"I couldn't stop looking at you, Pylar. That night on the stage." Gage's voice was nearly hidden by the rushing sound of the falls. The white noise drowning him out made it feel like a secret, something Gage shouldn't have been saying and Pylar certainly shouldn't have listened. "I wanted to have you, I had to have you." Gage leaned back on his elbows and his head dropped back. He groaned softly into the air. Pylar's face heated, his ears turned red and hot. The tingling in his scalp and the heat of Gage's body in front of him was too much to be ignored. Gage's sexual desire and energy was... exciting.  Surges of energy rushed through him, coming from Gage's body. Each surge made Pylar go in for more, go in harder. Pylar's tongue traced out the head of Gage's cock. He explored the ridges exposed by the helm and tight foreskin. Gage gently rocked his hips into Pylar's mouth. His tongue pressed into something... that wasn't skin. Metal? On the underside of Gage's cock were a pair of silver barbell piercings.

"Take as much as you want." Gage sucked in a breath. "We can go as far as you want."

Pylar glanced up at Gage. "...Go.. as far...? Like... actual sex?" He paused, still holding Gage's heat in his hand. "This... I'm not getting charged for this, am I?" He pointed to Gage's cock with his free hand while he held it loosely with the other.

Gage laughed, it was throaty, deep, and something about it put Pylar at ease. "No, no. This is on the house. This kind of thing is always on the house."

Goosebumps formed on Pylar's skin. He felt a force pushing him to lean back down, but he resisted. "Service? Do you... so you do this a lot?"

"Sometimes." Gage licked his lips. His eyes hung half-closed and looked dark.

"Sometimes you follow people around to their vacations and... offer to have sex with them in a nearby attraction?"

Gage laughed again but bit his lip this time. His eyes opened. They were completely dark except for a small bright bulb in the center where his irises should've been. "Sometimes I do that too, but only if someone looks like they really need the help."

"And I really needed the help?"

"I'd say so. You're smelling better already and you haven't even finished me off yet. Why don't you try that and see how you feel when you're done?" The end of Gage's tail raised and fell, like a cat contently watching. There wasn't anything wrong with what Gage said and Pylar had already started... he should finish, but there was something about the way Gage said it. 

Pylar's hands moved up Gage's thighs and reached for his softening cock. He stopped short squeezed Gage's thighs instead. Gage lifted his hips and rolled them playfully toward Pylar. A smile broke on Pylar's lips, but he pushed Gage's hips back down. His hot face stood out again in the cool air. "I can't do that."

"Limp dick?" Gage said.

Pylar's eyes shot up. Gage's his face was so close their noses were only inches apart.

"You don't have to worry about that. I'll take care of everything and I promise you'll still have a good time." Gage hooked his finger under Pylar's chin and pulled him closer. Their lips touched for the briefest moment.

"No, no. That's not it." Shaking his head, Pylar pulled back. "I have to get back to mad."

Gage's hand dropped to his side and he pursed his lips. "Who's mad? Your boyfriend? He mad you're here? You don't need him, then."

"Oh—no!" Everything in Pylar's body went hot — and not in a sexual way. Embarrassment struck immediately and he checked over his shoulder like he'd find his mom standing in the parking lot or the water or Maddox would be under the falls and he'd have heard that. That Maddox would hear Gage say boyfriend and then things would get weird, not even because of what Gage just said, but if Maddox had been under the waterfall or on the beach somewhere, it would've meant Maddox saw what just happened between the two of them; what had just happened after Pylar had spent the last twenty-one years all to himself. "No." He cleared his throat. "Maddox. Mad—He's my best friend."

"Boyfriend?"

"Just friends. He came with me to the club that night — last month. We both went, but they didn't let him in."

"If he's human, they wouldn't."

"Ever?"

"Not uninvited." Gage propped his arms behind him and leaned back. "You ever hear any stories about vampires? Not allowed in without an invitation?"

"Yeah..." Pylar squinted.

"That's what the club's like."

"Oh." Pylar's breathing slowed and his racing heart dropped to a more normal pace. Comfort sunk into his skin in a way he couldn't have explained, in a way he'd never felt before. He could climb up on the shore and pass out in the sand. And then Maddox would have to come pick him up from the police station after the lifeguards or river guards or whatever they had out here discovered his body. He could only imagine the kinds of questions they'd ask him. "I have to get back." Pylar crawled onto the shore. He stood up and his heavy pants, wet with the Niagara River, weighted down to his ankles. He thought about kicking them off and getting back to the room without putting them back on. Pylar cringed at the thought. "I have to get back to Mad."

