Page 74 of Something Like Summer
“Hey! Were yousleeping?”
Ben jolted awake. “No! Imean, yeah.”
“It’s only 11 p.m.,” Timchided. “What sort of college boy are you?”
Ben hesitated. Should heenter into casual banter, or should he start shooting offquestions? He didn’t want to pretend nothing had happened and thatthey had always been on good terms.
“Where were you?” hetried.
“Oh. I had a study groupand we went out for--”
“No. I mean,where were you?”
“What? You mean the lastfive years?” Now it was Tim’s turn to lapse into silence. “Allright, uh, high school. Fuck. Senior year I went to Conroe HighSchool instead.”
“Just to get away fromme?”
“To get away from myself,”Tim corrected. “Man, you aren’t going to make this easy, areyou?”
“No.”
“Maybe doing this over thephone was a bad idea.”
Maybe not, Ben thought. Notbeing able to see how handsome Tim was went a long way in helpingBen stay angry. He switched on the bedside lamp and reached for thephotos from London. He flipped through them until he found thephoto of the London Eye. While riding the massive Ferris wheel,Jace had held the camera out at arm’s length and snapped a photo ofhim and Ben kissing. That memory was like a cold shower rightnow.
“Can’t we meet up? Talkface to face?” Tim tried.
“No, I don’t think so.”Ben almost laughed.
“Why? Are you indecent?Lying in your bed with nothing but your boxers on?”
Ben paused. He had heard astrange echo over the phone.
“You’re still so damnscrawny!” Tim chuckled from the window, snapping his phone shut.“But it suits you.”
“Jesus Christ!” Ben swore.“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Let me in before somebodycalls the cops,” Tim said, pressing his face against thescreen.
“I should call themmyself! How did you find me?”
“Looked up Allison in thephone book. C’mon, let me in.”
Ben shook his head ruefullyand grabbed a shirt. He headed to the front door, but stopped tocheck himself in the bathroom mirror. Not for anyone else’s sakebut his own, he promised himself. He wanted to look good so Timknew exactly what he was missing. Ben decided to make him wait evenlonger and went for a glass of iced tea before opening the frontdoor.
Tim stepped in, ignoringBen’s personal space. He smelled like cologne and beer, an enticingcombination.
“You know what?” Benplaced a hand on Tim’s chest to stop him, not the best moveconsidering how impressive it felt. “This isn’t a good idea. Waitoutside. I’ll get dressed and we can go for a walk.”
Tim looked disappointed butshrugged and stepped back into the night. Score one for the hometeam, Ben thought. I’m in charge of the situation, not him. Hehurried to get dressed, a sense of excitement welling up within himthat he mentally chastised before giving into. Why not be excited?He would finally get all the puzzle pieces he had been missing overthe years. Tim would answer his questions, Ben might even flirt,but at the end of the evening there would only be blue balls. Forthem both probably, but at least Ben could call Jace and talk dirtyfor some release.
When he was about to turnoff the bedroom light he noticed the London photo and pocketed itto use as a talisman, should his body stop listening to his heart.When he left the duplex he found Tim leaning against a sports carin his best James Bond pose. Ben wondered if Tim’s sugar daddy hadbought it for him as the image of the leering old man returned tohis mind. He made sure to ignore the car, no matter howimpressively shiny and new it was. He walked past Tim, gesturingthat he should follow.
“Same old Benjamin,” Timremarked as he pushed away from the car. “Always knowing what youwant and getting it.”
“Yeah, well, noteverything’s the same,” Ben retorted, not having a clue what hemeant. All he knew was that he needed to sound more mysterious thanhe actually was. “So how did Conroe High treat you?”
“Same shit, differentschool,” Tim replied. “Well, not completely the same. There was noyou.”
