AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Matty – Then
“WHY MAINE OFall places? You’re from Texas, right?” Austin asked as he looked towards the waves beating against the shore. It wasn’t exactly beach weather today, but it still beat Eden and its dust-filled air threatening to suffocate you any minute.
“I don’t know…” Matty cast a quick look at Austin, who lay next to him on a bright yellow beach towel, leaning on his elbows, gray eyes gazing at the ocean. “I just knew that I wanted to see it. The ocean, I mean.” Austin nodded in silent agreement, a lock of black hair falling into his eyes. Damn, if Ethan had been here, he would’ve been all over Austin with his young Elvis-look. But Ethan wasn’t here. He was back home.Home.The word gave off a sour taste on the back of his tongue.
“Yeah, I know. There’s nothing quite like it. It never gets old, and I’ve been staring at it ever since I can remember,” Austin chuckled, his deep voice spilling from his full lips. Matty bit his bottom lip and for a moment he imagined that it was Austin’s lip. Like biting into a plump peach… Yeah, he bet it’d feel just like that. All ripe and full. He wondered what Austin would taste like. Minty maybe, like Ethan had once told him that guys tasted. Hopefully not of salami. Yuck, Matty hated salami ever since that one time he’d eaten the last piece of one, and his father had forced him to eat one salami after another until he threw up.That’ll teach ya, you fucking bastard.Yes, that had sure taught Matty something. That hunger was just a feeling. Just like hate. And that while he could suppress the feeling of hunger, hate was much harder to ignore. It took some effort and some days it consumed you entirely.
Focusing back on Austin, who continued to smile at the ocean, Matty unconsciously licked his lips and nearly failed to bite back a moan before he swallowed it instead.Shit.The hair at the back of his neck stirred to life even though it was a warm day—at least a warm Maine day—and with panic, he realized that something else was beginning to stir too.Fuck.
“So, what was it like growing up in Grant’s Harbor?” Matty blurted, his voice coming out all squeaky.
Austin turned his head toward him and momentarily a dark shadow seemed to flash across the steel-gray of his eyes—then it was gone again. Matty could almost believe that he’d imagined it all together if it wasn’t for the numerous times he’d seen it in his own eyes when looking into a mirror or a storefront window.
“It was good. You know, I think it was like growing up in any other small-town USA. Familiar, safe, sometimes boring.” Austin smiled at him, a vulnerability in his features that Matty hadn’t noticed before.
Yeah, only he didn’t know, did he? He never had. What Matty wouldn’t have given forfamiliar, safe,andsometimes boring.He would probably give up his right arm which still ached on some days ever since his father had broken it in three places.A complicated fracture,the emergency doctor had called it, and they’d had to call in an orthopedic surgeon from Waco to fix it. Well, the arm was fixed alright. His father had cursed all the way home from the hospital that the specialist had charged him twenty percent of his fee—the part which wasn’t covered by the insurance provided by the police force.
Matty had felt inclined to say that the next time his father decided to beat him or throw him down the stairs, he just needed to make sure that he didn’t break it in a complicated way again. Because at the age of twelve Matty knew at least two things with a certainty no child should ever know. That it wouldn’t be the last time his father broke a bone in his body—and that he needed to get away sooner rather than later because one day his father might break something that couldn’t be repaired.
“Wanna go for a swim?” Austin’s deep voice interrupted his thoughts and Matty realized that he was grabbing his neck. Yeah. Still in one piece. He shook off the feeling of dread penetrating his skin, settling deep in his bones. Yeah, it was over. His father would never touch him again. He just needed to stay hidden away in this little corner of the world.
“Yeah, sure,” he replied as Austin got up and started pulling off his gray hoodie, revealing first a hard, smooth stomach and then a broad, tanned chest. It wasn’t that Austin was huge or anything. It was just that compared to Matty, he seemed massive. Matty looked down at his own slight frame and suddenly felt insecure and conscious of the fact that he was still very much a skinny teenager, longish limbs that hadn’t yet filled out with muscle. Well, at least not the type of muscles which adorned Austin’s body.
Austin threw his hoodie next to the towel and brushed at his right pec muscle. His skin was golden, glowing in the light from the bright sun. His nipples stood out, slightly darker than the rest of his skin, and a light dusting of black hair rested between his pecs. Yeah, Matty was reminded that even though they were both in their teens, Austin very much resembled a man whereas Matty still looked boyish. He swallowed as his gaze settled on Austin’s stomach and at the black trail of hair leading into his swim trunks where it disappeared. Austin was fucking built. But not in a jock kinda way. Not in aI-spend-all-my-free-time-in-a-gymkinda way. No, it was more in aI’ve-been-working-alongside-my-dad-on-the-docks-ever-since-I-can-rememberkinda way. Matty swallowed back the drool which had begun gathering in his mouth and stood as well.
Austin winked at him as he licked his bottom lip suggestively. Or maybe that was just the way that Austin licked his lips and Matty was imagining things. He started pulling off his own sweatshirt and paused momentarily as he once again took in the outline of Austin’s carved out abs.Fuck it,he thought to himself as he pulled off the sweatshirt in one swift movement. He dropped it next to him on the sand and gazed expectantly at Austin, who quickly looked away at the sea.
“You ready?” Austin asked, gazing at the waves, his words almost swept away by the wind. A nerve in his left temple was ticking, his jaws clenched.
