50 Shades of James

The Game

           Jordan gazed over the circle where all of his best friends sat, a devilish smirk twisting his lips. The guys, and some of their female friends, were playing a recreated version of Seven Minutes in Heaven that Steven had jokingly recommended, but which Jordan had dared the others to actually do. He, of course, was exempt, being married and all, so he was the ‘chooser’. His job was to pick two people and lead them to a closet where they would be locked in for, of course, seven minutes, and they were not allowed to open their eyes or speak at all during the game. The only rule Jordan had to follow was that he had to pick one girl and one guy.

            The game had certainly been interesting, with results ranging from Ali slapping Eddie for accidentally touching on of her boobs in the squished closet, to how Seamus and Nicole had somehow ended up sucking face in there. Everyone had had at least one turn, and it was more fun than they had imagined it would be.

            Jordans’ smirk grew a bit as Steven called out that this would be the last round. He wanted to shake things up a bit, and get some people back for all of the pranks they pulled on him. And really, when did he follow the rules?

            Silently snickering, he picked the two people who never, ever got along.

     Aleks was horny. As dumb as it sounded, he was. He was younger than the rest of the Creatures, and still kept some of the ridiculously high sex drive that puberty had forced onto him as a teenager. Usually, he’d have a girlfriend to help him with his little problem, but he’d been single for a while now. Aleks had spent more nights looking up things other than video games and YouTube on his computer than he’d ever care to admit. It’d certainly helped before when he’d been in the closet with who could only have been Ashh, filling the seven minutes with a meaningless make out session, but it left him thirsty for more, so he was secretly glad when he was chosen again. Not that he’d ever show that, of course.

     The other was already in the closet when Jordan pushed him in, hiding chuckles behind his hand. What was so funny? Whatever. Aleks groped around with his eyes closed until he hit a hipbone. Smirking, he grabbed at the protrusion and pulled whoever it was flush against him. It was someone taller than him…Natalie? The hips he gripped didn’t curve in as severely as Ashh’s, but he didn’t really care about body types right now; he was desperate and his seven minutes of perfect excuse were ticking away. Blindly, he directed a kiss to his fellow captive, but was surprised when the lips that met his were surrounded by thick stubble.

     James immediately knew that whoever was in the closet with him was a guy. He was smarter than most of the guys gave him credit, and recognized the immediate grip around his hips could only be the possessive move of another male. Truth be told, it didn’t bother him much. He’d never admit it to the others, but the summers before he’d started making videos, he’d had some flings with people from both sides of the fence. He hadn’t put much thought into whether he’d ‘moved past’ that time lately, because he’d been too busy making content to care about relationships, but this did feel pretty good…And what the hell, right? He’d been working nonstop for months; it might do him a little good to fool around for a bit, and blame it on trying to be an asshole like he usually did when he got accused of things by his friends.

     All this swirling through his head, James lowered his face to his mysterious and shorter companion and gasped.

     The lips he pressed against were like a magnet, pulling him back again and again. He groaned as a tongue massaged his, and a thin, lean body pressed into him. It was pure bliss, and James wondered how he’d ever given up relationships.

     Based on the stubble and the noises he could hear coming from the others throat, Aleks guessed that, of all people, he was making out with none other than James. Somehow, this realization made him want to press harder into the other, his kisses becoming harsher. The urge confused him, but Aleks didn’t want to think about it; didn’t want to think at all, just wanted to enjoy, here and now, the fact that James was kissing back. He felt reckless and free and just a little insane, and it was exactly how he wanted to feel.

     As he pulled away to catch his breath, however, he heard the lock to the closet door turn and quickly backed away, holding himself up on the wooden shelves filled with cleaning supplies.

     “Everyone can open their eyes now!” Jordan called, and Aleks blearily blinked his open. There was James in the closet corner, giving Jordan a ‘what the fuck’ look. He pushed out of the closet, Aleks following close behind.

     The others all laughed as the two exited, excusing Jordan’s breach of the rules as a good joke.

     “The fanfiction…” Eddie cried dramatically, pretending to have a nosebleed, which even pulled a grin out of Aleks.

      “C’mon man, nothing happened, you know I have to put on my sexy pants before I even try for any action,” He retorted. James glanced at Aleks at the same time Aleks glanced at James, and silent understanding passed between them. No one needs to know.

     Steven interrupted the dangerous conversation with a loud yawn. “As much as I love to talk about their secret love, I’m pooped and need to record tomorrow. See you guys later.”

     The rest all murmured similar thoughts and the group slowly dispersed for the night.

     James peeked over at Aleks again. He was talking to Eddie, probably getting ready to leave for their shared apartment. He never thought…well, he never thought Alek’s mouth could do anything but spew idiocy, for one thing, he joked to himself. But even jokes didn’t unseat the strange mixture of desire and unease growing in his chest.

       After all, Aleks went through girlfriends like Seamus uploaded—fast and often. He probably just didn’t even care who he was kissing, as long as someone would make out with him. It was a onetime deal, and that was all. James was fine with that; he’d had a decent amount of hookups in high school. But something deep inside of him mourned not being able to run his hands through Aleks’s soft hair again, not feeling long fingers hold his sturdy frame against the others more compact body.

    “James?” Dan cut short his musings, jolting him into the realization that he was sitting in the kitchen absently playing with a beer bottle he’d somehow already drained.

      “You feeling alright, buddy?” Dan questioned, concern written on his friendly features.

       James shook his head and tossed the bottle into the trash bin. “Yeah, just tired. I’m gonna head to bed. See ya tomorrow.”

        He forced his tired body up the stairs, feeling Dan’s eyes on him throughout. The Creatures were all such good friends to him, but sometimes it was frustrating always being so close to people.

       Lumbering into his room, James stretched out onto his bed, not bothering to change his clothes. Brown eyes stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours, thoughts zipping through his head like race cars. Finally, before he fell asleep, James sent a text he would probably regret.

        Come over tomorrow. 1:00