I didnât expect everything to feel so surreal.
Church had been my life every Sunday as a child. As a child of one of the top church administrators, we were there the entire day: in the morning, weâd be crammed into one of the churchâs attics â dusty, hot and made of wood as old as history â where weâd be taught by either one of the church elders or an overeager seminary student about Jesusâ virtues and how nasty Our Father Up In Heavenâs wrath was; and in the afternoon, while most of the congregation wouldâve gone home and enjoyed the rest of the Lordâs day in bed, me and my friends would run around the empty pews and play hide-and-seek amongst the old rusty choir instruments while our parents held three-hour long meetings about the churchâs programming and finances. I found it tedious to be honest, but hey having my dad be the one with the final say about the churchâs direction (financially anyway; Gabeâs dad was the head pastor, my dad was more of the CEO) got me treated like royalty so I was all over it.
And now, ten years later, everything still looked the same. Thereâs still a huge heaping of dust over the cabinet that held the art supplies. The air-conditioningâs still loud and barely able to keep the room below 23 degrees. The roomâs a lot smaller than what I remember and the wooden floor creaked a little bit louder now, but the table where I knelt and prayed earnestly for Jesus to come in me and save my soul otherwise destined for eternal damnation was still there.
Which made it the perfect spot for me to bend over and let Gabe come in me and save my soul from being bored to death. My first dick in three weeks, god I was going crazy.
âWow,â Gabe said as he thrust one last time, âThat was amazing. You were amazing.â
I rolled my eyes as I pushed him off me to grab the towels. I threw a towel at him and chuckled. âOh I know,â I replied, wiping the beads of sweat on my chest and forehead, âYou on the other hand, wellâŠâ
Gabe stuck his tongue out. âWell fuck you.â
âI mean, I guess Iâm down to go once more. Last longer than ten minutes this time though?â
âI hate you.â
I blew Gabe a kiss as I handed him the rest of his clothes. The man hasnât aged in ten years. Still tall and lanky, skin uncharacteristically pale as snow with a smile that could melt the ice caps if he wanted to. No wonder every girl in our Sunday School class wanted him. And from what I hear, everyone still did. âPractice makes perfect,â I said, running his hands through his hair, âI mean, does Angela really never put out?â
I felt Gabe flinch a bit when I mentioned her name. Angela. Who wouldâve thought antisocial, acne-ridden, lisp-y Angela would nab the most sought-after bachelor in church?
âOh right, the whole no-sex âtill marriage. Surprised you still havenât broken that. I hear Brandon and Eve already broke it last year. Iâm not your first am I?â Gabe merely shrugged. He bit his lip. Shit. âOhmygod. I truly am the corrupter. Thank god I decided to come back now and not when Iâm 35. I mean Iâll probably be married but itâll be an open relationship so we still can-â
âTo James? So heâs ok with all ofâŠthis?â
I laughed out loud.
âWell for once, I donât think Iâll be marrying him. Donât think weâll last the year even. And as for this,â I said, waving my hands at our current state of undress, âWell, he knew I was going to be gone for two months, and he knew Iâm a slut.â I purposefully trailed my words. For dramatic effect, of course. âBut no. What he wonât know wonât hurt him, right?â
I watched Gabeâs Adamâs apple bob up and down.
âDoes Angela know?â
He shook his head.
âAnd she never suspected?â
Guess that gay-to-straight transformation worked. Cast me aside, threw me under the bus, made me the gay temptress that led people astray because I wouldnât tell our parents that we were just fooling around and it meant nothing. Because I was tired of pretending.
God why couldnât I be angry at him? I wasnât then âcause I was blinded by love. Or at least thatâs what I told myself. But now? Now I knew better. Now I knew my worth. Now I knew that I shouldnât stand for shit. So why canât I?
I held his chin on my hand and tilt his head up. Did that romantic movie thing where instead of talking about how shitty heâs feeling now, I simply make his lips meet mine for a shallow, meaningless kiss. âAbby just texted. Said Lauraâs taking forever so theyâll get here in forty-five minutes, tops. Enough for another round?â