You ever look at someone and think, that person is priceless. Not just expensive, but exacting, effortlessly handsome. An American God. Not just je ne sais quoi, but god damn will you please tell me what that is?

Adam was unmovable. “Over here,” he beckoned.

“Wait up!” I shouted, flip-flops scampering over the cobblestone path as my book bag flailed in the evening wind. When I caught up, we escaped to a small, covered alleyway that hid us from the light of the street lamps.

“This one’s haunted,” said Adam.

“Is that so.”

“What, you don’t believe me?”

“I don’t know that I believe in ghosts.”

“Well, a little girl died here. Her spirit still lingers in this house.” Adam pointed at a barred window beneath the wooden construction.

“Really?” I said as I dropped my book bag and walked to the spot where Adam was pointing. “So, do you think she’ll mind if I do this?” I bent over and planted my butt cheeks square against the concrete wall of the house, doing a little dance.

“You’re so stupid,” Adam laughed.

“What? You think she’s gonna come out now? Am I cursed forever?”

“It doesn’t work like that.”

“Evil spirits come out!” I hollered.

“Stop before someone sees you.”

“Curse me, evil spiri–”

Adam stopped me, his warm hand covering my mouth. Now he was towering over. I could feel the weight of his body press up against mine. Six foot tall with a well-defined swimmers build, he smelled of fresh patchouli and amber. Like a sophisticated hug, he was a pleasant retreat from the mildew and paper mill sulfur that permeated all of historic Savannah.

“Be respectful,” whispered Adam. Then he let go of my mouth.

“Sorry. I am a little bit tipsy.”

Silence hung over us for a moment. Adam hadn’t moved an inch, his arms still trapped me against the wall.

“What is it?” I asked.

Adam leant in closer still, resting his head on my shoulder and embracing me in his arms. “I am a little bit tipsy, too.” He laughed and sighed at the same time. “Though if I’m being honest…”

“What?”

“I really can’t believe you came all the way to SCAD for Daniel. He’s such a narcissist.”

Savannah College of Art and Design. A private art school in Georgia. It was a swamp full of young, cute, depraved boys. Full of drama and dreams. You could practically smell the sex on the huge drapes of moss that hung from the city canopy. I had been there less than a day, and I could already tell this would be the birthplace of my next adventure. My awakening.

“Whatever. We all do stupid things, and he was really good.” I landed a gentle punch into Adam’s arm. He was a wall. “Besides, if I hadn’t, I would never have met you.” I ran my hand through his soft chestnut brown hair. “And I’m really glad you came up to me after class today.”

Adam’s arms reached further down my back, squeezing the skin beneath my shirt. “I mean, how could I not say something when a guy as cute as you just randomly shows up on the first day of spring semester?”

“You’re amazing, you know.” I gently stroked the back of his ear.

“God, I want to kiss you.”

Adam stood up and I peered into his eyes. He had a strong jawline, which matched his broad physique. He looked like a high school prom king or one of the hot athletic cool kids that I never was. And yet he was so gentle, so unimposing. He had this goofy, no-fucks-given temperament that made him stand out from everyone else. His hands cupped mine. They were twice the size.

“Your hands are so small,” Adam whispered.

“Kiss me.”

Adam took a deep breath and then let go of my hands. He pulled away and started back down the cobblestone path.

“What? What is it?” I chased after him, confused.

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?”

“I can’t!” He shouted into the empty midnight air.

“So, you come up to me on the first day of class, ask me if I’m gay point blank in front of all your friends, get me drunk, and then tell me that you want to kiss me — but now you can’t?”

Adam stopped. He spun around and took me into his arms again. The patchouli came racing back. His hands reached further and further into my clothes. He kissed my shoulder, across my collarbone, then up my neck, each time his firm lips sinking deeper and deeper into my skin.

“You’re so fucking cute. You know that?” Adam muttered into my ear. His breathing was heavy.

My body leaned into his and a thousand hormones shot like fireworks across my nerves. I was hard. It was midnight in the middle of this strange city I had known for barely a day, and I was hard. My face came up to Adam’s, my nose grazing the side of his cheek until our lips stopped just short of each other.

“Kevin. I can’t.”

Our lips moved closer still.

“I have a boyfriend,” he said.

We kissed. And then again. And again. More still. Until our lips were locked so tight the world began to spin. Adam didn’t hold back now. He kissed me with this voracity I had never known before, an impatient love. His hands, trembling, raced up and down my back. He leaned into me and I felt his body against mine. He was hard too.

I reached into his trousers. “Is that precum I feel?”

“You gonna’ do something about it?”

“I’d like to.”

Our words were softer than the wind. I slid my hand up and down his shaft, his precum caught between my fingers.

“Fuck, you’re so good for me,” Adam whispered.

He kissed me more. It felt like magic. A delicate moment. Quiet, with only the feintest glow from the nearby street lamps cloaking us in a midnight high. We were the loudest thing. Our kissing. Our intensity. One lip slipping in between another. Tongues meeting and touching in a gentle storm of passion. No one there to notice us but the stars.

“Adam, I want you,” the words came slow from my lips, stilled by my deep uncertainty of what would happen next. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you before.”

His hands gripped my back, held me firm, then traced down my spine and into my briefs. They felt strong, yet so cool against the warm Savannah breeze. His fingers ran slowly over the circumference of my butt, trailing across like the edge of the moon. I shivered and felt the hairs on my skin stand tall. I released his shaft and grabbed one of his hands in my own, letting our fingers collide. We kissed again.

“Don’t stop,” I said louder. “Please.”

Adam pushed up against me, forcing me to fall to the wall of the building behind us. He kissed and kissed, yanking against the corners of my shirt as he did. Now it had become a race against time. Soon my shirt was off, my pale skin bare in the soft recesses of the moon’s light. I reciprocated, tugging away at Adam’s belt. Before long we were both in only our underwear, hands gripping each other’s cocks through the fabric. He kissed me harder. Deeper.

It was a long kiss.

“I think I’m falling for you.” The words left briskly from my mouth.

A pause. My heart trembled. Then I felt Adam pull away, my lips reaching out longingly as he departed. He stared into my eyes and smiled, but it wasn’t the kind of smile I wanted. I could tell it was trying to say something else.

“Kevin. I don’t think I can do this.”

Suddenly, I felt naked. My heart thumped faster. It was as though the whole city had been watching. Adam began to dress. I didn’t know what to do, so I threw myself at his shoulders. I could feel his muscles contract as he embraced me between his shirt.

“Can’t or won’t?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what point I was trying to make. My eyes began to welt up. I sniffled as my head rested against Adam’s chest.

“I like you a lot. You’re sweet and fun and smart. But I have a boyfriend.”

A tear ran down my cheek. It felt juvenile to have become so attached so fast. How did I let this happen? And yet here I was, feeling as though I had been given the whole world and then had it ripped away from me in the blink of an eye.

“I still want us to be friends.” Adam ran his fingers through my hair and kissed me again, but now the kiss was muted. Heartless. “Are you okay with that?”

I sobered up. “Well, I don’t know what choice I have. I’ll see you every day in class.”

Adam hugged me tighter. I felt the wind begin to pick up, chimes sounding off somewhere in the distance. I didn’t want him to let go.

“I know.” His chin perched on my head as he swung my waist between his arms. “It’s going to be okay. You’re too good for Daniel. You’re too good for me.”

“I just want to love you.” I sniffled again.

“I know.”

He kissed me again. This time with a certain life and dignity, our bodies cast as two loving silhouettes against the midnight ensemble.

This would not be the end.

“I know.”