Mershark Boyfriend: Dorian 2 (special preview)

That first kiss happened late in summer. You had just turned twelve and your parents either sent you to some sort of summer camp or a relatives’ place to escape the crowds. That summer had been a camp, and when you got home you felt that getting trampled by tourists would have been better. You were bug bit to high heaven, sunburnt, and heartbroken from your first dalliance into romance. You’d ‘dated’ all summer, and at the end of camp he said he had a girlfriend back home and dumped you. Coming home you were apt to talk about the bug bites to your parents. But that wasn’t what was causing your early onset lacrimose teenage phase.

You went to the spot you and Dorian usually met at. It was the boardwalk underneath the family shop which was right at the water so Dorian could hop onto the pebble filled sand. You went there, sad and sniffling when Dorian popped out of the water. His great big grin was marred by a few missing teeth.

“You came back!” He announced chipperly, bouncing up onto the beach to get near you.

“Yeah,” was all you could muster.

His black eyes focused upon you and he looked concerned. “Everything okay?”

You rub at your eyes. “You’re a boy, you wouldn’t get it.”

He pouted then and shoved his long hair out of his face. “How come?”

You ducked your head down, worried your best friend could act the same way as that jerk from summer camp.

“What’d I do?” He then chirpped sadly.

You look up at him, tears back in your eyes and he moved closer, putting his scrawny little arm around you. “A boy hurt me.”

“I’ll eat him!”

“No,” you start to argue but you smile. “I thought he liked me, Dorian.”

Dorian still didn’t understand, but he played along. “What’s not to like? You’re cool. You’re funny. You have all those neat toys.”

You sniffled and wiped at your eyes. “No like-” You look at him. “Have you ever kissed someone before?”

He looked even more confused. “No. But I’ve bitten some people I’ve liked.”

You knew mersharks had different means at showing affection. But imagining getting touched by those teeth was scary enough. “What?”

“Yeah, we bite to show affection. Not hard, but that’s what we do.” He then tilted his head. “What’s a kiss like?”

You blushed, turning red hot in a matter of seconds. You swallowed and shrugged. “It’s kind of soft. A little wet. It was weird.”

“Some guy kissed you?” Dorian looked pissed for a second. “What for?”

You duck your head down again. “He said he liked me.”

“Did he?”

You shook your head.

Dorian scoffed. “Well, if he ever gets near you again, I’ll toss him into the water and thrash him. Okay?” When he doesn’t get the response he wanted he sighed. “It’s okay. Look, I like you,” he said gently. “I’ll kiss you so you can forget all about that guy.”

“Of course you like me, you’re my friend!” You whimpered. “This was...different.”

He shrugged. “But then he won’t be the last person you kissed. He’ll just be some guy you did.” His smile was bright and sweet, it would always be that way. “Better to be kissed by me than some jerk right?”

“You sure?” It wasn’t an awful idea. You liked the kiss with that kid, maybe you’d like it better with someone you really cared about.

“What do I do?” Dorian asked.