Narrator's P.O.V.
The transition from the heavy silence of Kael's apartment to the chaos of the bustling streets of Rio de Janeiro was almost brutal. After finishing packing everything they would need for that night, Kael and Yuri walked down the building's stairs together, finding Samuel, who was already waiting for them at the entrance.
The night air brought an invigorating freshness that contrasted with the heat that had taken over the kitchen moments before. The walk to the meeting point with the rest of the group was marked by a dense, veiled silence. Nobody brought up the fight. Nobody mentioned the kiss. They simply remained in absolute silence.
When they finally met up with their friends, that tense atmosphere simply evaporated. The group's energy was still through the roof, fueled by the euphoria of a Saturday night that was far from over. Their first mandatory stop was at a nearby liquor store. Kael, Pedro, Yuri, Lukas, and Samuel were put in charge of the purchase: bottles of vodka, energy drinks, and bags of ice that made their hands ache from the cold.
The line at the liquor store/bar was gigantic; after all, it was Saturday and many people wanted to enjoy their night out, but it wasn't a problem. The young men were so excited that they couldn't stop talking and joking with each other. However, Samuel remained a bit more withdrawn, merely observing their fast-paced dynamic, his gaze almost always falling on the pseudo-couple.
It didn't take long for them all to be at the bus stop, waiting for the ride that would take them to the South Zone. When the noisy, brightly lit bus finally pulled up, the group invaded it, taking over the vehicle with loud conversations and laughter. Pabllyo and Pedro were almost always cracking jokes that inevitably sent everyone into fits of laughter. Slowly, everyone settled into the seats in the back...
And it was there that the dynamic between the trio shifted once again.
Kael headed to the very last row, the one with five seats, and being at the front of the group, he was the first to sit, taking the window seat. He noticed Samuel walking right behind him, and his eyes lit up at the possibility of Novaes sitting next to him. However, shattering his expectations, the boy sat at the complete opposite end of the row. Soon Pedro and Verônica arrived, taking a seat as well, leaving only the spot right next to him, which was quickly occupied by none other than Yuri.
He wrapped his arm around Kael's body, resting his head on the older man's shoulder. Ávila, yielding to that sickening magnetism that bound him to the pseudo-redhead, returned the touch almost instinctively. He wrapped the shorter boy in a protective hug. At one point, Yuri lifted his face and sealed his lips to Kael's in a slow, affectionate kiss, which the brown-skinned man returned without hesitation.
The route wasn't that long, but it would take a considerable amount of time to reach the beach. Slowly, Yuri snuggled into Ávila's arms, lulled by the constant swaying of the bus. Perhaps due to the exhaustion of the busy day, or the comfort the man provided him, the boy ended up falling asleep against Kael, who simply pressed a soft kiss to his forehead and let him sleep peacefully.
A few seats away, Samuel watched everything in complete silence. He didn't even need to turn his head; the reflection on the mirrored window pane gave him a clear view of the entire scene. He watched Kael and Yuri with a clenched jaw, his fingers gripping his own knees so tightly his knuckles turned white. Less than an hour ago, Kael had been pinning him to the bed, gripping his waist, kissing him with such desire that it had left him dizzy, making him forget everything around him. And now, there Kael was, holding Yuri, gently stroking his head, comforting the boy who had cynically lied to everyone's face.
Samuel's silence had turned into pure resentment. The trip to Ipanema Beach seemed to last an eternity, and with every red light, every jolt of the bus, the abyss between Kael and Samuel only grew wider...
...
As soon as the group stepped onto the Ipanema boardwalk, they were hit head-on by the salty beach air—the cool sea breeze deliciously filling their lungs. The beach at night had its own energy, lit by the boardwalk lampposts and flooded by the continuous sound of waves crashing on the sand. The group quickly found a good spot, laying out their beach spreads and staking out their territory for the bonfire that was about to begin.
Once they got all their things organized, they noticed they had brought everything, especially the drinks, but had forgotten to bring anything to eat.
"I can go to that kiosk we passed by to buy some stuff," Yuri announced, already taking off his shirt.
"I'll go with you," Lukas said.
"I'll go too, I want to buy some cookies for myself," the other Lucas, the one with a C, chimed in.
"Love that the Calvin Kleins are coming with me. Let's go, CK," he joked.
The two namesakes, laughing at the made-up nickname, agreed and followed Farias toward the illuminated boardwalk, leaving the rest of the group behind to set up their circle on the sand. Everyone soon began chatting excitedly and filling their cups. Ícaro turned on the Bluetooth speaker they had brought, putting on the songs the whole group loved to listen to, raising the young people's hype level even higher.
Kael, for his part, settled down on one of the beach spreads, as he was feeling a bit tired. He sat down, his inseparable crystal glass in hand, but unconsciously his eyes scanned the perimeter, noticing the absence of one specific person...
Samuel hadn't sat down with them.
A few meters away, the boy was walking slowly toward an outdoor gym on the boardwalk. Under the bright light of the lampposts, Kael watched Samuel take off his shirt, revealing the defined muscles of his back. The boy hung his shirt on one of the bars, getting ready to do some pull-ups. The younger boy's silence on the bus still echoed in Ávila's mind.
Knowing exactly what had caused that distancing, Kael stood up, brushing the sand off his shorts, and walked toward the metal bars, leaving the sound of his friends' voices behind. When he approached, Samuel didn't look at him. The boy was focused, pulling himself up on the iron bar with ease, his back muscles tensing with every movement. Kael stopped a few steps away, feeling the weight of the icy mood radiating from the other guy.
"Are you going to stay over here isolating yourself?" The older man tried to strike up a conversation, his voice sounding more restrained, searching for a crack in the armor the boy had thrown up once again.
Samuel dropped down from the bar. His breathing was slightly elevated from the exertion, but his expression was as warm and friendly as a giant block of ice. He ran a hand through his curls, pushing them back, and finally locked his brown eyes on Kael, but this time they were completely dark. The older man swallowed hard. The expression of contempt on Novaes's face frightened him. It was completely different from the passionate look the boy had given him hours earlier.
"I have nothing to say to you, Kael." Samuel's voice came out low, firm, and cutting. It was so unwavering it made the other man tremble.
Kael felt the blow but took a step forward, his insistence speaking louder than his pride. He knew very well the reason for Samuel's rejection, but his interest was so intense that he simply couldn't let it go.
"Samuel, come on... we were doing so well until no—"
"We weren't 'doing well.' You were on the bus, in front of everyone, acting as a pillow and getting little kisses from the guy who was rubbing up against me in your own bed hours ago." Samuel cut him off, his voice dripping with bitterness and anger. He grabbed the shirt hanging on the bar, throwing it over his shoulder. "I'm not going to play the role of the secret lover to stroke your ego while you parade him around and rub him in my face. Back off!"
The words slammed straight into Kael's chest. The twenty-five-year-old man, who hours ago was dominating the boy in bed, was now disarmed in the face of the ruthless logic of a seventeen-year-old. Samuel didn't back down. He looked him up and down coldly, turned his back, and began walking back toward the group chatting animatedly on the sand, ignoring Kael completely.
The older man stood there, paralyzed next to the cold iron bars. The distant sound of boardwalk traffic and the noise of the crashing waves in the dark seemed even louder, as it started to dawn on him: playing on two boards came at too high a price, and Samuel was not the type of piece that accepted being tossed aside...