Page 58 of You're so Bad

Nope. I’ve given it the maximum amount of thought I’m capable of.

Are you going to be able to sleep?

Sleep never comes easy. That’s what the ganja’s for.

Does it work?

We’ll see.

I’m going to bring over some more Fruit Loops in the morning.

Maybe Reese will come back for the night if you tell him they’re there and we’re not.

Like luring a kid into a white van by promising him candy.

Very funny.

I can still taste you, Tiger. That’s not funny. It’s driving me crazy.

I’ll bet there’s only one bed in our cabin at sleepaway camp.

Who needs a bed?

You make a good point.

5 minutes later

Hey, if you can’t sleep, you want to watch The Sopranos with me? We could text or talk while we watch it.

You’re going dark with this revenge shit, aren’t you?

No, it’s just a good show.

Likely story.

Which episode? If you can’t think of the name, just tell me who died in the last one you watched, and I can figure it out.

The one where Christopher and that other guy almost freeze to death. You want me to call you?

Yeah, that sounds mighty nice.

I call him up, and he answers on the first ring. “Doc, here,” he says, his voice a low rumble.

“Very funny. You ready for this?”

“I was born ready, Tiger. You got it pulled up?”

We make sure that our videos are perfectly in sync before we start the show. Most of the time we’re quiet, watching what’s on our screens, but I’m almost painfully aware of him—of his breathing over the phone, the rumble of his voice when he says “oh, shit” or “that’s the way you do it, son,” the sound of his soft laughter in my ear. I keep imagining him lying in his bed with his shirt off, Bean snuggled up next to him. I suspect his shirt will always be off in my imagination now that I’ve seen the goods. I’m turned on by that image, by him, but I’m also comforted. It feels good to be awake with someone, rather than awake alone. So when the closing credits roll around, I suggest, “One more?”

“Oh, most definitely.”

By the time the second episode ends, I’m yawning. Even though I’m pretty sure Leonard will go another hour or more without finding sleep, he says, “You go off to bed, Tiger. I’ll see you in the morning.”

By then, it’s late. Seriously late, verging on being too early. But I end up tossing and turning for a long time before sleep comes. My mind is fixed on Reese, who’s spending the night who knows where. There are plenty of homeless people in Asheville, but that doesn’t make me feel better, because it means he’ll be sleeping out there on the streets with other people who could potentially hurt him or steal his Fruit Loops.

And then there’s Leonard.

Leonard, who made me come so hard I saw stars on the edges of my vision.

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