SCRUBS AND CROCS (Episode 3)

Previously on SCRUBS AND CROCS…

*

Ehis woke to the sound of a rumbling sky, the sounds of a squall that was grudgingly letting go now that daybreak was here. He winced as a dull throbbing reached up from the back of his head, a consequence of the bad decisions he made the night before. The rain had poured down from the skies all through the night and even now, there was a marked chill in the air that appeared to stay warded off from Ehis by the warmth surrounding him. He could feel Xavier’s heavy arm draped over his torso, their bodies pressed together, Xavier’s front against Ehis’s behind, a tangle of limbs that warmed each other. The torrential rainfall that had raged the night before had now reduced to a very light drizzle that was fading fast in the face of the approaching dawn.

Ehis lay very still, feeling the rise and fall of Xavier’s chest behind him and loving the way his breathing tickled the back of his neck.

What happened last night? he thought to himself.

He played back the events of the previous night in his head, starting from their drinks-laden camaraderie at the bar till when he asked Xavier to stay the night. He remembered how grateful he felt when it started raining, as though the Universe somehow approved of the two of them spending the night together. He suspected that Xavier would not have stayed if the rain hadn’t started falling then.

He remembered the warmth he felt as Xavier climbed onto the bed and lay beside him. They had lain there, next to each other, and he could feel Xavier’s tenseness, as though he didn’t trust himself in bed next to Ehis. Ehis didn’t blame him. One moment, they’d been fellow doctors getting acquainted in a bar, and the next, they were on the floor of his friend’s apartment, kissing. He didn’t know how they had gotten to this point so fast.

He had been about to jokingly tell Xavier to relax, that he wouldn’t bite, when he felt a surge of bile suddenly rise from his stomach and push toward his throat, forcing him to leap up from the bed and race for the bathroom. He made it to the toilet bowl just in time to throw up. For the next few minutes, he stayed hunched over the toilet bowl, violently throwing up everything he’d had to eat that evening. He also felt mortification well up inside him when Xavier’s touch on his back reminded him that the other man was around to witness his wretchedness.

But Xavier had been kind. Ehis remembered how he assisted him while he brushed his teeth, then boiled some bathwater for him, and helped him wash himself. The feel of the hands of this sexy man he barely knew on his bare skin, of his eyes beholding his nakedness, filled Ehis with lust like he had never known. He couldn’t help it when his cock straightened and went turgid with excitement, pointing towards Xavier. He didn’t give time for mortification; he wanted this man and that was that. Before Xavier could react to the sight of his hard-on, he had pulled him into the bathroom stall, his hands feverishly roving his body, undressing him, his mouth searching for his, kissing him. Xavier didn’t fight him. He allowed himself to get undressed and kissed Ehis back.

The kiss had started out lightly and then progressed to an intensity that had both men grasping at each other like they couldn’t get close enough to each other. It was as though the reins that held the sexual tension building up slowly between them all evening had been slashed, thus unleashing a force of passion that was savaging them. They kissed each other hard and hungry. Hands groped buttocks and thighs. Mouths sucked on nipples and cocks. Moans and groans harmonized in a lewd duet of each man’s crescendoing desire.

Ehis had no idea how they made it out of the bathroom and back to the bed. But there they were, exchanging the hard corners of the bathroom stall for the soft, silken sheets of the bed. Ehis had fetched the KY Jelly and Xavier had produced the condoms. After that, there hadn’t been anything else left to hold them back from cresting the wave of their desires all the way to the top.

Now, while still lying in bed and ignoring his headache, feeling Xavier’s warm breath behind his neck, Ehis looked towards the table and remembered how Xavier had taken him on that piece of furniture. Against the background sounds of the crashing thunder and pouring rain, Ehis had gasped and moaned his pleasure, not holding back the full, throaty sounds of his passion as he received Xavier over and over again. He turned his head slightly to look at the chair upon which he had straddled Xavier and rode him as furiously as the confined space would let him. And he remembered finally how Xavier had carried him, all without pulling out, and placed him on the bed where they had brought each other to mind-shattering orgasms.

It had been a beautiful night. They’d made magic. And now, waking up to the luxury of this man sleeping next to him, Ehis didn’t feel like letting go.

Slowly and determined not to wake Xavier, he reached for his phone on the vanity table next to the bed and checked the time. It was 6:59 am. He found it annoying that he’d woken this early, despite the knowledge that he didn’t have to be anywhere this morning or do much for the day.

However, both his feelings of contentment and annoyance began to evaporate when he noticed he had 4 missed calls and clicked open his Call List to see they were from David. There was also a text message. David was apparently on his way back from Ibadan. He’d hitched a ride with his cousin who was driving down to Lagos.

Ehis checked the time of the text’s receipt. It was 6 am. Considering how it was about an hour’s drive from Ibadan to Lagos, it meant his friend could be back to the lodge any time soon. By this time, a sense of urgency had firmly lodged itself in his heart.

“Xavier, wake up!” he said, tapping his lover as he tried to rouse him into wakefulness. “Wake up. My roommate is coming back this morning and could already be close.”

The other man murmured something and attempted to pull him close to him. Ehis allowed himself to feel a moment of weakness, to luxuriate in the warmth and scents of this sexy man. And then, the bleat of a horn coming in from outside thrust the thought of David rudely into his consciousness.

“Wake up, Xavier,” he said, attempting to move away from him. “Come on. I said my roommate will be home anytime now.”

“What time is it?” Xavier asked in a half yawn, while trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

“Time for you to leave,” Ehis answered, suddenly feeling pressured to get Xavier out of the room and rid the place of all traces of the night they’d shared together.

“Aren’t we even going to talk about what happened last night?” Xavier asked, eyes squinted and brows knit as he sat up and tried to adjust to the light of day.

Ehis paused and looked at him. He wanted that. He wanted to talk about last night. He wanted them to lie in bed all day and talk and have more sex and talk some more. He wanted them to stay here in the bubble of this brand-new whatever-it-was they’d discovered between them. The thought of being with Xavier made him smile. He wished that time would stop for a bit so they could just be together before they had to continue with their lives.

But he knew that couldn’t happen. David, for one, would soon be here.

“We will talk about it,” he said. “We will. But not right now. My roommate will be back soon. Get dressed so you can leave before he gets here. I’ll meet you later today and we can talk then.” With that, he moved close to the bed and leaned forward to kiss Xavier’s lips lightly.

The next few minutes were spent with Xavier getting dressed while Ehis hastily put the room back in order, getting rid of any telltale signs of the sex they had last night. He tied the empty condom sachets in a nylon bag, along with the wipes they had used to clean up. Xavier was ready to leave while he was in the middle of his work, and they exchanged another kiss, deeper and slower than the one they shared earlier. And then, Xavier was out the door, leaving Ehis to go flush the condoms in the toilet, twice for good measure.

When he was sure the room was well rid of all homosexual activity twenty minutes later, he felt very good with himself.

“There, everything is spick and span,” he said to himself. “Where are you, David? You may come home now.” He chuckled at the singsong tone of his voice, not sure why he was feeling so blissful but certain it had something to do with the gorgeous man he’d embraced this new day with.

Written by Bryan Peters