Page 7 of Filtration Play
They rolled their shoulders, settling into a comfortable stance. Already, the space between them was reduced to angles, quick calculations. Their brain parsed them down all too fast. The air between them crackled with tension, and neither looked away from the other.
“Are we…” Ollie gestured at the trail they’d come from and the short one leading to the glittering ocean.
“Oh, hell yeah, babe.” A wolfish delight rose inside them. Like this, surrounded by the raw fury of nature, they were in their element.
“Game on.”
Chapter Three
Holy fuck had Ollie’s day turned around.
He’d been mired in too many conflicting thoughts after coming out to Dad and Julian, mostly over his current lack of boyfriend status and those ever-present failure feels. However, that was light-years away now. The ride on Fin’s Ducati had turned him on so badly he was tempted to find a flat surface and present himself.
However, the glint in their eyes and the curiosity if those compact muscles could back up their promises had Ollie engaged. The setting sun had waned into early night. The grays had morphed into darkness, but between the full moon gleaming up above and the crystalline stars, they had all the light they needed. And sharpened by shadows, Fin grew even hotter. They brimmed with energy, with a storm cloud intensity that called to Ollie in a real way tonight. They were shorterand smaller than him, but they didn’t come across like that in the slightest.
And Ollie was dying to know what they’d do.
“Ready for me?” they asked, their voice a low rasp.
“Considering I played four years as a tight end in high school, I think I can handle you.” Sure, poking at them might not be the best idea, yet the way their eyes widened, how their grin exposed their canines—fuck, his blood thrummed.
“Let’s put that to the test,” Fin said.
One moment, they were standing there, feet away from him. The next, they charged.
Fin thudded into him with a heavy thump that sent him staggering back a few paces.
“Gonna take more than that to knock me down,” he teased. Adrenaline jolted through his system, a heady rush. He braced himself as he spread his stance a little wider, prepared for them to rush him again.
Fin prowled around him with the grace of a wildcat, like a panther in the flesh, and he found that deadly attractive. The way their black leather jacket accentuated their lithe form, how their ripped jeans showed off thick thighs. They shifted back and forth as if they would strike at any moment. Ollie squared his shoulders.
“Good,” they said. “I love a challenge.”
They burst forward, moving so fast they almost blurred. Ollie threw his hands up to block them, but Fin pivoted. They wrapped their arms around his side, and all of a sudden, his legs were off the ground, his back braced against theirs. Oh, fuck. Ollie yanked back hard, dropping an elbow into their side. He launched to the opposite side, using his weight to slide right off them. Ollie bolted forward, putting space between them again, and his heart raced.
They’d been about to flip him in a few quick movements. He’d underestimated them.
“What are you trained in?” he asked, his words coming out a little breathless.
“MMA, so a little bit of Jiu-Jutsu, Muay Thai and others.” They flashed another wicked grin.
Oh, damn. He was so outclassed. Fuck high school football. Except he didn’t mind getting a little bruised and battered tonight. He desperately wanted to get fucked, but he also needed to make them fight for it because he was nothing but a series of contrasts.
So he wouldn’t wait for them to make the first move this time.
Ollie squared his shoulders, leaned down, and charged.
He hurtled forward, the salt scent of the sea mingling with the crispness of the night breeze.
Fin stood there as if ready to absorb his blow. Closer. Closer. Closer.
Ollie pushed off, using the impetus to get to them.
His shoulder brushed air.
A blow slammed him in the side, knocking him off-kilter. Ollie tried to pivot to his feet, but another wham into him, and he toppled. He’d learned how to fall ages ago, so he hit the ground on his side and rolled.
Ollie spun onto his back, but before he could rise, Fin dropped on top of him. Their body was solid as fuck, the impact sending the breath whooshing from him. But he reached out to grapple. They rolled around in the dirt, arms wrapped around each other, both trying to find a loophole, an escape out of the hold. His heart thumped hard in his ears, the bits of gravel mixed with the sand biting into his back, his sides.
