My eyes flickered awake to the digital clock flashing at me the time. 8:30 in the morning. Suddenly, I felt hot, too hot. And also I didn’t recall having a wall pressing against my back. Nor did I allow having arms snaked around me like now…

I tried to squirm out of those arms, but all I succeeded at was kicking my pajama pants off. “Brilliant!” I hissed. A gasp escaped my throat as the arms pulled me closer to the wall. Slowly, I managed to turn around in that vise, only to find myself staring at Steven’s face less than a centimeter away.

“Oh, my God…” I whimpered. I put my hands on his chest and slowly inched away. Steven’s eyes flickered open. A smile curved his lips upward as he saw my face, bubbling over in a chuckle as I resumed my escape to get away from his grasp.

“Why are you so uptight about you and me in the same bed together?” Steven’s smile was fading now. I gave up the escape, telling him, “My friends. They are kind of…eh?”

“Oh.” Clearly Steven had gotten the message. The smile was reassuring now, “I don’t like you in that way. Don’t worry; we won’t end up being in bed for the last five days.”

“Steven!” my hand hit his chest. He only laughed, pulling me against him. His smell of musk, sweat and deodorant mingled together in my nostrils. I couldn’t help putting my arms around him too. It felt so nice, so comforting…

"How did we end up like this?" I wondered out loud.

"You looked really cold last night, so I thought that my body heat would warm you."

“Thanks!"

Silence.

"I haveta take shower,” I said against his shirt a few moments later. Steven let go of me and I climbed out of bed.

I entered the bathroom and pulled off my nightshirt, dropping it on the floor. My underwear soon followed. I turned on the hot water and plugged up the bath. In just a few moments, I was relaxing as the hot water continued—only turning it off when it reached my neck.

A sigh gusted from my lips as I let the water soak my hair. Steven’s face appeared behind my closed eyelids and I frowned. Doubtless of what he told me, I thought that Steven did have a bit of a crush on me.

I reached for the shampoo. Well, he was attractive with that face. I had seen him in a swimsuit more than once and I had marveled on how firefighting had shaped his body. But just because I thought a guy was attractive didn’t mean I had a crush on him. My shampooed-head went under again. When I surfaced, I reached for the soap.

I wondered…what could I do if Steven, by some twist of fate, decided to make a move towards me? Curiously, something inside of me grew jumpy and warm with that thought.

“Oh, please say I don’t have a crush on him!” my whisper echoed off the vast bathroom. I lowered my soaped limbs in the water. There was no answer. It looked like I was going to figure it out myself.

I huffed, finished bathing and got out. After I had dried myself, I put the towel around my waist and went out. Steven wasn’t there.

Probably gone to get breakfast, I smiled. I took off the towel. I was just shrugging in my button-down shirt when I heard the door open and close. Steven came in, carrying a platter of waffles and sausage, along with orange juice.

“Breakfast?” he asked impishly.

“Of course!” I sat down in one of the chairs towards the window. Pretty soon, a plate of four sausage and two waffles was in front of me. After we had eaten in silence, Steven asked me, “What do you wanna do today?”

“The pool?”

“Sounds good! And then maybe a bite of lunch around…1,”

We nodded at this plan and when we had finished, we exchanged our bottoms for swimsuits.

On the pool deck, I dove straight in one of the heated pools while Steven opted for the hot tub. I was having fun for a while, but then I looked over at Steven all alone. I shrugged. Why couldn’t I join him?

Steven’s eyes opened as I slid in next to him. The hot water was relaxing, unwinding my muscles instantly. My friend’s arm pulled me so close I almost found myself on his lap!

A girl splashed in, cuddling up to Steven instantly, saying things like, “You want a drink?” and “I wonder how hot that swimsuit looks off of you!” Finally, I intervened, “Sorry, he’s taken.”

The girl arched a brow at me and then a look of horror crossed her face. She was out before we could say another word.

"Slut." I huffed. I felt a hard whack against the back of my head. I placed a hand on the agonizing stinging and looked at Steven who was giving me a stern look, "Well, it's true!" I added. "She was basically trying to get in bed with you!"

“Oh, how can a boy of fifteen know something on how to flirt with a twenty-one guy like moi?”

“Gimme a break,” I rolled my eyes. “Well, she certainly came close to the right impression. But I wonder how a guy like you and a guy like me be a couple! A gay couple, no less.”

“Oh, love is ageless,” Steven smirked. “Didn’t you read that article about the 25-year-old man marrying that 90-year-old woman?”

“That was pretty brave!” I cut in.

“So, I think that you and I can be a couple easily if there’s only 6 years’ difference!”

“6 is a lot,” I confessed. “And besides, we’re not really going to be a couple, right?”

“No,” Steven shook his head almost sadly.