity."

"Ah." I smile.

"Aka me."

"Sounds promising."

"Will you come?"

"Only for you, honey."

"Don't honey me."

I chuckle. "Let me call you honey tonight, and I'll be there."

"Are you serious?" I laugh at Emilio's incredulous tone.

"No. Don't worry. I'll come and I won't call you honey. I can use a night out."

"Okay, thanks. See you then."

"Goodbye, my friend, goodbye."

***

"What about that one?"

"Which one?"

"The one with the dark hair and the hairy legs. Next to that photo of Prince."

"Are you into that? Hairy legs, I mean?"

"Maybe", I reply with a mischievous smile.

"You're a real dork, you." Emilio chortles at his own words. He sips from his cocktail and peers in the direction of the man I just pointed out.

"Are you appreciating my prey, or did you find one for yourself?"

"I'm looking at the one with the leather jacket. He appears to be friends with mister Hairy Legs."

"You like that? Leather jackets and broad shoulders?"

"What kind of twink would I be if I didn't? You aren't telling me you don't want your guys tall and broad, are you?"

"Of course not. I think it's incredibly erotic to feel as if I'm surrounded by hot meat, to be honest."

"Me too. Especially if they're able to pick you up."

"Yeah, can't disagree."

"Maybe we should go to a gay bar, so that we can actually hunt some prey." Emilio's eyes glint.

We could be each other's wingmen."

"Yeah. I wouldn't want to risk it here to approach someone."

"The others seem pretty engrossed in their discussion, too."

"What is it about?"

"One guess."

"Of course. What else? What the hell do you talk about with Ramiro when you two hang out?"

"Family. Music. Sometimes politics."

"His brain can process the subtleties of the political world?" It's a joke, but with a hint of seriousness.

"Well yeah. If there hasn't just been or isn't going to be an important match."

I snort. "Figured. Let's head out, before my brain dies due to too much talking about football."

***

The gay bar is just as noisy as the one we come from, though the music – and the crowd of course – is different. The only free places are right in the middle of the room. It won't be all that practical to check out the men and I can already feel the hungry gazes crawling down my back, but it will have to do. We sit close to each other, so we'll have more or less the same view.

"Already seen someone you like?" Emilio hollers in my ear.

I shrug and take a look. "What about the one at the table next to us? The tall one?" He's not very muscular, but he has a nice jawline and hair that seems impossible to tame.

"Not bad. And his company isn't either."

I couldn't agree more. Most of them have a similar build and I wouldn't mind some fun with either of them.

"What do you say?" Emilio cuts off my thoughts. "Are we going for a new conquest?"

"I thought you were more the relationship kind of guy?"

"I am. Doesn't mean I don't like some good old flirting and you can't get a relationship without first approaching someone."

"Alright. Who are you going for?"

"The clean-shaven one. I hate kissing someone with a beard."

"Yeah, especially if the hairs aren't soft. Though it has something erotic to have sex with someone with a beard, when they scrape your skin with it."

Emilio shivers dramatically. "Keep that weird fetish of yours to yourself."

"It's not weird and it's not a fetish. I know plenty of guys who think the same way. I'll just admit that it has to be the right kind of guy too. I've had a few experiences with blowjobs that would have been much better if they were clean-shaven."

"Enough chitchat. Are we off? Or rather on?" He winks exaggeratedly.

I return it just as sultrily. "You bet."

We near the table and Emilio introduces us: "Hello, gentlemen. Would you mind some more company for the night? My friend and I would like to spend our time with some new people."

The men laugh and one gestures to take some chairs. "Please, have a seat. We'll never turn down two good-looking young men who are polite as well. What are your names?"

We put our chairs close to our targets before replying. "I'm Abel."

"I'm Emilio."

The clean-shaven guy Emilio fancies, says: "Well, I'm Drew." Then everyone else tells his name. 'My' guy is called Noah. Up close the brown of his skin seems a shade lighter than I thought earlier on. We start a conversation about the music currently playing, laced with heavy flirting. When a silence falls, I glance at Emilio to see him chatting up Drew without problems.

