#Goals

by Teodora Kostova

  In the dim light, Victor's hand slid into Avery's on the table, the shadows from the candle flame playing on their entwined fingers. When Avery met his eyes, they were dark and serious, studying Avery as if they wanted something from him. When Victor pulled him closer and kissed him, Avery leaned into him, deepening the kiss. Victor's scent, his taste, brought memories from last night to the forefront of Avery's mind, and he couldn’t stifle a moan.

  Victor smiled against his lips. “Dessert?”

  “Mmm, yes, please.” Avery dove in for another breath-taking kiss.

  Victor's mouth moved to his jaw, nipping at it gently. “I meant, food. Here.” He nipped again. “I can devour you for a midnight snack later.”

  Avery chuckled. “Looking forward to it.”

  The waiter came and interrupted their make-out session. They ordered dessert and another cocktail, and snuggled into each other while waiting.

  “Can’t wait to see the photos you took today,” Avery said, playing with Victor's fingers.

  “Speaking of,” Victor said, entwining their fingers. “I didn’t see you posting anything today.”

  Avery shrugged. “I took some photos and videos, I’ll post them later.”

  Victor didn’t reply, but his thumb massaged Avery's palm.

  “Show me some photos that you’ve never posted online.”

  Avery looked at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”

  “Photos you deemed not good enough, or irrelevant, or older photos from when you were a kid.” Victor held Avery's eyes in his bottomless blue ones. His lips brushed Avery's mouth in a feathery kiss. “Call it a photographer’s curiosity.”

  Avery laughed and fished out his phone from his pocket. The battery was nearly full as he’d barely used it all day. He browsed through his galleries, showing Victor pictures that had never made it to Instagram. Victor seemed to be most interested in the more casual photos – Avery reading a book in the garden, Avery chopping vegetables, a screenshot of a cinnamon bun recipe he wanted to try, a cute cushion, a selfie in bed he’d never shown anyone because it was actually taken straight after he’d woken up. Most ‘I woke up like this’ selfies were taken after a careful skincare and beauty routine.

  Avery dug deeper into the galleries, opening the ‘old photos’ album. He’d never shown any of these to anyone.

  “So this is me as an awkward teenager,” he said, showing Victor a picture of his fifteen-year-old self in front of his aunt’s house.

  He remembered that day vividly. It was the second day of school – the day before his aunt hadn’t been home and nobody had sent him to school or wished him good luck. He’d begged Aunt Connie to take a photo the next day, and she had, albeit unenthusiastically. Avery beamed at the camera, his hair longer and tucked behind his ears, his lanky body too slim for the school uniform he’d inherited from his cousin. The photo was a bit blurry and unfocused, but Avery cherished it.

  “You look so smart with your uniform,” Victor said.

  “And this one,” Avery said, scrolling through the photos and stopping at one of his favourite. “This was taken on the last day of school, in year ten. Me and Adam,” he pointed at the other boy grinning in the photo. “We’d just finished PE and he snuck out his phone to snap this because he was moving away in the summer and we’d probably never see each other.” Avery smiled at the memory, still a little sad he’d lost touch with one of his good friends in school. “He was captain of the rugby team, and I was a scrawny gay kid, but we were best friends.”

  “I feel there’s more to the story,” Victor said, crossing his legs and resting his arm over Avery's shoulders.

  Avery smiled at the memory. “In year eight, Adam needed help in history. Mr Carmichael, our history teacher, suggested I tutor him since history was my favourite subject and I aced every test.” Victor's arm on Avery's tightened around Avery's shoulders and he pulled him closer, kissing his temple. “So anyway, I started tutoring him and he turned out to be this amazing guy, and we hit it off. To everyone’s surprise, especially Adam’s rugby buddies, we became good friends and hung out even when I wasn’t tutoring him. He stood up for me when someone called me names or drew on my locker.”

  “Did that happen a lot?”

  Avery shrugged. “Sometimes.” It’s been years since he’d graduated school and the sting of it had dulled. He’d much rather remember the good things.