"Any good friend isn't going to be mad you had your needs met." Gage licked his lips.

"I don't think he's mad — I just need to go. I said I was getting ice and... I don't know what time it is anymore. He probably thinks I fell into the ice machine." Pylar grabbed his pants and pulled them up his legs. His hair pulled a little on the material. "We're here for my birthday. I should be there with him—"

"You should be having a good time. If you're having a good time here, there's no reason to go." Gage didn't get up, but laid flatter on the ground and stretched his arms out above his head. His tail gently patted the ground with each wave up and down.

"Thanks, but... I need to go." Pylar started for the parking lot. He turned around halfway, though he continued walking backward. Gage didn't move. "Thanks for... whatever this was. Gage." The name caught in Pylar's voice and everything around him suddenly became surreal again, like he was feeling himself break out of a dream. "Have a good night." He spun around and returned to the hotel. His ice bucket still sat on the ground outside. Pylar rushed past the front desk and returned to the room. He held the ice tightly against his stomach. He cleared his throat as quietly as he could and stepped forward. The TV played on, a man's voice came through a heavy downpour and he plead for a second chance; he plead to whoever was listening to that he had made a mistake and it had all been a misunderstanding and that he was in love with her and that was the truth.

Pylar's stomach curled in knots. He held tighter onto the ice dish and edged closer to the corner, closer to the room, closer to where he could see Maddox. He breathed in and tried to smile; it was hard; the breathy laugh wasn't a laugh. He couldn't breathe. Though the heat from his skin had disappeared, he felt worse now. The nervous bundle in his stomach moved into his throat and Pylar felt he was going to vomit. "Hey, Mad, sorry, I..." His voice came out softer than he expected. Maddox didn't say anything. Pylar moved slower, more hesitant, waiting to see Maddox's dark eyes staring at him through his black-rimmed glasses. "Would you believe that I—"

Pylar rounded the wall. Maddox laid back on the bed, on his side, partially on his stomach. His glasses sat crooked on his face and his dark hair was a mess. Pylar set the ice bucket down carefully and turned the television off. Next, he hit the lights and climbed into his own bed. Once he pulled the covers up and turned away from his friend, he was finally able to breathe again.

Pylar wasn't dumb, he was bored... Tired of studying, tired of classrooms, tired of... all this stuff that felt so arbitrary and expected, but what value did it actually give to his life? If he didn't enjoy any of it, what was the point? There had to be more to life than doing whatever teachers told you growing up. There had to be something more fulfilling than sitting inside, staring at a whiteboard or computer screen for hours on end until someday you eventually get paid for doing the same thing and look forward to the few hours or few days you don't have to be inside, staring at a screen, waiting for permission to go home and spending all of your free time thinking about how in a couple of hours, you'd be back in that hell.

Gage wasn't like that though; there didn't seem to be an inch of dread or regret in him. Pylar felt a freedom that he'd never had and it was the best thing he had ever felt. He closed his eyes. His heart throbbed, loud, but calm. His eyes fluttered shut and his skin tingled softly with satisfaction.

The cold morning air nipped at every bit of Pylar's exposed body. His toes stuck out of one side of the blanket, his knees the other. His shoulders and head and nose all chilled in the hotel room AC. It was winter; there shouldn't have been AC going, but sleeping in a hotel room never felt right if the AC wasn't blasting and the thinnest blanket. The cake sat on the communal table beside the phone; the plastic cover laid on top, not secure. Plastic forks sat on top of the fluffy white ice cream and broken letters. The smores vodka was half empty. Beer cans laid empty. Chips crumbs sprinkled and crushed contents over the counter. Pyler pulled the blanket over his eyes. The room still mostly dark was lit by the television, though there was no sound. Pylar rubbed his eyes. Not tired, but comfortable. Pylar peered over the covers. Maddox sat on the other bed. A mountain of pillows laid on top of each other, stacked one by one against the headboard. He yawned, covered his mouth, watched the changing subtitles on the TV. Pylar pushed the blanket down and stretched his arms over his head.

"Py," Maddox said, "you're alive."

