Sray Cat Chronicles (Novella)

A Stray Cat

The first day of swim class, Leslie Kirby knew he was going to hate having his partner. He got stuck with a taller guy named Aaron, and he was weird. He had a tattooed sleeve on his left arm that started at his shoulder and ended at his wrist. The entire thing was a pattern of panthers, skulls, bones, and grim reapers. Then he had a huge back piece that had one black panther as the centerpiece surrounded by a jungle or a forest background. All the tattoos were full color, and Leslie had to wonder where a college student got all the money for such things. He even had piercings. His ears were each gauged, and he had an industrial bar piercing in the upper area of his ear on the right, and two other piercings on the left. He also had a ring in his left eyebrow. This, paired with his size, made him quite imposing. He was, overall, a rough looking individual. In fact, he even rode a motorcycle to school every day.

The biggest problem that Leslie had was that he thought the guy was hot. He had a trim, strong body, and while broader than most the swimmers, he had tremendous upper body strength and powerful thighs. He had the clearest blue eyes he'd ever seen, and curly blond hair that was shaggy about his head and laid in kinky curls when it was wet. Leslie hadn't thought much about any of his swim class companions until he was face to face with his new partner. Now, he had to deal with being attracted to the guy he was supposed to swim with on a daily basis over the semester. He briefly wondered if he could get out of swim class still...

* * * * *

"I can't believe you got us thrown out of class! Again!" Leslie growled as they stormed back into the locker room, running his hands through his short, damp brown hair.

"If ya weren't such a dumbass and were able to stop arguing in front of the coach, we wouldn't have this problem!" Aaron snapped back at him.

"Me? You're the problem!" Leslie hissed at him.

"I told you that you were doing the stroke the wrong way and it was going to get you injured, but ya can't take criticism!" Aaron pointed out.

"I can take criticism just fine from anyone but you!" Leslie exclaimed, crossing his arms and sitting down on the bench in a huff.

"And why is that? What's so wrong with criticism from me?" Aaron grumbled, standing over him with his arms crossed as well.

Leslie looked up at him and felt the blush start forming before it could even be seen because he was standing over him. He turned away and muttered something under his breath that Aaron couldn't catch.

"What was that? I don't understand mumble."

"I said, it's because I'm attracted to you, okay?" Leslie finally managed, still not looking at him.

"Yer what?" he asked, surprised. "Yer gay?"

"I'm not gay or straight. See, you think it's gross and now you know, so we really can't be partners anymore," Leslie said, frowning now, but still looking away from him.

Aaron didn't say anything for a minute and Leslie was afraid he was going to get punched or something. He was frankly surprised he hadn't, or Aaron hadn't left in anger. Of course, they were both still in their swimsuits. Which made this even harder because of the way the flimsy material clung to every curve on Aaron's body, and he was trying very hard not to stare at him.

To his surprise, he felt a hand against his cheek. He stiffened, thinking he was going to get hit, but instead, Aaron's thumb swept over his lips. Shocked at the gentle touch, Leslie looked up at him, dark brown eyes wavering between tears and not.

"Is that all that's wrong with ya?" Aaron asked, pressing his thumb at Leslie's lips, then slipping it into his mouth when his lips parted.

Leslie looked a little surprised, eyes widening as his tongue sought out the intruding digit in his mouth. As Aaron pushed his thumb deeper, he kept his eyes focused on Leslie's, just staring at him until a smirk spread across his face.