Noah notices whom I'm looking at. "Your friend seems to have excellent social skills. Drew is usually much more uptight with strangers."

"He has a way with breaking the ice."

"And does he break hearts as easily?"

"No, I don't think so. To be honest, I've only known him for, like, seven months and he wasn't in a relationship during that time, but I do know he's not one for one-nightstands or casual sex and he's a good guy."

"Good to know." Then he smirks. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you one for casual sex?"

I pull up my eyebrows, but answer honestly anyway. "Most of my sex life has been with people I dated, but I have had the occasional one-nightstand."

"And are you dating someone now?"

"Nope. You?"

"Neither. Wanna take this somewhere else?"

"Gladly. I just have to let Emilio know."

***

The next evening I get a call from Emilio.

"Hey Abel! You're not with Noah anymore, are you?"

"No, I'm in my dorm."

"Great! I didn't call earlier because I thought that if your night was good, you might have stayed a bit longer and I didn't want to disturb in that case."

"I did actually stay until this afternoon. We went on a lunch date."

"Oh, nice! How was it?"

"The sex or the date?" My grin seeps into my words.

"Both, of course", Emilio replies without faltering.

"Uhm, first things first, the sex was really good. The best one-nightstand I've ever had, I think. Passionate, enough force to be nice, but not rough, you know? I'm not into that sort of thing."

"I totally get you. Me neither. And the date?"

"Well, since we got along so well between the sheets, we wanted to get to know each other a bit better and it was nice, but aside from the physical attraction, there is not much of a spark at the moment, though we agreed to a second date to take things from there and 'reacquaint' ourselves with each other's bodies."

"And you both feel the same?"

"Yeah, we've talked about it. That's also positive: it's easy to be open and honest with one another. What about you, by the way? Have you got yourself a date?"

"Yes! Can you believe it? Drew was super sweet yesterday and he asked me for my phone number, so I was quite sure he was interested and I asked him if he wanted to grab a drink with me some time and he was really enthusiastic then. We're going next week probably and we've already been texting today."

"Nice. I'm really happy for you! Noah told me Drew is usually quite reserved with strangers, so I bet he's already smitten with you."

"You talked about us?"

"Only a few words when we were still in the bar. I wouldn't spoil my sex life by talking about you."

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm really great in bed!"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get your panties in a twist."

***

Between two classes, while I'm making a quick detour to the restroom, my phone starts vibrating. I'm about to silence it when I see it's Emilio. He never calls me during the day, for the exact reason that I could have classes and be busy, so I'm slightly worried when I accept.

"Hey, Emilio. Is there a problem?"

"My grandfather died last night", he gets straight to the point.

"Oh." For a few moments I'm lost for words. "I'm so sorry. I know how close you were. Were you with him at the time?"

"Yes, my mum had asked me to come down because he was deteriorating. I'm lucky I still got to say goodbye."

"That's good." We keep silent and I take a seat on the toilet lid. "I want to comfort you, but I don't really know what to say. You know I was too young to have a clear memory of the death of my own grandparents."

"Just talk to me. Or breathe. Be there. I don't want to be alone."

"Aren't you with your family?"

"No. I couldn't stand to see his body anymore and they're all arranging the funeral and calling other family members to tell them and crying. It was suffocating. And I went home to eat and rest."

"Home as in?"

"My parents' house. But I would really appreciate it if you could come here for the weekend and the funeral."

"Of course. If you need me, I'll be there."

"Thanks. I can't express how grateful I am to have you."

"That's what friends are for." I ponder my next words. "Tell me more about your grandfather. What's your first memory of him?"

Emilio takes a moment to answer. "When I was like six, I had a sleepover and we tried to bake biscuits for my grandmother. I got to choose the shape and I wanted to make rockets, but the dough wasn't firm enough, so they all collapsed in the oven."

"You were already a space geek back then?" I smile.

"Yeah. I wanted to be the new Neil Armstrong and fly to the moon and be all 'giant leap for mankind'."

"That's cute."

Emilio chuckles. "And naïve." I don't answer, because I'm so happy I made him laugh. "Say, Abel, ... I realise now: don't you have classes?"

