Page 100 of Coven of Corpses

"Yeah. In the backseat. Come on." The invitation hung between them, heavy with possibility.

Cody pushed open the door and stepped out into the night. Demetrius peered over the backseat and saw in the glow of the dome light a small soft-sided cooler that had been in their basement for years—a relic repurposed for tonight. When Cody opened the back door on the driver's side, Demetrius decided to surrender completely and got out as well. He slid into the backseat and was surprised all over again at the space.

"Big backseat," Demetrius said, his voice sounding strange to his own ears.

"Oh, yeah." Cody twisted open a couple of beers and passed a bottle to him, their fingers brushing in a way that sent electricity racing up Demetrius's arm. "Big family means a big car."

"Your parents must have been really grateful for this."

"I guess so." Cody leaned back against the door, one leg curled under him, his arm stretched out across the back of the seat, fingers extended toward Demetrius like an unspoken question. He looked at Demetrius in silence for a moment, his face half in shadow, half in pale moonlight, then leaned forward to clink their bottles together. "To best friends."

Demetrius smiled and lifted his bottle, suddenly shy in a way he hadn't been with Cody in years. "To best friends."

They each took a long drink. The beer was cold and good, the bitter taste bursting across Demetrius's tongue, grounding him in the present even as they played at the past. He turned to mirror how Cody sat, the door firm against his back. Moonlight filtered through the tree branches and car windows, making Cody's tight white football pants glow with an otherworldly light. It was enough illumination to reveal he was fully erect, the outline unmistakable, and Demetrius took another long drink of beer, heat blooming across his skin.

"We've been friends for a long time, haven't we, Demmy?"

"Yeah. Since kindergarten." He glanced back but couldn't hold Cody's intense gaze for long, as if looking directly at him would be like staring at the sun.

"It's funny how you can be with someone every day for so many years, but you don't really understand what they've come to mean to you, you know? It’s like, all of a sudden, you realize they're always in your thoughts. From the moment you wake up, while you're getting ready for the day, all through the day, and then at night. You can't wait to see them again. You know?"

Demetrius looked Cody in the eye and nodded, his heart pounding against his ribs. "I do." It sounded like a wedding vow, an echo of promises already made, and maybe because Cody was so invested in his role, or possibly because they really had slipped back in time, it sent a whip crack of anxiety zinging through him. "I know. Yes. I know what you mean." He cleared his throat and took another drink. Was it the beer making him feel this way, or the intoxicating rush of pretending they were discovering each other for the first time?

Cody tipped his bottle up and drained his beer. His throat worked as he swallowed, the strong column of his neck exposed, and Demetrius stared, breathless, as if seeing this familiar sight for the first time. Cody finished and slid forward, moving closer on hands and knees like a predatory cat, eyes locked on Demetrius as he reached for the cooler. Demetrius's heart pounded so hard he was certain Cody must hear it. He tightened his fingers around the cool glass, the surface slick with condensation, mirroring the dampness of his palms.

"Want another?" Cody asked, his voice lower, rougher than before.

"No. I… I’m good." The words felt inadequate for the storm of emotions churning inside him.

Cody stayed where he was, halfway across the seat, one hand on the cooler which was now pressing against Demetrius's leg. He could feel the cold leaching through the soft side of it, a counterpoint to the heat building between them. Then Cody lifted it over the back of the front seats and used the handle to set it down gently. He never took his eyes off Demetrius, and Demetrius's gaze was locked on Cody's face, unable to look away, trapped in the gravity of the moment.

"I think I'm good, too," Cody said. He put his hand around Demetrius's on the bottle he held so tightly. "You done with this?"

Demetrius nodded, not trusting his voice. Cody took it from his hand, pressed his lips to the mouth of the bottle and tipped his head back, swallowing the last of the beer—an indirect kiss that somehow felt more intimate than many they'd shared. When he'd finished, he leaned forward, coming in so close Demetrius smelled the heady musk of his sweat as he set the bottle on the floor mat.

"Cody, I—" The words caught in his throat, trapped between past and present.

Cody kissed him. Heat exploded the length of Demetrius's body like a line of gunpowder ignited. It felt like his skin burned, nerve endings singing with sensation. Vertigo swamped his brain, reality and fantasy blurring. The scratch of Cody's whiskers was familiar, but in a remote way, as if remembered from a dream. Demetrius had bought into the high school timeline of the date so completely that everything with his husband felt new and dangerous and exhilarating. As if they hadn't shared thousands of kisses before tonight. As if they hadn't made love hundreds of times.

Demetrius moaned, and Cody took advantage of his parted lips to slide his tongue between them, deepening the kiss until it felt like drowning in the sweetest way. A buzzing had started in the back of Demetrius's brain, thoughts scattering like startled birds, leaving only sensation in their wake. This kiss felt different, unpracticed, electric with discovery—as if they weren't yet a couple but two boys finding their way to each other for the first time.

"I love you," Cody said as he came up for air, the words hanging in the small space between them. Then he took Demetrius's mouth once again, tongue pushing past his lips with hungry insistence, his breathing quickening to match the racing of their hearts. Demetrius shoved his hands up under Cody's jersey, greedy for the feel of skin against skin. He ran his fingers through the hair in the center of his chest, the familiar texture somehow thrilling anew, then slid them apart and rolled Cody's nipples between his fingers with practiced precision.

"Fuck yeah," Cody said between kisses, his voice rough with desire. "Keep doing that."

Emboldened, Demetrius moved his mouth to Cody's neck, finding that sensitive spot just below his ear that always made him shiver. He sucked hard at the skin there, teeth grazing lightly as he worked to leave his mark. Cody's groan reverberated through the car, his hands clutching desperately at Demetrius's back.

“I want everyone to see," Demetrius murmured against the reddening skin, a possessive edge to his voice that surprised even him. “Show them who you belong to, even if we can’t be out at school."

Cody pulled Demetrius closer, one hand tangling in his hair as he tilted his head to expose more of his neck. When Demetrius finally pulled back, a dark purple bruise was forming on Cody's skin—a declaration visible to anyone who looked closely enough.

Cody rucked up Demetrius's shirt and pressed his palms flat against his stomach. His skin was warm and damp, and Demetrius had a dizzy thought of Cody catching and throwing the football under those blazing bright lights every Friday night, of himself watching from the bleachers, yearning from a distance. Now Cody’s hands were on him here in the backseat.

"My turn," Cody growled, leaning forward to capture the sensitive skin at the junction of Demetrius's neck and shoulder between his teeth. It was directly on top of the scar left by Nicolae, and Demetrius knew he’d chosen that spot on purpose. Cody sucked hard, marking him with equal fervor, branding him in this shared ritual of belonging. His mark over top of Nicolae’s scar might very well erase what had happened all those years ago, or at least dull it. The sensation of Cody’s mouth and teeth sent sparks cascading down Demetrius's spine, a delicious pain-pleasure that made him arch into Cody's touch.

"Everyone will know," Cody said. "They'll know you're mine, even if I can't say it out loud yet."

The words, so perfectly aligned with their role play, sent a shudder through Demetrius. The idea of being claimed publicly but secretly in the world they were pretending to inhabit felt dangerously thrilling.