Page 98 of Coven of Corpses

“Don’t you have your key?”

He stopped. And stared.

Cody stood framed in the porch light, one arm up to lean against the door frame. He wore his old Parson's Hollow High football uniform, stripped of its pads but not its power. The red jersey—emblazoned with the white number 21—had sleeves cut generously for padding that was no longer there. Without that bulk, the openings instead revealed tantalizing glimpses of the dark, curling fur of his armpits and offered fleeting views of the broad expanse of his chest.

The jersey was tight on him, the hem riding up enough to expose his navel, a small shadowed hollow surrounded by a light dusting of hair that thickened into the soft, dark promise of his treasure trail. It disappeared beneath the straining white waistband of his pants, which clung to his hips. Those white pants, so tight they left little to the imagination, ended just below his knees, showcasing the muscled calves dusted with the same dark hair. On his feet, he wore an old pair of white high tops with no socks; classic high school Cody Bower.

Demetrius felt his mouth go dry as he ran his gaze slowly down the long, beautiful length of him. He took his time, savoring each detail. When his eyes lingered on the impressive bulge of Cody's crotch, he felt heat bloom across his cheeks and spread down his neck, a warmth that mirrored the desire pooling low in his belly.

“My eyes are up here,” Cody said.

Demetrius blushed and looked up to find him grinning.

“What’s all this?” Demetrius said.

“You left right after the game.” Cody’s smile widened. “I came to pick you up so we can celebrate the win.”

Demetrius took a step back. “What?” A chill ran through him and his heart pounded. “Oh, shit. You’re not stuck in the past in some goddamn time loop, are you?”

Cody laughed and leaned in close. Demetrius could smell the body wash—their body wash, thank God, and not something from the past—as well as the fresh but dusty scent of clothes that had been tucked away for a long time.

“No time loop. Just treating you to a fantasy I may have stumbled on while we were swapped.”

The thought of it got his cock to take serious notice.

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” Cody grinned and leaned back. “So come on, play along. I’m fresh off a win, I’ve got my parents’ car, and we can cruise around and celebrate. Tell your folks you’ll be out late.” He widened his eyes and lowered his voice. “Or tell them you’re sleeping over at my house. That way we can stay out all night. Dude, yes.”

“Okay!” Demetrius laughed and stepped out the door, pulling it shut behind him. He fell into their old best friends pattern pretty easily, unsure if that was a good or bad thing. But at that moment, he didn’t care. It felt good to turn away from their modern-day problems and embrace his younger, more innocent and unspoiled self.

Cody led the way to the big car parked in the driveway, and Demetrius couldn’t help a laugh.

“When did your parents get a Cadillac?”

“Not too long ago,” Cody said, opening the passenger door of the Sedan de Ville and waving for Demetrius to get in. “Some crazy old relative died and left it to them.”

“God bless those crazy old relatives.”

Demetrius slid into the passenger seat and was surprised to find he couldn’t stop smiling as Cody closed his door and rounded the front of the car. He slid behind the wheel and twisted the key. The Cadillac roared to life, and Cody turned to look out the back window, one arm slung over the back of the seat, his fingers tantalizingly close to Demetrius’s shoulder.

Even though they were now married, this setup of them being back in high school, with Cody taking him out for a cruise through town after a game was incredibly arousing. It felt like their drive home from Florida all those years ago, when all their unspoken feelings had packed Amelia's SUV around them, leaving barely enough room to breathe.

“Chuck wanted me to go get wasted with him and a bunch of the guys,” Cody said, driving with one hand on the bottom of the wheel, the other resting on the seat between them. The white football pants were so tight Demetrius could see the outline of his dick beneath the material. And he was pretty sure Cody wasn’t wearing underwear.

"You didn't want to get wasted with Chuck?" Demetrius asked, his voice falling naturally into the higher pitch of his teenage self. It surprised him how easily the old mannerisms returned, like muscle memory awakened after years of dormancy.

The familiar nervousness fluttered beneath his ribcage—that was never hard to access. What felt different now was the freedom to drink in the sight of Cody without the crushing fear of exposure that had once defined his every glance. Back then, each look had been stolen, counted, rationed like something precious. Which it had been. Still was.

Stepping back into the shadow of his former self felt strange—this anxious, closeted boy he'd worked so hard to evolve beyond. Yet after everything they'd been through together, including the surreal experience of inhabiting each other's bodies, perhaps this role-play wasn't so bizarre after all.

Demetrius glanced Cody's way. "Chuck's the quarterback. I bet he'll have a lot of girls with him."

"Nah, I don't need any girl drama right now." Cody shot him a smile that pierced straight through his heart, leaving a trail of warmth in its wake. "Tonight it's just me and you. Two friends who know each other inside and out. Right?"

Demetrius swallowed past the lump in his throat, the words catching like barbed wire. "That's right."

Cody stopped for the red at the traffic light on Main Street. He took the opportunity to turn toward Demetrius, his expression softening. His eyes were dark and serious when he said, "Best friends. For life."