“What?”
“Quentin Crisp.” I recognized the name of an old, effeminate, British activist.
Then he showed me his erotic drawings that had guys with clothes half off or showing bits of unzipped pants revealing underwear with appropriate bulges very evident.
“These are cool,” I said.
A bigger smile for a moment or two then his face got serious. “I’m a little scared.”
“Of what?”
“Us… knowing you… maybe being your friend… or maybe… maybe more?”
His hesitation moved me as much as his words. I said, “We’ve been through more than a lot of guys ever go through in their entire lives. I want to be friends, at least friends, maybe even more. What can I do to help?”
“Did you ask me to go out with you, because you felt sorry for me, or because you wanted a real date or…? I’m scared of you. I’m scared of my feelings for you. I’ve never been in a relationship. I’ve never… I’m a… I’ve never had sex with anybody.”
“I want to go out with you on a date. I think you’re brave. You draw that comic strip, that’s nerve. I know how it feels to be in the closet.” I touched his arm. “And I think you’re cute.”
“You do?”
“I’m not ever going to lie to you.”
This got another smile from him.
I put my hand on his arm and left it there. His shoulders relaxed. He stood up, and we embraced.
He touched my back and slid his right hand to the top of my ass. Then his left hand.
I pulled him close. Felt the bulge in his pants. I suspected he felt mine. He swayed his hips slightly and let out a soft moan.
We kissed, his soft lips tentative, his tongue a tiny dart against mine.
EPILOGUE – A FEW THINGS
Steve came back to school on that Friday. Jack and I walked in with him, one on each side. Mostly kids didn’t say much. Bert not being around to fuel any kind of stink about me helped a lot. Steve and I defeating Boyer helped even more.
Over the weeks I worked out, my aches eased, and steadily my ankle got better. Singleton helped monitor the baseball season and prejudice. The possibility for college scholarship offers looked good.
The reason my parents dropped the whole therapy mess? My grandmother. She didn’t tell me, but my mom did. That night when Grandma arrived, she’d stayed up with my mom and dad until three in the morning. My mom still listens to her. My dad was angry, disappointed, and worried. Grandma helped get them through all that. Turns out Grandma had been through a lot in her many years.
Someone made a bonfire out of Coach Delahanty’s still Super Glued polyester shorts. Jack denied it was him. It was the night of the conference basketball championship game. The fire was on the pitcher’s mound on the baseball field. The whole thing smelled like hell.
Jack went to court and with help from the high school counselors and other people got himself declared an emancipated minor. So he was off the hook from his dad. He was going to play baseball back east at a small college that was willing to accept his less than stellar grades and still give him a scholarship.
I found out Steve could eat enough for half the baseball team. Our first date was pretty tense, until he blurted out over his sixth piece of pizza what was bothering him. He said, “I don’t want to be just a guy you saved and felt sorry for.”
“I don’t want that either,” I said.
“Okay.” And he devoured four more pieces of pizza. And two sodas. And a milkshake.
“You nervous?” I finally asked.
“I always eat like this. I get hungry.”
Thin as a rail, ate like half the baseball team, that was a heck of a metabolism.
I had to drop him off a block from his house on our dates. His whole parental situation was still volatile.
At the end of our first date, he said, “I’ve been to all your baseball games.” Even in the dark car, I could tell he blushed.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t notice you.”
“I didn’t sit like out front where people would see me. I kind of sat out of the way. I like seeing you in your baseball uniform.”
After kissing for a while and getting our breaths back, I said, “Would you like me to wear my uniform sometime when we get together?”
“Yeah.” He gulped and whispered, “Can I touch you? When you wear it?”
“You can touch me right now. And when I wear it for you. And maybe you’d like to see me out of my uniform.” I caressed his chin, touched his eyebrows. “I want to see you too.”
“You do?”
“Oh, yeah.”
I got a new letterman’s jacket. Steve and I saved the old one. Sometimes when we went on dates I let him wear the new one.
The first time I wore my baseball uniform for him my parents were gone with my sisters for an overnight stay with Grandma. I also took off the uniform. He touched me before and after. And I touched him. And we did other stuff, lots of other stuff.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Zubro is the author of twenty-six novels and five short stories. His book A Simple Suburban Murder won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men’s mystery. Alien Quest, his first book in a gay science fiction epic series and Pawn of Satan, his next book in his Paul Turner series are just out. He spends his time reading, writing, napping, and eating chocolate.
TRADEMARKS ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
Facebook: Facebook Inc.
Tweeting: Twitter Inc.
iPhone: Apple Inc.
Googled: Google Inc.
iPod: Apple Inc.
Winnie the Pooh: The Walt Disney Company
L.A. Times: Los Angeles Times
YouTube: YouTube, LLC
NASCAR: National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing Imc.
Porsche: Porsche Automobil Holding SE
Psycho: Paramount Pictures Corporation
Super Glue: Super Glue Corporation
Barnes and Noble: Barnes & Noble Inc.
MLR PRESS AUTHORS
Featuring a roll call of some of the best writers of gay erotica and mysteries today!