"I do. I already missed the beginning of the next one, but it doesn't matter. You're more important at the moment."

"I really want to send you back to class right now, but I'm selfish and I just want you to talk to me for a bit longer. Is that bad?"

"As I said: friends have priority. Do you want me to tell you something or do you want to talk more about your grandfather or something else?"

***

"Guys!" Alice, Ramiro's girlfriend, claps her hands. It's Ramiro's birthday party and Emilio and I are currently sitting on the couch and talking. It's an intimate party, with no more than twenty guests, including Ramiro's cousins and closer friends.

When Alice has all our attention, she continues: "Ramiro and I decided to play a game, to create some nostalgia. In order to do something else than the cliché truth or dare or seven minutes in heaven, I invented one and I need you all to sit or stand in a circle here." Emilio and I exchange challenging glances and comply, just like the others, with exception of one girl who straight out refuses to participate and decides to watch.

"The aim of this game will be to pass things around with our mouth for as long as possible, so you'll have to kiss the people next to you to accept it and to give it to the next. These things can be a sweet, a biscuit, a raw egg, a sip of beer or wine or anything else I and Ramiro can think of. Since he is the one being celebrated, he gets to start."

Emilio leans in to whisper: "It's like college and youth movement all over again."

I nod. Meanwhile, Alice finishes her explanation: "When someone refuses for whatever reason or spits or swallows or spills or just when there isn't anything anymore to give to the next, they and the person before them have to kiss for ten seconds, or if you want to spice things up: make out for ten seconds."

Some of the guys who sit next to a pretty girl, loudly approve of the latter option. I wonder how they will react if they have to make out with the guy on their other side. I say that much to Emilio, who snickers.

"Fùck, I can already imagine their faces. This is going to be wonderful."

I shake my head. "You're evil. Are you ever going to grow up?"

"Nope." He pops the p.

Alice interrupts our little conversation, declaring: "We'll start easy with just some beer. And by the way, if you're going to spit at any moment, please do it in your paper cups, because you'll be cleaning it yourself otherwise."

Then Ramiro takes a firm gulp of beer and kisses Alice. Some of it trickles down their chins, but Alice proceeds to kiss the guy next to her and so on. Most people of the same sex sitting next to each other don't really flinch when they have to kiss and I'm a bit surprised. Or maybe there are more LGBT people here than I realised. Emilio passes the beer down to me without problems and jokingly licks my lips when he pulls away.

"Mm, you taste exquisite, baby." I suddenly want to swallow and I feel lightheaded, so I quickly turn to the next guy. I breathe relieved when the gulp of beer isn't in my mouth anymore.

After that is a round with wine. Emilio seems to have caught on with my discomfort, because he stops flirting. My heart clenches and my emotions swirl. I can't make out what I'm feeling right now. The next round is vinegar, but it doesn't even reach us. The first few people only grimace, but the fourth one – a girl – just spits it out, coughing vigorously.

"That is so disgusting!"

Then Alice says that she has to make out with the guy on her left, who grins happily. Everyone starts cheering their names. Emilio joins in with rigorous enthusiasm, I not that much. I'm still feeling lightheaded and my mind deems it necessary to jump to an image of me having to kiss Emilio like that. I'm not sure if that thought causes tremors of fear or shivers of delight. That realisation hits me square in the face and I'm paying absolutely no attention anymore to what's going on around me. I think the girl and guy make out for more than ten seconds, but I could have dreamt that.

Why does the thought of Emilio suddenly causes such an extreme reaction? It's like some kind of Emilio bomb exploded in my head and now there are pieces of him everywhere. Like how his normally brown eyes look larger in the dim light and almost black. How some of his hair curls around his ear and how a lost hair blinks on his shoulder. How I'd like to knead his legs. How warm I feel when he calls me 'babe', or anything really. How I want to count the knuckles on his hands with my thumbs and study the lines in his palm. How exuberant he is when he grins like this. The list is endless and I give up on naming every single thing.

"Hey, Abel. You all right?"

"Yeah. I don't know. I think I had one too many to drink."

"Do you want to go somewhere quiet? Back to your dorm? Some water to drink?" His concern crackles like electricity under my skin.

