Page 6 of Down My Chimney

“You’re here!” Henry squealed, throwing his arms around me a week and a half later.

I squeezed him tight, but then stepped back instead of letting myself linger like I wanted to.

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?” I asked with a laugh. I looked over my shoulder. I was pretty sure we were alone in the parking lot, standing next to Henry’s ancient car, but checking was a habit any time we were out in public. “Where else would I be?”

“I don’t know, the moon?” he said. “That’s how far away you’ve felt the past month. I’m just so glad to see you. In person.” He waved a hand up and down in front of my body. “You’re real.”

I grinned. “I am. And you are too. I’d almost forgotten.”

And then, because wewerealone, I leaned in and kissed him, my lips catching his mid-smile. He gasped, and I licked at his mouth until he let me inside, his tongue caressing mine.

Henry. Henry. Henry.His name was like a heartbeat.

“God, I missed you,” I said when I pulled back.

He flushed and bit his lip, like he was trying to prevent a smile. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I nudged him with my elbow. “What, you don’t believe me?”

“No, of course I do! I just—I guess I’m just still not used to this…thing with us.”

My brow furrowed. “But it’s good, right?”

“Yeah.” His face broke into a smile. “It’s really good.”

Itwasgood.

Sure, I got a couple strange looks from Dev and Matty when they got back from their afternoon classes and saw Henry for the first time. I got a few more when Taylor came home from visiting his girlfriend, Emily. I’d told them Henry was coming to stay, said he was a family friend, but I hadn’t told them Henry was…Henry.

My roommates and I pretty much lived in sweats and T-shirts, unless we were in uniform for a game. Henry pretty much lived in pink, sparkles, and skin-tight jeans. Today, he was wearing an honest-to-God crop top, sky blue, with jeans that had a rip in the right knee, and another below his left ass-cheek.

He looked good. He was driving me nuts, actually, wondering how soon I could get him naked. But he also looked, well, gay.

No one said anything about it, though. And everyone was friendly to him. When we went over to the dining hall for dinner, Dev found out Henry was a theater major and started peppering him with questions.

“My mom’s a high-school math teacher,” Dev explained, “but she directs all the school musicals too. She used to make me do them, saying it would make my college applications well-rounded, but I’m pretty sure it’s just because I was tall and she knew I could lift girls up during the dance numbers. Is that the kind of stuff you do in class?”

“Not exactly.” Henry laughed and held up a rather skinny arm, clenching a chicken wing between two fingers. “I mean, look at me. I can barely lift my dinner. I’m not exactly a prime candidate for swinging girls around.”

“No, but like, do you do other things in shows like that?” Dev asked. “Or is that not the kind of theater you’re studying?”

“Some of it,” Henry said. “Honestly, I try to stay away from the performing side of things, because I’m not that great an actor, but I did take this really cool class on the golden age of Hollywood musicals last fall. Did you know that there are only nine cuts in the wholeGood Morningsequence inSingin’ in the Rain?”

“Wait, is that the one where they’re tap dancing through the house, and then they end up on the couch at the end?” Matty asked.

Henry nodded, but before he could say anything else, Taylor shot Matty a look. “How the hell do you know that?”

“It’s a good movie,” Matty said. “My little sister is obsessed with it.”

“Oh, sure. Yoursister.” Taylor rolled his eyes.

“Bro, it is. No homo, it’s just a good story.”

I winced at Matty’s word choice and decided to redirect the conversation before things could get any worse.

“Is that a small amount of cuts?” I asked Henry.

His lips were pressed together, and his eyes flashed when they met mine. But after a moment, he nodded.

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