  “Oh, and this one?” He pointed at the next picture of him holding the cutest dog he’d ever met. “This was Adam’s dog, Bozo.”

  Victor laughed. “Bozo?”

  “Yeah. Look at him! Doesn’t he look like a Bozo?”

  They laughed and scrolled through the rest of the old photos, Avery pausing on the more interesting ones to tell Victor about them.

  By the time dessert arrived, they’d been through most of the gallery. The ice-cream they’d ordered was in danger of melting in the heat, so Avery put his phone away and they dug in. Victor offered Avery a spoonful of his ice-cream – mango and coconut – and Avery in turn offered Victor to try some of his. They talked, laughed, and shared cold kisses until their bowls were empty.

  Avery sipped from his nearly-finished second cocktail. “Shall we ask for the bill and go?”

  Victor nodded, signalling at the waiter. “Time for my midnight snack.” He winked at Avery, bringing him in for a kiss.

  Avery smiled against his lips. He couldn’t fucking wait.

  Chapter thirteen

  Victor loved the way Avery fell apart in his arms. Uninhibited, Avery made his every desire known with loud moans and shuddering breaths. Victor kissed every sensitive spot on his body, traced every inch of skin with his tongue until Avery begged him for more.

  “What do you need, baby?” Victor asked, hands in Avery's hair, mouth on his neck.

  “You.”

  He stiffened when Victor's fingers travelled to his hole, tapping on it gently. The tip of his finger slid inside, but Avery was too wound up for anything more.

  “Please…”

  “You need to relax first.”

  Victor kissed him again, sliding his tongue against Avery's, then nipping at his lower lip.

  “It’s fine,” Avery said on an exhale. “I want this.”

  Victor pulled away, propping his body on an elbow and studying Avery's face. Skin flushed, eyes dark, lips swollen – Avery was a thing of debauched beauty.

  “It’s just…” Avery bit his lip and looked away, just like he always did when he was uncomfortable being honest. “It’s been a while.”

  “We don’t have to…”

  “No!” Avery placed a hand on Victor's cheek, tracing his cheekbone with a finger. “I want to. I really want to.” Victor leaned into his palm, sucking in the tip of his thumb when it reached his mouth. “I don’t do this often,” Avery whispered. Victor sensed he needed to say more, so he gave him time to consider his words. Avery swallowed thickly. “Everyone always wants something from me. A shout-out, money, a picture of my dick. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt safe with someone.”

  Victor bumped his nose to Avery's. “You’re safe here.”

  “I know.”

  Avery brought Victor’s face down and kissed him. It started slow and tender but quickly grew into an intense kiss that made Victor's cock throb in his pants.

  Victor took his time making Avery relax. He turned him on his stomach, massaging his back, kissing down his spine, then playing with his ass until Avery bucked back into Victor's mouth, wordlessly begging for more. Victor made quick work of the condom and lube, and settled between Avery's legs. He eased into him slowly, carefully, watching Avery's every reaction.

  “Fuuuck,” Avery groaned when Victor was fully sheathed inside him. “I missed this so fucking much.”

  “Are you okay?” Victor's voice shook at the question. He was trembling with the need to move, Avery's tight heat driving him insane.

  “More than okay. Move, Victor. Fuck me.”

  Lowering
his body on top of Avery's, Victor started thrusting inside him. Avery whimpered with every move, lifting his hips to match Victor's thrusts. Victor kissed his neck, his cheek, and when Avery turned his head he claimed his mouth in a fierce kiss that spurred him on.

  “Fuck, Victor, I’m gonna come.”

  Victor felt Avery's hand going underneath his body as he started jerking himself off.

  “Me, too.”

  Avery panted against Victor's mouth, their breaths, moans and whimpers mingling together.

  Victor wanted this moment to last forever. He’d never felt such intense pleasure during sex, such eager reciprocation from his partner.