Pylar sat up. He grabbed some of the extra pillows he'd pushed off the bed during the night and propped them up behind his head. "Of course I'm alive. What else would I be?"

Maddox chuckled softly. "I dunno. You went to get ice last night and then disappeared for a while. I got worried when you didn't come back after ten minutes. I went out looking for you. I thought it was going kind of far to ask the receptionist, but I was worried, you know? They said they saw someone like you walk outside really fast holding an ice bucket, but they didn't see where you went. I... didn't know what to think. I came back to the room and tried calling your phone, but you left it here. I tried to wait for you, but I must've passed out. " Maddox turned the bedside lamp on and turned to Pylar. "Did something happen last night?"

"...Did something... happen..?"

"Yeah."

Pylar restrained the strongest urge he had to slap his face and instead pinched his leg. "I had a really, really weird freaking dream." He tried to laugh, but it seemed more like a sigh falling from his lips.

"A weird, freaking dream, huh?" Maddox said. "Like what?

Tension grew in Pylar's chest, but it was a different kind of tension than what he felt last night. He looked over Maddox's face. The feelings and thoughts from last night that had been whispering to him to try and get Mad to be intimate with him were completely silent. A wave of disgust washed over him at the thought he'd even considered doing something with his best friend and risk their relationship. "It's nothing. Like, think going swimming in the falls, ice-cold, maid of the mist. It's pretty much a blur at this point."

"I hate it when that happens." Maddox dipped into the bathroom and the sink ran. He came back out with a toothbrush in his mouth. Pylar stared toward the window, toward the falls. With foam coming out between Maddox's lips, he said, "I hate that the worst. When you wake up and a dream feels vivid and you got feelings leftover or something, and you wanna talk about it, but you can't remember hardly anything about what you just saw. It's a weird place... being between intense feelings and not knowing where they came from."

Pylar's glance jumped back to Maddox as if he was startled. "Yeah," Pylar said, but didn't really think about what he was agreeing to or with. He should've been clearer headed. The tension was gone, the pain was gone, the obsession was gone, and theoretically, so was the fog. There was no explanation for how Gage could have found him. It had to be a dream. He reached for the remote and flipped on the TV. The sound of Maddox brushing his teeth faded. Pylar glanced toward the bathroom after a moment and saw Maddox standing in the hallway, watching him. When their eyes met, Maddox startled and apologized. He ran into the bathroom and quickly finished brushing his teeth.

"Py." Maddox came out of the bathroom. "Thanks for spending your birthday with me." Maddox looked away. "I, uh... it means a lot."

Pylar's posture straightened and muted the TV. "Shouldn't I be thanking you for spending your time with me?" He rubbed his eyes. "Of course I'm going to spend it with you. We've spent like, every one of our birthdays together since the fifth grade. I'm not about to end that tradition." He slid off the bed. There was a moment of hesitation before he walked toward Maddox. Before he placed his hand on Maddox's arm. Their eyes met. Maddox smiled, and he smiled back. "Sorry I got lost on the way to the ice machine yesterday."

"It's fine." Maddox slipped away from Pylar's touch. "I'm just glad nothing bad happened to you. You know... when you went into that club and you didn't come out and they wouldn't let me in — I was getting ready to go in there after you. I had to make sure my taser worked though."

Pylar chuckled. "Thanks, Mad." Their hands gently bumped together. "I'd get in a fistfight for you any day."

"Fistfight? You trying to one-up my taser?" Maddox took a step back and pressed his fingers to his chest as if deeply offended. "I'd get my glasses broken for you again, pissings someone off." There was a pause before Maddox said, "I'd do anything for you, Py."

Pylar swallowed. He felt the soft heat rush to his face. He couldn't stop the small smile. He knew he was a freak at that moment; he knew that he should've felt a lot more than he did. He loved Maddox, but like his brother and every time they were close, he hoped that would be enough. Maddox never asked for more, and last night, it was him who thought about escalating things, not for love, but for a hunger that Maddox didn't deserve to be used to get rid of. "Don't break your glasses, Mad. They're expensive..." Pylar slipped by Maddox and into the bathroom. He turned on the sink and washed his face. "Let me wash up a little and then we can get going and tonight when we get back, we will devour that cake. That thing is not coming back to Montgomery with us."

"I'll see you there," Maddox said.