Page 73 of Pride High

Cameron laughed. “Just make sure that Kansas City is on your left. Does that help?”

“We’ll find out. See you soon. Probably. You might have to come find me actually.”

They said goodbye and hung up. Anthony told his parents he was going for a walk. They weren’t concerned. He checked himself in the mirror, put his shoes on, and stepped out into a night that was mild for October. Soon the days would be wet andgray, but not yet. Summer hadn’t faded completely. The leaves had only just begun to change colors.

John Brown Boulevard was one of the larger streets that ran through his neighborhood. There was traffic, even in the evening, and that included pedestrians. Each time he saw someone on the sidewalk ahead, Anthony would tense in anticipation until it turned out to be someone walking their dog or whatever. Eventually he saw a figure on the opposite side of the street. The build was right, and when the person passed beneath a streetlight, Anthony got his confirmation. They waved at each other and gestured, trying to figure out who should cross. Eventually they ended up in the middle of the street together, Cameron laughing and pushing him back the way Anthony had come as cars slowly approached.

“Hey,” Anthony said when they were on the sidewalk again.

“Hey yourself,” Cameron said. “Want to keep walking?”

“Yeah.”

They turned down the next street, where it was darker and quieter.

“There’s something I’ve been dying to ask you,” Anthony said. “Why did you keep calling me Skylar?”

Cameron laughed and sounded nervous when replying. “It’s complicated. But basically, I went to Liberty Memorial expecting to meet someone who goes by that name. I’d never seen him before. I was told to look for black hair, and you were the right age, so…”

“Oh. Was it a blind date?”

“I don’t know.”

How could he not know? Unless he was avoiding the question. Anthony could only think of one reason he would. “Do you go to the cruise park a lot?”

Cameron’s head whipped around. “You know about that, huh?”

“Yeah,” Anthony said tersely.

“That’s not why I was there,” Cameron answered.

“Me neither. Well… not exactly.”

Cameron was watching him as they continued down the sidewalk, only looking forward when they had to cross a street. Then his attention would return to him, but Anthony foundit hard to meet his gaze for more than a few seconds. Mostly because it made him blush. He’d never been around another gay guy like this, and the mere fact that they were compatible on the most basic level was sort of intimidating. And exciting.

“So why were you there?” Cameron pried.

Anthony groaned. “I was desperate to meet someone gay and it was the only lead I had. And it wentreallywell. Just before you saw me on the bench, some creepy guy waved me over to his car so I could see his massive dong.”

Cameron laughed. “Oh yeah? How big was it?”

“About this long,” Anthony said, putting two feet of air between his hands. “At least. I literally ran away. It was so embarrassing.”

“Well congratulations,” Cameron said. “You’ve done more with a guy than I ever have.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Why do you sound so surprised?”

Anthony shrugged. “I don’t know. Why would you meet a blind date at a cruise park?”

“I didn’t! I was supposed to meet him atLiberty Memorial,” Cameron stressed. “Skylar is new in town and I wanted to show him around. It’s the perfect place to start. You can’t miss that giant pillar and Crown Center is right next door.”

Anthony slowed, remembering another detail from earlier in the day. “You said that Skylar moved here from Colorado.”

“I think so, yeah.”

“And he has black hair?”

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