“Is it done?” Titus lifted himself out of the water.

“No.” I pushed him back in with my foot.

He groaned before continuing to swim from one side to the other. At least, he wasn’t doing the backstroke. The boy had no shame.

“Are you finished yet?” he called.

“If you’d stopped bugging me, I would be.” I had restarted three times. I finally had one that looked halfway decent. The anxiety of messing up had me scared to make any big adjustments.

Titus continued swimming and splashing around, getting me wet each time he passed. He was the size of a linebacker and was acting like an impatient five year old.

“Aden,” he whined.

“Not yet.” I just had the tail to do. One more cut, and it would be done. “Aw!” I dropped the wolf and set my knife down. A red stream trickled down my arm from a slice down my thumb.

Titus was at my side in seconds. “Is it deep?”

“No, I just nicked it.” I sucked on it. “I’ll be fine.”

He moved in close beside me on the rock where I was sitting and pried my other hand away.

I tried to resist. “Stop it. I said I’m fine.”

“It’s not too deep.” He poured water over it to wash away the blood.

A gash could be seen along the edge of my thumb. My eyes went wide. It looked deep to me.

He met my gaze. “You’re going to have to trust me for a moment, and not freak out about personal space stuff.”

I scowled at him. “Shut up.”

He smiled and leaned down. His tongue flicked out, and he licked the wound. I sat up straight. Every hair was on end, but somehow, I managed to not jerk my hand away. It was the weirdest sensation.

“There.” He kissed my palm and sat back.

I hugged my hand to my chest and examined it. Only a red line remained.

“It wasn’t very deep at all,” said Titus as he slipped back into the water.

I pressed my fingers against the wound, and it felt perfectly fine. It didn’t even hurt. “What did you do?” I grabbed the wooden wolf before it fell into the water.

“Stop the bleeding, that’s all.”

“Oh.” I bit my bottom lip. “Here, I’m done.” I held out the wolf to him.

Titus took it from me and examined it. He smiled. “I love it, thank you.”

“It’s a little better than the other one.” I scratched my arm and looked off into the trees.

“They’re both perfect.” He hurried to shore and produced the other figurine from his shorts pocket.

He came back and placed them on the rock side by side. I slipped into the water. One was noticeably bigger than the other. After getting a better look at them in the light, I was happy with each of them.

Titus pushed the wolves closer to one another. “They go together.”

“Yeah, they do.”

Titus sunk down in the water, so he was at my level. “Thank you for making them for me.” He scooted toward me.

“It’s fine. You’re the only one that ever asked me for one. It was fun.” I laid my head on my arm resting on a ledge.

“It means a lot to me,” he whispered

I just smiled and received one from him in return. His face sat centimeters from mine. I closed my eyes and felt his lips touch mine.

Reality hit.

My eyes shot open. I pushed off his shoulder and dunked myself in the process. Titus grabbed my arm and helped me stand.

“Aden?” He released me.

I shook my head and hurried to the side. Leaning against a rock, I ran my fingers across my lips. What have I done, was the only thought that raced through my head. Why hadn’t I reacted faster? I let him kiss me.

“Aden, I’m sorry.” Titus appeared at my side. “I didn’t mean to.”

I turned my body away from him. “Don’t,” I said as he tried to touch me. “I… I need a minute. Just go.” I traced my lips with my fingers.

“Aden?”

“Just go!” I snapped, covering my face. “Just leave me alone.”

Titus’s clenched his jaw. “I didn’t mean to-”

“Leave!” I screamed at him.

Pain filled his eyes.

Shaking my head, I sunk to the ground and hid behind my knees. “Please just go.”

Titus nodded and backed away. “I’m sorry, Aden. I really am.”

I took a deep breath, but didn’t reply. I glanced up and saw him disappear into the trees. Something ran down my face. I quickly wiped it away. I wasn’t gay. I was not gay.