Chapter Text
The Clover house was always up to some stupid shenanigans. I mean, what would you expect from adults in their twenties who had a shit ton of money and no— adult supervision?
Certainly not them sat in a circle, with an empty bottle in the middle of the group.
"Okay, so here are the rules, we're going to play—"
Spin the bottle.
A game played only by middleschoolers desperate to be paired up with their crushes. At least that's what Ray who was reluctant to join the circle thought.
It was stupid, and childish. Especially in a room full of people who throw around money at stupid things. Which meant it was definitely going to escalate.
"Come on, Ray! You chicken or sum?"
"Yeah! You chicken, Ray?" Tota teased over the music, parroting Tylil's words.
"Nah, this is stupid and childish," Ray shot back, rolling his eyes.
"He scared kiss me." Tota chirped in, a smug grin on his face, puckering his lips at Ray, "You scared kiss me bro?"
"I ain't scared, bitch."
"Then come play."
Ray glared at Tylil who taunted him, wanting nothing to do with this.
He was scared.
But not of kissing Tota.
He knew that the possibility of the bottle landing on a particular person wasn't high, but the mere thought of a possibility sent his heartrate on alert.
A possibility it would land on the tall, dark, unfairly handsome man sitting directly across from him.
Madi sat relaxed against the couch, laughing at something someone beside him said, his eyes crinkling when he smiled. Ray couldn’t hear a word coming out of his mouth. Couldn’t focus on anything except the curve of that grin.
Madi had started doing that to him months ago.
Madi had that effect on him.
He didn’t know when it started. It could've been the first time Madi tried to kiss him in the trolley, or the multiple tiktok edits he liked of people shipping them. Maybe when Ray caught himself thinking about Madi when he was alone.
But for a while now, being in the presence of this man made his heart race.
He'd tried to ignore the feelings but when a joking confession on his TikTok reposts, it made him uncomfortable, he realized that he might just be gay.
And that he might just have a thing for Madi.
When Madi's attention landed on him, Ray blew him a kiss making the other bite his lips before blowing one back.
It all felt agonizingly slow, the way Madi pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, slicking it with saliva then puckering his lips to seal the kiss.
Ray watched every second of it, eyes unwilling to move away from Madi.
That's how he found himself seated in the circle, because somewhere when he watched Madi, Tylil had forced him down cross legged onto the floor.
"So everyone and their momma knows how to play this game," Bunna, who suggested the game began explaining,"You spin the bottle. Take a shot and then you go in..."she pointed past Ray's head,"there."
Everyone turned their attention to a door, leading to her bathroom.
"For Seven Minutes."
"The fuck? Ain't that Seven Minutes In Heaven."
Bunna shugged,"Call that shit what you want. You're spinning the bottle, going in there and kissing or fucking or whatever."
Leilani frowned," Okay. What if it lands on a girl."
Bunna shrugged,"Then you kiss a girl."
Rakai frowned,"What if I land on a boy."
Bunna glared,"I'm gonna kick you for asking stupid questions."
A chorus of groans came from the boys.
"Ay. I ain't kissing no man."
Bunna rolled her eyes,"Pussy." She let out a sigh,"Then you sit in there for 7 minutes and talk about the economic state of the economy or some shit. I don't care. But you're going in."
"Nah nah, bring out the shots."
"Ya'll are the worst. But fine, you can take a shot if you don't want to."
And so the game began, some guy spun, landed on a girl. They took shots and disappeared into the bathroom.
Another a girl spun, landed on a guy they took a shot and disappeared into the bathroom.
A guy spun, landed on a guy, they took shots and groaned about how gross it was.
The game went on like that for a while, anticlimatic when it was more guys in the circle really.
Most of them skipped their turns, others teasing the kiss before chickening out.
Like Ray said earlier, it was a stupid game.
"Ya'll are boring. Let's put money on this."
And so they began.
$300 was the penalty for skipping that kiss. First guy pair to kiss, gets at the money accumulated.
That didn't help at all because they now sat $2700. Everyone oohing at the price getting higher.
"Madi, your turn."
When Madi spun the bottle, Ray felt that his spin took longer than the others.
He watched the bottle spin intensively as if he could crush it was his eyes.
With him being right across from Madi, the chances are-
"Ou, Ray."
"Finally."
-that the bottle would land on him.
"Okay lover boys."
"Oh they kissing fo sho."
"Nah they kiss everyday. You seen the TikTok edits."
"Yeah we're taking the money right, RayRay?"
Ray stood up, blinking away the shock. He say the big smirk on Madi's face, coaxing him to follow him with his head. "Yeah. I'm gonna go kiss my daddy." He joked, raising his voice an octave or two making the room laugh.
He took Madi's hand, was about to pull him to the bathroom but Bunna jumped in. "Nah, here first."
Ray glared at her, rolling his eyes, turning back to Madi. He pressed as reluctant a kiss to the side of Madi's mouth.
"Oh, they for real."
Ray rolled his eyes,"Give me my money." He picked up the cash prize and pulled Madi into the bathroom.