“Yeah,” Matty mumbled, wondering what he’d done wrong. Because he must have done something wrong to make Austin’s demeanor change like that.Look what ya made me do, you little pussy.The hateful words slammed into him like a tidal wave, threatening to break him into a million pieces and scatter him along the shore.
“Austin…” he whispered but his voice must have been swallowed up by the wind because Austin took off, running towards the ocean. Matty watched his broad back muscles as they moved and rippled under the gloriously glowing skin. How his firm, solid thighs emerged from the hem of his swim trunks, dusted with black hair. The way his waist narrowed at the hips and the outline of his firm ass behind the synthetic, blue fabric. In that moment, Matty knew what Ethan meant when he referred to a guy in a magazine or in a movie asfucking hotoreye candy.Austin was a fucking hot piece of eye candy and Matty couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the ridiculous notion that someone like Austin would ever want to be with someone like him. For all he knew, the older boy had just taken pity on him when he’d asked him to come swimming.
Matty reached the water as Austin threw himself against a gigantic wave, emerging shortly after, shaking out his wet hair, a breathtaking smile on his face.Fuck. Fuckity fuck.If he’d for one second thought that Austin’s body was a work of art under the caressing rays of the sun back on the beach, it was nothing compared to the impact it had on Matty now, all smooth, wet, and glistening. Drops of sea water trickled down Austin’s abs and further into his happy trail, where they settled and reflected the light of the sun. Austin grinned at him before he splashed water in Matty’s face.
“Wha—?” Matty shook his head and licked at the drops of salty water that had landed on his lips. “What the fuck, dude?” he grinned back at Austin before he was met with another splash of water.
“What’s wrong?” Austin laughed. “You afraid of a little water? The desert rat doesn’t like to get his fur wet?” Austin winked, his silver eyes lighting up with mirth.
“Desert rat?” Matty countered. “Who the fuck did you call a desert rat?” A giggle moved from his stomach and into his throat. Without further consideration, Matty launched himself at Austin, water splashing all around him. If he’d expected for one moment that Austin would try to evade him or dive underwater, he was mistaken. In one swift movement, Austin caught him mid-air and wrapped him in a firm hold between two massive arms.Hmff.
As wet skin connected with wet skin, Austin tightened his hold around Matty, who felt like all air was being sucked out of his lungs in one instant. Stormy-gray eyes pierced his own and Matty suddenly felt inclined to spill all his deepest, darkest secrets to this glorious being in front of him.Yes, I was the one who stole apples from Mrs. Walton’s orchard. Yes, I masturbated to a class photo in the sixth grade. Yes, I took twenty dollars from my father’s wallet but only because I was hungry, and he hadn’t allowed me to eat in two days. Yes, I think you are the hottest human being I’ve ever seen in my pathetic life and if you’ll let me, I’ll lick you from top to bottom.
If it wasn’t for Austin’s smooth voice interrupting his crazy, delusional thoughts, Matty could’ve gone on and on. Hell, maybe he’d even admit to killing Kennedy. Who knew?
“You.” That one word slipping from Austin’s pink lips nearly made his heart stop. Searching Matty’s eyes, a smug grin covering his mouth, Austin coasted his hands lower where they finally settled on Matty’s slim hips. “You’re the desert rat. A cute one for sure, but still a rat.”
Before Matty could digest the wordcuteand begin to dissect what he’d meant by it, Austin grinned and submerged underwater, pulling Matty with him. In an instant, everything grew silent. Gone were the screams of the seagulls and the roaring noise of the waves. Gone were the motorboat engines in the distance and the pounding of his own heart. Left was only the grayest of gray staring back at him, the sensation of Austin’s large hands wrapped safely around him and the echo of one word coursing through his body.Cute. Cute. Cute.Notugly.Orstupid.Oruseless.Notpussy.Orcrybaby.Orretard.Justcute. Cute. Cute. Cute.
Matty closed his eyes and swallowed, the simple, monosyllabic word settling in his chest. Then he felt a soft, cushiony pressure just coasting across his bottom lip. It was barely there, just a whisper of a touch, but he didn’t have to open his eyes to know that it was Austin’s lips against his own. Austin tightened his hands around Matty’s waist, pulling him closer against his broad chest. His tongue peeked out and swept ever so slowly and tentatively across Matty’s upper lip before nibbling at it teasingly. Foreign sensations exploded inside Matty, lighting him up, making his heart pound furiously in his chest.Strange, how much my life has changed,he thought as he, in a moment of boldness, swept his own tongue against the right corner of Austin’s mouth.How strange, yet how wonderful.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Ethan – Now
“I’M SORRY IFI overstepped.” Avery rested his forehead against the back of Ethan’s shoulder. “It’s just that I think you’re so fucking brilliant and kind and sweet. The world needs more people like you, Ethan, pursuing a career as a teacher.”
Avery’s velvet hair tickled Ethan’s neck while he spoke. They’d decided to stay at a motel halfway between Memphis and Jackson, breaking their trip to Nashville in to two. That was the closest to a conversation they’d had that afternoon after leaving the diner. The silence had hung like a looming thundercloud between them. The monotonous humming of the car engine the only soundtrack to their miserable car ride along with the scratchy sound of Avery’s charcoal against the rough paper of his sketchbook.
