Page 30 of Fear of Flying
Drew brought a hand up to run the backs of his fingers down Zach’s cheek. “I’m not sure I want to take my eyes off you.”
He felt Zach inhale sharply. “Are you always this romantic? I’m not sure my heart could handle this all the time.”
Drew chuckled lightly. “I’m not even sure how to be romantic, actually. But if you’ll recall my rambling and endless talk about Superman on the plane, then maybe that will reassure you that this won’t be constant?”
Zach’s laugh jostled their bodies slightly and made Drew’s heart skip a beat. “Ah, but I know all too well from Jen that there is romance to be had when it comes to Lois and Clark, depending on which version of Superman you’re watching, of course.”
Oh god, Drew’s heart skipped two beats this time, and for a moment, he could only nod. He desperately wanted to blurt out some nonsense about things having been love at first sight for Clark Kent and how in the last however-many hours he and Zach had been together, that notion had started to feel a whole lot less like nonsense. And a whole lot more like the truth.
Drew swallowed, his heart galloping in his chest, and he hoped his voice wasn’t shaky when he started talking. “It’s... kinda incredible how well we’re getting along, how compatible we are, and we haven’t even known each other a whole day yet.”
He felt Zach nod against his shoulder, his fingers stilling on Drew’s chest. “Yeah, it is pretty incredible, isn’t it?”
There was a beat of silence, and Zach brought his hand up to cup Drew’s cheek, his fingers smoothing softly, almost imperceptibly against Drew’s skin. His eyes showed some deep understanding, like he sensed there was something more on Drew’s mind, and a surge of warmth flooded through Drew as he leaned into Zach’s touch.
Zach stretched up to kiss his lips briefly, then pulled back. “You okay?” Zach asked softly. “Things seem kinda serious up there again.” Zach’s fingers brushed against Drew’s temple before slowly sliding back down to settle on Drew’s chest.
Drew smiled, remembering when Zach had asked the same thing in the bar earlier. He wasn’t sure if he should say what was on his mind, though. It seemed too soon, too personal, too intimate—even though it felt a bit ridiculous to label something as such when he’d just been more intimate with Zach than he’d ever been with anyone. But something straight from his heart? Especially when he wasn’t sure he could—
Zach pressed his fingers into Drew’s chest lightly, drawing his attention back to Zach’s gaze, and his expression was so kind and so patient and so... Drew wasn’t sure what else. Whatever it was, though, it was like everything so far today with Zach. So comfortable and so right.
“I’m—I’m... I...” Drew huffed out a breath and tried to reset. “I feel like you’re my Clark Kent, like... you managed to find me, to see me underneath all the...”
“All the what?” Zach prompted gently as he seemed to search Drew’s eyes, bringing his fingertips up to trace along Drew’s jawline.
Drew’s throat tightened, the emotions welling up almost forcefully in him, and there was part of him that didn’t want to say anything out loud, or even think it. He shook his head softly and reached to stroke Zach’s face again, finding comfort in his gaze, in his arms. And he continued, his words quiet and tentative. “Everyone sees Lois as this hard-bitten journalist who isn’t afraid to go down swinging to fight for the greater good, but she’s also... unapproachable. She puts up these walls to keep everyone out, to protect herself from... the world. And me too... I-I feel like no one sees the real me. I’ve got walls built up so high around me and this—this pretense that I show the world, close to the real me, but not.” He paused, his hand settling on Zach’s neck, and he took a deep breath. “Somehow, you see me. You saw me right away, and it didn’t matter that I...” He trailed off again, trying to get a handle on how exactly to put what he was feeling into words.
“...that you disguise yourself and save the world?” Zach asked.
Drew let out a shuddering breath. “I wish I was saving the world, but I’m not, I’m—”
“You saved me,” Zach said quietly, his hand immediately cupping Drew’s cheek, and when their eyes met, Zach’s expression was so strong, so heartfelt that it made Drew’s heart skip yet another beat.
“I just held your hand—”
Zach shook his head and ran his thumb across Drew’s cheek. “You did more than that. Drew.” The pad of Zach’s thumb swept along Drew’s skin again as Zach seemed to try and find his words or maybe try and communicate something with his deep, blue eyes. “I feel like you’re my Superman.”
Drew’s heart surged almost painfully, even as he furrowed his brow and shook his head in some sort of denial. He was no one’s hero.
“Drew...” Zach said, his other hand coming up awkwardly between them so that he could frame Drew’s face with both hands. Then he dipped his head slightly to catch Drew’s eyes, making Drew look directly at him. There was something like compassion and understanding in Zach’s eyes, something that was too intense to look at, but at the same time, Drew was afraid to look away and lose sight of it. The corners of Zach’s mouth started to twitch slightly, and Drew looked at him curiously. When Zach spoke, his tone had a playful edge to it. “I feel like now is the right time to admit that I’ve already fantasized about you in blue spandex.”
“What?!” Drew let out a huff of laughter, and the strangest, most comfortable sort of relief fell over him.
Zach’s hands slid down past Drew’s neck and stilled on his chest, sending a thready heat through him. “You’ve seen your body, right?”
Drew took a moment to try and make sense of the abrupt change in topic. Behind the mirth and playfulness and desire in Zach’s eyes, there was that compassion again, and the expression on his face spoke volumes. It was almost as though Zach could tell that being face-to-face with these emotions was hard for Drew. Hell, maybe it was hard for Zach too. Either way, Zach was making an offering, providing an excuse for a breather if he wanted one.
Zach grinned again. “Can you imagine how fucking hot you’d be in blue spandex?”
Heat rose in Drew’s cheeks and flooded through the rest of his body, and sparks of fire lit under his skin where Zach’s hands explored further down his chest and torso. Somehow, Drew managed to wrangle his thoughts and his ability to speak. “Well, actually, there was this one Halloween—”
A persistent buzzing noise behind Zach stole his attention. Actually, intermittently persistent. Like a phone ringing on top of the nightstand. Drew sat up slightly to see over Zach’s shoulder. Sure enough, his phone with its blue case was lighting up and vibrating with a call, though he couldn’t read the name from this angle.
Zach whimpered a protest at Drew’s movements, letting one hand wander distractingly down Drew’s side. Drew pressed a kiss into Zach’s shoulder before he reached over to grab his phone. “I should see who this is.”
Drew rolled to settle on his back again, the phone still vibrating away in his hand and Zach’s hand still wandering—now somewhere on his inner thigh. He moaned his appreciation and then froze when he finally turned the phone screen to read it.
“Shit. It’s my mom!”