Groom Wars

16. Lust (2)

Leandro glanced at the viscous liquid sliding down the bathroom's tiled wall and checked to make sure the door was still locked. No voices were heard in the larger restroom outside, and he was free from the cameras. He buckled his pants and muttered, "Fuck." At first, Leandro and Adriel had been messing around like usual, and then somehow, the way Adriel's shirt had opened to reveal most of the boy's chest, and the vulnerability of Adriel's form trapped beneath him had stirred some animalistic passion. Leandro didn't comprehend what was happening to him. Before Adriel, he had never found a man attractive or interesting, and now he felt like his mind was becoming corrupt, impure.

He glanced at his reflection in the mirror. It stared back at him. Judging him.

Leandro hit the sink with his clenched fist. "Damn it."

People were suspicious of them now. All it would take was one videotape of them kissing or having intercourse, and then they would be handcuffed and carried away, humiliated and scorned. Since they were unmarried, if they were caught infringing the law, Leandro and Adriel would be whipped publicly and jailed for a minimum of one year. If the young men were unlucky, they might be banished. The punishment was worse for married individuals who cheated on their partner. For gay sex, the fornicators could receive a penalty of twenty-five years in jail or longer. Some provinces were even trying to reinstate the death penalty.

Luckily, neither Leandro nor Adriel were married.

Leandro washed his hands and sluiced his face with cold water. As the water dripped down his skin, he focused on the cold, used it to distract him. Calm him. There was no ignoring it anymore. After he made Adriel breakfast, he would put some distance between the two of them and wear the demeanour of someone who saw Adriel as nothing more than a friend. 

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