Derek Adams
Z. Allora
Maura Anderson
Simone Anderson
Victor J. Banis
Laura Baumbach
Helen Beattie
Ally Blue
J.P. Bowie
Barry Brennessel
Nowell Briscoe
Jade Buchanan
James Buchanan
TA Chase
Charlie Cochrane
Karenna Colcroft
Michael G. Cornelius
Jamie Craig
Ethan Day
Diana DeRicci
Vivien Dean
Taylor V. Donovan
S.J. Frost
Kimberly Gardner
Kaje Harper
Alex Ironrod
Jambrea Jo Jones
DC Juris
AC Katt
Thomas Kearnes
Sasha Keegan
Kiernan Kelly
K-lee Klein
Geoffrey Knight
Christopher Koehler
Matthew Lang
J.L. Langley
Vincent Lardo
Cameron Lawton
Anna Lee
Clare London
William Maltese
Z.A. Maxfield
Timothy McGivney
Tere Michaels
AKM Miles
Robert Moore
Reiko Morgan
Jet Mykles
William Neale
N.J. Nielsen
Cherie Noel
Gregory L. Norris
Willa Okati
Erica Pike
Neil S. Plakcy
Rick R. Reed
A.M. Riley
AJ Rose
Rob Rosen
George Seaton
Riley Shane
Jardonn Smith
DH Starr
Richard Stevenson
Christopher Stone
Liz Strange
Marshall Thornton
Lex Valentine
Haley Walsh
Mia Watts
Lynley Wayne
Missy Welsh
Ryal Woods
Stevie Woods
Lance Zarimba
Mark Zubro
Check out titles, both available and forthcoming, at
www.mlrpress.com
GLBT RESOURCES
RAINBOW ROMANCE WRITERS
Raising the Bar for LGBT Romance
RRW offers support and advocacy to career-focused authors, expanding the horizons of romance. Changing minds, one heart at a time. www.rainbowromancewriters.com
THE TREVOR PROJECT
The Trevor Project operates the only nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. Every day, The Trevor Project saves lives though its free and confidential helpline, its website and its educational services. If you or a friend are feeling lost, alone, confused or in crisis, please call The Trevor Helpline. You’ll be able to speak confidentially with a trained counselor 24/7.
The Trevor Helpline: 866-488-7386
On the Web: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/
THE GAY MEN’S DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROJECT
GMDVP Helpline: 800.832.1901
On the Web: http://gmdvp.org/
THE GAY & LESBIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST DEFAMATION/GLAAD EN ESPAÑOL
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
On the Web: http://www.glaad.org/
GLAAD en español: http://www.glaad.org/espanol/bienvenido.php
SERVICEMEMBERS LEGAL DEFENSE NETWORK
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, legal services, watchdog and policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT).The SLDN provides free, confidential legal services to all those impacted by DADT and related discrimination. Since 1993, its inhouse legal team has responded to more than 9,000 requests for assistance. In Congress, it leads the fight to repeal DADT and replace it with a law that ensures equal treatment for every servicemember, regardless of sexual orientation. In the courts, it works to challenge the constitutionality of DADT.
SLDNCall: 800-538-7418
PO Box 65301or (202) 328-FAIR
Washington DC 20035-5301 e-mail: sldn@sldn.org
On the Web: http://sldn.org/
THE GLBT NATIONAL HELP CENTER
The GLBT National Help Center is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization that is dedicated to meeting the needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and those questioning their sexual orientation and gender identity. It is an outgrowth of the Gay & Lesbian National Hotline, which began in 1996 and now is a primary program of The GLBT National Help Center. It offers several different programs including two national hotlines that help members of the GLBT community talk about the important issues that they are facing in their lives. It helps end the isolation that many people feel, by providing a safe environment on the phone or via the internet to discuss issues that people can’t talk about anywhere else. The GLBT National Help Center also helps other organizations build the infrastructure they need to provide strong support to our community at the local level.
National Hotline: 1-888-THE-GLNH (1-888-843-4564)
National Youth Talkline 1-800-246-PRIDE (1-800-246-7743)
On the Web: http://www.glnh.org/
e-mail: info@glbtnationalhelpcenter.org
If you’re a GLBT and questioning student heading off to university, you should know that there are resources on campus for you. Here’s just a sample:
GLBT SCHOLARSHIP RESOURCES
http://www.hrc.org/resources/entry/tell-us-about-an-lgbt-scholarship
Syracuse University
http://lgbt.syr.edu/
Texas A&M
http://glbt.tamu.edu/
Tulane University
http://tulane.edu/studentaffairs/oma/lgbt/index.cfm
University of Alaskahttp://www.uaf.edu/woodcenter/leadership/organizations/active/index.xml?id=61
University of California, Davis
http://lgbtrc.ucdavis.edu/
University of California, San Francisco
http://lgbt.ucsf.edu/
University of Colorado
http://www.colorado.edu/GLBTQRC/
University of Florida
http://www.multicultural.ufl.edu/lgbt/
University of Hawaii, Mānoa
http://manoa.hawaii.edu/lgbt/
University of Utah
http://www.sa.utah.edu/lgbt/
University of Virginia
http://www.virginia.edu/deanofstudents/lgbt/
Vanderbilt University
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lgbtqi/