Hidden Play (MalexMale) 《COMPLETE》

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I stare at Zion's expressionless face, his words echoing against my eardrums. He comments on my hickey so nonchalantly, as if he's discussing something as commonplace as our history lecture last Thursday. My jaw clenches and unclenches as I make my way to the duffle bag thrown at the end of the bag. I open it up and pull out a clean shirt, tugging off the one I wore for hiking and tossing it on the floor.

Zion opens his eyes just as I'm pulling the new shirt over my head, and I feel his eyes scan over my lean torso. The foolish side of me wonders if he enjoys the view. The realistic side wonders if he's searching for more hickeys to harass me about.

"You know," Zion says with a sly smirk. "I've been thinking of ways we could get to know one another better without the other feeling as if it's...a trap."

I raise a brow and move to my bag once again to find a clean pair of sweatpants. It's unnerving knowing he sees the anxiety and discomfort I feel whenever he's around. Then again, he just admitted he feels the same thing. Right?

Ha. Score one for Aiden.

"Is that so?" I inquire quietly. "And what'd you come up with?"

Zion reaches down to retrieve the Jack Daniels bottle hiding beside his bed and swirls the remaining contents around in a circle. My eyes follow the bronze-colored liquid as it sloshes from side to side.

"I have a few questions I'd like to ask you," Zion continues. "But you need to answer them honestly."

I kick aside my duffle bag and plop my body onto the bed. The mattress dips to the weight of my body, and I remain mindful of the distance between us. It's far enough away that he won't think I'm trying to cross any lines, but it's close enough to let him know I'm not intimidated.

As little Goldie Locks would say, 'it's juuuuust right.' Or was that Little Red Riding Hood? Hell, I don't know; childhood fairytales aren't on a gay man's repertoires. Well, not this one anyway.

"And if I don't want to answer honestly?" I ask.

Zion lifts the bottle and waggles it to and fro. "You have to take a drink."

"I assume that I get to ask you questions in return," I say without missing a beat. "To which you must answer honestly as well."

Zion's smirk seems to transform into a knowing grin, and he nods good-naturedly. "You have my word. For those that I don't feel capable of answering, I'll take a shot instead."

Should I believe him? I always try to be a man of my word, but Zion continues to be the floating question mark ever looming above my head. He says he has questions for me though, and despite feeling like this is a set-up, my curiosity is outweighing my sense of reason.

My eyes flicker to the clock, noting that it's now going on 4:00 AM.

"It's getting late," I say, nodding my head to the clock on the bedside table.

""Well then," Zion says and untwists the top of the bottle. "We should get started. I'll go first."

~~~~

Only a half an hour has passed and already Zion has drilled me on a number of topics covering everything from my past, to my old basketball team, to my family, to my relationship with Casper. Needless to say, I've indulged in a number of shots to keep a few of my secrets intact. My stomach churns painfully, and I force down a mouthful of bile. I'm beginning to wonder if it would have been easier just to give him all truths to avoid waking up with a hangover.

I shouldn't complain though. For as many shots as I've taken, Zion has taken just as many....if not more. It's not like I'm asking him tough questions - well, not in comparison to the ones he's asking me anyway. Hell, I'm not even asking him overly personal ones either. He's just refusing to push the envelope with what he'll share with me, good or bad. I think the only new information I know about him is that he comes from a well-to-do family of doctors, his younger sister is his only sibling, he has never been in love, and he 'doesn't do relationships.'