When Madi closed the door behind him, Ray dropped the act, stuffing the cash in his back pocket.
"Ay, where's my share?" Madi asked, Ray shrugging in response.
"Not my business."
"So you're gonna kiss your daddy?" Madi teased, locking the door behind him.
"You know that was a joke, right."
Not to him.
"You hurt my feelings, Ray."
Ray's heart was beating out of his chest. He needed those seven minutes to be up already. He was feeling dizzy and why the hell was that room so hot.
"You wanna just sit in here and talk about streaming or some shit." He tried deflecting, moving to sit on the toilet cover.
"You don't wanna kiss me, RayRay."
"Yeah no, we can just ruffle our hair and say we kissed." He stood up, demonstrating what he meant, leaving his hair a mess.
"No one is believing that."
"Well they're gonna believe it today.
Madi stepped closer to Ray, "So you really don't wanna kiss me, Ray? What happened to our romance?"
Ray glared at the taller man,"Fuck off me." His heartbeat was deafening, so much it drowned out the music and the noise in the background.
Madi grinned, walking into him, pushing him against the nearest wall.
"Nah. You want me?"
Ray was about to lose it. He was praying that time would go faster so Madi could stop teasing him.
Cheeky as ever, Madi leaned down teasing a kiss but stopping just before he could touch Ray's lips, his hands coming to the sides of the short man's face against the wall to support him.
"Madi."
"Yes Ray."
"Fuck off."
"Make me, RayRay."
Ray didn't move, his eyes fighting to stay on Madi's eyes, every fibre of his being screaming at him to move.
But he didn't.
He stood under Madi's gaze, feeling his warm breath brush against his lips. Seeing the intense gaze of his eyes on his. Feeling the warmth of his body just centimeters away. Feeling everything and nothing Madi had to give. But didn't want that. Not just that. It wasn't enough.
He wanted more. But he couldn't.
Not when their friendship was on the line.
Not when—
Ray kissed him.
He closed the space between them, pushing his lips against his tormentor who stumbled back from suprise.
Madi, having waited so long for this, melted into the kiss. His arms coming down the wall, around Ray's waist. His body came with so much force it pushed Ray back, making him lean awkwardly against the wall.
Madi didn't give him time to reconsider, cupping his cheek to deepen the kiss, his other hand tightly locked on his waist.
He felt like he was in heaven. Tasting the fruit that doomed humanity and if this is what it was like, he wouldn't blame Eve for wanting a taste.
It was Ray who pulled away from the kiss, yanking himself out of Madi's grip a few feet away from him.
He was panting heavily, his mouth slack, lips tingling from the feel of Madi's, and a string of saliva dripping down his chin.
"RayRay."
Madi called, in that low, husky deep voice of his.He kept his distance, leaving toom for Ray to leave if he wanted. As bad as he wanted him, he didn't want to scare him anymore.
Ray's brain was foggy. He needed to leave now if he had any hope of not giving into this. There was still time.
Time that faded as the distance between the two grew shorter but time nonetheless.
It wasn't Madi closing the distance. It was Ray, in a deep daze, eyes locked onto Madi's face with one goal in mind.
"Madi."
They lips met in a searing kiss, Ray pulling Madi down to meet his, Madi supporting Ray's body with his own.
A soft groan game from the shorter man when Madi pushed him against a wall, knocking the air out of his chest.
Madi used this as an opportunity to slide his tongue into Ray's mouth, gently running it over his. He pulled Ray's tongue in between his teeth, sucking it like it was some candy.
Ray moaned, his hands clutched onto his shirt, pressing Madi as close as possible to him, letting his warmth engulf him.
His head was rushing, the breaths he could take in becoming thinner and thinner.
He was becoming light headed but in no way was he about to break this off. Not when it confirmed everything that went through his head for the past few months, not when it all felt right.
Madi ditched his lips in heavy breaths, kissing down his neck, nibbling on his skin. It felt too good. Dangerously good.
"Madi," he whispered, head leaned to the side, taking all the kisses Madi had to give him.
"Yes, RayRay," Madi's voice was low, smooth laced with all the desire he had for Ray. He looked up, hands leaning on the side of his head, eyes locked onto Ray's glossy ones.
"Madi," Ray whispered again, leaning forward to kiss him but Madi ducked away.
"Say whatchu wanna say," he whispered, ducking away at Ray's needy lips.
"Kiss me. Please," Ray said, finally putting all his feelings out. Not all of them but enough to make Madi break his restraints taking his lips again.
His hands rested on Ray's lips, hands pressed on Ray's hips, pulling him closer.
Soft moans came from Ray from the pressure, his hands coming around Madi's neck.
Everything came crashing when three knocks came at the door. A warning for their time being over.
Ray came to, pulling away from Madi, the realization hitting him like a truck.
He cursed, pushing himself off of Madi, rushing out back into the circle leaving behind Madi, who was reduced to heavy breath, and an indescribable heat. Needing more from him.
Of course, no one would believe that they kissed.
But they kept the money anyway.