  Avery moaned loudly, his ass pulsing around Victor's cock. It was Victor's undoing. He wanted to fuck Avery more, edge the pleasure building all night without releasing it, but he wasn’t strong enough. His orgasm exploded out of him without warning, making him collapse on top of Avery.

  Body trembling with exhaustion, Victor managed to carefully pull out of Avery, discard the condom, and lay next to him on the bed. Avery hadn’t moved. When Victor glanced at him, he had a dreamy smile on his face, his eyes hooded with sleep.

  “That was amazing,” he mumbled, blinking slowly. “Let’s do it again.”

  Victor laughed, moving closer to Avery and putting his arms around him. “Tomorrow. You can barely keep your eyes open.”

  Avery hummed, then snuggled closer into Victor's arms, and soon his light snores were the only sound in the room.

  Chapter fourteen

  Avery kissed Victor, his legs wrapped around his waist, the water in the pool warm and shimmering in the sun. He was trying to take some photos to post later but Victor kept squirming and joking around, nearly making Avery drop his phone in the pool.

  “Would you mind if we did a short live video?” Avery asked when their lips separated.

  Victor shook his head, claiming his mouth again. Avery left his phone on the edge of the pool and weaved his arms around Victor's neck, desperate to be as close to him as humanly possible.

  “Victor,” Avery said, trying to sound firm as he leaned back. “We have to stop or we’d just fall in bed again and never post anything.”

  Victor shrugged. “Yeah, and?”

  Avery slapped his chest playfully. “We’re getting paid to do this. Let’s get it over with and then fall in bed?”

  Reluctantly, Victor agreed.

  They took a few pictures with Avery's phone, and Victor relaxed enough to kiss Avery on camera. After the short live video, which gathered over ten thousand people watching and with more questions in the feed than they could possibly answer, Victor suggested photographing Avery in the pool.

  The pink flamingo Avery had requested was floating leisurely nearby, ready for their photoshoot. Avery made himself comfortable on it while Victor fiddled with the camera and took some experimental shots.

  “Ready?” He asked.

  Avery gave him the thumbs up, running a hand through his hair and fixing his sunglasses.

  They spent the rest of the morning taking photos, stopping only for a quick kiss or a drink. Shooting with Victor had never felt like work, even before they came here. He always managed to make Avery feel at ease, as if it was two friends having fun.

  Later, when they downloaded the photos from Victor's camera and went through them on Avery's laptop, he was amazed – yet again – at Victor's talent. No two photos looked the same. He’d managed to catch a different side of Avery on every one of them, changing the light or the angle or the focus of the photo.

  “It’s very hard to choose which ones to post,” Avery said. “I love them all.”

  Victor beamed at him, then leaned in to kiss his cheek.

  In the afternoon, Victor fell asleep in the cabana reading on his tablet while Avery worked on his computer. He answered a few important emails, edited some photos and made a plan of what to post in the next few days. An email from ‘Sunset Vacations’ caught his attention just as he was about to turn off his computer. Avery clicked on it and quickly scanned the contents, his smile growing bigger as he read. They were extremely happy with how Avery was promoting the brand and had already seen an influx of bookings for the next few months. They were sending a complimentary bottle of champagne to the villa later that evening. Avery forwarded the email to Monique before turning off his laptop.

  Snuggling next to Victor in the cabana, Avery browsed through his Instagram feed for a bit, replying to some comments and taking note of the stats. His follower count had grown quickly over the past few days, and the likes under the photos with Victor were nearly twice as many as the other ones. Apparently, people thought they were ‘cute’, ‘adorable’, and ‘#relationshipgoals’.

  With the majority of his posts, Avery was creating a fantasy, a perfect alternate reality that didn’t show all the discarded selfies and hours of beauty routines and work-out sessions and carefully chosen and styled clothes that looked perfectly casual. But right now Avery was glad his most recent photos actually showed his current reality. He was in this gorgeous place, getting paid to be here, and he had an amazing man in his arms, and in his bed.

  With a content sigh, Avery put his phone away and wrapped his body around Victor's.

  Life was good.

