He was sitting over in one of the lawn chairs staring into the bonfire. He was alone, and hadn't spoke a single word to the group. He had been quiet since we had all arrived and started avidly chatting about school and church. His name was Tacoma, at least that's what I remembered. He was a wolf, known for being quite fierce, but he was far from that now.
I took a step away from the ramble of the group and dragged a chair over to where he was sitting. When I got up close and personal I noticed all these things I hadn't before. He was far more muscular than I thought, and I line of brown ran down his grey/white muzzle. He briefly stuck his tongue out and licked his black lips.
The wolf’s fur was a perfect grey. There wasn’t a single flaw in it. It looked like he used some sort of gel, but it looked so natural I doubted it.
He turned his brown eyes looking at me. I saw sadness in them, but also repression as if he had something to say. I turned to him and connected our irises for a brief moment. The rest of my freshman friends were jabbering on about the church dodgeball tournament planned for the following evening.
In all my life Tacoma and I had hardly spoken a word to each other. Aside from a casual hello. This made him mysterious and I gravitated to him with curiosity often. We were the only two sophomores in the group of church kids that had gathered at Tacoma's house to chat.
I had turned my attention away from Tacoma and back to the bonfire, which was starting to die down until my friend threw a log that he had previously sprayed with fire starter onto the mess of ash and flame. It shot up into the air for a second then went back to normal. A couple of people laughed.
I turned back to try and start a conversation with Tacoma but he had slipped out. Until I saw his grey tail through the open back door of his house. I got up and walked across the lawn towards the wolf. I could see through the door window that he wasn't in the kitchen.
Is he in the bathroom, going to bed? What could he be doing? Maybe he’s just getting his phone. Maybe he has some snacks up in his room that he’s going to bring down. 3,2,1… It’s not food. He would have come out of his house by now.
None of my friends noticed my orange brush slip in after the wolf's. When I stepped across the threshold all the lights were out, but I heard a creak from the upstairs. Tacoma's parents were away on a bible retreat, but they told him to have a bonfire.
I was surprised when he actually followed through. My parents had forced me to go. At first I was bored out of my mind, but now I was intrigued by Tacoma’s quietness. I quickly found the stairs to the top floor hiding between the threshold of the wolf’s living room. I slowly walked up the carpeted steps, not wanting to disturb the canine.
My tail swept lightly back and forth as I came to the top of the stairs. Right in front of me was a small bathroom. A comb and a toothbrush lay on the counter along with a tube of toothpaste. Off to my left I saw a closed door, I knew it was somebody’s room. I turned my head and found two doors. Both were shut, but one, probably Tacoma’s had a sliver of light poking out from underneath it.
I approached the door cautiously, thinking that the wolf might be changing his clothes. I rapped my knuckles on the door. I heard a bed creak and someone coming to the door. It opened and I found the wolf before me. He must have been in the middle of changing for bed, he was only wearing boxers. I briefly looked at him up and down. I had never seen the wolf shirtless before, not that I had wanted to. It was strictly forbidden in my church, to be gay or even have homosexual thoughts.
A darker grey fur wrapped around his arms and his sides, but he had a crest of white above his pecs. A thin line of lighter grey started from below his navel and continued underneath his boxers.
My mind wandered, what did it look like underneath? Was it the same color? Years of “training” pushed the thoughts away from me, as the wolf opened his mouth to speak.
“Kiah,” He started in his deep masculine voice.
“You wanna come in?” Tacoma asked.
I shrugged.
“Sure why not?” I said trying to look nonchalant. I did want to know what was troubling the wolf, but I wanted to be careful. He had been acting this way last Sunday at church as well.
I noticed Tacoma’s scent was stronger once I entered his room. There was a bed covered with a generic brown comforter and sheets. He had a small desk on which sat a laptop, and his phone. His window overlooked the small pond outside his home and I could catch glimpses of the bonfire still going full fledge.
A battered wooden chair sat underneath the desk, I pulled it out backwards and sat across from him.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Um…” The wolf started.
“Not much…” He continued
“You?”
“Same here.” I replied shifting slightly in my sheet. It was hard to concentrate with Tacoma sitting there almost naked.
We sat in silence for a while. I slowly let my eyes wander up and down his figure, something I was told never to do. This just made it worse, it made me want to do it more. I could see the wolf was looking at me too. If I wasn’t mistaken he was looking at me the way one would look at a long-lost love.
I looked into his brown eyes briefly for a moment.
“Tacoma, are you alright?” I asked, trying to keep my eyes focused on his face instead of his muscular torso and what lay below.
“No,” The wolf replied. His face became downcast with guilt. His brown eyes filled with pain.
“What’s wrong?” I ask sympathetically.
“Kiah, are you religious?” The wolf asked out of the blue.
“Well, I like to think I am.” I replied.
Tacoma sighed, then started to lean towards me slightly.
“Can I tell you a secret?” The wolf asked.
“Sure, anything.” I replied. I didn’t know the wolf that well. I was estranged by his request.
“Come here,” Tacoma said, pointing a paw to a space next to him on the bed.
I stood up hesitantly. I thought it wasn’t that likely that he’d try to advance on me.
I sat down next to the wolf, his scent was almost overpowering now, and part of me liked it, and I had to adjust myself as I got comfortable.
“What do you need to tell me?” I asked.
“Kiah,” The wolf began to lean in towards my muzzle.
“I…”
My mind was racing he was so close to me, his eyes were looking down guiltily, but his muzzle still advanced.
“Love you.”
The wolf pressed his muzzle against mine. My blue eyes lit up in shock, my first kiss was with another guy, and more importantly I wasn’t ever supposed to do what I was doing that night with another guy.
I gave in, pressing my muzzle back into his. His scent overwhelmed me and I put my black paw on the wolf’s muscular chest, feeling his fur. In the moment I let it happen. Little did I know that this was more than a kiss. It was refreshing and rejuvenating. I felt something bursting between us, an unspoken love.
I kissed him back harder, loving the way it felt. His masculine muzzle against mine, I move my paw to the side of his face, moving it slowly through his grey fur, lightly raking my claws through his skin. His fur was natural and soft, so intoxicating. It felt amazing to hold him like I was. We still haven’t parted from our kiss, and just as I’m beginning to feel it get awkward we part.
As we parted Tacoma looked at me with lover’s eyes. I gazed back at him and smiled.
“Wow, I never knew you felt that way.” I replied.
Here we go. I thought.