"Maybe", I mumble. I'd really like to be alone with him, but it also causes an unease, a fear of awkward silence, of making a fool out of myself.

"It's definitely best if we stop with this game, I think, before something foul in your mouth triggers you to puke your guts out."

I nod. "Probably. I'll just go back to my dorm. You can stay here."

"No way! I'm not letting you walk back on your own. It's not safe if you're not feeling well."

"Okay." I'm too confused right now to protest that I'm not some little kid, because my mind is still going haywire and every time I want to talk to him, joke like we used to, my tongue seems to weigh a ton and I feel extremely nervous and giddy and angsty all at once. The more I think about it and everything is sinking in, the more all seems to point at the same conclusion. There are few things that cause those – and such strong – reactions. Somewhere along the lines of our two-yearlong friendship, I've fallen in love with him.

***

We're playing one of our regular chess games, but I'm more staring at Emilio and some faint scars of acne on his face than actually thinking about my next move. I've already lost quite a few of my pieces, which is very unusual for me.

It's been about a week since Ramiro's birthday party and since then we've seen each other and spoken a few times. There have been odd silences, both on the phone and face to face, as if I'm not the only one leaving things unsaid, and when we're together, I can't keep myself from drinking his appearance in and taking mental photos of every little detail, and I've already been caught staring more than once, but each time Emilio winks or smiles and he has adopted a slightly seductive sway with his hips when he knows I'm watching, as if he's aware of all this attraction I suddenly feel towards him. And every opportunity he has, he brushes against me or touches me in any way and I can't recall he did that as much in the past, but maybe I'm just more on edge because of my realisation and my mind is playing tricks on me. The worst, however, are the soft and affectionate words, the pet names – he never calls me Abel anymore; it's always honey, baby, sweetheart or the like – and the incessant flirting. The line between our banter and flirting could be thin, so it's natural he continues it, but it hurts that it doesn't mean any more to him than it used to: just teasing banter.

"Hey, baby? Are you okay?" Emilio mutters. The 'baby' warms and stabs my heart at the same time. "You look like you're not thinking about chess anymore."

I shrug. "I'm sorry. Give me one more minute to make my move."

"Or we could just stop. You're clearly not up to par today, so maybe a swim will put you in better spirits and calm that racing mind of yours for a bit." I nod. Maybe it will.

That being said, we head out with our swimming gear – I borrow some from Emilio – and take the bus to the pool. It's quite a sunny day for the end of April and we're clearly not the only ones who decided to enjoy a bit of water. When we enter the area with the changing rooms, Emilio grabs my wrist.

"Come on, we'll share one." He glances back at me. "You wouldn't deny me to see that delectable body of yours because of some sudden shyness, would you, babe? It's not like I haven't seen it all before and you have never minded then." His nonchalant compliment has me blushing so hard that I don't get embarrassed about the rest of his words.

Emilio starts undressing immediately, not bothered at all by the small space that encloses us. I don't want to raise any more questions, so I pull my shirt over my head, painfully aware of Emilio's proximity. When his arm and hand brush my back twice, I have to concentrate on my breathing to appear unaffected.

Luckily, I can get out without any incidents. We start swimming laps and when I'm tired, I jump at the chance to watch him while it's not weird. His legs are really nice and definitely put my spindle legs to shame.

Emilio pops out of the water right in front of me. "Hey sweetheart, do you want to go to the hot water pool to relax or something? I don't want you sitting here and getting bored."

"It's okay. I don't mind watching you."

"Oh, do you?" His grin widens and I can't keep the deep blush at bay. He twirls around, though not all too elegantly. "Do you like the view, baby? Does my ass look good in these swimming briefs?" I want to give some witty remark like I would have done before my realisation, but all the words get stuck in my tightening stomach. "What? Cat got your tongue?"

I bite back a groan of frustration because my feelings reduce me to this mess and get up. "Let's just go. I'm not in the mood to deal with your shit." I walk in the direction of the hot water pool. Emilio hurries after me and his hand lands on my shoulder.

"Are you mad now? I was just teasing. I'm sorry if I was annoying you."

