Page 17 of Refraction

“Batman. Totally Batman. He’s got the car, the cash, the broody thing.”

Calvin shook his head. “Batman is not a superhero. He’s a dude with a fancy car. He’s cool, but he’s notsuper.”

“No? Are you sure? He has comic book franchises, movies, and Halloween costumes.”

“And Legos and video games and iPhone apps. Still not super.” He sang the last bit just to be silly; he wasn’t really trying to argue. “Captain America is my pick. Hunky, brave, and in love with Bucky.”

“He’s good. I like Thor too. He has Loki.”

“And a humongoushammer. Because there’s no metaphor there or anything.” He giggled. “Have to be worthy to pick it up—and who gets close? Captain America.Boom.”

“Do you dress up for Halloween? I can see you as Captain America.”

“Always.” Like, always, always. Halloween was the best day of the year, next to his birthday. “So I’ll go as Captain America, and you’ll make a very sexy Thor. Do you usually dress?”

“It depends on whether I have plans. I have. I went as a surgeon last year.”

“How very conservative of you.” Calvin winked at him. “I was a gladiator. Although we had freezing rain that day, so I was more of a gladiator popsicle.”

“Oh, I would have liked to see that. And I’ll have you know I looked amazing. Green is a good color on me.”

Could there possibly be a bad color on this tiger? “Skin is a good look on you too. But if you must be clothed, I would think blue would make those gorgeous eyes really pop.”

“I have a couple of blue shirts somewhere. I’m not trustworthy. I start working, and my clothes get torn and stained.”

“Except when you’re painting in the nude, hmm?” Stained he got, but torn? How the hell do you tear your clothes painting? Did he even want to know?

Calvin decided he’d like to watch Tucker work sometime, see him create and listen to whatever music he liked to put on. Nude or otherwise. But nude would be good. Then there wouldn’t be any tearing.

“So who’s in Texas? Big circle of interesting and diverse friends? Artists’ conclave? Jealous ex-lovers? A coven?”

He was secretly hoping for jealous ex-lovers. So much fun.

“My folks are down near San Antonio. I have a few guys that I know from college that I hang around with when we’re not all busy. No coven, although I have been asked to attend many times. No ex-lovers, but there are a couple of guys that are usually up for a mutual hand job when times are tough.”

Okay, so the coven question was a joke, and he should have known better, but no ex-lovers? Mutual hand jobs? God. “No exes? How is that possible? Does no one in Texas haveeyes?”

“Well, I live a little ways outside of town, and I have a bit of a reputation for being the scary devil painter.” Tucker winked at him, and Calvin didn’t know if that was teasing or what.

“Huh. I would much rather fuck a devil than an angel.” That was the truth, wasn’t it? Sometimes he wasn’t sure which one he was either. “I’d be drivinginyour direction, not away from it. Their loss. You can tell them from me that they don’t know what they’re missing.”

“Fair enough.” Tucker grinned at him, blue eyes twinkling. “Don’t let me fool you. I’m not an unhappy man, just one that gets lost in work an awful lot.”

“Oh.” Calvin raised an eyebrow and rolled up, tucking one thigh between Tucker’s legs. “I’m sorry, did I give you the impression that I was feeling sorry for you?”

“Uhn.” Tucker pushed back against his thigh, rocking lazily. “What was the question, honey?”

Mmm. That was a sweet little buzz. “I said that I don’t feel sorry for you.” Maybe it was better to have no exes than have a list as long as your arm—and your other arm too. “I mean, honestly? If you hadn’t gotten my attention, I wouldn’t have looked into your eyes either.” Head up, eyes a block away. It was a New York thing. I’m not in your business, and you’re not allowed in mine.

“That would have been a terrible shame.” Calvin liked that, how Tucker meant it.

“Yeah. You’d have frozen solid with your arm up in the air, trying to flag down a cab in the snow.”

“And I would have been cold and lonely, standing there for the birds to poop on.”

“It’s snowing, you dork. The birds are all hiding. You’d have been tagged.” He kind of liked that image.

“Oh, wouldn’t that be cool? Can you imagine that image?” Tucker’s eyes lit up.

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