  Avery jerked awake when he heard his ringtone blaring nearby. Dazed, he reached blindly for the phone, his mind slowly realising that the only person who could call him over ‘do-not-disturb’ mode was Monique. And she’d never call him unless the world was on fire.

  “Hello?” Avery said, his voice groggy.

  “Avery, have you seen Instagram?” Monique sounded distressed.

  Monique was never distressed.

  “No? I mean a did a few hours ago but then I fell asleep…”

  “It’s gone, Avery!”

  “Instagram?” Avery sat up, his head spinning.

  “No!” Monique shrieked.

  Monique never shrieked.

  “Your account!”

  “Wait, what?”

  Avery put the phone on speaker and clicked on the Instagram app. Instead of his feed, Instagram’s login page loaded. Avery put his email and password, but an error message popped up. He tried again – same result.

  His hands started shaking. “Monique,” he barely managed around the lump in his throat. “I can’t log in.”

  “It’s gone, Avery, Instagram suspended it. The email just came through.”

  Avery clicked on the email notification, his eyes blurry with tears. “I violated their terms of service? What the fuck?”

  “Avery, listen to me,” Monique said, starting to sound more like herself.

  From the corner of his eye Avery saw Victor turn on his back, then move closer to Avery.

  “Whatever happened, we’ll appeal. We’ll get it back if it’s the last thing I ever do.”

  Tears were streaming freely down Avery's face now.

  “What if we don’t? What if…”

  “No! They can’t just suspend a verified account with nearly five million followers for no reason, Avery. We’ll get to the bottom of this and we’ll fix it.”

  Avery didn’t reply. He kept trying to log in, and kept getting the error message.

  “Avery, are you listening?”

  “I am.”

  “I need you to calm down, okay?”

  “You don’t sound calm.”

  “Because I’m fucking not!” Monique’s voice rose to a dangerous level, but then she paused and Avery could hear her take a deep breath. “Listen. I’ll get in touch with them and I’ll fix this. I have a copy of your passport if they need an ID, and I’ll handle everything, I promise. We’ll get your account back up in no time.”

  A thought occurred to Avery that made him panic. “What about ‘Sunset Vacations’? I can’t post while my account is suspended! Do we need to leave?”

  “I’ll handle that as well. I’m sure they won’t kick you out just because you can’t post for a couple of days, especially when the
y’re already seeing results.”

  Avery didn’t reply. His whole life, everything he’d worked so hard for, was crashing around him. He wouldn’t be able to buy the building at the upcoming auction, he’d have no income and he’d be kicked out on the street when he couldn’t pay his mortgage in a few months…

  Victor's touch on his arm shook him out of his miserable thoughts. Avery closed his eyes and leaned into Victor.

  “You know you can trust me to fight for you, right, love?” Monique said on the phone, her voice much softer.

  Somehow, Monique’s voice and Victor’s touch managed to centre him, and Avery felt his tightly coiled body start to relax.

  “Yeah.”

  They said their goodbyes with promises to keep in touch, and disconnected the call.

  Avery slumped against Victor, burying his face in his hands. Victor's arms tightened around him and he held him, offering silent support.

  Chapter fifteen

  Avery hid under the covers on the bed and refused to talk. Victor didn’t know what to do. It was disconcerting watching Avery like this – defeated and sad. Avery, who was always in motion, whose smile lit up any room he walked in, was suddenly quiet and still. So still, in fact, that Victor had to check up on him every once in a while to make sure he was alright.

  He refused to eat anything, and barely drank any water all day. He only moved when Monique called with updates, but when the call was over, he threw the phone on the bed and burrowed under the covers again.

  Victor wanted to know what was going on in his head. He wanted to help. But he wouldn’t force Avery to talk if he didn’t want to. He kept an eye on him, and did some editing on the photos they’d done today, and even answered some emails he’d been putting off. He’d heard back about the application he’d submitted for a charity calendar project – he’d been approved. Immediately, he thought about sharing with Avery, but decided to wait until his account was back up.