I smile. "You're always annoying me, but I know you didn't mean any harm. I'm just out of it today. Not your fault."

"Okay." Emilio keeps his hand on my shoulder and steers me to a seat in the corner of the pool. "Would you fancy a shoulder massage?"

I hesitate. This is not really the appropriate place to get aroused by his hands on my naked skin. I shake my head. "Another time. I just want to rest." I close my eyes and lean back. The tiles aren't the best headrest, but I just want those butterflies in my head to calm the fùck down, even though that's highly unlikely with Emilio right next to me.

Time passes and I'm slowly relaxing, thanks to the hum of chatter and the gentle lapping of the warm water. Some time later, I open my eyes, only to realise my head is lying on Emilio's shoulder. He doesn't seem to mind and I close my eyes again, swaying along with the slight movements of his breath. I feel a puff of air on my temple and then his hand on my knee. It's not sexual or flirting at all, but more of a calming and affectionate gesture. He squeezes and his thumb rubs circles. It gets me thinking if there is more to his flirting than I thought. Perhaps I'm not imagining things and he does flirt more than he used to. And I'm sure his excessive use of pet names is new. And the fact that he caught my stares, means he was looking at me as well, doesn't it? Could it be that ... ? I barely dare to believe the possibility. I'm probably seeing things because I want there to be proof that he reciprocates my feelings, anything to give me hope. Why did I have to fall in love with a twink? Being gay already narrows the options, but defying the expectations and stereotypes of the gay community itself, is like dooming myself to suffer from unrequited love. Nevertheless, you never know. I'll have to wait for the right moment to ask Emilio.

***

When Emilio locks the door of the changing rooms, the tension rushes back, but less intense than before. I grab my towel and turn around to give the other one to Emilio, but he's looking at me as if ... I don't even know what kind of look it is, but it makes me shiver and my mouth feels incredibly dry all of a sudden. I lick my lips. Emilio snaps out of his stupor and he steps closer. He holds my gaze and I'm brewing with anticipation. When he leans forward, I don't hesitate to do the same and we kiss, though not exactly in the middle and I need to shuffle closer in order to be comfortable. He puts his hands on my shoulders and I put mine tentatively on his waist. I thought Emilio would be a hungry and passionate kisser, but this one is definitely rather soft and loving and I'm surprised I'm not yet a melted puddle on the floor.

He's the one to break it off, his right hand still caressing my shoulder blade and upper arm. "I've been wishing to do that for weeks now."

"Really? I only realised my feelings at Ramiro's party, when you said I tasted exquisite."

"You do taste exquisite. A bit like chlorine at the moment, but still ..." I laugh softly at his cheekiness and swat at his ass with the towels I still hold in my hands.

After that we dry off and when we walk out of the building, I reach for his hand. Emilio entwines his fingers with mine, shooting me a beaming smile that keeps buzzing in my chest.

"I guess we'll have to thank Ramiro for setting us up", he muses. "I have no doubt this can go places."

I look at him out of the corner of my eye and squeeze his hand. "I guess so."

***

Author's note: I'd like to give a bit of an explanation about the ideas behind this story.

Firstly, I once read that straight people often try to set up the little/only gay people they know. Secondly, I thought of the stereotype of a twink/more 'feminine' man and a bear/more 'masculine' man and I combined those ideas, twisting them because it's not unreasonable that straight people wouldn't know anything about the concept 'twink', so 'mistakes' like this would happen. I'm not completely sure that the stereotype is true and actually lives in the gay scene and not just among ignorant straight people who think there is a 'man' and a 'woman' in a gay relationship, but I wanted to play with the stereotypes and break them anyway, so please excuse me if it's wrong (or explain the actual situation to me).

Aside from that, I also ended up using the 'friends to lovers' cliché, but I think it often applies and I wanted to react against the books where the love interest is the most attractive person they have ever seen and the attraction is absolute from the get-go, while I believe it grows by getting to know one another - and as you may have noticed, my characters don't have perfect bodies - and with the right person, it's never impossible to fall in love. You're not restricted by your 'type'.

Sorry for my ranting.